The Boston Red Sox have started off the 2024 MLB season with a winning record one year after finishing in the cellar of the American League East. The 2023 Red Sox faced off against a murderer's row of four different AL East opponents and took their licks, but kept moving forward the entire time.
Now, Alex Cora's team has started off the season on a fairly positive note. Alex Cora's Red Sox were 7-6 heading into Friday night's 7:10 p.m. matchup at Fenway against Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels.
The injury bug has become a cause for concern as Rafael Devers' status has come into focus.
With the Sox still getting their sea legs underneath them, it seems a bit premature to draw too many conclusions on how the season might develop. There are plenty of incredible surprises to focus on so far, however. Whether or not these trends and situations continue according to plan remains to be seen, but for now they are worthy of attention.
Here are the top three most shocking surprises for Alex Cora's team of the early 2024 season:
1. A Winning Record-
The expectations for Cora's team were set relatively low heading into this season but Boston has mostly surpassed them. That's not to say that a 7-6 record is acceptable or that it is as high as this team can reach, but it's still an improvement on what the ‘experts' believed was likely for this team, even early in the season.
The Red Sox swept their opening series of the season against the Oakland Athletics before taking two of three games against the Angels. A three-game losing series sweep at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles tempered expectations going forward.
Now, the real challenge begins, with additional games against the Angels, Cleveland Guardians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants on the docket. The Red Sox must stay focused on improving so they can beat the top tier teams in their division later in the season.
2. Tyler O'Neill-
The Red Sox traded for the former Cardinals gold glove right fielder in the offseason with an eye on defense. O'Neill's heroics at the plate this season have been far better than most expected.
O'Neill hit just .231 last season for the Cardinals and .228 the previous season. Now, he's putting up All-Star caliber numbers as a hitter, although it's still quite early in the year and he will most likely regress back toward the norm at some point. O'Neill is hitting .308 with six home runs and seven RBI so far this season.
The 5-foot-11, 200 pound 28-year-old outfielder from Burnaby, British Columbia could end up as the most pleasant and shocking surprise of the entire season when it's all said and done. O'Neill's story could be yet another case of a player reviving his career in Beantown, inspired and motivated by the history and gravity that comes with the territory of playing with one of the most storied and successful franchises in MLB history.
Cora's team will need every ounce of production and improvement that O'Neill can muster, because the Red Sox will need it against teams like the O's and the Blue Jays.
3. Kutter Crawford-
Crawford appears as if he might be the latest Red Sox reclamation project to become a success story at Fenway Park. The 28-year-old starting pitcher has been lights out this season after a solid 2023. Crawford showed promise across several major statistical categories last season including strikeouts and WHIP after a borderline disastrous 2022 campaign.
Now, he could be ready to take the next step and become a frontline starting pitcher in the American League.
Crawford has an ERA of 0.57 in three starts, although he has yet to win or lose a game. With a name like Kutter, it seems he was destined to be a Major League pitcher. Now, he must continue his shocking and exciting 2024 start en route to an All-Star caliber season if Cora's team is to have any hope of making the playoffs.
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