Should we be worried?
The Red Sox are off to a 0-4 start and everyone and their mother is ready to hurl stones at Theo Epstein and the Sox brass. After all, they did just acquire the two top free agents and have the third highest payroll in baseball—behind only the Yankees and Phillies. (And that doesn’t count the contract extension the team is inevitably going to hand to Adrian Gonzalez to in the not-so-distant future.)
It's a little too early for any collective dissension.
It’s like Avon Barksdale telling Stinger Bell he isn’t worried about the threat of Omar sneaking up and stealing his stash, and maybe a little bit of his reputation in the process. Deep down, you know he is, and we all know the Red Sox are going to start feasting on mediocre ball clubs when the weather warms and the heart of the season is upon us.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t a few unsettling statistics hovering over the team in the early goings. For one, NO team has won the World Series after starting the season 0-4. Zero. Also, the team has been unable to get in any sort of groove. The pitching staff can’t get anything by opposing hitters. They’re throwing beach balls right now. The vaunted offense everyone was so afraid of? They can’t seem to find their way from the dugout to home plate.
But this isn’t a young team trying to find its identity. They know who they are and what they are capable of doing. Carl Crawford may be pushing too hard to make an immediate impact with his new team, and the starting rotation may make you think twice about making any postseason plans for this club, but they’re a group that has been there.
Josh Beckett, for one, finally looks healthy again. He may have received the loss in his first start of the season against Cleveland (five innings, three runs), but he is not the same guy as last year. He probably won’t be the guy he was in 2007 when ran through the playoffs like the Incredible Hulk does brick walls, but he is certainly capable of winning 15 games and giving the team a reliable fourth starter.
As for what the rest of the rotation is capable of? Lackey is a guy who will eat up innings and pitch well in big games. Lester is probably the best left handed starter in baseball. Buchholz? Who knows what he will do after a sterling ‘10 campaign, but all signs point to him being a pretty grounded third guy in the rotation.
The point of is: the Red Sox will still be there when it’s all said and done. I almost can’t believe it needs to be said, but losing four ugly games in a row can prompt such derision from people.
What people should be worried about is whether or not Shaq is going to be healthy for the playoffs; or, if the Bruins are capable of winning an important series against the likes of Philly and Pittsburgh in the playoffs.
The Red Sox? They’ll be fine. Just ask Avon.
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