You beat the Orioles in three straight games? Big deal.
You clearly simply caught the Rays at the right time.
Minnesota? It was cold.
And those really talented White Sox haven't seen their bats catch up with their arms.
Excuses, excuses, excuses.
But let's be real, the Red Sox' run to 11 wins had enough overcoming of obstacles/proof of life that this can't be considered a fluke. Are there issues? Sure. Can we doubt elements of their existence? Absolutely.
The first-place Red Sox have, however, passed enough tests throughout these first few weeks to make this a real conversation.
To begin with, the smack-you-in-the-face offensive statistics represent the initial round of optimism. This is a team that carries a team batting average (.288) 23 points higher than any other club in the major leagues. The Red Sox possess the fifth-most home runs, the second-best on-bas and slugging percentages and the top OPS ... 67 points better than the next-best American League team.
The pitching has good enough. Want a weird stat? (The Red Sox have allowed the second-fewest home runs the first time through the lineup.) They have uncovered their ace-to-date in Nathan Eovaldi, with the rest ... well ... they're good enough for now.
The most important element in this equation has been the Red Sox' ability to self-correct.
Start with bouncing back from the three-game, season-opening losing streak and then look at the two bounce-back wins, both coming against the White Sox. First was the series-opening victory after the Alex Verdugo-10-pitch-at-bat-game in Minnesota. And then came Monday, with the Sox responding to their manager's plea to suck it up for one more game to punctuate this bizarre early-season schedule.
Also, look at the starting pitchers the Red Sox beat. Tyler Glasnow. J.A. Happ. Kenta Maeda. Jóse Berrios. Lucas Giolito. The Twins, Rays and White Sox all have starting staffs that carry Top 11 ERAs.
Now comes the next round. The fashionable pick in the American League East, Toronto, comes to town along with one of the hottest hitters in baseball, Vlad Guerrero Jr. After the Blue Jays come the only other team in the A.L. with 11 wins, the Mariners.
Who knows where they go from here, but it's our job to follow the bread crumbs. Where they have led to this point should allow for some late-April optimism.
