As the Red Sox world turns, it is reflecting more and more like a general hospital. On a daily basis another player is heading to the disabled list. The Olde Towne Team needs to keep their collective heads above water until the starters get back on the diamond. The good play since April allows the Red Sox the opportunity to stay in the race even with numerous key players in the training room.
The Red Sox offense is mostly responsible for the May and June resurgence. They lead the American League in runs scored, are second in on-base percentage and first in slugging percentage. The incredible turnaround of David Ortiz and the unconscious Adrian Beltre at the plate have been two that have performed beyond expectations.
Ortiz became Big Papi after a freezing cold April. Many have credited Ortiz’s renaissance to a shorter path to the ball. He made a mechanical adjustment. As a amateur columnist and not a scout, he could have just found his Big Papi costume in the back of the closet for all I know. Regardless of the reason, Big Papi seems to be back. I’m hopeful that his recently level of production continues but it is far from a certainty.
Beltre is unlikely to continue his monster season. The power is probably for real, but the batting average and on-base average is likely to dip. The two statistics are linked for Beltre since the man rarely walks to first base.
The man at the hot corner’s batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is a robust .385. Even though Beltre has a high line drive rate at 23.6%, which would indicate that a high BABIP is not due to luck, he is unlikely to keep up the laser show. The left fielder wrecking machine’s highest line drive percentage for a full season is 21.7%. History would indicate that Beltre is probably going to regress to his mean.
With the numerous injuries sidelining many position players and two key cogs of the lineup that may decline, it would seem that the starting pitchers need to perform better. It is time for John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka to demonstrate the reason for Yawkey Way outlaying over $185 million for the two.