Red Sox and Yankees share a dismal beginning to the 2019 season
By Rick McNair
The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are both sharing a miserable start to the 2019 season. New York needs to get healthy and Boston to square away pitching.
The Boston Red Sox misery is made more palatable with the eerie shredding of the New York Yankees who are floundering. There may be no joy in Mudville (Boston), but we now share a certain camaraderie with the hated Bronx Bombers. The two “Beasts of the East” have been neutered – so far.
Red Sox and Yankee fans always keep a watching eye on one another. This is what we do. Call it scoreboard watching. We observe the transaction lists and watch the injury lists. We watch the box scores to see who is hot and who is not. This is what we do and I will admit to it. I will admit to guilty pleasure when the Yankees lose, but I will also readily admit to avoiding any pleasure over injuries.
The crux of the New York sinkage is no great mystery to be resolved by a battalion of sabermetricians. The injury bug has created a pandemic on the Yankees roster and it is a strain that goes from mild to potentially tragic. The results are clear with the Yankees being tormented by the Astros in a recent three-game set-to.
The Red Sox situation is a polar opposite of New York’s since the Boston malady is not injury related, but apparently a collective effort by the rotation to sink the season. If there was any favorable news emanating from the last few Red Sox weeks it was all are reasonably healthy, but there other signs are also positive.
The Red Sox offense is certainly not staggering around and the bullpen has done a surprisingly commendable performance. Alex Cora – manager extraordinaire (at least in 2018) has stayed the course with minimal adjustments. A bit of lineup and rotation tinkering, but certainly not full-fledged panic.
Both the Yankees and the Red Sox will have a list of payback up and running. For New York, it is a matter of the Injury list shrinking and for the Bostonians, it is the vaunted rotation discovering the art of pitching success after the early season pratfall.
Right now Tampa Bay is enjoying the twosome demise and making proverbial baseball hay while the giant’s slumber. Tampa, however, is not some unknown surprise that eventually is doomed to failure. The boys from that dreadful ballpark won 90 games last season and just may match or exceed that.
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There is a certain perverse enjoyment of watching the Rays win. Their payroll is just $73MM which is easily matched by just two or three players from Boston or New York. A Tampa success may be great for baseball, but bad for followers of the pinstripes and red stockings. In my own sick way, I wish them well.
The two “Beasts” will have a distinct advantage eventually and that means Baltimore and Toronto. Neither is expected to be a viable force in the American League East and may represent low hanging fruit. That, however, is to be seen. Baseball can be a strange mistress.
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In the meantime, our collective comfort within Red Sox Nation is the Yankees won and loss record. At least they have not taken full advantage of the Red Sox tanking and sprinting out of sight. As far as the Yankees I simply hate the idea of quality players being injured and that resulting in an advantage for the Red Sox, but that is part of baseball and any sport.