If you ask me, and again I'm totally biased, Ellsbury should've been the AL MVP last year. There is no way any team in all of baseball wouldn't miss a guy like him. He's great in the field, he's exactly what you want as a leadoff hitter, and he seems like a total team player. So yes, he will be missed for the 6-8 weeks he is presumed to be out. But it may not be as bad as it looks upon first glance. There are options.
So what are those options for centerfield? Saturday's lineup featured Darnell McDonald in left, Ryan Sweeney in Right, and Cody Ross in center. Personally, I think D-Mac would be better suited for center as I feel like he's a bit more mobile than Ross. But I understand putting the guy with the most Fenway experience in left to deal with the Monster. The Red Sox also called up Che-Hsuan Lin from Triple A, but I'd be shocked if he lasts long. While he's a good fielder with an above average arm, I'm concerned with his bat. He only hit .235 last year and his career minor-league average is .257 which just won't cut it in The Show. So I think the outfield that played today is just fine, and if we can get Ross a little more accustomed to left and switch him with D-Mac, I think we could be even better off.
While Saturday was a great display by the Sox hitter that Ellsbury wasn't needed, it was just one game. I'm hoping they will band together and get through the next 2 months or so without him and still be in the race when he returns. Given the guys on the team right now, I do think this is possible. Cody Ross performed on the big stage in San Francisco and D-Mac has already played a season in Boston, so he knows what the pressure is like. Couple them with Ryan Sweeney, who was at one time the number 1 ranked prospect in the White Sox system, and we've got very capable outfield.
What it really all boils down to is pitching. Shocker, I know. I'm a huge believe in the "good pitching will beat good hitting everytime" mantra. Outside of Buccholz shaky first, he looked pretty good. 104 pitches through 7 innings with 66 strikes isn't bad at all. While giving up 5 ER isn't great, consider that after that rough 1st inning, he only gave up 1. He'll be a work in progress, but he showed good potential today. He could have easily imploded and been done after 3 like David Price was yesterday. All in all, I think this is a game he can draw experience from as the season progresses. Also, the Red Sox bullpen was perfect today. Aceves threw 15 pitches, 10 for strikes, in a very clean 8th inning, and Morales followed suit by needing only 10 pitches to breeze through the 9th.
Oh, remember all that talk about the Rays bullpen? Yeah, good job there analysts. Right now they're dead last in team ERA when it comes to relievers. I know it's still really early, but I think a lot of people jumped the gun on their entire pitching staff, especially the bullpen.
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