Roche: Red Sox Right Ship To Finish Rough First Month
BOSTON (CBS) - Baseball seasons are never lost in April, but they can put you on the right path.
Or, start you on the wrong one.
Over the course of a 162-game season you generally need one, maybe two months where you play great baseball. And by that I mean somewhere around 17-11, 18-12, 19-9, etc.
You do that and you're usually on your way to a good season.
The Red Sox are closing April with a record right around .500, which is fine. And more than fine after Bobby Valentine watched his team hit "rock bottom" at 4-10 with an epic Saturday afternoon collapse against the Yankees.
However, the Sox regrouped with a 6-1 road trip to Minnesota and Chicago.
Preview: Sox Return Home To Host A's
With that said, here's where we stand as far as this team goes as the season's first month draws to a close:
The Infield
Adrian Gonzalez has been good, not great. He is third on the team in RBI and is playing his usual Gold Glove defense. He will heat up which is a great sign for the team.
I love how Dustin Pedroia continues to surprise people. His new manager can't say enough good things about him. Pedey is the first one to the park each day and is all about baseball. He is the classic example of a lead-by-example player. If others don't see that, shame on them. And, anyone who thought he had too cozy a relationship with his former manager is an idiot. Pedroia is a winner in every sense of the word. You feed off him if you're in that organization. As Valentine (and others) say, Pedroia does three things a game to help his team win. Pedroia's numbers are good, but there's almost no need to look at them.
Mike Aviles looked real good at shortstop from day one of Spring Training and he's taken hold of the job and is playing well, even leading off with Jacoby Ellsbury down. Give Ben Cherington and his baseball ops staff kudos for believing that he could be the everyday starter. The best compliment you can give Aviles? No one has uttered the name Marco Scutaro in Boston.
Kevin Youkilis has been through a tough first month. He's had his manager question his attitude, has hit around .220 and is banged up. Things can only get better, and I believe they will. And if Youk gets hot he can carry the team for a while.
The catching tandem of Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Kelly Shoppach has been solid. Their combined offense of four homers and 13 RBI puts them 4-5 on the team and their manager is liking the way they handle the pitching staff. Can't argue with that.
The Outfield
Cody Ross has been better than I thought he would be. He joins Pedroia, Youk, and Ortiz as grinders. He's got some pop and isn't afraid of any situation. His defense is average, but he should be fine in left. Darnell McDonald is starting to come around which will help as the season progresses.
Marlon Byrd was a perfect pick-up for this team. He's surrounded by great hitters and that eases his burden mentally at the plate. He plays a solid center field too which should take some pressure off Jacoby Ellsbury as far as rushing back.
Read: Dan Roche's Sports Blog
Ryan Sweeney is better than we knew. The one thing that J.D. Drew brought when he played was consistent defense. Sweeney can do that, and he uses all parts of the field while hitting. Don't expect him to ht .370 each month, but he's fine for a bottom of the order guy.
DH
David Ortiz continues to prove all the "haters" wrong. He's gotten off to one of his best starts ever. Hitting close to .400 with four home runs and 18 RBI. He's been big all month. Again, David's numbers have been as consistent as anyone in the game for years. These one-year deals are as perfect as you can get. It pays him well, but also keeps him extremely motivated. And, remember, he handles Boston as well as any player you'll ever see.
Starting Pitching
The rotation seemed to steady on this recent road trip. Jon Lester pitched like an ace, and had to in matching Jake Peavy pitch for pitch in a 1-0 win over the White Sox on Saturday.
Josh Beckett is what he is, sore thumb and all. He will throw in the low 90's, mix his pitches, and locate. He'll win more games than he loses and pretty much keep you in the ballgame. Anyone in the game will take that.
Clay Buchholz has struggled so far, however it's early. Bobby Valentine reminded us that Buchholz didn't pitch much last year and may need time to feel right. He gets an early pass from me, for now.
Felix Doubront has been fine as the fourth starter. You get the sense that he may be a five inning guy each start, which makes someone like Scott Atchison a must-be-available guy in the bullpen on nights he pitches.
Daniel Bard disappointed a lot of people by basically saying he was a starter not a reliever when this bullpen was in total disarray. I don't care if you have behind-the-scenes conversations about that with your manager and GM, but publicly you should be saying that you will do "whatever helps the team win". Period.
With that said, Bard has been pretty good as a starter. I'm excited to see how he progresses too.
Read: Matsuzaka Heading To Pawtucket
The last factor with the rotation is pitch counts. We've already seen Lester throw 122 pitches and Beckett 126, something that he hasn't done since 2004. Terry Francona and John Farrell (and Theo Epstein for that matter) kept pitch counts down and gave their starters rest in August and September if they could so that they would be good to go in October. Keep an eye on how this affects the starters down the road.
The Bullpen
Things have settled down and roles have been defined. It hasn't been an easy journey to get there, but the relievers are doing the job. After a rough start, Alfredo Aceves has shown he can close. Bobby V seems to have settled on Franklin Morales and Vicente Padilla as set-up guys, but seems flexible if Junichi Tazawa, Matt Albers, Scott Atchison, and other continue to pitch well. Meanwhile, Rich Hill gets a chance to be that invaluable second lefty.
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Manager
Bobby Valentine has been interesting to say the least. He publicly ripped his third baseman, said he was in a "slump", but has been extremely positive about his team. I think he learned a quick lesson in the Youkilis debacle. A concern is just how much of a baseball genius he is. We saw him not know whether his team was facing a lefty or right before a game which on the surface is scary. However, the hope is he will get better as the season moves along. They need him. Not for motivation, but to manage game situations, pitch counts, line-ups etc.
Overall
After the 4-10 start, you have to give credit to this team for righting the ship. How good can they be? Very good, especially if they get both Ellsbury and Crawford back.
However, you get the sense that this team will go only as far as their pitching goes - their starting pitching. It's what killed them in September and it looks like it will make or break them this year as well.
Follow WBZ-TV's Dan Roche on twitter @RochieWBZ
