Predicting the 2013 Red Sox Roster

Hey Guys!

I thought it'd be cool if I predicted the 2013 Red Sox roster EXCEPT for pitching relievers, so here it is...

Starting Pitchers: Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, John Lackey, Ryan Dempster, Felix Doubrant
Lackey will be coming off surgery and is expected to perform better than he did in 2011. The reason? Because during the 2011 season his arm was bothering him and was injured. He has done good in his career and could do good again this year. Doubrant pitched sort of good in his first major league season last year. He did good sometimes and other times he did bad. Anyways, he is a strikeout pitcher and that is going to benefit us. Dempster's performance for this year is kind of unknown. He pitched good and  then bad and then he pitched good again towards his final starts, so nobody knows. Now, Lester and Buchholz are expected to be our ace's of the staff, mainly Lester but Buchholz can pitch good too. Lester had a bad season in 2012 but with new manager John Farrel, he is expected to improve. Same thin with Buchholz, he did sort of good and is expected to be better this year.

Others who could start this season: Franklin Morales

First Base: Mike Napoli 
Mike Napoli is also expected to be good this year but has still not struck a deal with the Red Sox. Even though they haven't landed a deal, he is probably going to end up signing with us because of 1 reason. Reason: Something is wrong with his hip and no other team is going to want him. This hip injury could be nothing and may not affect him considering he won't be on his knees all the time. He'll be standing at first base. If the Red Sox make this deal, he is going to impact our team in a very good way.

Others: Minor League Player

Second Base: Dustin Pedroia
Dustin Pedroia will be starting at second base, no surprise. Pedroia had a good season in 2012 but his numbers dropped from 2011. He is a very good athletic second baseman who is probably going to have a chance at the gold glove and silver slugger award at his position. Expect a lot from him this year.

Others: Pedro Ciraco 

Short Stop: Stephen Drew 
Stephen Drew will likely be starting short stop for us. We signed him to a 1 year deal which means he's probably going to have him play this year to give prospect, all glove, no bat, Jose Iglesias time to work on his hitting skills. Stephen Drew had a bad year this year but he could be a little better from last year because he's healthy now.

Others: Jose Iglesias or Pedro Ciraco

Third Base: Will Middlebrooks 
Will Middlebrooks was a rookie coming in to the 2012 Red Sox season. He was possibly, the biggest surprise that season because nobody expected him to be that good. He ended up doing great until August where he lacked hitting. He then was then hit by a pitch on his wrist and broke his hand, ending his rookie season. He had power and he's going to have power this year too. I can't wait to see what we get out of him.

Others: Minor League Player

Outfield: Shane Victorino, Jacoby Ellsbury, Johnny Gomes
Jacoby Ellsbury was coming off an injury shortened season where his numbers dropped. This was because he suffered an injury early in the season and didn't come back until late July/early August. He didn't have much power and the only time I can remember him doing good was when he hit a walk off hit for us against the Yankees. Anyways, this could be his last season in Boston and he is going to play up to his expectations. Shane Victorino had a career worst season this year and is going to have to improve for the Red Sox. I think he is going to do good but not all star quality. Johnny Gomes had some power this year with Oakland and he did do kind of good. He didn't play in all 162 games or even 100 games, but still helped Oakland. I think he will be like Victorino, good, but not all star good.

Others: Ryan Kalish, Daniel Nava

Catcher: Jarrod Saltalamacchia, David Ross
Saltalamachhia and Ross will probably be switching the catchers job off and on. But for the most part I see Salty starting at the catchers position. Salty was a player who either hit home runs or struck out. He had major slumps throughout the season that affected us. He is probably going to be the same as he was in 2012 but with David Ross as our backup, we can put him in when Salty is doing bad.

Others: Ryan Lavarnway

Designated Hitter: David Ortiz
David Ortiz will obviously be our Designated hitter and he could do good this year. Last year he was doing very very good before the all star break. And then after the all star break he was still doing good. But then he suffered an injury that ended his season, except for 1 game he came back to play. If this injury is no problem to Ortiz, he is probably going to do really good.  

Bench: Pedro Ciraco, Ryan Kalish 
This isn't that big of a spot but I want to talk about it for a little. Ciriaco was a good player but he struck out a lot. He was good at hitting and getting key hits and he also was good at defense with his glove. He is also a speedy player who is probably going to pinch hit at key moments. Ryan Kalish was a player who struggled throughout the 2012 season but is also speedy and could improve on his hitting skills this season.

Closer: Joel Hanrahan
I don't count him as a reliever. Joel Hanrahan is going to be an elite closer for us who could make the all star game again this year for the 3rd straight year. He has posted a low ERA and has also been good at what he does, closing games. The only thing to have concern about is his walks. Last year he had a high walk ratio which means he walked quite a few players. But the Red Sox aren't too worried about that so neither should we be worried.

So yeah, that's what I expect the 2013 Red Sox roster to be. Some relievers will probably be Junichi Tazawa, Koji Uehara, Andrew Miller, Andrew Bailey, Franklin Morales, Craig Breslow, Clayton Mortenson, and Alfredo Aceves. Yes, sadly, Alfredo Aceves... I don't know which of these relievers will be on our 25 man roster but we will see on opening day. So to sum it all up, we are going to have a good roster. Some players will be great and others will lack greatness but for the most part I think we're going to be good. Our starting pitching will bounce back from 2012 and do better. And our offense will improve and do better than last year. Hope you liked my predictions! Comment!

- DJ