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Taking stock of Red Sox’s roller-coaster April
- Updated: May 2, 2016
BOSTON — One month (plus one day in May) into the season, the Red Sox are creating some excitement for a fan base that hasn’t gotten to experience the thrill of a pennant race the past two summers. At 15-10, the Red Sox can already boast this: At no point in 2014 or ’15 did Boston have a record that was five games over .500.
The Red Sox spent Monday — their first off-day since April 14 — in sole possession of first place in the American League East for the first time this season. This, after sweeping the Yankees at Fenway over the weekend.
“It’s early, but it feels good,” said Boston designated hitter David Ortiz. “As long as you play good, you feel good. You just keep building up your confidence. We had a good April, and now we’re going to try and have a good May. There’s a lot of games left. I like what I see so far.”
As Ortiz would be the first to tell you, they don’t throw parades for teams that lead the division through 25 games, but there are some things to build on. Already, this team has established an identity of never being out of a game.
“I think there’s a pretty good vibe in our clubhouse and our dugout right now, and that’s carrying through,” said Red Sox manager John Farrell.
Many positives have emerged, as well as some areas that need improvement. Here is a categorical breakdown.
THE GOOD
The lineup The best Red Sox teams in recent memory have had relentless lineups that grind through starting pitchers and get into the other team’s bullpen. That’s what this team has done coming out of the gate. The top four in the lineup (Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia, Xander Bogaerts and Ortiz) have done their part. Perhaps more important are the contributions of players like Travis Shaw, Brock Holt and Jackie Bradley Jr. Boston has started countless rallies already this season from the Nos. 6-9 portion of the order.
“Seems like it’s a new guy every night,” said Shaw. “And no matter the score, the inning or the situation, we’re going to continue to fight. And I like the way this offense works. It’s not one guy trying to do it every single night. It’s a different guy up and down the lineup. There’s not an easy out.”
Shaw’s emergence When Farrell awarded the third-base job to Shaw at the end of Spring Training over incumbent Pablo …
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