| 11 February 2009
The Bottom Line polled Red Sox bloggers from across the Nation and asked them five questions about the upcoming season. You can find all the answers here.
Below are the answers to Question 3:
Who will improve the most on their 2008 season?
Kent from Boston Blogger - Justin Masterson
Peter from Peter's Red Sox Forever - Josh Beckett
JS from Baseball Heavy - Jacoby Ellsbury
Matt from Fenway West - I think it is going to be the player at short; Lowrie was hurt for some of last season and Lugo will have to step up his game to win the job back. Either way, there is going to be some improvement at the 6 position.
Michael from Sox Addict - Jacoby Ellsbury should probably be the most improved player in 2009. Why? Because it won't take much to improve from his Julio Lugo-esque 2008 season.
Bob from Boston Sports Media Watch - That would have to be Jason Varitek, merely because he has the largest canvas on which to paint his comeback. The first base-stealer that actually has to slide into second will be Tek's first brush stroke.
Chris from Boston Sports Buzz - I'm playing it safe on this one (I hope!) and going with the Large Father, Mr. David Ortiz. Papi posted what was easily his most disappointing line in his six years in Boston (.264 BA, .369 OBP, .507 SLG, 23 HR, 89 RBI, 74 R in 109 games) and also appeared in less games than in any other point in the past seven years. This was due in large part, obviously, to struggles coming back from a knee injury and all the craziness surrounding the Manny situation (maybe you've heard of him...), so without all the distractions, I'm hoping for big things from the dynamic DH. That is if he gets comfortable with Youk batting behind him instead of old #24.
Dark horse candidate would have to be Clay Buchholz (2-9, 6.75 ERA, 72 K, 41 BB, 1.76 WHIP in 76 IP), who really has nowhere to go but up after 16 mostly ugly outings last year. Only question is how much time - if any - he'll see with the big boys given the surplus of pitching they currently have.
Ian from Sox & Dawgs - I think Josh Beckett will improve the most from his 2008 season that was riddled with injuries. He got off to a bad and late start due to the back injury and was never really himself, the old commander kickass that we all know and love. He was 12-10 with a 4.03 ERA. I'm expecting him to be about 18-7 with a mid 3 ERA.
Jeff from The House That Dewey Built - Ellsbury couldn't really get worse than he played at stretches last year. Lowrie should improve. I hope Varitek. Beckett.
Dan from Red Sox Monster - If we're talking about 2008 versus 2009, the most obvious candidates are Josh Beckett and David Ortiz. Both of them are itching to bounce back and return to form, without a doubt.
Evan from Firebrand of the AL - Depends what "most" means. It's different for everyone. That said, I'll go with Josh Beckett. On the face of it, he regressed from his Cy Young year. But looking more in depth at his peripherals, he was just as good, if not better, than 2007. Alas, since the "easily understandable" numbers (wins, losses, ERA) were depressed, he didn't get any attention. That will change.
Cameron from Comcast's Wicked Good Sports: Believe it or not, I think it's Youkilis. He's still young enough that his stats can go up, and I think he hates the fact he lost the MVP award to that dwarf Pedroia. He's gonna be motivated in 2009.
Bottom Line: It looks like many are hoping for/expecting Jacoby Ellsbury to break out this year, but I don't agree with the theory that he had a "bad" season in 2008. He was insanely good in Sept. of 2007 and the playoffs, but to have expected him to be a .325 BA, 20 HR, 50 Ssteals guy, is unrealistic. I wasn't disappointed with his 2008, but if he has room to improve going forward, I'll be exited to see it.
Many of the bloggers are also hoping for the 2007 Beckett to come back... as am I. And I think it will happen. As deep as the Red Sox are, Beckett could make or break the 2009 season...
What do you guys think? Leave a comment...
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
