We have been waiting for awhile now for the Red Sox lineup to explode, and yet here we are still waiting. Yes, the Red Sox went on a nice winning streak, but that was caused by a hot rotation, and even if the Sox rotation turns out to be this good all season they aren't going anywhere if this lineup doesn't get it's shit together.
As of today, the Sox are 21st in the MLB in runs, and 23rd in batting average. Sure they are 9th in on base percentage, but that just shows the lack of clutch hitting the Sox are getting. DP made the comment last night that the Sox current 7-8 hitters (Drew/Crawford) are making right around $30 million combined. The result? 2 HRs 11 RBI. I'll give Drew some credit his batting average has been fine (.276), but Crawford's "adjustment time" shouldn't be taking this long. It's not like what's going on with Adam Dunn where there is an adjustment because he is switching leagues, I mean shit Crawford isn't even switching divisions.
Even Gonzalez isn't doing what we expected... yet. He only has 1 HR, and while he seems to be hitting "OK", you have to question a little bit if his power was zapped at all by his offseason surgery. I am still not concerned about him yet, as just watching him you can tell he is a great hitter, and unlike Crawford, doesn't look far off.
The thing everyone is going to go back to is not resigning V-Mart. At first, I was really pissed off when they let him go, but I obviously shut up after they signed Crawford and Gonzalez. Yet, I am starting to come back to it. I don't get this "Theo Love" with Salty. The guy has failed everywhere he has been. He's never shown anything, and isn't good defensively either (as was the complaint against V-Mart). I also remember "Theo Love" for Lugo and JD Drew.
We are already spending a shit load of money, and that really can't be the reason for not bringing V-Mart back, and with Ortiz on borrowed time V-Mart would have been a nice DH for the future. Saying that, I get it, you can't have players making top dollar at every position, but you have to question Theo for not signing Russell Martin (.306 BA, 6 HRs, 16 RBIs). Yes, he was an injury risk, but wasn't Salty just a huge risk in general, especially with a rapidly aging catching as the backup?
Even with all that I still think the Sox are going to get on a roll at some point offensively. Gonzalez will hit, Crawford isn't this bad, Ortiz usually gets better as it gets warmer. Yet, I also think there are going to be big holes in this lineup, because I am losing faith in Ellsbury by the day. Worst thing that happened is him was hitting a couple HRs, because he should be a slap ball hitter looking to use his speed. Basically watch Major League II, and think "yea, he's got the Willie Mays Hayes" problem. On top of that, unless they make some kind of major move, this catcher situation is only going to get worse and I am still holding out what we are exactly going to get with Jed Lowrie. Plus, you know JD is DL bound soon enough.
They also need to figure out what the hell they are going to do against lefties. Ortiz, Drew, Ellsbury are completely useless against lefties, which when added to the no catcher situation can be a serious problem.
I am not ready to hit the panic button by any means. I love how this rotation is lining up, and I think that even though they have their faults this bullpen is solid enough. I also think in a lot of ways they will end up hitting better, but there are some obvious holes, and I just don't know if they are going to be able to plug all of them.
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