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Home  Sports News MLB Baseball News Boston Red Sox 2008 Team MLB Picks and Betting Preview (03-03-2008) |
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Boston Red Sox 2008 Team MLB Picks and Betting Preview (03-03-2008) |
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Written by WinningTotals
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Monday, 03 March 2008 |
Early MLB picks and betting previews show the Boston Red Sox will continue to post big numbers offensively in '08, especially if Ortiz recovers well from knee surgery. Look for the back end of their rotation to perform solidly but take the occasional lump in the 2008 MLB betting season. Bookmaker.com has all your 2008 pre-season MLB betting action, Bookmark "WinningTotals" MLB picks page and get ready for his 2008 MLB picks action.
Key Acquisitions: Sean Casey - 1B, Bartolo Colon – SP
Strengths: Boston's starting rotation is about as solid as it gets and this year they could legitimately go six deep. Their fourth and fifth guys, Lester and Buchholz, have the potential to one day be top of the rotation pitchers. Boston's bullpen is second to none as they allowed only .3848 runs per inning and the same number of walks per inning. The Red Sox' bats were also a great compliment to their pitching and a nemesis to opponents. They posted staggering offensive numbers at home, averaging 6.31 RPG in division play.
Weaknesses: Boston's biggest area of concern would have to be the difference in run production on the road as opposed to home. To call this a weakness might be a stretch because they still produced good numbers away from Fenway. However, in division play they averaged 4.94 RPG on the road - a difference of 1.37 from the previously mentioned 6.31. Also a concern is the health of Curt Schilling, there are rumors of his shoulder needing surgery. While they are deep in starting pitchers, his abscene could be felt in post-season play.
Summary: Boston's biggest obstacle this season will be maintaining the 'want to' factor during the grind of the regular season.They certainly have the line-up to win a good number of games on talent alone and that will carry them into the post-season. The Sox will continue to post big numbers offensively in '08, especially if Ortiz recovers well from knee surgery . Look for the back end of their rotation to perform solidly but take the occasional lump too. Buchholz almost certainly will have some rookie hiccups along the way. There should also be competition for the CF spot between Ellsbury and Crisp, but Boston will want to get Ellsbury on the field. The Red Sox only divisional competition will come in the form of the Yankees.
Prediction: 1st Place AL East
Probable Starters
1B: Kevin Youkilis
2B: Dustin Pedroia
3B: Mike Lowell
SS: Julio Lugo
C: Jason Varitek
LF: Manny Ramirez
RF: J.D. Drew
CF: Jacoby Ellsbury
DH: David Ortiz
Key Players & Trends
Josh Beckett gave up only four or more runs four times in 14 starts against division opponents in 2007. The most earned runs Beckett gave up to a division foe in '07 were five. Boston also averaged 6.5 runs per game in support of Beckett in his 14 division starts. In Beckett's 27 career starts for Boston against division opponents the Sox have averaged 5.85 RPG.
In 2007 Boston averaged 5.61 RPG in 47 day games while holding opponents to an average of 3.04 RPG.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 03 March 2008 )
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