And so it begins.
The panic, the pain, the second-guessing. And it’s not even April.
With reports today of JD Drew’s lingering back problems and Brad Penny’s not-so-stellar progress, Red Sox Nation has gone into a tailspin better suited for the snowy streets of Boston than sunny Fort Myers.
What we should have already realized hit us today: the 2009 Red Sox are a team of question marks. Not exclamation points, not periods, not even a team of freakin’ commas. Here are our players who are question marks, in varying severity, due to injury: Brad Penny, Tim Wakefield, Josh Beckett, JD Drew, Mike Lowell, and David Ortiz. Now, here are the question marks based on performance: Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Varitek, Julio Lugo, and Jed Lowrie. That leaves us with Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, Jason Bay, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, and the bullpen. Nothing to worry about. We only need fifteen more dependable players to fill out our 25-man roster! What are you complaining about?
Seriously, if it turns out that Terry Francona and company have simply been blowing sunshine up you-know-where regarding the state of the Red Sox, we’re in trouble. If JD Drew cannot be an everyday player this year, who will? Rocco Baldelli, as Tony Massarotti points out, is not supposed to be an everyday player. Even with his new diagnosis of channelopathy, which is more treatable than his previous diagnosis, it’s uncertain how Baldelli will hold up over a 162-game season. Chris Carter might have a chance, but his arm isn’t strong enough to play right field and would be a defensive liability. Kotsay can play some outfield, but if you recall, he’s injured too. Brad Wilkerson, the Nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
The pitching situation is not quite so dire, as Justin Masterson is the obvious choice to take over Penny’s spot in the rotation should he not be ready by opening day. The bullpen will miss Masterson as a long-reliever, but if the starting rotation is healthy (ahem) it shouldn’t damage the Sox too severely.
The problem, really, is that we’ve today learned that things are not going quite as well in Fort Myers as the Red Sox wanted us to believe. Let’s face reality, folks: How likely is it that all six of the aforementioned players are going to make a complete recovery from their various injuries? And how likely is it that Ellsbury, Varitek, and Joe Shortstop will have career resurgences (or surgences, period)? And then there’s David Oritz and perhaps Julio Lugo, who fall both under the categories of “question mark due to injury” and “question mark due to performance.” The 2009 Red Sox have the potential to be an excellent team. They also have the potential to be a rotten team. Or, more likely, the team will be somewhere in the mediocre range - playoff but not World Series contenders.
Here’s my predictions. Feel free to shove these in my face ten months from now, it’s really okay. Beckett, Baldelli, Kotsay, Lowell, and Ellsbury will be in top form. Ortiz, Varitek, Lowrie, Penny, and Wakefield will have average years - better than last season, but not phenomenal recoveries. Lugo and Drew?
There’s always next year.
