The AL East is always a marathon. A team will need to stay healthy and be consistent over the course of the entire season. Also, the division winner will need to be willing to give up prospects at the trade deadline to acquire talent.
The Boston Red Sox definitely ‘went for it’ by giving up a lot of prospects for starter Chris Sale and it paid off last year. He picked up the slack when other former elite starters Rick Porcello and David Price were replacement-level starters for the Red Sox. Can he strikeout 300+ batters again this season?
Boston is once again in an arms race with the New York Yankees. The Sox had to make a big splash and signed slugger J.D. Martinez after the Yankees added Giancarlo Stanton. The AL East looks to be a two-team race again after the Orioles and Blue Jays took a step back last season.
Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Boston Red Sox.
2017 Win/Loss Record: 93-69
Key Additions: OF/DH J.D. Martinez
Key Losses: OF Chris Young, RP Fernando Abad, RP Addison Reed, OF Rajai Davis, RP Blaine Boyer, SP Doug Fister, 2B Josh Rutledge & RP Ben Taylor
Interleague Schedule: NL East
Projected Starters: Christian Vazquez, Hanley Ramirez, Dustin Pedroia, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts & J.D. Martinez
Projected Starting Rotation: Chris Sale, Rick Porcello, David Price, Drew Pomeranz & Eduardo Rodriguez
Closer: Craig Kimbrel
Fantasy Sleeper: SP Drew Pomeranz – How can a 17-game winner be a fantasy sleeper? Well, when he’s one of the few guys in his rotation that doesn’t have a Cy Young award. He’s just going to naturally overlooked in a rotation with big names sucking up all the oxygen. He could keep on being the #4 starter and rack up wins this season on a very good Red Sox team.
Prospects To Keep Your Eye On: 3B Michael Chavis – The Red Sox have plenty of guys who should be on Major League rosters, but are blocked by talent. Chavis has a ton of power and probably should be called up as he killed Double-A last season. He will most likely start the season at Double-A, but is blocked by Rafael Devers and Tzu-Wei Lin in the Majors and Triple-A. He’s a guy to keep an eye on. If he keeps knocking homers, the Red Sox will need to do something with him.
Team Analysis: The Red Sox have won 93 games in back-to-back seasons. They come into this season with nearly the exact team minus a few bullpen arms. The one upgrade they made was adding power hitter J.D. Martinez who had the best HR per at-bat ratio in the Majors last year.
It’s scary to think that Boston had mediocre years from a few of their studs and still won 93 games. Rick Porcello and David Price did live up to their pay scale last season. Porcello came off a Cy Young season in 2016 and cough up a 4.65 ERA and -0.2 WAR last season. Price dealt with injuries and only had seven quality starts in 16 appearances. Sale was their best starter, by far, by striking out 308 batters over 32 starts. If Porcello and Price can perform more like their past seasons, Boston could be a 100-win team this year.
The Yankees upgraded a few positions with high-ticket players. They will battle the Sox for the AL East, but Boston’s starting rotation is unmatched. The race will be a season-long marathon this season, but Boston will come out on top.
2018 Wins Over/Under Betting Line: 92 (Prediction: OVER)
2018 Projected Win/Loss Record: 96-66 (1st in AL East)
CLICK HERE to read the rest of our 2018 MLB Team Previews
Follow us on Twitter @Sweetbob & ‘LIKE’ us on Facebook!
About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.