With spring training games officially underway, we're a month out from the start of the 2021 Major League Baseball regular season. Over the next three weeks we'll look at the five biggest questions each of the local teams has to answer in order to have a successful year, starting with the Red Sox.
In midst of the Alex Cora departure and Mookie Betts' trade, the 2020 Sox quickly fell out of contention in the AL East, finishing a division-worst 24-36 and 16 games out of first. Now Cora is back as manager after his one-year suspension, but there's still a lot of work to do for Boston to climb back up the AL hierarchy. Here are the five biggest questions the Sox will have to answer if the year is to be a success:
1) Will the starting pitching improve? Only Colorado and Detroit had worse team ERA's than Boston's 5.58, due largely in part to the starters. With Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez each missing the whole year, David Price traded and Rick Porcello gone it was a patchwork rotation in which 16 different players made at least one start (including openers).
Sale is expected back mid-season from Tommy John surgery, Rodriguez says he's healthy after having COVID-related heart issues. Nathan Eovaldi for now is the Opening Day starter, but health is always an issue. Martin Perez (4.50 ERA) was brought back on a cheap deal after having a good second half of the year, and the team took a flier on Garrett Richards. There are pieces there, but whether they can all come together is anyone's guess.
Related
2) What does the outfield look like? The Killer B's - the ones expected to anchor the Red Sox outfield for a decade - are all gone. Mookie Betts won a World Series with the Dodgers, Andrew Benintendi was dealt to the Royals and Jackie Bradley is still waiting out free agency, unlikely to return to Boston as the Sox flirt with the luxury tax threshold.
What does that leave? Alex Verdugo will likely slide from right field to center, one of the lone bright spots in 2020 (.308 average, .844 OPS) and will continue to bat leadoff. With Alex Cora saying J.D. Martinez is not a regular option, who is? First crack will likely go to Franchy Cordero, the only Major League-ready return on the Benintendi trade. The 26-year-old only has 284 MLB at-bats, but scouts love his tools -- now is the time to show them. Otherwise it will be a combination of new additions Marwin Gonzalez (switch hitter) and Hunter Renfroe (low average, a lot of home runs, and a lot of strikeouts), with Enrique Hernandez mixed in.
The wild card is prospect Jarren Durran, a 24-year-old who might be Major League-ready this summer.
3) Can J.D. Martinez return to being a feared hitter? Per FanGraphs there literally wasn't a less valuable regular player in baseball last year than Martinez, who hit just .213 with seven home runs. A video fiend, he failed to adjust to the lack of in-game video access, and the Sox need to hope it was just a two-month slump. Now 33 and almost exclusively a designated hitter, Boston needs him to be the guy who hit .300 for four straight seasons and 35+ home runs for three.
4) Who closes? Closers aren't as defined as they used to be -- now a team's best reliever could be used just about anywhere -- but with Brandon Workman traded at last year's deadline there isn't a true go-to. Boston hopes it could be Matt Barnes, who is free agent eligible next winter, who pitched to a 4.30 ERA with a lot of strikeouts (31 in 23 innings) but too many walks (14).
If he can't lock the job down, who else is there? Adam Ottavino was traded from the Yankees after a rough 2020 and has only 19 career saves, but is a year removed from being a lockdown option for Colorado in 2018 and New York in 2019. Darwinzon Hernandez has electric stuff, but is as wild as they come (34 walks in 38.1 MLB innings). Maybe Ryan Brasier, who had a bounce-back 2020, becomes the option.
5) Does Rafael Devers become a true superstar? It's clearly Xander Bogaerts' team, as he's become the consistent anchor. The player with the most superstar potential, though, is the 24-year-old Devers. In 2019 he looked like he had become one, batting .311 with 32 home runs and an American League-best 54 doubles. But with Cora gone he had a miserable start to 2020, looking lost at third base and striking out at a much higher rate. He still managed to put together a .263/.310/.483 slash line with 11 homers, but Boston needs him to be the MVP candidate he's capable of becoming.