It was a good weekend for the Red Sox. They won three straight against the White Sox, who are struggling, but the important thing is they looked good doing it, especially on offense.
Here are five things I got from the weekend series with the White Sox:
1. Forget about the Yankees is a good thing.
The Yankees, as I believe was learned this weekend, have nothing to do with these Red Sox. If the Red Sox do “their” thing, the Yankees can go on a seven or eight-game winning streak and it won’t matter. The Red Sox are better, top to bottom, including the entire pitching staff. They just haven’t played like it recently. The Yankees warts (starting pitching, anti-clutch hitting) are still there, sometimes hidden by the high-powered offense.
2. Julio Lugo has to be the leadoff hitter.
This is two-pronged: One, the Red Sox need a bonafide leadoff guy who can run, hit and get on base. And two, the Sox need Lugo happy and he is happiest in this spot.
3. J.D. Drew has to be the No. 5 hitter.
On a team without Lugo, Dustin Pedroia and Coco Crisp, he could be a leadoff guy. But on this team, with David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, he has to be a run-producer. When he was leading off, the aforementioned trio of Lugo, Pedroia and Crisp were scattered throughout the lineup, mostly in the back. They all are similar hitters in that they are not power guys. Drew makes the Red Sox better, especially when he’s hitting, behind Manny.
4. Kason Gabbard isn’t going anywhere.
The Red Sox may have found a gem here. The left-hander, because of injury, has never been able to establish himself as a pitching in professional baseball. Well, something happened in Pawtucket this spring because Gabbard mixes up pitches as well as any young pitcher the Red Sox have called up. Two of the best starts of his career have come at Fenway over the last week. Sometimes it takes a few years for some to get it. Plus, Gabbard’s curveball is nasty. It drops off the table real hard. Remember we were talking about Jon Lester being the key addition? Well, Gabbard might be the one.
5. Clutch hitting still the albatross of this team.
Julio Lugo’s grandslam on Friday night was the closest thing to a clutch hit this team has seen in a month, maybe longer. Maybe it wasn’t so clutch, but the fact that Lugo finally did something semi-big (a grandslam with a two-run lead). Anyway, World Series teams usually have one thing in common: They win games late with their bats. The Red Sox have to pick this trait up soon. It means going 1-for-4, but that hit, let’s a double, comes in the eighth inning while trailing 2-1 and runners on first and second with two outs. I touched on this subject this weekend in Eagle-Tribune Publishing newspapers with the help of my friend and Merrimack grad Chuck Waselewski, who resides in Millers Falls, Ma. He sent me “clutch” stats since June 1 on Red Sox hitters from the seventh inning on in close games (trailing by two runs up to ahead by one). The numbers were astonishing and atrocious. Check it out.
Let me know your thoughts on the weekend and what lies ahead.
