Welcome to the 2015 Razzball Team Previews! You’ll find everything you need to know about each team to get yourself ready for the upcoming fantasy baseball season. And I mean everything folks. We’ve got line-ups, charts, Slurpee’s, lube, a guide for beginner electricians, and even a cactus! Oh, wait, yeah, like half of those things are actually what I have in front of me… But hey, what’s the point of lube and cacti if you can’t share? Truer words have never been written. We also have a very special guest… Conor Frederick from Red Sox Life, to provide his take on what the team has in store this season. So without further ado (and plenty of lube and cacti), let’s check out the 2015 Boston Red Sox!
2015 Boston Red Sox Depth Chart & Projections
Starting Lineup
| Order | Pos | Player | AB | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RF | Shane Victorino | 372 | 51 | 9 | 44 | 10 | 0.264 |
| 2 | 2B | Dustin Pedroia | 598 | 83 | 11 | 72 | 11 | 0.282 |
| 3 | DH | David Ortiz | 537 | 85 | 27 | 92 | 2 | 0.276 |
| 4 | LF | Hanley Ramirez | 515 | 78 | 19 | 79 | 13 | 0.290 |
| 5 | 3B | Pablo Sandoval | 578 | 80 | 20 | 88 | 1 | 0.292 |
| 6 | 1B | Mike Napoli | 470 | 70 | 22 | 73 | 3 | 0.241 |
| 7 | CF | Rusney Castillo | 502 | 61 | 14 | 64 | 16 | 0.278 |
| 8 | SS | Xander Bogaerts | 527 | 67 | 17 | 67 | 5 | 0.255 |
| 9 | C | Christian Vazquez | 348 | 40 | 6 | 37 | 4 | 0.248 |
Bench
| Pos | Player | AB | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Ryan Hanigan | 217 | 27 | 4 | 24 | 2 | 0.250 |
| 1B/OF | Allen Craig | 254 | 33 | 8 | 36 | 1 | 0.276 |
| IF/OF | Brock Holt | 165 | 22 | 1 | 15 | 4 | 0.275 |
| OF | Daniel Nava | 160 | 21 | 3 | 19 | 2 | 0.265 |
Starting Rotation
| Role | Player | IP | W | Sv | ERA | WHIP | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rick Porcello | 200 | 13 | 0 | 3.92 | 1.28 | 139 |
| 2 | Wade Miley | 185 | 12 | 0 | 4.17 | 1.35 | 143 |
| 3 | Justin Masterson | 166 | 11 | 0 | 4.21 | 1.42 | 129 |
| 4 | Clay Buchholz | 178 | 11 | 0 | 4.14 | 1.32 | 137 |
| 5 | Joe Kelly | 117 | 7 | 0 | 4.56 | 1.44 | 79 |
Bullpen
| Role | Player | IP | W | Sv | ERA | WHIP | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | Koji Uehara | 61.6 | 4 | 30 | 2.39 | 1.02 | 68 |
| SU | Junichi Tazawa | 58 | 3 | 2 | 3.14 | 1.17 | 58 |
| SU | Edward Mujica | 51 | 3 | 3 | 3.91 | 1.28 | 37 |
| MID | Anthony Varvaro | 51 | 3 | 0 | 4.11 | 1.36 | 39 |
| MID | Craig Breslow | 51 | 3 | 0 | 4.36 | 1.46 | 35 |
| MID | Alexi Ogando | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| LR | Robbie Ross Jr. | 68 | 4 | 0 | 4.3 | 1.41 | 45 |
Note: Projections provided by Steamer.
I’m now happy to welcome Conor Frederick, here to answer a few questions on the Boston Red Sox…
Well, if I don’t ask, there will be pitchforks and rioting, so here I go (hold me!)… Mookie Betts. Give me your take on him this season. Will he be used as a trade piece? Will he be MVP? Will he be elevated to Godhood? Will he save 2,145 puppies in need of help? OR all of the above?
Conor Frederick: I think there’s a chance everything happens except the 1st one. I think Mookie Betts is poised for a breakout season, with the result being he’s elevated to Tom Brady and David Ortiz-like status by seasons end.
Much has been said about how profoundly underwhelming the Red Sox rotation is at the moment. I guess that’s somewhat fair when Rick Porcello is your opening day starter, but I actually think this rotation has the ability to be above average. In fact, I think Joe Kelly shares a lot of similarities with Andrew Cashner, while Justin Masterson and Clay Buchholz can bounce back a bit. What do you see with this rotation? Or do you just want some of what I’m smoking?
Conor Frederick: I agree – this rotation could be solid. I’m still a little concerned that the Red Sox didn’t get a genuine #1 guy, but I think Porcello could be a good pick up. So is Wade Miley, who’s not an overpowering guy, but he could eat up a lot of innings. The only question is Buchholz – we all know what he can do when he’s at his best, but will he stay healthy? If he does, he could surprise Sox fans.
Rusney Castillo and Christian Vazquez… who are they and what can they do for me, fantasy-wise? (No, not that kind of fantasy. It’s kinda weird you went there.) Or should we just be keeping an eye on the underwhelming Jackie Bradley and the possibly interesting Blake Swihart?
Conor Frederick: Couldn’t resist. But, moving on to fantasy baseball. Castillo is interesting since he has very little MLB experience, but he could still be a possible sleeper. The Red Sox must have seen something they liked to drop a big contract on an unknown quantity. Don’t get me wrong – Bradley can do amazing things with his glove…but not so much with his bat. Maybe I’m wrong, but I see Castillo as a better option than Bradley right now. The Vazquez/Swihart dynamic is interesting. Vazquez looks to be the Red Sox guy at catcher right now, but Swihart could well challenge him. Vazquez has a cannon for an arm, but didn’t put up eye-popping numbers – .240 average, 1 home run and 20 RBI’s in 55 games. Swihart has an edge offensively, at least from his minor league stats (.300 average and 12 home runs in 92 games in Portland). I would keep an eye on that – Vazquez’s sample size is still pretty small and Swihart has no major league experience, but both have a lot of potential.
Finally! A team with a familiar face at closer! You have no idea how many previews I’ve tackled so far that have new and fascinating things going on in their bullpens. But Koji Uehara essentially has the job on lock-down. Just in case though, how do you see the pen shaping out this year? Who are Koji’s handcuffs?
Conor Frederick: The closer job is Koji’s to lose. The only handcuff as of right now is himself. However, he’ll be 40 on April 3rd, so that could still be a problem for him. Throw in his struggles last year, and he could be in trouble early if he doesn’t get off on the right foot. However, the good news if you’re a Koji fan is there’s no one really that can challenge him on the roster right now, so he’ll be given time to settle.
With the Patriots winning the Super Bowl, do you see the fan base rubbing our noses in their own pretentious self-flagellation forever, or do you think they’ll react to this win a bit differently this time around and just rub our noses in their own pretentious self-flagellation forever?
Conor Frederick: As far as Pats fans are concerned, I don’t see them changing too much. At least not right away. There were a bunch of signs trolling Richard Sherman at the parade (Mike Napoli even took to Twitter to do it), and those that weren’t, threw “DeflateGate” back in the face of ESPN and the like. If anything, Pats fans will be insufferable (and I know – I’ll be right there with most of them) for the time being.
Want more of the Jay? Don’t we all folks? Don’t. We. All. Well, you, in fact, can have more. AMAZING. I know. You can find Jay enjoying his dig’s over at the Football side of Razz.
