ALDS & Season Recap

Papelbon's perfect postseason ERA didn't mean anything this year.

In the series preview we listed four keys to winning the series. The Red Sox simply did not execute any of them.

1. Jon Lester and Josh Beckett. Our two "aces" pitched well enough to win on most nights, but in each of their playoff outings they were out-pitched. Our offense supplied no hitting and left Lester and Beckett with no margin for error.

2. Can the offense stay hot? In the first two games of the series our offense was no where to be found. The Sox totaled eight hits and one run in 18 innings of baseball. Maybe it was the few days off before the series started, maybe we ran into good pitching? Fact of the matter is, the Sox offense couldn't have picked a worse time to go cold.

3. Battle of the Bullpens. The Sox clearly had the edge in bullpen play heading into the series. However, the Sox were not able to expose the weaknesses in the Angels' pen because their starters worked too deep into games. When we had to rely on our bullpen, Papelbon couldn't shut the door with a four run lead. A clear advantage that we did not capitalize on.

4. The battle of the base paths favors the Angels. The Angels struggled to steal in game one of the series with lefty Jon Lester on the mound, but they had two crucial steals in the 7th inning of Game 2. Both of those runners (Kendrick and Izturis) came around to score. Jacoby Ellsbury (3-12 in the series) was not on base enough to make an impact stealing bases. Joey Gathright did steal a crucial bag after pinch-running for Ortiz (he was 1-12) that gave us an insurance run, but it was a moot point after the game was blown.

It wasn't that we lost this series; it's how we lost. We did not show up in the first two games and blew the 3rd when we had a clear opportunity to win. With a win yesterday and our two aces coming back on short rest the series could have been ours.

Now Theo Epstein faces major questions heading into the off-season. Will the Sox attempt to retain Jason Bay (his agent is Scott Boras by the way)?

Victor appears to be the catcher of the future (or at least next year in the final year of his deal) after starting all three games of the playoffs. Where does that leave Varitek?

How does Mike Lowell fit into their plans? The team tried to move him last off-season, and will look for a power bat at 1B if Bay leaves, inevitably sliding Youk back to third.

Who's the shortstop of the future?

How confident do the Sox feel heading into next season with Wake and Dice-K at the back-end of the rotation?

These are all questions we hoped to answer a few weeks after the World Series title. After losing last year in game seven of the ALCS coupled with this year's early exit, Red Sox Nation is as anxious as ever.

The pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers in mid February and that can't come soon enough.