At a Clip of 19-22 and riding a 1 game winning streak….the Boston Red Sox roll into their Memorial Day Weekend matchup with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at beautiful Fenway Park. Coming off of last night’s 3-0 victory over the Oakland A’s, throughout this season these Red Sox have shown moments of brilliance like on Opening Day where they won 8-0 with Bucholz pitching scoreless innings and Hanley Ramirez hammering the ball out of the park with a HR and a grand slam. Since then, they have played fairly well at times….but many questions linger as the bats have gone cold, injuries to Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez have taken some wind out of the sails, and the pitching staff struggles to find an identity under an unexpected pitching coaching change.
On the brighter side of things, the season is still early… there is lots of Baseball left to be played and it is usually much better for a team to iron out the problems in their armor BEFORE the All- Star Break. Many fans expect a trade or acquisition of some veteran Starting pitching to go along with a young and developing starting rotation.This will be especially handy….no pun intended….during any successful playoff run. The playoffs are exactly where the Red Sox hope to be come October, they are within striking distance in a tight AL East Race, and are loaded with awesome talent to go along with their experience.
The Red Sox Farm System has been one of the best in Baseball in bringing up future Baseball Stars! The trend continues this season and in exciting news out of Pawtucket, Rhode Island… it was recently announced that
Minor Leaguer …Rusney Castillo, who had some good games during this past Spring Training will soon be moving up to the Big Leagues to help the ball club immediately. Sadly, this means Jackie Bradley Jr. has been optioned but will find somewhere for his services. Mookie Betts has shown that the CF postion is his… at least for now he fills up that wide hole and has made many amazing offensive as well as defensive contributions to the team.
The Anaheim Angels are always a formidable opponent and a fine Baseball team to watch. Before their shocking early exit from last year’s playoffs, they had the best record in the American League. The Kansas City Royals reminded everyone though that the playoff are a season all of their own and a Wild-Card team can make an incredible Post-Season run. Unlike the Royals however, Red Sox fans are more than familiar with going all the way, pulling out the broom to sweep their opponent, AND capturing a Title in their spectacular Wild Card fashion. After all, it’s what the 2004 Boston Red Sox did after 86 years of struggle and frustration. Go Sox Go!
What a wonderful pleasure and privelege it is to be a Boston Red Sox Fan. Have a Happy Kickoff to Summer and a Nice Memorial Day Weekend.