The Sox look pretty good for the upcoming season, don't they? Strong pitching, strong lineup, decent bullpen. The optimism is something we all feel during this time, but in a few months we're going to look back at ourselves and think we were a little foolish for missing something that seems obvious in retrospect.
There's the usual generic "injuries", "regression" and "Oh my God, what is Farrell doing now?" things that we all think about during the winter and fall. But let's expand this, put on our Karnac hats (Jesus, what an ancient reference) and be a little more specific.
Here are some things I'm (sorta) fretting about:
1. David Price's elbow. They say it's fine, but I'm not sold on it.
2. Sandy Leon, starting catcher. I'm actually a bit surprised that DD didn't do something about this during the winter. After a hot start, Leon fell like a stone.
3. Pablo Sandoval. He has to give the team more production at third base than they got last year, right?
4. Hanley Ramirez and his shoulder. He hit a dinger yesterday and I suppose that he won't be chucking the ball around as a first baseman and DH, but shoulder injuries are no fun.
5. Jackie Bradley's streakiness. At least his defense is consistent.
6. Andrew Benintendi: everyone's ROY. He had a great two months last year and didn't seem phased by the playoffs. Can he do it for a full season?
7. Ortiz' leadership void. I'm not as worried as a lot of people about this, but this seems to be a thing.
There are a couple little things (Pedroia's health and Bogaert's weird second half) but I think that I'm mostly worried about the offense. Which is strange, because that never used to happen*.
* Watch the entire Red Sox staff blow out their elbows when competitive arm wrestling takes over the clubhouse.
There's the usual generic "injuries", "regression" and "Oh my God, what is Farrell doing now?" things that we all think about during the winter and fall. But let's expand this, put on our Karnac hats (Jesus, what an ancient reference) and be a little more specific.
Here are some things I'm (sorta) fretting about:
1. David Price's elbow. They say it's fine, but I'm not sold on it.
2. Sandy Leon, starting catcher. I'm actually a bit surprised that DD didn't do something about this during the winter. After a hot start, Leon fell like a stone.
3. Pablo Sandoval. He has to give the team more production at third base than they got last year, right?
4. Hanley Ramirez and his shoulder. He hit a dinger yesterday and I suppose that he won't be chucking the ball around as a first baseman and DH, but shoulder injuries are no fun.
5. Jackie Bradley's streakiness. At least his defense is consistent.
6. Andrew Benintendi: everyone's ROY. He had a great two months last year and didn't seem phased by the playoffs. Can he do it for a full season?
7. Ortiz' leadership void. I'm not as worried as a lot of people about this, but this seems to be a thing.
There are a couple little things (Pedroia's health and Bogaert's weird second half) but I think that I'm mostly worried about the offense. Which is strange, because that never used to happen*.
* Watch the entire Red Sox staff blow out their elbows when competitive arm wrestling takes over the clubhouse.