What has truly allowed for the buy-in when it comes to these Red Sox?
Sure, when you have the best record in baseball on May 10, that will certainly help the cause. And knowing there is the fail-safe of MLB's most potent heart of the order -- Alex Verdugo, J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers -- is certainly a pretty good selling point.
But the underlying bit of optimism that truly might be the difference-maker is this starting rotation. Put it the way: When you have five starters who represent a legitimate chance to win each time they take the mound, that is the kind of gold a fan base is always starved for.
What once was the Red Sox' biggest question mark is now their foundation.
These starters -- Eduardo Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta, Garrett Richards and Martin Perez -- have more wins than any other starting rotation in Major League Baseball (16), nine more than the be-all, end-all collection of Padres starters. They have also allowed the fewest homers of any rotation in MLB.
It's the same recipe used in jumping out to that start in 2018, when the Red Sox sat at 26-11 on May 10. That starting rotation claimed 17 of those wins. But, with the likes of Chris Sale, Rick Porcello, David Price, Eduardo Rodriguez and even Drew Pomeranz, there was certainly somewhat of an expectation that it would be trending that way.
This group? There were no expectations. Only uncertainty.
Not anymore.
The latest reminder? Nick Pivetta.
The waiting, waiting, and waiting for the righty's reality to turn into a wave of "I-told-you-sos" from those watching him in Philadelphia has turned. Now it's an expectation instead of a hold-your-breath anticipation.
Pivetta proclaimed after dropping his ERA to 3.19 and batting average against to .190 with his six-inning, two-run outing against the Orioles that this was the best he has ever pitched. And that's why it this whole ball of wax is working - the Red Sox are getting the best versions of some pitchers who are making the backs of their baseball cards look like hieroglyphics.
Has it been the kind of lock-down, no-doubt-about-it images the best starting rotations usually carry? Nope. Pivetta, for example, has two fewer walks (22) than hits allowed. Richards has been markedly better, but still carries around the uncertainty from his initial introduction. Perez, Eovaldi and Rodriguez have all certainly exhibited a lot more good than bad, but still hasn't completely shaken off some question marks.
That's OK.
While we wait for whatever Sale's 2021 season might look like, or figure out if Tanner Houck -- who has been shut down due to a sore flexor muscle -- can continue to viewed as a perfect fail-safe, this is plenty good enough.
"I mean you have ERod goes out and grind. It was great to watch him pitch. You have GRich go out and throw seven innings. I want to do better than GRich. I want to do better than every other starter on this staff," Pivetta said. "I want every other starter to do better than I do. I want us to build off each other. I want us to motivate each other to do really great things. I think that's what it is. I get motivated by the guys who are here with me. That's who I compete against the most. I'm competing against those guys. Once I compete against them, they compete against me and good things happen. That's awesome. I love what they're doing. I love how they're going about our business. I think everyone has point we all need to get better at. We still have a long season to go ahead, but I think we're a really good position right now."
