2011 Boston Red Sox season review (90-72)

What a heartbreaking end to a heartbreaking season. :(  Weird that I slept just fine. No postseason = no more making way to watch games anymore. I love it but I hate it.

Ok, so in the beginning of the season, I made some predictions of what I expected in the season. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and see how many I got right!

***TEXTS HIGHLIGHTED IN RED WERE PREDICTIONS***

***TEXTS IN WHITE ARE WHAT I THINK NOW***

1)           

This is what I thought the lineup would look like. But, this was months ago when the Red Sox acquired Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford.

This is probably more likely of what their projected lineup is going to be. I think you could switch Crawford/Gonzalez around.

--- HA! My projected lineup was wrong in so many levels. I thought Carl Crawford was going to leadoff for most of the season because of his almighty OBP. Abysmal first year in a Red Sox uniform for Crawford (.255 AVG/ 11 HR/ 56 RBI). Total underachiever. Dustin Pedroia = right. Adrian Gonzalez = right. Kevin Youkilis = right (until he got injured). David Ortiz = right. J.D. Drew = somewhat right (until he got injured). Marco Scutaro = wrong (moved everywhere in the lineup). Jarrod Saltalamacchia = somewhat right. Jacoby Ellsbury = WRONG.

2)   2)    In a perfect world, I expect AT LEAST 4/5 of the starting pitchers to win 15 games or more.

--- Well, I certainly got this WRONG. Only one starter got to 15 wins and that was Jon Lester. Josh Beckett had 13 wins and was certainly on pace but was sidetracked during the season. John Lackey, OH MY GOD, where do I begin. Do I even need to begin? They need to get rid of this cancer IMMEDIATELY. Typing in CAPS certainly helps me get my points across. Clay Buchholz injured for most of the season. Daisuke Matsuzaka gone for the entire season. OHHHHHHH.

Jon Lester has been pretty consistent the past three years with 16/15/19 wins. He’s a strikeout machine. It’s a lock that he should continue that success.

--- Continued success I got right. Stumbled here and there on starts but is reliable when needed. Here’s to more continued success.

Hopefully, John Lackey rebounds from last year and show that his first year in the A.L. East was an adjustment. If he can duplicate his success in 2007 where he had 19 wins, the Red Sox should be sitting high.

--- Yeah, right. What in the world was I thinking saying Lackey would bounce back after a year. He did EVEN WORSE than last year. 6.41 ERA!!!!!!!!!!

Clay Buchholz showed everyone last year the kind of potential and promise they were expecting of him. All he needed was a chance and a full season under his belt and look what happened. 17-7 with a 2.33 ERA.

--- Well, he got a sure spot on the rotation this year and it looked like he was going to continue that success from last year until the INJURY BUG struck.

Josh Beckett is probably the biggest story (as far as pitchers go) within the rotation. Everyone projects him as a dominating pitcher and an “ace.” Putting him as the fourth starter will hopefully motivate him into pitching well and proving that he deserves to be higher within the rotation. Getting beaned in the head and inconsistent pitching during Spring Training isn’t helping him going into the season. Hopefully that changes.

--- He did take back that “ace” role and was counted on to stop the bleeding when the Red Sox were hitting a funk. (13-7 [OK]) with a 2.89 ERA until the INJURY BUG struck.

And finally, we have Daisuke Matsuzaka. He’s the wildcard in all this. If he can even remotely duplicate his 2008 season where he somehow went 18-3 (despite always loading the bases and somehow getting away with no runs), then this will fully round the rotation.

--- Yeah, right. What in the world was I thinking here?

Realistically, I think only 3/5 will get it done (Lester, Buchholz, and Beckett). I hope I’m wrong, though.

--- ALMOST! (Not really)

3)     Over or under? Adrian Gonzalez will finish the season with a .300 AVG/ 38 HR/ 132

RBI.

--- Finished the season with a .338 AVG so I got that right. 27 HRs so I got that wrong. 117 RBIs so I got that wrong. Still a great season for Gonzalez, though. Cooled off a lot in September but should still be mentioned for MVP voting.

Carl Crawford will have 61 stolen bases (one more than his ’09 season where he had 60).

--- 18 stolen bases in 2011. WOW was I off or what? Out of touch.

4)     Jed Lowrie will have better statistics over Marco Scutaro despite being on the  

      BENCH.

--- Nope, WRONG again. Complete opposite. Jed Lowrie (INJURY BUG) = 88 games, .252 AVG/ 6 HR/ 36 RBI. OPS = .685. Marco Scutaro = 113 games, .299 AVG/ 7 HR/ 54 RBI. OPS = .781. Surely they must be thinking of picking up Scutaro’s option for next year. Who else is out there?

5)     Hideki Okajima will find a way back into the team. They need some lefty relievers.

    

      --- The artist formerly known as “OKI-DOKI” appeared in only 7 games, boasting a  

      1-0, 4.32 ERA before he was given the pink slip. How Matt Albers made it to the 

      team is something I would love to know.

6)     Red Sox WILL win 100 games this year and the A.L. East title.

      --- They most certainly COULD’VE and SHOULD’VE. If only they won the games

      that they SHOULD’VE and didn’t blow the whole month of September.

7)     Kevin Youkilis will be a serious contender to win the A.L. MVP award.

      --- I still believed this until the INJURY BUG struck. The Big Three of Ellsbury,

      Gonzalez, and Pedroia are most definitely going to be in the talks for MVP. Ellsbury  

      is above Gonzalez and Pedroia, in my opinion. Gonzalez over Pedroia.

8)     Tim Wakefield will find a way back into the rotation. He always does. Can’t put that 

      68 MPH fastball in the dumps!

--- Oh, he certainly found his way into the rotation (thanks to Buchholz/Dice-K). Sucks that they were so inclined to give Wakefield so many shots at win #200 when in actually, it costed them big time. Those starts he had should’ve belonged to a machine named ALFREDO ACEVES (give the man a raise!!!!)

9)     This will be Daniel Bard’s year to shine to show he’s the future closer which means

       bye bye Jonathan Papelbon.

--- “Daniel Bard’s year to shine to show he’s the future closer…” until the month of September came. OOPS. Jonathan Papelbon bounced back into a dominant year until the very last game. We all know what happened there. :(

10)   ’04 + ’07 = ’11 World Series Champs. Destiny? I think so. But you, you already

        KNOW that!

        --- :(     :(     :(

***BONUS**** 10 Thoughts heading into next season for 2012 (more questions than thoughts)

1)   1)   It’s expected (at least I think) that Beckett and Lester will likely be the 1+2 starters, but who goes after? If Buchholz is ready, you would think he’d be the 3^rd. JOHN LACKEY? I’d hate to think. They seriously need to find all possibilities to get rid of this guy. But who would want that atrocious contract that he has? No one. Dice-K is already a flop they should shop him around. Wakefield? Bring him back but LEAVE HIM IN THE BULLPEN.

2)   Is this the last we’ve seen of David Ortiz, Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Marco Scutaro, and Jonathan Papelbon? Ortiz is someone who I would think would have the best shot at coming back. He has produced (.309 AVG/ 29 HR/ 96 RBI). 50/50 with Varitek. Do they consider the tandem of Saltalamacchia/Lavarnway heading forward? What about Wakefield? The senior citizen should come back only if he were to stay in the bullpen. J.D. Drew? Likely retiring. Jacoby Ellsbury I would think would like to stay (GIVE HIM CRAWFORD’S CONTRACT!). Marco Scutaro I would think would get his option picked up. Jonathan Papelbon? Likely to test free agency but who knows what will happen with him.

3)   A L F R E D O   A C E V E S ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

4)   Who stays or gets fired? Terry Francona? Theo Epstein? Both? None?

5)   Who’s going to man right field? Josh Reddick showed promise but sizzled during the stretch. RYAN KALISH? Hope he comes back. I was really hoping that the Red Sox would get HUNTER PENCE but NOOOOOO, they didn’t make a deal for him in July. Missed chance.

6)   People are already calling Carl Crawford a bust. This season? YES. I’d give him a chance to bounce back next year. Prove me wrong, Carl.

7)   Must… revamp… bullpen.

8)   Letting Victor Martinez walk was the stupidest thing they could’ve done.

9)   What happens to Erik St. Bedard?

10)                   This is going to be a loooooonnnnnnngggggg winter.

BoSox Shenanigans (69-43)

10 Thoughts










1) So in the beginning of the season, our starting rotation went: Jon Lester, John Lackey (WHAT?), Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett, and Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Jon Lester is having a typical Lester year (11-5, 3.23 ERA). The best thing about Lester is that he’s consistent with his starts. Sure, every starter has that one bad outing. But, Lester defies that notion because he’s always able to go 6+ innings when he’s pitching.

John Lackey (WHAT?) is having a much-troubled second year. He’s currently 10-8 with a 6.14 ERA. 6.14 ERA! This was the same guy advertised who we thought could be a bonafide 2-3 starter? Doesn’t look like the “ace” we saw when he was with the Los Angeles Angels!

Josh Beckett is proving that he didn’t deserve to be starting 4th in the year. He has bounced back tremendously and is starting to look like the Beckett of old (circa ’07, ’09). He has rightfully claimed back that “ace” status. Respectful 9-4 with a 2.20 ERA.

Daisuke Matsuzaka. GONE. Nothing else needs to be said. His season was lost due to needing Tommy John surgery. This signing is looking to be a really big bust. Still can’t believe he went 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA in 2008!

Clay Buchholz, in my opinion, was the X-factor into helping the team into the postseason. It looks like his season might be over with a lower back strain, although they say it’s not totally for sure. He was 6-3 with a 3.48 ERA before he went down. He certainly was on pace to win 15+ games had it not been for the injury. If he is indeed gone for the year, I WISH WE STILL HAD JUSTIN MASTERSON!

Can’t forget about the spot starters: Tim Wakefield (especially), Alfredo Aceves (especially and very valuable), Andrew Miller, and Kyle Weiland. These guys deserve a lot of credit for still leading the Red Sox into having one of the best records in the Majors.




2) I like the situation between Jarson Varitamacchia #3933 (Varitek/Saltalamacchia). Granted, it probably would’ve benefitted Salty more if he played more, but at this point, it’s good to split the loads between the two catchers. Beckett obviously loves/is more comfortable when ‘Tek is catching him; plus Varitek is good in handling with other (new) pitchers. Salty is a great offensive punch and throws out more base stealers. Hopefully when Varitek’s time is up, Salty will pick up the knowledge and understandings of the pitchers and continue his success at the plate.




3) J.D. Drew will have spent five years as a Red Sock and still no one knows a single thing about him. Much like my four years at Suffolk University. Lulz.

TROT NIXON, The REAL #7

4) Tim Wakefield will definitely pick up his 200th win as a pitcher by the end of the year. That’s an incredible accomplishment and I hope he gets it when it’s in Fenway Park. It will definitely be very emotional.





5) Jonathan Papelbon, like Josh Beckett, is having a bounce-back year. Although his ERA (3.35) is slightly higher than previous years, he’s becoming that instant “shut-out games” when he closes (circa ’06-’09). Honorable mention has to go to Daniel Bard who is showing how superb he is and potentially be our closer of the future. It’s going to be a tough offseason for management in deciding who’s going to close out games in the future. Papelbon is making his case that he is still dominant.





6) Can the Red Sox PLEASE somehow get rid of John Lackey, Bobby Jenks, and Dice-K? In a perfect world where we can easily do something, I’d happily trade all three of them for a kiwi smoothie.

7) Kevin Youkilis, in my opinion, is a better first baseman than third. I’m just saying. I miss Mike Lowell.





8) What was Dustin Pedroia hitting in May? Like .220? Look where he is now, he’s hitting .310. Don’t doubt the scrapper. In 2007, he was hitting like, what, .180? Oh yeah, he went on to ending the ’07 season hitting .317. Amazing.





9) Jacoby Ellsbury is having a MVP type season. He sure as heck is hitting like it and deserves serious consideration. 111 games played; hitting .321, 19 HR, 72 RBI, and an OPS of .899. He’s only stolen 31 bases and has been walked 38 times. Major switch-off in his game and approach. This after coming off a major injury last year. He deserves the contract Carl Crawford has and he certainly looks like the $142 million man. This isn’t even to knock on Crawford because I like him. He’s having an OFF season as opposed to what we’re used to seeing him (when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays). His numbers are down in practically EVERY major category. Hopefully he bounces back next year with one year under his belt as a Red Sock. I have faith in him that he will.

And people dare called him "SOFT"

10) The Adrian Gonzalez trade and signing is looking to be the best thing EVER. I don’t even need to speak of what he has done and meant for the team. He’s currently leading the Majors in AVG (.352), RBI (91), Hits (159), TB (253), and 2nd in XBH (55). All this and there’s still 70 games left to be played!









RED SOX vs. PHILLIES WORLD SERIES CAN’T COME SOON ENOUGH!