19 things we’re looking forward to this Red Sox season

COMMENTARY

Spring training passed sleepily in Fort Myers.

Aside from word of Chris Sale’s new contract, and Steven Wright’s latest suspension, the biggest talking points of Red Sox camp were probably a pair of as-yet-mostly unanswered questions: Who’s handling what roles in the bullpen? And who’s going to the White House?

That’s probably a good thing for a team returning, mostly intact, from resetting the franchise record for wins while winning a fourth World Series in 15 years — and now positioned to do what no big-league team has done in a couple of decades by winning back-to-back titles.

That mission starts Thursday night in Seattle and continues over the six-month marathon that follows. Here are 19 things we’ll be watching as the 2019 season unfolds:

1. Opening day (and week, and trip)

A year ago the Red Sox romped through spring training, then rolled that into a regular season start of 17-2. This year they wrapped up the exhibition season with the worst record and run differential among American League clubs, and now they’ll open 2019 with an 11-game road trip to face three teams that finished 2018 over .500 and were in playoff contention as late as mid-September of 2018. There’s no soft launch for the Sox this season — and, for what it’s worth, the landing isn’t kind, either, with only six games at Fenway Park after Sept. 9.

2. The ring ceremony

For the fourth time in 15 seasons, the Sox return home with a ring ceremony commemorating a World Series title. A handful of times since the turn of the century, the home opener has also provided an opportunity to toast the Patriots on a Super Bowl title, too, and with both teams basking in a gilded glow. It’ll be interesting to see what the Sox cook up for April 9 — and whether it ties in both the 11th and 12th titles of this city’s ridiculous run.

3. The carryover from a couple of newly-minted playoff legends

If the Sox stay in turn and stick to a five-man rotation on the initial road swing, Nathan Eovaldi will get the ball for the team’s return to Boston. The righthander parlayed his postseason brilliance into a payday this winter, joining World Series MVP Steve Pearce in re-signing with the Red Sox as free agents. Neither may ever again be as impactful as they were last October, but both enter their first full season in Boston with the opportunity to validate those heroics — after what had previously been journeyman careers.

4. What’s next for David Price?

Speaking of postseason heroes who recommitted to the Red Sox this offseason, Price should be a fascinating subplot to follow. Often criticized over three years, he was enormous as a do-everything rubber arm in the playoffs and emerged from it saying he held “all the cards” in his contentious relationship with the media. At 33, he’s recommitted for four more seasons — but, especially after a rough spring, it remains to be seen what the Sox get from Price — in terms of both his pitching performance and his personality.

5. Can Chris Sale stay healthy?

Price wasn’t the only lanky lefty to pledge his services to the Sox for years to come, with Sale agreeing last week to stick around through at least 2022. The club spent 2018 carefully monitoring his workload and attempting to manage his usage, yet a year after struggling in September he was still limited by a shoulder ailment. Now that the team has formally invested in his future, what does that workload management look like? And will that enable Sale to sustain his elite level from start to finish?

6. The encore from Alex Cora

Everything went just about perfectly for the Sox’ rookie manager in Year 1 and, with the resetting of expectations that accompanies a championship, Year 2 is sure to present him with a new set of challenges. To the credit of his leadership, the Sox endured very little adversity in 2018, so it isn’t yet known how Cora will steer the ship through rough waters — or even a moderate losing skid. Everything so far indicates he’ll be a steady hand, and the only reason to have any doubt is his inexperience, though with some difficulties seeming to be inevitable the young manager will be interesting to watch.

7. A new batting order

Among the managerial choices to monitor is the installation of a new approach to the top of the batting order. A year after the ballyhooed move of Mookie Betts to the top of the lineup, the Sox will at least open the year with plans to shift the MVP back a spot in hopes of getting him to the plate with a chance to drive home runs. It’s a logical shift that aligns with modern ideas about where a team should slot its best hitter, but it is a philosophical departure from what proved to be a rather productive practice.

8. Can Benintendi and Devers take their game to the next level?

Boston’s new leadoff man will be Andrew Benintendi, who begins his third full big-league season looking to build on a campaign in which his power stroke disappeared at mid-summer. Including the playoffs, he hit three home runs in 399 plate appearances after June 21, and a .912 OPS to that point in the regular season was .755 the rest of the way. The belief is that both Benintendi and Rafael Devers — whose struggles and injuries had him on the postseason roster bubble late last season — are capable of being complete hitters with better consistency, with the hope being that this is the season that all comes together.

9. Post-surgery Dustin Pedroia

One Red Sox player will be collecting his third World Series ring when those are doled out next month — but he earned this one in a much different way than he did the first two. Pedroia was limited to trying to lead from the bench last October, limited to 13 plate appearances all season as he recovered from knee surgery. He says he’s ready to go, but that recovery will put him on the injured list to start this season, too, and there’s no way to know what he’s capable of contributing as he continues playing under a contract that says the Sox still owe him $40 million through 2021.

10. Contributions from the catchers

One other unsettled position for the Sox is catcher, where Boston made the unorthodox decision to keep three players last season, but has since placed Sandy Leon on waivers. That means the responsibilities will fall to Christian Vazquez, who became the backstop du jour of the playoff run, and Blake Swihart, who figures to get one more crack at living up to the hype that once made him the organization’s top prospect. Defense is the priority here, but some offensive boost would be welcomed after Boston’s catchers ranked last in the majors with a .533 OPS on top of a .194 average last season. (The next-worst OPS among big-league catching combos was .587.)

11. The test coming May 14-June 2

The long road trip will test the Sox right away, but perhaps the most telling stretch of the early season figures to start in the middle of May. The stretch begins with Boston hosting a good Rockies team that won 91 games a year ago, then the Sox take on the Astros on consecutive weekends (with a four-game stop in Toronto between).  They make a brief stop at Fenway to face the reigning AL Central champion Indians for three games after leaving Houston, but then it’s quickly to New York for four games with the Yankees. It comes so early it’ll be difficult to glean much in terms of conclusions, but at the very least it’ll be a good test to see where the Sox are at against the mettle.

12. Will any other team crash the AL party?

Games against the Astros and Yankees are especially significant because the American League still appears to have the same imbalance it did a year ago, when Boston, New York, and Houston all topped 100 wins — but most of the AL was mediocre or worse. Cleveland should still be competitive, and Oakland won 97 games last year. Seattle, Minnesota, and Tampa Bay could all be decent — but all appear a level behind the upper tier, and the rest of the league still looks fodder for the elite teams to feast on.

13. The London Series

As Major League Baseball looks to further build its brand internationally, it’ll stage its best rivalry in London on June 29 and 30, when the Red Sox take on the Yankees. It’s good for the game — but given how tight the competition in the AL East figures to be, and that every game could matter, it’s worth noting that this series will take a couple of important games away from Fenway. The Sox went 57-24 at home last season.

14. The Dodgers come to town

Including the London trip and the All-Star Break, the Sox won’t play at Fenway between June 26 and July 12. When they do get back home, however, it’ll be for a World Series rematch with the Dodgers, as Los Angeles comes to town for a weekend set. That could be fun, considering both clubs could use the preceding break to get their starting rotations lined up. And get those Joe Kelly Fight Club T-shirts ironed in tribute.

15. The back end of the bullpen

When Kelly defected to the Dodgers on a three-year free-agent deal this winter, the Sox didn’t go outside the organization to replace the setup man who was enormous in the World Series. Nor did they make much overt effort to compensate for the loss of Craig Kimbrel. Instead, they’ve entrusted the late innings to Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier, with the apparent belief that some combination of Heath Hembree, Brandon Workman, Tyler Thornburg, and maybe Brian Johnson or Hector Velazquez will suffice in the critical sixth and seventh innings. It could work. Or, more likely, maybe there could be a trade coming sooner than later.

16. Monitoring the farm system

There’s always a possibility a late-game reliever could emerge from the minor leagues — like Brasier did in the middle of last season — and the Red Sox do have former Mets closer Jenrry Mejia under a minor-league deal. But the primary focus in looking at the farm system will be watching to see if anybody pops among a collective that’s said to be lacking top-end talent. The Sox are one of three organizations (Yankees and Cubs are the others) that don’t have a prospect ranked among Baseball America’s pre-season top 100. Corner infielder Bobby Dalbec is slotted by the publication as the system’s premier prospect, though the most likely to make an impact in the big leagues this season could be lefty Darwinzon Hernandez. He throws hard and had a good spring, furthering the possibility he could be an intriguing arm out of the bullpen at some point.

17. Betts and J.D. Martinez

Anything short of stardom would be a shock from either of these two, Betts coming off a runaway victory in MVP voting that showed Martinez fourth. A so-called “down” year from Betts meant finishing sixth in the 2017 balloting, while Martinez has 88 homers and 234 RBIs while hitting .319 over the past two seasons. There’s a chance that within two years neither is on the team, so don’t forget to appreciate them while they’re anchoring the same lineup.

18. Does Bogaerts crash the MVP conversation?

On the outskirts of that MVP conversation last year was Bogaerts, who joined Jose Altuve in a tie for 13th. He was recognized as the AL’s silver slugger at shortstop in 2015 and ’16, then he was even better a year ago, and with free agency looming a few days after his 27th birthday he has all the financial motivation to put together a monster year at the start of his prime. Don’t be surprised if by midsummer the prevailing wisdom among the invested public is that the Sox can’t let a player like Bogaerts get away.

19. Do any contract extensions happen during the season?

Bogaerts is just one of several Red Sox cornerstones who could explore their options next winter. They’ve already taken care of retaining Sale, but Bogaerts is joined by Rick Porcello, Pearce, Mitch Moreland, Eduardo Nunez, and Brock Holt as free agents-to-be, with Martinez able to opt out of his deal at season’s end, and both Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. on track to hit free agency after 2020. Extending commitments earlier than necessary was en vogue this spring, but thus far the Sox’ movement has been limited to Sale, even as Betts noted to the Globe that the variety of unsettled contract situations hovered over camp. The speculation isn’t likely to get quieter just because the games now count for real — even if negotiations have been tabled.