What are the areas of need?
We got pretty close to including third base to this list, given Devers’ struggles to start the year. Thankfully he’s heating up, so we can focus elsewhere. The most obvious area, of course, is the bullpen. After Kimbrel, there are a lot of question marks. While that’s true of a lot of bullpens, playoff caliber pens tend to have more than one sure thing to go to at the end of a game. Matt Barnes is a very nice arm to have in middle relief, but he’s not one you want in lots of high leverage situations. Joe Kelly might be that guy, but as Tuesday’s appearance reminded us (a double, a triple and a walk with no outs recorded), he can meltdown at a moment’s notice.
Then there’s second base. We all hope Dustin Pedroia is going to recover fully, get back on the field, and look like the Pedey of old. But the fact is, he’s getting old. His return to the field at full strength is no given and if he doesn’t start making progress soon, the team may have no choice but to start looking to plug that hole. Eduardo Nunez isn’t the answer. Brock Holt is at his best when bouncing around the field. They may need a replacement, and may not have enough time to wait and see for sure. That likely means Swihart’s roster spot finally gets upgraded, or maybe the DL Nunez for the knee that might still be bothering him. Either way, the clock is ticking.