The Never Weres

I want everyone to do a thought exercise. Think back to Spring Training this past year and think about what you expected from this Red Sox team. Personally, I expected something around .500 and no playoff birth. They didn’t improve much from 2020 when they finished last in the AL East and were miserable to watch. The players they added weren’t knocking your sox off. But it was another year to watch Devers continue to grow, Bogaerts play in his prime, Verdugo-who is not Mookie Betts-is an exciting good player to have in your lineup and a full year of watching Tanner Houck. These things were enough to get me to tune into NESN every night.

We know how the season went. They make it to the Wild Card game and beat the Yankees. Perfect! That is a great capper to a surprising season. After they get smoked by the Rays we as fans can fall back on the fact that they won that Wild Card game.

Holy shit, they beat the Rays! I don’t know what to do. They weren’t supposed to be here. Now they are going up against an Astros team that will murder their pitching. Wait, the Astros don’t have pitching either? These games are going to be slugfests? Something this Red Sox team can hold their own in. As predicted by yours truly here:

Well, the hot streak has ended and Boston is back in Houston one loss away from elimination. Like everyone else, I am getting pissed at certain decisions. Why did Sale go out for the 6th inning in Game 5? How is Renfroe still in the lineup? Martin Fucking Perez replaces Eovaldi in the 9th inning of Game 4?! But, we should take a step back and realize this should have never happened. They got into the playoffs because of Rafael Devers’ heroic home runs on the last day of the year. They got past the Yankees because Giancarlo Stanton hit missiles on a line instead of getting some air under them. The Rays were the best team in the AL and just stopped playing good baseball after Game 1 of the ALDS. The Astros are a better team from top to bottom and the Red Sox have pushed them to a Game 6, maybe a Game 7.

If the Red Sox lose this weekend it should be looked at as a total win for the season. I will look at some of the missed opportunities during the offseason. Ignoring all that, this is still a season to build off of. If you watched the Olympics baseball tournament at all, you saw Team USA’s best hitter was Triston Casas who is a left-handed first base prospect. He should be up next year. The training wheels should be off Houck. Garrett Whitlock will more than likely be moved to the rotation. Boston has a very smart person running the team in Chiam Bloom. He can see the glaring holes in the bullpen and defense. He will most certainly address them. Better things could be on the horizon for a team that won 91 games this year.

I am going to live and die with every pitch tonight. I blame that on my mom’s side of the family. I can’t just enjoy it. Regardless of how it ends, I can’t get mad at it. There were too many comebacks and Devers homers (pay him please) to go into the winter with a sour taste in my mouth.

(Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)