A Few Observations So Far

- The Red Sox are currently in first place in the American League East. Granted, it’s only 7 games in, but that’s reassuring for a team that many predicted to be in 4th or 5th place. Plus, the Sox have played the Yankees (3 games), the Blue Jays (3 games), and the Orioles (1 game). The play the Orioles and Rays this week, so it should be interesting to see where everyone ends up by Sunday. The standings so far:

Red Sox     5-2
Orioles      3-4
Yankees    3-4
Rays          3-4
Blue Jays  2-4

- Middlebrooks’ 3 Home Run game on Sunday versus the Blue Jays was a lot of fun to watch. For one, this is a guy who hit 15 home runs in 75 games last year before getting hurt. Who knows what he’ll do in a complete season. He also showed great defensive ability on the field. As great as all that is, I had an uneasy feeling in the back of my mind because of what happened to the last Red Sox to hit 3 home runs in 1 game. That was Dustin Pedroia in 2010. The next day, Pedroia was injured and out pretty much the rest of the season.

- How great have Buchholz and Lester been so far? Buchholz is 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA in 14.0 innings, giving up 9 hits, 1 run, 6 walks, and striking out 12. Lester is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in 12.00 innings, giving up 10 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and striking out 13.

- I unfortunately didn’t watch Lackey’s start the other day, but I did see the replay when he injured his arm. Hopefully, it’s minor. The guy worked hard to return, and everyone likes a comeback story. However, if Lackey does go on the DL, who do the Sox get to start? Aceves is one name that’s floating around, but I’m hoping they pull someone up from Triple-A. Aceves has already given up 5 runs in 4.1 innings, including 2 home runs.

- The Sox team ERA is 2.95. That’s good enough for 3rd best in the American League.

- How about Daniel Nava? Most people think of Daniel Nava as that rare player who makes a huge impact once (Nava’s first-pitch Grand Slam from 2010). Yesterday, Nava, in place of JBJ in left field, hit a MONSTER game-winning 3-run home run. Farrell had said he felt Nava, a switch-hitter, was seeing the ball well. His instincts paid off.

- Shane Victorino, the “Flyin Hawaiian,” has safely made it on base every game so far this season. He’s hitting .345 for the season with 1 double, 4 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases (he’s also been caught stealing twice).

- Speaking of stolen bases, the Sox currently have stolen 8 bases total while being caught twice (again, Victorino). Ellsbury leads the team with 4, then Victorino with 2, and  Ciriaco and JBJ both have 1. By comparison, Ellsbury had 14 stolen bases in 74 games last year. If my math works correctly (may be a big IF) and the Sox keep stealing bases at this clip, they could have approximately 185 stolen bases by the end of the season. They had 97 last year. (My math: 8 stolen bases/ 7 games multiplied by X stolen bases/ 162 games).

Well, that’s about it for me today.  I originally tried posting this last night without much success, so hopefully it works now.  I hope everyone is enjoying this season so far. I know I am!