Well the first month or so of the 2008 season was an interesting one for the Boston Red Sox. They cut out of training camp early to take a week and play in Japan. Of the four games in the Land of the Rising Sun two were exhibitions against Japanese teams and two counted for real against the Oakland A’s (1-1). After that they flew to Los Angeles for a three game exhibition series with the Los Angeles Dodgers that included a night game at the LA Coliseum.
Then it was back to the regular season with two games in Oakland (2-0) against the A’s again and then to their third country in ten days or so to play the Blue Jays in Toronto (0-3). With their return to Boston for opening day the team had flown through 23 time zones, stayed in 3 countries, ten hotels, visited 7 airports and flew a total 165,365 miles while going through customs 8 times. I must confess those numbers are made up but I’m sure I’m close on the country count. Everything else I might be off a bit on so don’t quote me.
Opening day brought us the ring ceremony and the raising of the banner, which is something by the way the Red Sox have done more times than the New York Yankees since 2001. In fact both clubs have appeared in two World Series each since 2001 the only difference being the Red Sox won theirs. They played 3 games against Detroit (2-1) and 3 against the Yankees (2-1) before they went to Cleveland to face the Chief Wahoo’s Erie Warriors (2-0) and then to the Bronx (1-1). The last half of the month saw a home stand against Texas (4-0) and Los Angeles Angels (1-2) before they went to Tampa Bay and got swept (0-3). The club finished the month at home with a pair of games against the Blue Jays (2-0) that each ended in walk off fashion. Overall they were 17-12 for March/April and are in first place in the American League East.
Manager Terry Francona: Got to give Tito credit for the team basically keeping it together through the long road trip to open up with, through some injuries to key guys and the flu bug that ran rampant through the clubhouse. All in all it could have been a lot worse. Grade: B+
Starting Nine:
Center Fielder Jacoby Ellsbury: Hit .280 with 3 HR and 11 RBI while splitting some time in the beginning with Coco Crisp before he was injured. He is also 8 for 8 steal attempts this year and 17 for 17 in his career. A clear early candidate for AL ROY. Grade: B+
Second Baseman Dustin Pedroia: Last year’s AL ROY hit .303 for the month and made several dazzling defensive plays highlighted by being called Superman by Toronto’s Vernon Wells. Is quickly becoming a leader on this team and one of the better 2nd baseman in the AL. Has 12 multi-hit games to lead the AL and is second in hits with 36. Grade: A-
Designated Hitter David Ortiz: Suffered through one of the worst slumps of his career in April but has looked better the last two weeks. Despite the slump he leads the team in RBI with 21 and has 5 HR but is hitting a mere .184. Grade: C-
Left Fielder Manny Ramirez: Approaching the 500 career HR milestone and ended the month at 496. Was leading the league in hitting for the last week of the month and is now third. Has 6 HR and 20 RBI to go with a .343 BA. Has had a few Manny moments but for the most part looks like he’s hustling and running most of the time. Grade: A-
Third Baseman Kevin Youkilis: We put Kevin at 3B for the month because he logged some serious time there with the injury to Mike Lowell. Once again off to a good start .304-2-15 but needs to work on staying steady the entire season at the plate. No matter what though his defense seems to get better and better and currently holds the record for errorless chances and games for first basemen. Grade: B+
Right Fielder JD Drew: Started the month very hot and has cooled down a bit while battling the flu and a nagging quad injury. We have seen glimpses of the player Theo Epstein fell in love with and I just want to see more of it. He appears much more comfortable in his second season and I think last year will be a distant memory. .369-3-13 and has reached base in 19 of the 22 games he has played in. Grade: B-
Catcher/team captain Jason Varitek: Once again proves his worth behind the plate but needs to do more at the plate as .243 doesn’t cut it. I can live with .263 but not .243. Missed nearly a week with the flu. Grade: C+
First Baseman Sean Casey: This guy was exceptional playing in place of Youkilis who moved to third because of the hand injury to Mike Lowell. Showed why the Red Sox were so hot to grab him by showing great plate discipline and is a very good fielder. .346-0-8 for the month. Grade: B
Short Stop Julio Lugo: Oh Julio…if you’re a Rodney Dangerfield fan you’ll recognize that line from “Easy Money”…had a 9-game hit streak snapped on April’s last day is hitting .281 but has only stolen two bases in four chances. His fielding continues to be suspect as his footwork is worse than most little leaguers. Had a three error game and leads all SS with 7 errors. Feels the breath of Jed Lowrie on his neck. Grade: C-
The Bench:
Third Baseman Mike Lowell: Spent a good part of the month on the DL. And is hitting just .189 in 37 AB’s. Has yet to homer or drive in a run. Grade: C-
Catcher Kevin Cash: Filled in admirably for Varitek while he was sick. Has become the catcher for Tim Wakefield. Seems to be an offensive upgrade over Mirabelli as he is hitting .323. Grade: B
Infielder Alex Cora: Has spent most of the month on the DL but is 3 for 3 in 3 games. Grade: incomplete
Outfielder Coco Crisp: Missed over a week with a hamstring injury that first cropped in training camp. Has been effective when he is available to play. Hitting .293 with 5RBI. Had an 8 game hit streak and has 4 bunt hits. Grade: B-
Infielder Jed Lowrie: The rookie has done nothing but hit since getting here. Had an 8 game hit streak to start his career and is batting .323. Steady in the field. Grade: B+
Outfielder Brandon Moss: Started the season with the team in Japan and had a key homerun. Came back late in the month after playing most of the month in Triple A where he is working on playing 1B. Hitting .286-1-2 in limited time. Grade: B-
The Pitching Staff:
The Starters:
Josh Beckett: 2-2 in four starts with a 4.10 ERA but his WHIP is 0.94. had a great outing to end his month in Tampa but took a loss. Grade: B
Daisuke Matsuzaka: 4-0 in 6 starts with a 2.52 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. Ladies and gentlemen this is the guy we paid the big bucks for. Has been masterful at times and on the last start of the month was absolutely brilliant. Grade: A-
Jon Lester: Sometimes because of his upside we forget that this guy is just 24-years old. Beat cancer and is getting stronger everyday. Ended his month with a great outing at Fenway against Toronto. This is the Jon Lester that the staff see’s and he is finally getting a healthy chance to show his stuff. 1-2 in 7 starts with a 4.31 ERA and 1.53 WHIP Grade: C+
Tim Wakefield: 2-0 in 5 starts with a 4.06 ERA and 1.48 WHIP. Grade C+
Clay Buchholz: Started an impressive four game swing by the starters that all gave up 3 hits or less and either lost or had a N/D. 1-2 in 5 starts with a 4.08 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. Grade B-
The Bullpen:
Jonathan Papelbon: 2-0 with 8 saves and 2.08 ERA. Is 8 for 8 in save chances and has more swings and misses than anyone I’ve seen in recent history. 19 of his last 36 outs have been K’s. Grade: A-
Hideki Okajima: 1-0 with 1 save and 0.89 ERA has once again been very good. Has allowed just one run in 10 innings all year. Grade: A-
Mike Timlin: 2-2 13.50 ERA with a 2.83 WHIP. Has been an arsonist since his DL stint. Grade F
David Aardsma: 1-1 with a 3.29 ERA. Throws really hard and can be overpowering. Has lapses in location. Grade: C+
Javier Lopez: 1-0 4.50 ERA. Lefties are just 3 of 18 off of him (.167). Has retired 12 of the last 19 hitters he has faced. Grade: C+
Manny DelCarmen: Struggled nearly the whole month and fact he had the flu didn’t help him. 0-1 with a 6.17 ERA teams are hitting .289 off of him. Has allowed runs in 7 of 14 games including last 4 appearances Grade: F
Julian Tavarez: 0-1 5.23 ERA with a 1.94 WHIP. Righties are hitting a mere 1.82 off of him they are 4 for 22. Has allowed 11 hits and 8 runs (6 earned) in last 7.1 innings. Grade D
Excellent as usual. I actually agree with all of those grades.
I’d have to agree. After the Japan trip, the silly scheduling which left the Sox with a 20 games in 20 days stretch, you’d have to take their record in April. It’s actually better than I imagined.
I agree with you Ken. I think it’s better than anyone imagined. Given that everyone was thinking, they’d have a similar start to what the Yankees had when they played over there. I figured a .500 record for the month.