As the Red Sox round out spring training over the next two weeks, the team is presented with a unique opportunity. Once regular play resumes, the Red Sox can repeat a last place to first turn-around. They did it before and in the words of owner John Henry are “confident” that they can do it again.
Many baseball writers and critics are indeed picking the Red Sox to once again capture the AL East and from there can they can hopefully string together an exciting post-season playoff run.
A little more than halfway through spring training at sunny JetBlue Park, the Red Sox are in the middle of the American League Pack with an overall record of 9-8. Manager John Farrell has been experimenting with different pitchers and has given young prospects like catcher Blake Swihart, left-hand pitcher Henry Owens, and Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo a chance to gain experience with the big league club. All three have seen a good amount of playing time this spring to aid in their development into major league players.
The offense which sadly struggled last season looks to be resurgent. So much so that Red Sox hitting coach Chili Davis optimistically remarked about his batters:
The fans as always are waiting patiently to soon be able to refer to their team again as Boston Strong.
Pitching will be the key to success and expect the Red Sox to trade for or obtain some extra hands in this department as the season progresses. Even Jonathan Papelbon from the 2007 Championship team has publicly stated that he would like to finish out his career and quest for Coopertown Hall of Fame by shipping back to Boston. Along with amazingly effective Koji Uehara what a bullpen tandem that could be.
The greatest aspect of the new regular season is that plenty of opportunities abound and the possibilities are endless. The 2015 Red Sox have a lot of work to do to rebound this season but the tone of Spring Training has been positive and forward-looking. Hopefully, this will be another spectacular season for the Boston Baseball team to make their World Series dreams come true.