Sports Q: How many games will the Red Sox win this year?
The issue, obviously, is pitching.
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The Red Sox won 84 games last year, don’t have a manager, and just traded Mookie Betts. Is it possible that this is a below .500 team this season? They might be worse than everyone in the AL East other than the Orioles. How many games do you think they win? – Paul A.
I think it’s going to be right around 84-85 again, Paul, even with Mookie gone. They scored 901 runs last season and set a franchise record with 245 home runs. If Alex Verdugo is as a good as he was during his injury-affected season with the Dodgers last year, and Andrew Benintendi picks up some of the slack by hitting more than 13 homers, they should still be potent, even with their best overall player relocated to Chavez Ravine. So long as Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez are healthy, offense won’t be an issue.
The issue, obviously, is pitching. Chris Sale still had excellent peripheral numbers last year (13.3 K/9, 3.33 FIP), but we know he was inconsistent from start to start. Who knows if he can be a genuine ace going forward. Eduardo Rodriguez needs to do it again. Nate Eovaldi has good stuff, but has never been reliable for long stretches. Martin Perez is adequate. And who knows what they’ll do for a fifth starter/opener. It probably can’t be worse than last year, when Hector Velazquez (5.43 ERA), Brian Johnson (6.02), Andrew Cashner (6.20), Jhoulys Chacin (7.36) and Ryan Weber (5.09) totaled 29 starts. But it’s not clear yet how it will be better.
I’ll put ‘em down for 84 wins, but I do think it’s more likely that they win more games than that than it is that they win fewer. That’s what passes for optimism this spring.
But what does everyone else think? How many games will the Red Sox win this year? I’ll hear you in the comments.
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