Following the Red Sox’ run to the ALCS in 2021, each of the following seasons has been more or less the same. They’ve entered the season with low expectations, but enough talent to hover around .500 until the trade deadline. With the expanded playoff system, .500 baseball is enough to remain in contention until late summer, when real contenders start to separate from the pack. The two major holes each of those teams had that remained unaddressed were poor defense and a lack of starting pitching. As a result, Alex Cora often had to lean on his bullpen frequently.
Josh Winckowski is a necessary evil
