The Boston Red Sox turned in a very impressive April, finishing the month with over 20 wins.
After falling victim to the Houston Astros’ World Series run last season, the Red Sox made an early statement posting the best record in baseball in April that included a nine-game win streak.
The Red Sox became the first team to 20 wins this season by ending the Tampa Bay Rays’ eight-game win streak.
Pitching has been a key to their hot start in 2018. Chris Sale and Rick Porcello have lead this pitching staff to one of the lowest ERA’s in the majors.
The pitching was pretty dominant for them in the month of April, but the bats have been on fire also.
The addition of power hitter J.D. Martinez this offseason has given the Red Sox a huge boost in the line-up. He is a huge threat at the plate and takes a lot of pressure off of Hanley Ramirez. J.D Martinez’s batting average is .330 and he has already collected 22 RBIs.
Mookie Betts was swinging the bat well for the majority of April, including a grand slam against the division rival Yankees, but a recent leg injury has kept him out of the lineup.
Boston also limited their defensive mistakes in April and finished the month tied for first in errors with only eight almost half of the American League average.
The Red Sox set themselves up in good position to win the division, but the red-hot New York Yankees are keeping pace with them and the Toronto Blue Jays have steadily climbed up to third in the East.
The Tampa Bay Rays surprised a lot of people going on an eight-game winning streak, yet they are still seven games back from Boston in the AL East.
If the Red Sox have a couple of bad weeks, this division could easily become a four-team race.
The Red Sox will wrap up a three-game series vs. the Kansas City Royals tomorrow afternoon before heading on a long road trip to Texas, New York and Toronto.
Cody Friesen is a junior in human development and family science.The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Collegian.Please send comments to opinion@kstatecollegian.com.
