When the Red Sox began the season with three losses to the woeful Orioles, it looked like they were entering the second year of The Curse of Mookie Betts.
Their outlook for 2021 already wasnât promising and then they got swept at home by a team that entered the year with a 0% chance to make the playoffs, per Fangraphs. Boston lost the third game of the series, 11â3. Eleven days later, that remains its most recent loss.
Since dropping the first series to Baltimore, the Red Sox have rattled off nine straight winsâincluding three against the Oriolesâand emerged as somewhat surprising contenders.
So what are we supposed to make of the Red Sox? Well, for one thing, theyâre one of the best hitting teams in the league over the first two weeks. They lead the American League and rank second in the majors with six runs per game, behind the Reds (6.25). During the winning streakâtheir longest since July 2018, when they won 10 in a rowâtheyâre averaging 7.4 runs per game.
At least part of Bostonâs offensive outburst can be attributed to the pitchers it has faced. Jorge LoĚpez, the 2021 version of Michael Wacha and the ghost of Matt Harvey are not exactly imposing. Tampa Bay ace Tyler Glasnow held the Red Sox to one run over six innings while striking out 10 on April 6, before the Rays bullpenâwhich has looked uncharacteristically problematicâblew the lead and Boston won it in 12 innings.Â
But the Red Sox did beat Minnesotaâs two best pitchers (Kenta Maeda and JoseĚ BerriĚos) in each game of Wednesdayâs doubleheader, and they do have some great hitters, along with several other pretty good ones. Right now, theyâre all producing at the same time.
Designated hitter J.D. Martinez has returned to form after a down, in-game, video-less 2020 season. Over his first 11 games, heâs hitting .378 with a 1.307 OPS and five home runs, three of which came Sunday against the Orioles. Third baseman Rafael Devers is slugging .651 and also has five homers. Martinez and Devers each have driven in 13 runs during Bostonâs winning streak. Xander Bogaerts, their longest-tenured player and one of baseballâs best (and more underrated) offensive shortstops, is hitting .372 after a 3-for-7 doubleheader.
Alex Verdugo, the lone big league return piece from the Dodgers in the Mookie Betts trade, is beginning to heat up after a quietly strong 2020. He went 5-for-8 in Wednesdayâs doubleheader and smacked his second home run of the season. Franchy Cordero, a one-time Padres prospect with a ton of power, is also off to a good start. The Red Sox acquired him from the Royals in the trade for Andrew Benintendi in February.
And then thereâs Christian VaĚzquez, whose success at the plate is somewhat unexpected despite his gradual improvements as a hitter over the last few years. Known primarily as a glove-first catcher, VaĚzquez is slashing .325/.372/.550 in 11 games.
More unexpected than the hot start for the Boston bats is what weâve seen from the pitching staff. The Red Sox are allowing 3.3 runs per game during their winning streak after finishing 28th with a 5.58 ERA last season.
The oft-hurt Nathan Eovaldi is 2â1 with a 2.08 ERA in three starts. Eduardo RodrĂguez, who missed last season after he tested positive for COVID-19 and was later diagnosed with myocarditis, has won both of his starts this year, while righthander Nick Pivetta is also 2â0. The bullpen anchored by Matt Andriese, Matt Barnes and Darwinzon Hernandez has been excellent thus far.
Even so, Bostonâs pitching almost certainly wonât hold up this year. Pivetta has a career 5.85 ERA in five seasons; MartiĚn PeĚrez hasnât been reliable since he finished sixth for the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year; Garrett Richards, for all his early promise, hasnât been healthy since 2015. The wild card here is Chris Sale, who is rehabbing after having Tommy John surgery in March 2020. But even if he comes back at full strength, his return is hardly enough to make this a good rotation.
So where do the Red Sox stand moving forward? The Yankees are still the most talented team in the AL East, so at best, Boston is a wild-card team. But there are a number of teamsâthe Blue Jays, Twins and Astros, to name a fewâthat are better suited to make a wild-card run.
The Red Sox wonât maintain their production of six runs per game throughout the season, but they can be an above-average offensive team. Itâs also clear they wonât do much during the season to upgrade their pitching, certainly not if it means sacrificing what little prospect capital they have to make a postseason push.
Overall, a nine-game winning streak in April doesnât change a whole lot. The Red Sox are probably still going to be at best a third-place team by seasonâs end.
