Look To The Future Now

It's time to look at the future. Time to play the kids.

I wasn't jumping for joy with the week the Red Sox had last week. They split four games with the Atlanta Braves, and then went to Kansas City and took two of three from the defending AL champion Royals, with the last game being a convincing 13-2 win. The Sox had also been awoken at the plate, having a team .294 batting average for the month of June, best in MLB.

But my fears were confirmed when they returned to Fenway and dropped two of three to division rival Baltimore. The Sox are now an abysmal 11-22 against the AL East (and they have a winning record outside the division), and 4-9 against the Orioles.

On May 31st, the Sox stood at 22-29, 4 games back in the AL East. I took a look at the schedule for June, and it appeared to be favorable to the Sox, with most of their opponents at or below .500. They had 28 games this month, and I figured they needed to go at least 16-12 in order to get back to some respectability and try to get back in the AL East race.

That now officially won't happen with yesterday's loss, as they are now 10-13 with five games remaining in June. I think even the most cockeyed of Red Sox optimists realize it just isn't happening in 2015, and Dustin Pedroia heading for the DL just adds to the misery.

Time for the Sox to turn the page on 2015 and look to next year. Jackie Bradley Jr. returned from Pawtucket yesterday, where he was having a terrific year and went 2-for-4 at the plate and threw out a runner at home in the ninth inning. Time to put Bradley in right field and leave him there. For the player's own well-being, they should see what he can do the rest of the way, and make a decision on him: keep him or trade him.

Eduardo Rodriguez got rapped around the second time through the Baltimore order yesterday, after retiring the first 10 hitters he faced. But the kid is still the goods, and will be a top-notch starter in year's to come. He is someone you can build a future rotation around. He's taking his lumps, but that is expected. He'll be an All-Star sooner rather than later. And we should be seeing the much-heralded Brian Johnson called up for a start shortly. He is 8-4 with a 2.57 ERA at Pawtucket.

Joe Kelly, who in March predicted he'd win the Cy Young Award this year, was sent down to AAA yesterday after yet another rocky start. He still has terrific stuff at times, and I can see him being the future closer of the Red Sox. He maybe one of those guys who is better suited to a one or two inning role in 2016.

The Sox will obviously be sellers on July 31. They have a few pieces they can move, like Mike Napoli for instance (although they won't get much for him). Quite frankly, they are stuck with guys like Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval and Rick Porcello. The future is with guys like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley. They'll be worth coming out to see when the standings say the Red Sox as a group aren't worth it.