Questions for the Red Sox

So far, our Red Sox have had a very interesting season. It has been filled with strange surprises and great disappointments and it has left fans with many questions about the future of the team. When the season ends, how will these things have turned out? I’ll do my best to predict.

Will Dice-K still be in the rotation?

One of those players we have forgotten about is Daisuke Matsuzaka. Dice-K came with so much promise when he arrived from Japan three years ago. Some even whispered he alone could throw a revolutionary new pitch that spun like a football spiral.

Instead, the man the front office paid $51 million just to talk to has not come through and has broken down physically. He has been noticeably out of shape and now has missed the first month of the season recovering from an injury. Now he makes his return to the rotation and we all wonder which Dice-K will show up. Will it be the tough Dice-K we saw in 2008 with awesome stuff? Or will it be the inconsistent Dice-K of 2007 and 2009 who showed quite a talent for walking people? I think Dice-K will still be in the rotation by the end of the season, but not because he will have pitched well. I think one or more of the Sox other starters will be injured and Dice-K will pitch adequately for him to keep his spot over someone from the minors.

The only good thing from Dice-K is that this time there are practically no expectations. When he first debuted in the league, people expected the world from him and he couldn’t deliver. Now he has a chance to pitch with less pressure and maybe be the pitcher he was supposed to be. Don’t count on it though.

Will Wake still be in the bullpen?

Because of Dice-K coming back, old reliable Tim Wakefield has been pushed into the bullpen. He has said he can pitch out of there, but I don’t think he is as comfortable doing that as he is in the rotation. For the same reason with Dice-K, I don’t think Wake will be in there long. Almost every year, one of the pitchers in the rotation inevitably gets hurt for a while during the season. If I had to guess, I think this year it will be Josh Beckett. His last outing wasn’t pretty and he has had injury issues in the past; so stay tuned. Because it is so common for the starters to get injured, expect Wake back where he belongs in the rotation soon.

Will Dustin Pedroia lead the team in home-runs?

As I said a few weeks ago, it is shocking that Pedroia leads the team 23 games into the season with six homers. At the beginning of the year, I would’ve guessed Kevin Youkilis or Victor Martinez would be leading the team in power. Even more surprising is tied for second on the team are Jason Varitek and J.D. Drew, who both struggled at the plate a bit last year. Can Pedroia keep it going and finish the year with the most homers? My answer would be no and that’s a good thing. My guess is Youk will end up leading the team, although I think it will be close. As great as Pedroia is hitting right now, the most homers I could see him hitting is between 20 and 25. If that amount of homers leads the team, the Sox are in serious trouble.

Will J.D. Drew play 145 games?

J.D. Drew has had trouble avoiding injuries since joining the Red Sox in 2007. He has normal “wear and tear” injuries that everyone gets, but he also has random games where he won’t play for some strange reason like suffering from vertigo. Since he joined the Sox, he hasn’t played in 145 (out of 162) games once. This year though, he has been the rock in the outfield while everyone else has been hit by injuries.

Mike Cameron seems to have taken J.D.’s random injuries, suffering both a kidney stone and an abdominal tear, meaning he will continue to be out for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile Jacoby Ellsbury has still not returned from the broken ribs he suffered in a collision earlier in the season. Will Drew be able stay healthy in an outfield that desperately needs him? Based on past history, I’m going to say no. Probably some time later in the season he will have another mysterious injury, though hopefully it will be after everyone else comes back, and won’t play in 145 games.

Will Paps maintain his newfound form?

Closer Jonathan Papelbon was a little shaky at the beginning of the season, maybe it was a carryover from his problems in the playoffs last year. After losing a game early to the Yankees and making everyone nervous in his other save chances, Paps has turned it around recently.

He has only given up one run since losing to the Yankees on April 7 and has converted six save opportunities. He has started to use his once devastating splitter again, making the hitter unable to concentrate just on his fastball. This is going out on a limb, but I will be optimistic here and say he will keep doing well through the season. Whatever has changed recently has made Paps seem like his old self and I think he has figured out what was wrong mechanically. So look for a once again dominant Paps this year.

Will Theo get a new catcher?

Anyone who has watched Victor Martinez try to throw out baserunners this year knows he is basically physically incapable of doing so. Baserunners have stolen 38 bases on the Sox through 23 games, far and away the most in the league. Sometimes even on pitch-outs, when its virtually guaranteed to throw a runner out, Martinez embarrassingly hasn’t been able to stop the baseruners.

So while Martinez is a good hitter, his defense is quite the problem. Unfortunately, Varitek is the backup and he isn’t particularly good at throwing out base-runners either. So will general manager Theo Epstein go out and get a new catcher? Maybe, it depends a lot on the answer to the next question.