The 2018 Red Sox are at the top of Major League Baseball in a number of things. Batting average, on base percentage, slugging, ERA, FIP, strikeouts- you name it. They’ve been strong in all parts of the game and haven’t had many flaws. There’s always room for improvement, however. Some of the greatest teams of all time even had minuscule flaws. 

Boston’s Flaws

This year’s team hasn’t had very good production from second base. With Dustin Pedroia missing almost the whole season thus far, Eduardo Nunez has been taking the toll out at second. And to put it politely, let’s just say it hasn’t worked one bit. Not only is he not producing offensively, but he’s also horrendous defensively. Something that has made him an overall unproductive player. At least in Jackie Bradley Jr.’s case, he provides production in the field. Nunez doesn’t even do that. So it’s either Pedey coming back, or someone new is just going to have to replace him. Brock Holt could certainly be the one who takes up second base the rest of the way.  

The next position which needs an upgrade is center field. Jackie Bradley Jr., as aforementioned, can field well. He has a cannon for an arm and can catch almost any ball hit in his area. With that said, his problem is at the plate, where he’s hitting under .200 on the season. That won’t fly. 

Lastly, the bullpen. Overall, the bullpen ERA may not be so bad. But the problem is the late innings. If I asked whoever trusts Heath Hembree or Matt Barnes late in a game and you raise your hand, I’m sorry, but I’ll tell you you’re crazy. Those two have continued to show that they are anything but trustworthy, especially against good teams. Could you trust those two or really anybody in the bullpen besides Kimbrel and Joe Kelly, who have even had their own share of problems at times, late in a game against the Yankees? Or Astros? 

Possible Trades Options for the Red Sox 

Right now, Brad Hand has been swirling in the rumor mill. Possibly Zach Britton, too. The only problem with him is he is on a division rival. That always makes things more complicated. And as far as Brad Hand goes, the asking price for him is reportedly a young player, such as Rafael Devers. If they stay stubborn on that, I say forget it. There are plenty of other fish in the sea. Not that they should stop negotiating, though. Raisel Iglesias, who’s riding a 2.37 ERA over in Cincinnati, is someone else who could be another option. 

As for Jackie Bradley Jr.’s replacement, they’ll have to keep looking. If he can’t start producing, he’s not going to be able to last much longer. 

Nonetheless, the trade deadline is still over a month away. Still many more rumors to come. At the end of the day, all we know is that Dave Dombrowski will be busy doing whatever he can to help this team prevail against powerhouse New York Yankees. 

Rafael Devers has not been what the Red Sox had hoped this year. He’s hitting in the low .200s, not getting on base much, and the power has been average. His defense? Not good at all. He has 13 errors this year, which makes up more than half of the team’s total.

There’s just one thing to think about here. He’s 21. He’s in his first year of being able to legally drink. In other words, he’s pretty darn young. He also looks like he’s about ten years younger than he really is. 

Now why is his age so important? It’s to show that he’s nowhere even near his prime yet. He still has so many years to work on his craft and get better at both parts of his game, hitting and fielding. It’s unknown if he will be a third baseman his whole career, but currently he will be riding the hot corner. 

Recently J.D. Martinez started talking about this program he’s been doing that works on hitting. He said there are several guys on this program, including Devers himself. The Red Sox were coming off a sweep in Baltimore, where Devers had a great series himself.  Then they went to Safeco field in Seattle to take on the Mariners, where Devers made his MLB debut. Last season he raked in his first major league hit via a home run. This has to be the place where he’ll start off a hot streak, right? Against Felix Hernandez on Thursday night, Devers made contact twice, earning a single in the second and a double in the fourth. On Friday night’s game, he got base hits in the third and eighth innings. 

Devers has shown signs of life lately. You have to remember that this kid is still young and has so much potential in his future. You just have to be patient. These are the signs that Rafael Devers will be okay.  

Boston is a place with high expectations. When it comes to sports, you can’t ever just go take your money and not play your hardest. That won’t fly. Unfortunately, there have been some cases of this very problem within the last few years. Big money free agents have signed with the Red Sox, and didn’t play near to their expectations. There are a number of reasons for this. Boston could have signed players at the start of their decline. Maybe a few players just didn’t care, or didn’t understand passionate us fans are.

You have to realize that these players aren’t robots and are humans with feelings and emotions, just like us. Some just can’t handle the pressure the way others feed off of it. We get that. So a lot of the blame can also be on the front office on a lot of these deals.

We’ve learned over the years that money is mostly what these free agents care about. Whoever gives them the highest paycheck is whose jersey they’ll put on. No matter the city or market. With situations like that, they almost can never end well. Sometimes you can get out of it like the Red Sox did with Carl Crawford (thank you LA). Sometimes you just can’t shake them (ahem, Sandoval). What this can do is scar some fans and make them not want to see any free agent go anywhere near their team, understandably. Now yes, of course many contracts don’t end well. But that’s not to say some don’t NOT end well, either. 

J.D. Isn’t like That

When J.D. Martinez was a free agent, many Sox fans didn’t want him. Especially after his agent, Scott Boras, said the price tag on his client was $200 million. Well, really nobody wanted him after that. Dave Dombrowski talked for most of the offseason about how he was comfortable with what we already had. Was he 100% out on J.D.? No. Why give the fans any hope if it could just end up not happening?

The waiting game lasted the whole offseason and into Spring Training. Eventually it ended, and on February 26, 2018 it became official. JD Martinez was the newest member on the Red Sox. The best part about it was the fact that the contract was such a steal. 

With the recent failures of Crawford and Sandoval, it’s still understandable for the Red Sox fan base to worry. It makes sense. But there was just a feeling that I and many Sox fans had that this one was going to be different. It was the same feeling I had with Chris Sale last year. I just knew he’d be great. He’s been beyond that since. And he has grown to be one of the most beloved players on this team. J.D. is joining him. J.D. Martinez has been unbelievable since he signed here. He has a .314/.374/.646 so far with an OPS over a thousand. Not bad! One of the things missing from last year’s team was power. He’s brought the power alright.

Through 60 games, he has 21 home runs. We’re still over a month away from the All-Star break. J.D. has been everything we’ve asked for and beyond, working extra hard to stay as good as he’s been. It’s crazy to see after witnessing Pablo Sandoval do literally nothing for this team for 2 1/2 years. Martinez works on his swing all the time, taking videos of his swings during batting practice and seeing what he can do to improve. He goes up to the plate every night expecting to do well and nothing else. This sounds like a robot in a lab who’s made FOR playing in Boston. So far from what we’ve seen when it’s all said and done, J.D. Martinez may end up being one of the best free agent signings, ever. 

Now yes, as exciting as it has been, I along with everyone can’t get ahead of ourselves. It’s only June. There is still a lot ahead of us. It will take a lot for J.D. to be as great as guys like Papi and Pedro were to Boston. But so far he’s shown he’s capable of building himself to be a legend. He is the perfect free agent signing for the Red Sox. 

We weren’t exactly sure what we were going to get from Steven Wright’s return in the rotation on Tuesday night. He pitched well out of the bullpen prior, but starting a game out of the rotation is a totally different scenario. Steven Wright’s start wasn’t originally going to happen. He was inserted into the starting role after Pomeranz was put on the DL with bicep tendinitis. At least for now Wright is the obvious replacement. But from what we saw last night, Alex Cora might keep him in this rotation for now, even when Pomeranz is healthy again. 

Back in the middle of 2016, Wright was lights out at one point, pitching to the best ERA in all of MLB. Pretty crazy. But since then, he hasn’t been very good, pitching to an ERA over 5.0 in his shortened 2017 season. It’s no question that an effective Steven Wright would be an amazing addition to this rotation that has had a bad and unhealthy Drew Pomeranz and a struggling Chris Sale. He will provide much more relief for the rest of the rotation. So, going into Tuesday’s start, we were all hoping he’d show some flashes of his inner Tim Wakefield. Would he do it? Indeed. 

In fact, he exceeded expectations. He went seven strong innings and gave up only two hits and struck out six. His knuckleball was of course dancing around. 

https://twitter.com/mlb/status/1004175396126855168

Certainly none of us should be overreacting after one start, but I am all on board with keeping Wright in this rotation. Even when Pomeranz is able to come back healthy.  He’s deserved it. 

Drew Pomeranz, the man who was traded to Boston from the Padres, has been iffy at times. When he came up in his first year, he wasn’t that good. At least with the Red Sox, he wasn’t. After posting an All-Star first half that included a 2.47 ERA, he threw 68.2 innings with an ERA of 4.59 once joining the Red Sox. He was great in 2017, posting a 3.32 ERA in 173.2 innings. He was very consistent throughout the year and went into 2018 with high hopes. But as of June 2018, it’s time we may need to look at some other options for Pomeranz’s spot in the rotation.

Pomeranz, who is eligible for free agency for the first time in his life, is not doing himself any favors. So far, he’s riding a 6.81 ERA with a WHIP at around 1.8 in exactly 37 innings. It doesn’t take a baseball expert to see that he hasn’t been very good.

The problem with Pomeranz, which has been a problem of his for his whole career, is the pitch count. He very rarely is able to make it past the sixth inning, even on good nights. He throws too many pitches way too early into games. This year he’s getting knocked around too, which is something that won’t help get you the big bucks come the offseason. More importantly, it won’t help you win win games for the team you’re on right now. But there are a couple of guys on this squad who could win some games with this team and actually have a legitimate shot of taking his place in the rotation.

Wright and Vazquez- Potential Starters?

First one, Steven Wright. The knuckleballer who had to start the year suspended is back, and has been good since his return in May. He’s been working from the long relievers role so far and it’s worked very well. In 16 innings, he has a 2.25 ERA. He’s been solid enough to the point where it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to bring him back to his old starting role. Will he ever get back to his first half of 2016 form? Probably not. But anything close to that would be a great addition to this rotation and the team overall.

The second option would be none other than Hector Velazquez. Velazquez hasn’t been in the majors for long after coming over from the Mexican League just a little more than a year ago. But in his short tenure for Boston, he’s been pretty effective. In 54.1 innings, he’s put up a 2.48 ERA for his career so far. Most of those innings are from this year, where he’s tossed 29.2 innings while putting up a nice 2.12 ERA. The only unsettling thing about Hector this season has been his WHIP, which at 1.4, is a little too high to be comfortable with. But overall, he’s been another someone to trust more than Drew Pomeranz this year.

Should They Get a Shot?

Will Pomeranz get more chances? He likely will. He’s been working with the coaching staff to get his pitches going the way he wants them to. It’s not like I’m not rooting for the guy. It’d be great to see him get back to his good form. But there comes a time where you can only get so many chances before you have to start giving other people a shot. And if Drew Pomeranz keeps on struggling and failing to help the Red Sox win ballgames, Steven Wright and/or Hector Velazquez deserve their chance.

The 2018 season did not start very well for Andrew Benintendi. He started off hitting in the low .200s. He just wasn’t the guy we all came to know and love. But after a cold April, it’s safe to say he’s on a roll. In his last 30 games, he’s slashing .333/.400/.615, which has bumped up his overall numbers on the year. Benintendi has been especially strong at home this season, slashing .306/.392/.492 with an .865 OPS at Fenway this year, meanwhile slashing only .202/.315/.330 with a .655 OPS on the road. He also has not hit lefties well this year, hitting .209/.306/.349, while having great numbers against righties. So there are some things he needs to work on, but overall he’s been much better.

Benintendi continued his success as he helped lead the Sox to a nice 8-3 Memorial Day win at Fenway. He went three for five with a triple, four RBIs, and three of those RBI’s coming from a three run opposite field monster shot off Aaron Sanchez in the fourth.

After the game, he talked about hitting at Fenway. “I’m seeing the (ball) pretty good. You know, its fun to hit (at Fenway Park) I feel like I see the ball well here… it’s going good right now and I’m just trying to help the team win.”

Well, whatever he’s doing at Fenway, just keep it going. One critique I have of Benintendi is the fact that he’s just so boring, and I think a lot of Red Sox fans can agree with me on this one. He doesn’t seem to have too much emotion and really has some boring interviews. Maybe he’ll break out of his shell one day, but as long as he keeps helping the team win, that’s all that matters.

To sum up Benintendi lately, he’s been awesome. To give you an idea of how much of a resurgence he’s had; on April 25, he was hitting .218. Ever since then? He’s hit .330. So as boring as Andrew Benintendi can be, he sure can hit. And a bat like Benintendi’s in this strong Boston lineup only makes it better.

It was winter when we all heard the unfortunate news. Dustin Pedroia was getting surgery. We all knew he was going to be out for a while, so it was no surprise he didn’t play a game in spring training or start the regular season on the roster, even though he was itching to. 

Pedroia Is Shipping up to Boston

Pedroia said he was ready to start by Opening Day, but Cora and the team kept it safe. He stuck around the team for the first several weeks before going on a rehab assignment to get ready to come back. Although it’s hard to see Pedroia sidelined, it’s nice to see him give pointers to the younger guys. He has a big and respected presence in that clubhouse. As Brock Holt has said before, Pedroia is one of those guys where if he starts talking, everyone shuts up and listens.

Pedey has one of the highest baseball IQ’s you’ll ever see. However, there really is only so much you can do when you’re not able to play. But the time has finally come. Dustin Pedroia has finally been activated today. 

As this Red Sox team has been so far, one of the weaknesses has been at second base. Eduardo Nunez was the guy to fill the void for the time Pedey was out. He has not been good to say the least. Nunez playing defense at second is very hard to watch, and he’s slashing .249/.267/.370 at the plate with a .622 OPS. Nunez is a good option if you need a backup, but he has continued to show that he’s not a regular starter. 

Back in Action

Pedroia is someone where if he‘s knocked out and has to miss time at his position, you’ll notice. There aren’t too many infielders who get it done like Pedey does. It’s incredible to watch the plays he’s able to make to steal hits night in and night out. It’s also certainly something you can’t take for granted, as we’ve seen what happens when he does have to miss time. And for those who didn’t know, this guy can hit too. He’s a career .300 hitter with a .366 On Base Percentage to go along with that. Not too shabby. Dustin Pedroia is someone you can rely on every single night to give it his all, and do what he can to help the Red Sox win. And this is what he’s been doing since the day he was brought up. This man eats, sleeps, and breathes baseball. The 2018 Red Sox, a team that currently have the most wins in baseball are only going to get better now as they are getting their heart and soul of the team back. Watch out MLB, the 2018 Red Sox are officially assembled. 

As the Red Sox rolled onto another win on Sunday, JD Martinez had four at bats, going 2-4 with two homers and three RBI. It’s exactly where he hit them on Sunday that made the impression. 

After a one-out double by Mitch Moreland, JD came to the plate. With the score 3-0, the Sox looked for more runs to break it open. Martinez would take the second pitch, a 1-0 fastball, to deep center for his second homer of the day.  Sox up 5-0.  JD Martinez home runs are always fun, but what was even more awesome about them was where he hit them, or placed them, as the case may be.

In Martinez’s first at bat, Orioles’ David Hess threw a first-pitch fastball on the inner half.   That hit went the other way, going around the pesky pole for a home run. As everyone knows, the pole is the shortest part of Fenway. There aren’t too many homers that leave that area every year. But when they do, they’re among the most unique home runs you’ll see in baseball.  

Laser Precision

On his first home run that went around the pole in right, it traveled 324 feet. He took an inside pitch and drove the other way to the shortest part of the ballpark, deep enough to get out. On his second homer, he took a fastball over the plate to the second row in the center field bleachers. JD hit it to the deepest part of the park, while in his first at bat, he hit it to the shortest part of the park, both homers. 

Martinez has proved that he is not just a home run, all-or-nothing type hitter. He is just an overall smart batter who can hit for a good average, get on base, while also being a slugger. JD also can just hit the ball wherever he wants. He continued to do that on Sunday. Martinez has certainly been something to watch thus far, and the best part — it’s only May. We’re going to be watching this all summer. The best is yet to come.  

Two years ago, with bullpen help being one of the highest needs on the club, Dombrowski traded for Carson Smith from the Mariners. Right off the bat the Red Sox had high hopes for him. In 2015 he finished with a 2.31 ERA after striking out 92 hitters in 70 innings. He arrived in Boston as part of a bullpen that also had Craig Kimbrel in the mix. It was sure to be a deadly 1-2 punch. 

Two years later, Kimbrel is still in the bullpen and doing well overall. It’s just Smith who hasn’t been living up to expectations. In 2016, he pitched 2.2 innings before getting Tommy John surgery, knocking him out for over a year and a half. In 2017, he made his return but only pitched 6.2 innings, giving up only one earned run overall. 

More Injury Woes in 2018

He came into the 2018 season looking to have a full healthy year for the first time in a Red Sox uniform. Unfortunately, it’s not looking like this will be the year. On Monday night against Oakland, he made an appearance in the eighth inning. He pitched an inning and gave up a solo home run to Khris Davis. On his way back to the dugout, he threw his glove out of frustration. Right away, he felt something pop. The next day Dave Dombrowski said it looks like a significant injury that will knock Smith out for a while. Just perfect. 

Smith later said that he thinks the injury happened due to fatigue because he had been used a lot recently. 

On Wednesday, Christopher Smith, writer for MassLive asked Smith to clarify what he said and if he was implying that Alex Cora was to blame. His response was “No comment, I’ve said everything I’ve needed to say.”

The truth is, Carson Smith is wrongfully throwing Cora under the bus. Smith’s point was that he thought he was being used too much and was blaming it on fatigue. This is something we can actually statistically refute. Of the ten pitchers to pitch out of the Red Sox bullpen this year, he is eighth in usage. The only guys behind him are Steven Wright and Bobby Poyner, who have barely pitched at all. Technically, Smith pitched the least out of every reliever in the bullpen this season. Yet, he has the audacity to go ahead and blame his manager for getting injured. 

The Fallout

Do I hate that Smith threw his glove? No. He threw it out of anger, meaning that he cared. But if you are going to throw your glove like that, you have to be careful. And if a freak accident like this happens, the last thing you should do is blame the manager. 

When asked about it, Cora disagreed with what Smith said. Cora mentioned that recently he and the coaching staff met with Smith about availability and he told them he was ready to go. So why complain about how you were being used too much when you told them you were available? Also, Smith has pitched only five innings this May. 

Carson Smith screwed up. He knows he did, and is trying to blame anybody and anything but himself for this one. If this team didn’t need bullpen help already, they only do more so now. But for the meantime, who knows what will end up happening with Smith. He’s definitely not one of the more likable guys on the team right now for sure. 

There have been mostly positive things about this Red Sox team thus far in 2018. But even the best of the best have weaknesses, and for the Red Sox, it’s the bullpen. Besides Craig Kimbrel and Joe Kelly, there haven’t been any other reliable guys who you can trust to go pitch in a close game in the later innings.

Hembree & Barnes

Heath Hembree has been one of the guys you cannot trust so far. He’s riding a 5.17 ERA in 17.1 innings. Hembree’s biggest problem has been walking batters, as he is averaging 4.2 walks per nine innings. Walks have also been an overall problem bullpen as a whole, especially for Matt Barnes.

Barnes is the king of having several good outings to make it seem like he’s effective, but then has a game where he implodes. Barnes has a 3.24 ERA in 16.2 innings, which of course isn’t bad. The problem is his control. He tends to come late into games and give guys one too many free passes. He’s walking 6.5 per nine innings, which is exactly someone who has no business pitching in a big moment late in a game.

On Friday night in Toronto, he came in at the beginning of the tenth inning. He walked not just the one, but the first two hitters he saw to open the inning. Not sure about the exact statistics, but I’m pretty positive that most of the time, that will come back to bite you. Barnes ended up getting out of it. But that won’t always happen. Barnes has the ability to be effective, the key for him is just to tone down the free passes.

On the Bright Side

Carson Smith has been much better. He pitched a shutout eleventh inning on Friday night, and relieved David Price in the sixth inning on Saturday to get the last two outs. One of them was a strikeout. Joe Kelly continued to be dominant after pitching a scoreless eighth inning on Saturday night. He went back out on Sunday and get the final three outs for the save, giving Kimbrel a much needed day off.

Overall, what we saw from the bullpen this weekend is very encouraging and a step in the right direction. With Drew Pomeranz having a shortened outing on Sunday, the bullpen had a great day. Starting with Hector Velasguez and ending with Joe Kelly, the Red Sox bullpen went five innings, allowing five hits while walking nobody, and giving up no earned runs.

So along with J.D. and Mookie staying hot, the biggest takeaway from this weekend was the bullpen. Leading into the series, they were struggling, but they were able to come out and do their job. Hopefully this trend can continue on from this, as the bullpen can only get better once Thornburg makes his return.