2010 was an injury plagued season, a lost season, for the Boston Red Sox. They lost Ellsbury, Pedroia and Youk for most or all of the season. There were other injuries as well. The Red Sox just couldn’t bounce back enough. There were too many injuries to too many players. The only good outfielder they had was JD Drew. If he’s your healthiest and best outfielder you’ve got some serious problems.
This has been a different season. The injuries hadn’t sunk the Red Sox. The lost Dice-K, but that was a case of winning by losing. That’s how horrible he was pitching. But the loss of Rich Hill to the bullpen was pretty big. They have struggled since then to get a good situational lefty. His loss may prove bigger should they get to the playoffs which until this weekend wasn’t in doubt.
It was pitching where the main problems have been. Beckett missed some time, as did Lester. But the biggie was Buchholz- this sent shock waves through the rotation. But they seemed to weather it. There were bumps along the way, and John Lackey’s inconsistency magnified the problems.
Position players weren’t really a problem this season. Youk and Crawford are the main guys who missed some time. Drew has missed a large chunk of time but Reddick has hit better than Drew has in some time. He’s not as good as Drew defensively, but it hasn’t been too costly.
Will it be a wasted season?
The aftershocks of this holiday weekend may be felt for awhile. We aren’t even sure of the damage yet. The big blow was Beckett having to leave the game in Toronto. He was pitching well, very well. But with a “pop” in his ankle there may be some ligament issues for Josh. If so, this puts the season in jeopardy. With Lester the only reliable starter right now, they will struggle mightily. It suddenly becomes possible for Tampa to creep up on them. Maybe he’ll just miss a start. We don’t know. But Erik Bedard will also miss a start with the sore knee that put him on the DL when he was still with the Mariners. It seems wise as a precautionary measure, but hopefully 1 start doesn’t become 2 or 3 because Miller Time may kill us all. He’s just as inconsistent as Lackey. Jenks is done for the year (which is pretty good considering how poorly he was pitching).
The positional depth has taken some hits. Jackson injured his knee colliding with the wall. Reddick injured his hand when he was hit by a pitch by the Rangers. Lowrie’s shoulder still isn’t right.
All is not lost just yet. There are still a number of great players, but the holes are in important areas: the rotation and bullpen. Prospects could help stabilize the bullpen (that would be Bowden, not Doubront). Buchholz might be able to pitch out of the pen in the playoffs, but he won’t help them get there. These are the times when Francona earns his money, I’d rather he didn’t have to.
Cavman Considers 
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