There are many ups and downs from the first two months of the 2016 season for the Boston Redsox. After the trade deadline in the 2015 season, the Redsox were considered as sellers which means that they would not likely be in contention for a playoff spot. They did however play a lot of the young players who might have proven talent for the 2016 season. Those players are Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and Jackie Bradley Jr. Also don't forget about Big Papi. There team hopes to rebound as a contender for this season

The goal for the organization in the offseason was to make some moves for a lot of things. A big time ace, a shut down closer, a platoon player that can hit lefties which was a struggle for the team last year, and a dominant reliever in the back end of the pen. The Redsox first big move was on the organization front as they hired Dave Dombrowski as the President of the Baseball Operations. This move was critical as he has brought teams to several postseasons like he did with the Detroit Tigers. Right before the season, they finally got moves that there team wanted. There two biggest acquisitions were acquiring ace David Price and shut down closer Craig Kimbrel. Then they weren't done as they acquired platoon outfielder Chris Young from the New York Yankees. Young could be a key piece as he can play all outfield and he hits lefties well which had been a struggle for the team last year. There last big move was a trade with the the Seattle Mariners. It was sending Sox former starter Wade Miley to the Mariners for bullpen reliever Carson Smith and pitcher Roenis El'ias. Smith was proven to be a key piece coming into this year, but he had a major injury during the start of the season which already shut him down for the year. The last biggest news for the team was that David Ortiz would be retiring after the 2016 season. He will be missed after this year as he's one of my favorite players on the team and he's a fan favorite in Boston.

My insights so far for this Redsox team this year are both good and things they need to work on. There still currently one of the best offenses in baseball as there very hard to pitch to from the top to the bottom of the lineup. No one in that lineup is an easy out. From the MLB website they were in the "top 10 for RBIs, doubles, at bats, triples and much more" (MLB, June 3rd). In the month of May those stats were all mostly number one. It's amazing how there doing it. There lineup is built with young guys like Mookie Betts at leadoff, Xander Bogerts at the three spot, and Jackie Bradley who might the most surprising out of the three is at the nine spot. David Ortiz is having monster numbers already in his final season. He already has 15 homers and 51 RBIs. There have been many surprises offensively as well and that's Travis Shaw and Hanley Ramirez. Shaw played a lot of the games in the second half of the year last year and he was very impressive with hitting to all fields and has played well defensively. Farrell made the case of who would start as the third baseman for the team, Shaw or Pablo Sandoval. Farrell made the right choice in going with Shaw. The was concerned and they've been all along with Sandovals weight and that seemed to be the deciding factor. Mid April, Sandoval got hurt and the team put him on the 60-day disabled list. Shaw this year has been very good in the lineup. He's very patient at the plate and he can hit the ball a long way if he can get a hold of one. Hanley Ramirez was a lot more of a surprise than I thought with Shaw as the team moved Hanley from Left Field to First Base this year. Fans were wondering coming into spring training on how the adjustment of switching positions would be like for Hanley. For the most part this year so far, he's been batting after Ortiz and he's hit the ball a lot better. He hasn't put much of the power numbers yet, but he's been hitting a lot of RBIs for the team. The first two months, Hanley has done very well in the field. He's performed well at First Base. He's even made couple highlight reel plays to start off this year. The two current catchers are Christian Vasquez and Ryan Hanigan. There both used for more defensive purposes and not for their offense. Opening Day catcher was Blake Swihart as Vasquez started in the minors before getting called up. Now with utility man Brock Holt on the 15 day disabled list with a concussion, Swihart has gotten the chance to play Left Field and has handled it well so far. The first two months have been amazing for what I call the "core three". Mookie Betts, Xander Bogerts, and Jackie Bradley Jr. They have all been on fire from the start of the year. The one who's been the most improved with his hitting is Bradley Jr. He's already had a 29-game hitting streak. His ability to hit to the opposite field really helped him out with finding his swing. He's been hitting in the 9 spot for most games, it sets up Betts and Xander along with Pedroia and Ortiz at the top of the order. Betts currently just has been red hot especially putting on a show in Baltimore against the Orioles. In the two games he hit back to back leadoff homers and hit another in back to back games in the second inning. Mookie is really known as a gap hitter but it's amazing how much power he has. In the field Bradley and Betts have been awesome. He right now be the best shortstop in baseball and I hope he gets to go to the All Star Game in July cause he deserves it. These three will be great for the sox not only for the rest of the season, but in the future. The last player to mention in the lineup who has been good is Dustin Pedroia at second base. Peodria has done well at the plate and has always been a great fielder. So with all these players I mentioned, it really shows much importance each of these players have on this team. A lot of the games that the Sox have won this year has come with their offense.

Now with all the exciting talk I've had about the hitting so far, the starting pitching on the other hand is more of a question. To open up the year the starting rotation consisted of David Price, Rick Porcello, Steven Wright, Clay Buchholz, and Joe Kelly. In April and May, Price was very inconsistent and it looked like the pitcher that the Redsox didn't want. He had poor outings against the Orioles on Opening Day and one at Yankee Stadium. He had couple good starts however, like against the Kansas City Royals and the Colorado Rockies. In April, Price was not getting good velocity on his fastball but part of it was on his mechanics. Teammate Dustin Pedroia was able to find what was wrong and it seems like it has payed off ever since. Price now the last couple starts has been pitching like the ace that we wanted to see. He's been averaging at 94-95 mph fastball along with mid 80s with his off speed pitches. Price can hopefully keep things going to the All Star Break and then in the later half of the season. The next best pitcher in my mind has been Steven Wright. Wright has already pitched a couple of complete games which has been great. Wright can be a big piece of the pitching staff moving forward. Rick Porcello has been inconsistent. Porcello this year has had problems with giving up the long ball and that has whats been happening as of late. I feel like in each of his starts, he gives up a home run each game. He has good stuff but its not overpowering. He has done well with his sinker to getting ground ball outs. The two main disappointments have been Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly. There both not currently in the rotation as Kelly has been sent down in the minors and Clay has been in the bullpen. A lot of their starts have been shaky with giving up too many walks and not providing many innings for a pitching staff that needed them to step up. I don't know what they'll do with them for the rest of the year, but the Sox aren't going have them pitch in games like what they did in April and May. The last pitcher who's going to do good things is Eduardo Rodriguez. The lefty was great in the second half last year and hopes to build on it this year.

From what this team looks like, it's build more as an offensive minded team. I hope though coming up that their pitching rotation can start getting quality outings and don't always have to rely on the offense to win games. This team right now is built for a postseason run if there guys can stay healthy. As of right now, my favorite baseball team is in first place! It would be nice to stay in 1st but anything can happen. It's a long season.