Are the Red Sox the Best This Year?
| 10
|
by user Hbvgamer
The Boston Red Sox are clearly one of the best teams in the MLB this year. They have a great pitching staff, linup, and coaching staff. At the All Star break, they have the best record in all of baseball. Keep in mind that it's only half the season and anything can happen after the break.
The Sox arguably have one of the best pitching staff's this year. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett, and Curt Schilling have all been good this year creating great starting pitching and reest for the bullpen. Yes, we always hear about them, but Julian Tavarez has been doing well this year. Filling in for an injured Matt Clement, he has made a statement to why he deserves to stay in Boston. After an awful Red Sox debut in the bullpen, he was hated by fans and booed everytime Terry Francona made the call to him. Since he made the switch back to his starting role, he has not been the best pitcher, but has filled in and done a great job. No one expected him to do what he's done. This guy deserves a lot of credit for facing the harsh Fenway crowd and proving his worth. Also, Matt Clement has been on the DL all season. He has been working hard trying to get back and could make his season debut within the next month. He is a guy who has had experiance and is a great pitcher. Although his stats don't show it, from watching him pitch, he clearly has talent and when healthy, will be a winning pitcher and perhaps eventually, a potential Cy Young canadiate. Another young guy has been Gabbard. He recently showed how good he is in his last appearance against the Detroit Tigers holding them to only two runs. Beckett and Dice-K do not need to be expanded upon as they clearly have been dominent. Tim Wakefield does his job as a knuckleballer and consistantly has a .500 wining percentage.
Lets move to their offense. Who to mention first, but Manny and Papi. Both haven't been great this season. Sure, they have good averages, but the power hasn't kicked in yet. They have a combined, 25 home runs which A-Rod has more. Later in the season, they will come around and start hitting in clutch situations. Coco Crisp has recently been hot and is getting back on track to having another ~.300 average by the end of the season. I believe as the season continues, both J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo, will get back towards their old selves. Dustin Pedroia has been an outstanding rookie hitting .318 and contributing to a major part of success with the Sox. Lowell and Youk have also been huge factors to their success in the first half and are hoped to keep contributing throughout the second half and post season. The last batter I must mention is Jason Varitek who has been consistant throughout the year to his career. Not to mention, the whole team has been GREAT in the field making outstanding plays throughout the season. They currently do not have to best fielding percentage in the AL, but always make clutch plays and outstanding catches/stop/putouts.
Needless to say, the Red Sox are a great team, notice I didn't even mention their bullpen which has also been outstanding and merely top notch for the ball club, perhaps one of the best in history. Who could compare to the Red Sox and potentially beat them in the playoffs? Well, there happens to be a number of teams consisting of; Detriot, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Oakland, and yes, the Yankees in the AL.
Detriot- They are matched pretty closely. I would give the edge to the Red Sox, but the Tigers have been outstanding as a team with a sweep of the Sox to end the season. Their pitching is great with 5 solid starters who are all great players. Their offense has been great as well with Magglio Ordonez, Ivan Rodriguez, Carlos Guillen, and Gary Sheffield, just to name a few.
Cleveland- The Indians have been good this season with guys like C.C. Sabathia, Grady Sizemore, and Victor Martinez. They are only back 1.5 games of the Red Sox. They have shown they have an all-around, great team that can play.
Los Angeles- Not the Dogers, the Angels. They have one of the best managers in the game today (Mike Scioscia), as well as a team that can play. All five of their pitchers have lots of potential and all can shut down even the best of lineups. With one of the best defenses and lineups, they may go all the way. They haven't been talked about much by...anyone. I haven't seen anyone pick them to be in the World Series, but maybe I just turn the tv on at the wrong time.
Oakland-What's a race without the A's? Remember the past few years where they seem to come out of no where with wins in Augest. They always have a run and with the players they have, likely will generate yet another late-season rally.
New York- The Yankees clearly are not in playoff cotention yet. Could they? Well yes, but very unlikely. They have the biggest payroll at 195 million a year. They obviously have a good team that just hasn't shown up yet. They could beat the Sox in many of their remaining games. It will not do much, if anything at all for the post season, but they are a team that can beat the Red Sox.
In the NL, I beleive that the New York Mets, San Diego Padres, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. I'll go over it quickly as I find myself redundant with the AL.
Mets- Great team and pitching, one of the best teams in baseball clearly with their players.
Padres-Have the two best strting pitchers (arguably), Jake Peavy and Chris Young, with a great all around pitching staff. Their offense has not been great but is not awful. They will score at least a couple runs a game. They proved how tough they are in the Padres, Red Sox series.
Dodgers- As much as I do not like the Dodgers (don't worry Dodgers fans, I don't like the Giants either), they do have potential and a lot of it. With the team they have, they will be dangerous in the post season assuming they make it.
OK well that wasn't the best analysis of teams that could compare to the Red Sox, but at least there's some right? Anyway, in my opinion, if the Red Sox can get it all together, they could have an even better second half with the team they have. It is like an All Star Team, only playing against regular teams. If you look at their entire team, everyone of those guys has a lot to contribute. Mike Timlin was a great setup man last year and can get out when needed, but he's getting old. Hideki Okajima doesn't need any introduction as he has been a big suprise and has helped the team a lot. The Red Sox, even though they have had many good games and bad games, are the best team in baseball.
