Everyone knows how long a baseball season is, and that at some point, every team is going to struggle, and even the best teams are likely to have a stretch similar to Boston’s current 12-game slump.
Still, spotting the Yankees a five game cushion in the division by the middle of April means that the Sox will have to be that much better for the rest of the season. In fact, if Boston wants to reach the 100 win total — as many expected them to do in 2011 — they’ll have to go 98-52, basically winning two out of every three games from here on out. If it is going to take 95 games to win the AL East, they’ll have to go 93-57 — winning about five out of every eight.
To be fair, for a team with this much talent, those records are totally within reach. The team will not bat .228 for the season. Carl Crawford‘s .137 batting average is likely to more than double. Kevin Youkilis will probably add over .100 points to his current mark of .200., and John Lackey should end the season with an ERA about a quarter of his current 15.58 mark.
But, if the Red Sox dig themselves much deeper of a hole, it won’t matter how well they play for the rest of the season — or what the team looks like on paper.
How worried are you about the Red Sox? Leave your thoughts below.
