Red Sox Gaining Momentum

While it's tough to say a team like the Red Sox who had such high pre-season expectations are gaining momentum when their record is .500 it's not completely untrue. They've won 10 of their last 13 and have taken the series against two different division leaders in the process. Are they where they need to be? No, but at least it looks like they're on the right track now.

The Sox are currently 3rd in team batting average and 2nd in runs scored in all of baseball. Granted their on-base percentage isn't that high, 8th overall, but if they keep hitting the way they are, there is no doubt that is going to rise. But to be honest, the offense isn't high on my list of concerns.

You can probably tell where this is going, I'm still concerned about the pitching staff. I already went over my issues with Buchholz, so I won't rehash that. And I know I've written about Daniel Bard and how I don't think he's a starter, but Wednesday's game proved it even further. Yes he picked up the win, but he's just not efficient enough. Especially with the way Buchholz has come to rely on the bullpen. Bard threw 90 pitches in 5.1 innings on Wednesday, 49 of which went for strikes. He walked 4, struck out 2, and gave up 2 earned runs.  These just aren't starting pitching numbers.  Between Bard and Buchholz, the bullpen is getting worked to death.

The starting staff has an ERA of 5.10, which is 3rd worst in all of baseball. Thankfully the bullpen has an ERA of 3.80, which while it isn't great, considering it was 5.54 during the month of April, it's definitely an improvement. I still think it would benefit the Red Sox if they moved Bard to the closer's spot, Aceves to the set up, and Padilla to the 5th spot in the rotation. Even keeping Aceves as the closer and putting Bard back into his 8th inning role would be beneficial.

All in all, I'm cautiously optimistic about the Red Sox right now.  Lester and Beckett are pitching much better, the offense is firing as we thought it would, and the bullpen has drastically improved. Also, at some point, the Sox are going to get Ellsbury, Crawford, Ross, Bailey, and Dice-K back.  Hopefully they can continue to build on this momentum, and be within striking distance of the division lead when the team gets healthy.

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