A Look At the Boston Red Sox

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

In the months leading up to the start of this MLB season, experts were down on the Red Sox. They did not think that the Sox did enough in the offseason to differentiate from the mediocrity of the 2023 season. They did not add starting pitching and did not heavily chase after top free-agent talents. All in all, people were disappointed with where the Sox were, but if you fast forward to today, we are now a full month into the 2024 MLB season. The Red Sox, who many picked to finish last in the AL East, are exceeding expectations, finishing the month with an 18-13 record just 1.5 games back of the first-place Baltimore Orioles. The biggest factor in this hot start for the Sox is the pitching staff's dominance, led by Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck. Before this year, these guys were seen as mediocre at best and had shown flashes of quality pitching; many people thought that the Sox would stick Houck back in the bullpen due to his inability to pitch effectively the second time through the batting order. Crawford was seen as a quality back end of the rotation guy. Both have improved greatly this year, Crawford improving his ERA to 1.35 and Houck improving to 1.60. The improvement is the direct result of hiring a new pitching coach, Andrew Bailey, who was hired from the Giants this offseason. A Bailey, a former Red Sox pitcher himself, has introduced a new philosophy to this pitching staff: Throw more offspeed pitches. Last year, Kutter Crawford threw his four-seam fastball almost 40% of the time. This year he has dropped his fastball usage by ten percent and raised his sweeper usage from 6.7% to 24.8%. Houck usage of certain pitches has not changed much, but over the offseason he tinkered with his slider and splitter grips to give himself over three inches more break in both pitches. When Nick Pivetta and Brayan Bello return from the injured list, this staff will be at full strength and poised to continue on this fantastic run of starting pitching. Bello has the potential to be a great pitcher in this league, and this year will hopefully be the start of his rise to the top. Pivetta was borderline unhittable before he got injured. Hopefully, his injury will not hinder his dominance. 

It is not just the starting pitching that has dominated the league this year; it is the bullpen as well. In the offseason, two good bullpen arms, Greg Weissert and Justin Slaten, quietly emerged. Both of these guys were stuck in the minor leagues before they were traded to Boston. They now both have sub-1.5 ERAs and are anchors in the bullpen for this Red Sox team.

On the other side of the ball, the offense has been great; they are 6th and 7th in the league in team batting average and home runs respectively. Tyler O’Neill, who joined the Red Sox in the offseason via a trade from the Cardinals, has been on fire. He is third in the league in home runs and has led the Red Sox offensively. The Sox have also seen jumps offensively from catcher Connor Wong and outfielder Wilyer Abreu. If these guys can keep up their great offensive performance, this team will have a great chance at the playoffs come late summer. 

The Red Sox have been one of the best teams in the A.L. so far this season, and although they are without some of the top players, I believe the Sox can go on a great run through the summer when these guys return.