Beer and Chicken Hangover? Rough Start to Sox Season

It’s too early.

It’s too early to start calling for heads to roll, to bemoan our $173 million team. It’s April 13 (at the time of this writing). It’s been one week since baseball started for Boston. Too many Red Sox fans have the tendency to threaten violent uprising if their favorite team even winks at a losing streak. Chalk it up to high expectations. Let’s get down to brass tacks.

The Boston Red Sox are 1-5. Dead last in the AL East, behind even the laughably pathetic NY Yankees. They were swept in the season-opening series against the Tigers in Detroit. They followed that performance up by losing two out of three to the Toronto Blue Jays. But, only four percent of the season has come and gone. That leaves… let’s see… something tells me 96 percent.

Bobby Valentine seems to be melding with the team, but a bonehead move that he himself is “second guessing” leaves much to be desired. In the sixth inning of Tuesday’s 7-3 loss to the Blue Jays, Valentine left young reliever Justin Thomas, a lefty, on the mound against righty J.P. Arencibia with the bases loaded, the Sox down by two. Runs were yielded. According to Valentine, it was “just a dumb move.” Nowhere to go but up.

Tuesday was also Daniel Bard’s first professional start. It went okay: 5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 6 K. Bard was expected to be the next closer for the Sox, following Jonathan Papelbon’s departure. After the acquisition of Andrew Bailey from the Oakland A’s, Bard’s grooming for the rotation began. Andrew Bailey has since undergone thumb surgery, and will be out until around the All Star break. One would think that Bard would’ve moved back to the bullpen, at least until Bailey gets back. One would be wrong. Inconceivably, Alfredo Aceves, a proven MLB starter, has moved to the closer position, and has so far blown two of his three save opportunities. Those three innings don’t mean Aceves is a bad pitcher, but maybe Bard would be a better fit for the ninth. Valentine should see that, with the team as it currently is, this arrangement is not optimal.

Hitting and pitching has been erratic. Josh Beckett gave up seven runs on five home runs to the powerful Tigers lineup. The Sox lost 10-0. Jon Lester went seven innings and gave up one earned run on opening day, but the bullpen gave up two runs and the Red Sox were only able to score two. A back and forth battle on game 3 of the Tigers series ended in a 12-13 loss. The bullpen was a problem once again.

David Ortiz’s performance has been pleasing, hitting well after cutting some of his many, many pounds in the off season. He even tried to steal a base! Don’t worry, the apocalypse is not coming. He was tagged out. Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez are also hitting; Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury are not. Other players are doing other things. Look it up, I don’t have enough space to cover everything.

I reiterate: have patience. The Sox started 2-10 last season, rose to great heights, and bombed historically. It’s a long season. Stay tuned, baseball fans!

The Red Sox home opener is Friday, April 13 against the Tampa Bay Rays. This season marks the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park.