Can the Red Sox Repeat With Their Roster?

The Boston Red Sox are the 2018 World Series Champions, but with repeating being one of the hardest tasks in sports, is it possible for them to do so with their current roster?

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Patrick Dunn

The Red Sox are coming off a 108 win season, followed up by rolling through the postseason on their way to their fourth World Series Championship since 2000. With the majority of the roster returning for the 2019 season, the question that all of Red Sox Nation is asking is if they have the capability to be as successful as last year.

The Red Sox are constructed with a young nucleus of talent including, Xander Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr., Rafael Devers, and the reigning American League MVP, Mookie Betts. All of these players are under 30 years old, providing the Red Sox with the ability to use a combination of speed and power to generate runs, as the offensive side should not be a concern for this upcoming season, especially considering the Red Sox scored more runs than any other team.

Over the last few seasons, scoring runs have not been an issue for this team, contrary to the pitching staff. From the starting rotation to the bullpen staff, Sox Nation has been vocal about the inconsistency from key members. The Opening Day staff will most likely consist of Sale, Price, Porcello, Eovaldi, and Rodriguez. Although the Red Sox staff had a 3.75 ERA, which was good enough for 8th best in the MLB last season, fans remain worried that it may not be enough to defeat tough American League opponents even though they beat the Yankees and Astros this season. Then why are fans worried about a team with potent offense and formidable pitching staff?

The fans are concerned about how the Red Sox will get through the later innings of the game, as they currently do not have Craig Kimbrel on the roster, who locked down 42 saves last season. The bullpen was constructed on hard-throwing arms, but with Joe Kelly and potentially Craig Kimbrel leaving in free agency, the Red Sox are currently lacking the firepower they once had. Although Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier had strong seasons, they have a combined 2 lifetime saves between them. Considering that having a strong bullpen is becoming more crucial each year as the game evolves, we will have to wait and see what happens in the reliever market before being able to predict how the bullpen will fare this season. Just remember, fans were concerned with the bullpen last year yet it became the strength of the club during their postseason run.

Although the Red Sox may be missing a key contributor in Craig Kimbrel, they’ve had a productive offseason as they agreed to terms with World Series MVP, Steve Pearce along with Mookie Betts and kept the core of their team intact. This team only lost three games throughout the entire postseason and the success was due to an entire team riddled with young and veteran talent from position players, pitchers, and the bullpen. And let’s not forget about Alex Cora, who stepped up in his first year as manager, and seemingly made great decisions throughout the playoffs. This puts them in a position to win the American League East again, along with making a great run in the playoffs.