It’s always been a common theme in sports, especially early on, to jump to conclusions, but the Boston Red Sox are on fire.
Now I’m not gonna follow this trend and make overzealous predictions following early success but the 2018 Boston Red Sox are one of the MLB’s best. This cannot be denied.
In what looks to be a slow start by the rest of the league, the Red Sox look like they are easily in the conversation of being a serious World Series Contender.
Are they beating bad teams?
Yes. But you know what good teams do? Win. Touting a young hitting core backed by strong veterans and a mature but spry rotation with a proven and deadly bullpen.
The Red Sox are in good shape so far in 2018.
But what separates this Boston Red Sox team from teams of the past?
Especially following back to back AL East division titles and early first round exits?
The New Guy
While the Boston Red Sox still boast the same young vibrant core of guys like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and Andrew Benintendi, there is one piece that caused rapid change. That comes in the form of J.D. Martinez. The right fielder was signed this offseason following a standoff between Dave Dombrowski and Martinez’ agent Scott Boras. Boras commanded no less than 7 years and over 200 million dollars for his client at the start of the offseason.
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After a long 4 month holdout by the Sox, they managed to sign him to a 5-year 110 million dollar contract with the fifth year being an option. In 54 games with the Red Sox, Martinez is boasting an average of .320 (15th in majors) with 17 home runs (2nd) and 44 RBIs (T-1). On April 12, JD Martinez was hitting .227 with a .725 OPS. Since then, he’s hit the cover off the ball.
JD has paid dividends for a Red Sox team that since the departure of David Ortiz, has been without the true power hitter to bat cleanup. One of the most encouraging things about Martinez is his approach. He is always looking to make strong contact, with his ISO power numbers being second in the league only to his teammate, Mookie Betts.
Martinez also excels at hitting the ball out of the park in all different directions, with many of his big knocks being to the opposite field, showing that he is one of the most competent hitters in Major League Baseball, and is a major part of a power-hungry Red Sox offense.
The Skipper
The manager element is one that is almost never seen on television.
The manager is, however, one of the biggest aspects of an entire ball club. Now, John Farrell always gets brought up as the black sheep, notorious for his standoff’s with his own players and showing no emotion.
For all his bad pedigree, Farrell brought the Red Sox to a World Series and led them to 3 division titles during his tenure. Taking the helm following Farrell’s firing last fall would be former Red Sox player and at the time current bench coach for the Houston Astros, Alex Cora. Cora played four seasons in Boston and was a part of the 2007 World Series team. What makes Cora appealing as a manager, is his attitude with players.
The 42-year-old Cora understands what makes the everyday player tick. With his goal of translating down from higher-ups to the players themselves. The man he served under in Houston, AJ Hinch sees why Cora is such a great guy to have in the clubhouse.
"“When you see him interact with players and you see the buy-in that he gets, it’s very easy to see why he was a good teammate, and why he’s beloved around the league.”"
The Return of MVP Mookie
Through 54 games, arguably no one in baseball has been better than Mookie Betts.
It’s gotten to the point that its nearly impossible to find a statistical batting category that he isn’t in the top 5. In the early goings, he has been absolutely tremendous, batting .359 with 17 home runs and 37 RBIs. Betts is leading the league in Batting Average, Home Runs, Runs, Slugging, OPS, and Doubles. Mookie has returned to the MVP race with a bang.
This is especially promising for Betts, who struggled towards the end of last season, finishing with a career-low .264 average and only 24 home runs. So far in 2018, he is more than halfway to his total last year. The troubling part about last season is that Betts actually had one less strikeout than he did the year before in his runner-up MVP season.
This year, Mookie is seeing the ball in all different kinds of ways. The approach is the same, Mookie still hits like a classic leadoff man, but his launch angle has improved to 17.4 with more home runs coming higher up in the zone. Defensively, Mookie is still one of the leagues best outfielders and still totes a crystal clean fielding percentage. He’s on pace to be in the MVP conversation once again.
The Competition has gotten better
The New York Yankees have been the Boston Red Sox’s biggest rivals.
If one thing is certain, the Yankees always will play the Red Sox incredibly tough. Over the past few seasons, the Yankees have competed for the AL East Crown, but the Red Sox have had the better of them. This year, however, the Yankees are fully loaded with stars like Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, and Gary Sanchez, and they are looking to make a push for the AL East. The push has always been there, but this year the Sox have serious competition.
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The AL East is a two horse race, with the Boston Red Sox in lane 1 and the New York Yankees in lane 2, and its gonna stay this way for the foreseeable future. The Sox and Yankees have both won a series against one another so far this season. While the Red Sox have a talented club, it is definitely not a walk in the park.