So the Red Sox offense so far is… ah, not great. Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Willson Contreras, Trevor Story, and Ceddanne Rafaela are all carrying an OPS below .700. Caleb Durbin is carrying an OPS below the gates of hell. But not all is lost, thanks the prodigious play of Wilyer Abreu. Following his outstanding WBC performance, the outfielder is once again off to a hot start. And, this year, the Sox coaching staff thinks he has the potential to turn into an “elite” bat. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
If the lineup continues to struggle, then one of the talking points of the season will undoubtably all of the offensive options the Red Sox elected not to pull the trigger on this past offseason. One of those players was Isaac Parades, who recorded a hit against the Sox last night. But he actually sounds a bit relieved that he’s not in Boston, owing to his troubles at Fenway: “Truthfully, it’s not a stadium that I can see the ball well [at]. I don’t know why. It’s just difficult for me to see the ball there.” (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
Parades actually hasn’t started all that well either, though he’s been better than the man the Red Sox settled on to play third base, Caleb Durbin, who is 0-14 with one walk and three strikeouts. But Durbin’s not all that worried yet: “Baseball is just one of those sports I think where it’s a very feel sport. So the more you’re in rhythm and the more you have your feels right, you’re going to be hot and you’re going to be feeling good. So it’s just trying to get back to that and work through that. Like I said, it’s just working. You’ve got to put in the work to get those feels back.” (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
And here are two more names to throw into the “not worried” hat: Ranger Suarez and Johan Oviedo, who both struggled last night but are taking it in stride. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
Truthfully, we all should take the words of Durbin, Suarez, and Oviedo to heart. It’s just four freaking games, everyone! Having said that, there’s an argument to be made that the blueprint that Craig Breslow put together for the team this offseason leaves little margin for error. (Rob Bradford, WEEI)
And given that the roster construction could lead to a lot of variance, it’s no surprise that the Red Sox are one of the most polarizing teams in the league with respect to preseason prognostications. (ESPN)
