2008 Boston Red Sox

February 14, 2008

The Boston Red Sox are heading into 2008 defending another World Series title. After going 86 years without a title, they have now won two out of the last four championships. The Red Sox are entering this season with almost the exact same team as they did last season, when they won 96 games. The Red Sox have a mixture of veteran and young players that should keep this team winning for years to come. They will continue to be led by exceptional manager Terry Francona. While teams will look to take down the defending champs, Red Sox fans shouldn’t worry, but only expect another great year. Lets take a look at what to expect from this years Red Sox.

Pitching:

Led by ace Josh Beckett, who is coming off a 20-win season, they should have another solid starting staff. Though they will lose veteran Curt Schilling for most of, if not all of the regular season. That means that Daisuke Matszaka will likely need to improve a little, which remains a question due to his struggle towards the end of last season. While they will still have Tim Wakefield to eat up innings and win his usual 15 games, they will be counting greatly upon youngsters Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz. Buchholz has great potential as many fans remember his no-hitter last September. The bullpen remains in tact and should help out picking up the youngsters slack. As long as the starters can keep it close, they are set at the end with Hideki Okajima and star closer Jonathan Papelbon.

Offense:

With the postseason lineup expected to be the opening day lineup in 2008, the Red Sox will have a chance any game no matter if they get the pitching they need or not. They are getting old in a few spots such as catcher and captain Jason Varitek. While Varitek’s offensive numbers aren’t as important as his ability behind the plate and calling games. While both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz dropped a little in production, we look for both to come in healthy and return back to their numbers of a few years back. Look for Jacoby Ellsbury and Rookie of the Year winner Dustin Pedroia to continue off their success from the end of last year, and create ample opportunities for the big hitters in the middle to drive in runs. Another player that could surprise fans this season is J.D. Drew. While his numbers weren’t what fans hoped for when they brought him over from the Dodgers, he is coming off a very productive postseason. We wouldn’t be surprised if Drew is able to return to hitting around .300 25HRs 100RBIs. His shoulders health should be better as he has had another year to strengthen it.

Defense:

While many people may look over this category because of the stars they have on the mound and at the plate, but they were one of the best defensive teams of 2007. They allowed only 81 errors last year, second only to the Baltimore Orioles who had 79. They are led by sure handed first baseman Kevin Youkilis. The Gold Glove winner had 1,080 chances without an error.

Prediction:

While it’s hard to go against the defending champs, we are going to predict them to finish second in the AL East behind the New York Yankees. We do expect Boston to win the Wild Card spot, but we see them losing in the first round to the Tigers.

2008 Boston Red Sox Odds to win World Series 9 -2

For every team’s odds head over to Sportsbook.com and check them out. You can also go to Sportsbook.com to look at the odds for teams to win their division or league pennant. Feel free to leave any comments in the comment section.

Popularity: 11% [?]

2008 Boston Red Sox

Random Posts

Latest Headlines

Comments

Handicappers

Odds

Sections

Archives

Related Sites

Admin