The daybreak of a brand new yr is a time for reflection, and for a lot of it’s additionally a possibility to take a protracted look within the mirror and decide to turning into higher in a method or one other.
Not everybody sticks to their new yr’s resolutions — some solely make it a few weeks or months — however after three last-place finishes in 4 years the Red Sox can’t afford to waver. Here are some resolutions the Red Sox should keep on with in 2024.
1. Regularly pitch into the sixth inning
If final yr’s membership had one deadly flaw, it was the pitching workers’s incapability to pitch deep into video games. Day after day starters went solely 4 or 5 innings, which meant the Red Sox needed to burn extra relievers to get by way of every sport, which meant the following day fewer arms had been obtainable. Things stored spiraling from there till you reached a degree the place Triple-A call-ups like Kyle Barraclough had been being fed to the wolves as a result of they had been actually the one ones left obtainable.
No one is anticipating a whole sport each different day, however for goodness sakes, a minimum of get by way of the sixth each evening so the bullpen can do its factor.
2. Stop botching routine grounders
How many instances did we see Red Sox infielders gather a routine floor ball and chuck it 20 rows into the stands final yr? Baseball Reference could have a extra exact determine, but it surely felt like about six or seven thousand.
Whatever the precise quantity, it was a lot too excessive. Hopefully Boston’s teaching tweaks will make a distinction, as will having Trevor Story again full-time.
3. Quit lacking the cutoff man
Boston’s outfielders aren’t getting off the hook so simply. In current years the Red Sox have gotten a bit of too aggressive making an attempt to gun down runners on the plate after they don’t have any play, permitting the runner behind them to advance into scoring place. It could not all the time look like a giant deal, however when the following batter singles and drives in a run who in any other case may need solely reached third, these selections will be expensive.
It’s good to be aggressive, but it surely’s higher to be sensible. The Red Sox collectively want to begin taking part in smarter.
4. Be decisive on the commerce deadline
Two years in the past the Red Sox tried to have it each methods on the commerce deadline, shifting Christian Vazquez for 2 prospects whereas holding onto J.D. Martinez and Nathan Eovaldi in an ill-fated bid to compete. Last yr the Red Sox mainly did nothing, including Luis Urias for a prospect however in any other case standing pat.
Neither of these approaches labored out for Boston, so when the commerce deadline comes this summer season, please Craig Breslow, determine whether or not you’re a purchaser or a vendor and decide to it.
5. Start beating the Rays once more
Remember when the Red Sox used to only pound on the Rays and no one even gave it a second thought? Now Tropicana Field has develop into a home of horrors and each collection with the Rays winds up being a colossal beatdown.
Obviously the Rays are a lot better now than they had been by way of their first decade of existence, however come on. Boston went 2-11 towards Tampa Bay final yr, 7-12 in 2022, 8-11 within the 2021 common season and 3-7 in 2020. If the Red Sox hope to go anyplace within the AL East, they should flip the script on their low-budget rival.
6. Keep up these doubles
New Year’s resolutions are sometimes about areas of enchancment, however the Red Sox have performed sure issues effectively too. For instance, they’ve led MLB in doubles in every of the final 5 162-game seasons.
That’s partially on account of Fenway Park’s distinctive dimensions, however the Red Sox have all the time had guys who can rope liners everywhere in the discipline. Hopefully they will stick with it in 2024 as effectively.
7. Get extra out of what you will have
Why have the Red Sox completed final the previous two years? They may have used extra expertise, sure, however they’ve additionally had key gamers underperform. That wants to alter.
This season the Red Sox want Trevor Story and Rafael Devers to be All-Stars, for Masataka Yoshida to take care of his play over a full MLB season and for the crew’s younger guys to take the following step as gamers.
8. Develop extra pitching
Breslow made his identify as an govt by unlocking the Chicago Cubs pitching pipeline, and since coming to Boston he’s introduced in pitching coach Andrew Bailey and director of pitching Justin Willard to assist execute his imaginative and prescient. If they succeed and the Red Sox discover themselves with a sustainable stream of gifted new arms, it may repay in methods few can admire.
9. Nail the No. 12 choose
While no one is joyful in regards to the Red Sox current efficiency, they’ve made probably the most of their excessive draft place. Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony and Kyle Teel, the membership’s high bonus recipients over the past three drafts, all rank among the many high prospects in baseball and are quickly ascending by way of Boston’s minor league system.
The Red Sox will get yet one more crack close to the highest of the draft this summer season, selecting No. 12 general, and in the event that they nail that choose too then they may actually set themselves up for long-term success.
10. Don’t be low-cost
There’s been plenty of speak this offseason about how the Red Sox are being cautious about payroll, and over the weekend MassLive reported that one free agent has been advised Boston needs to shed extra payroll earlier than pursuing them as aggressively as they’d like.
That’s not look.
If the Red Sox really feel they want to economize to allow them to spend much more cash, then that’s defensible so long as they find yourself in the best place. The first luxurious tax threshold this season will likely be $237 million, so the Red Sox must be a minimum of within the $230 million vary at minimal, and ideally a lot larger than that. But the Red Sox must be above pinching pennies, so in the event that they go into the season with the identical payroll as final yr (roughly $225 million) and even decrease, then pink flags ought to go up throughout New England.
Source: www.bostonherald.com