Here are some bold predictions for the rest of the Red Sox season
The Boston Red Sox wowed the league with a 17-2 start to 2018, but what comes next?
After one of the best starts in MLB history, the Boston Red Sox have cooled slightly. They won 17 of 19 games to start the year, but are just 7-8 since and suffered a no-hitter at the hands of Sean Manaea of the Oakland Athletics. The runaway AL East title has also been put on hold as the New York Yankees have clawed back from a slow start to close the gap to a single game.
It’s going to be a long, fun ride to October for the Red Sox as they battle the Yankees for AL East supremacy. Love them or hate them, when these two teams are locked in a bitter struggle for a crown, baseball does benefit.
Last year’s Red Sox struggled mightily to score while dealing with the loss of David Ortiz. They filled the Big Papi sized hole in their lineup with J.D. Martinez, who continues to put up All-Star numbers. Martinez’s presence has unleashed MVP candidate Mookie Betts and shortstop Xander Bogaerts. It also looks like an “up” year for the mercurial Hanley Ramirez.
Boston looks like a legitimate World Series contender with a powerful, contact-driven lineup that can go toe-to-toe with the Yankees and Houston Astros in a slugfest or shut teams down with a solid rotation and the best closer in baseball, Craig Kimbrel.
The 17-2 start was exciting, but the best is yet to come for the Red Sox this year.
5. David Price will pitch out of the bullpen in the playoffs
Perhaps this isn’t a “bold” prediction since it happened last year, but David Price will not start a playoff game for the Red Sox this season. The big-money left-hander continues to struggle in the rotation while Rick Porcello firmly states his case to be Boston’s number-two starter. In his first seven starts, Price has a 5.11 ERA and is walking more hitters and striking out fewer than ever in his career.
It’s year three of Price’s seven-year deal with the Red Sox, and his opt-out clause does not look even remotely close to being exercised this winter. Boston bet big on another aging star entering his thirties and is getting burned again. Price was effective in small doses down the stretch last year and pitched 6.2 shutout innings in the ALDS. That might be the best role for him going forward as he continues to lose velocity, but it’s hardly worth $30 million a year.