Red Sox 9, Indians 2
Now we’re talking. 19 runs in 2 games against the team that came into this series as the AL leader in ERA, a 40-30 record, the Wild Card lead, Manny Ramirez with a 1.357 OPS over the last 7 days and a starting pitching staff that appears to have found its way.
The Red Sox won 9-2 last night, on the strength of two home runs from David Ortiz, another from Manny Ramirez and a sparkling outing from Bronson Arroyo. The Red Sox have outscored the Tribe, winners of 9 straight coming into Monday’s game, 19-11 over the first 2 games of the series. Boston has settled into a nice spot, wherein what you see is probably what you will get save for a few areas of the club.
For starters, the question of first base and who amongst Kevin Millar, John Olerud and Roberto Petagine might be the longterm solution still lingers. Sure Millar has posted a 1.075 OPS in June, but it would be a real shame to be lured into thinking that this is the Millar we will see for the remainder of the year. Over the last week or so, we have begun to see him fall back to earth again. Giving up on Millar now is not the right solution but neither is blind loyalty, particularly when Petagine has a line of .324/.429/.691 going for the PawSox. I would have no problem hanging in with Millar if there were no other viable options in-house. Certainly he is not so bad that he is worth executing some lopsided deal wherein the Red Sox would have to concede some of their future. But there is no need to go with roster-filler everyday when you have a guy in Pawtucket that immediately could step in and be one of the AL’s 3 or 4 most productive 1st Baseman.
Another question is 2nd Base. Like Millar, Mark Bellhorn has shown life over the last few days but has really not played much better than replacement level in 2005. Here’s another case, however, where a trade doesn’t necessarily make sense, not with Dustin Pedroia raking at a .324/.409/.508 clip in AA Portland. I see little reason to believe that Pedroia could not be a more-than-suitable Major League 2nd Baseman right now.
The final piece of the puzzle to making the Red Sox a truly complete ballclub would be to patch up the bullpen. Immediate help will arrive in the form of the starting pitcher that is bumped out to the ‘pen as a result of Curt Schilling’s return. Help may also arrive in the form of turnarounds from either Alan Embree, Keith Foulke or both. But like with 2nd and 1st Base, the Red Sox needn’t look far nor part with real assets in order to acquire the sort help they need. Lenny Dinardo, Mark Malaska, Abe Alvarez, Cla Meredith and Jeremi Gonzalez all represent potential sources of immediate help. Boston would be wise to entertain these options before deciding that the bullpen’s failures do in fact necessitate a trade.
The Red Sox are firing on all cylinders right now but between 1st Base, 2nd Base and relief pitching, there are still areas that a diligent team would need to monitor, regardless of how much short term success they may be experiencing. These are the areas that could potentially preclude a 2nd consecutive World Championship down the road. Fortunately, alternatives from within abound.
Well do you think a guy sporting a 1.120 OPS in 150 AAA PA’s and a track record like Petagine’s in Japan
can outproduce the likes of Paul Konerko and Mike Sweeney? I sure do.