Boston Red Sox Odds to Win AL East

Written by Jack Jones

The Boston Red Sox have stumbled out of the gates here in the second half and have moved into a tie with the New York Yankees at the top of the AL East. Red Sox Today thinks that the fans should start to worry due to the ineffectiveness of the starting pitching.

The problems have mainly came at the tail end of the rotation with both John Smoltz and Brad Penny struggling. These are two guys who had some great seasons in the National League, but last year he made 17 starts compiling a 6.27 ERA and 1.63 WHIP, not exactly rolling heading into the season. Smoltz on the other hand hasn’t had a bad season in his career and was down right dominant for the Braves, but he was coming off a major surgery and has not looked up to form this year. I’m not quite sure that he will be a solid contributor at all this season.

Tim Wakefield is now hurt, which is painful to see as he made his first All-Star roster (even though he didn’t get into the game) after going 10-2 in the first half. He doesn’t have the best numbers in terms of ERA, WHIP or strikeouts, but he just keeps going out there and getting the job done. Now that he is on the DL the team will turn to Clay Buchholz. Dice-K has also been hurt most of the season which has left the team short-handed, but at least they planned ahead and added depth before the season began.

Two guys that the Red Sox haven’t had to worry about this season and if you have been making baseball picks on Boston you should be riding are Josh Beckett and Jon Lester. Beckett is 11-3 with a 3.35 ERA and 1.15 WHIP with 110 strikeouts to only 35 walks, while Lester has dominated over his past several starts after a shaky beginning to the season. The Red Sox have won seven of his last nine starts and if he can keep up that production, this team should have little to worry about in terms of closing out the year.

My take is that it’s too early to panic as this team has dealt with injuries and is still sitting pretty in the division. I really can’t see Beckett and Lester having a letdown as the season wears on and while the backend of the rotation is struggling, having the best bullpen in the league means that when they do get an early lead, the Red Sox should be able to hold onto it, kind of like their lead in the division.

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