Felger & Mazz: Early Warning Signs For Red Sox
BOSTON (CBS) - Opening Day is one week from today, which (hopefully) means winter is behind us and we can finally start enjoying some real major league baseball.
Despite the eternal optimism that normally arrives with the coming spring, 98.5 The Sports Hub's Felger & Massarotti have their concerns about the Red Sox in 2015, mainly:
1. Clay Buchholz is your de facto ace and Opening Day starter.
"I think he has almost zero chance of making 34 starts," said Mazz. "Zero. If he makes every start this year without missing a turn I will be shocked."
2. Christian Vazquez, your starting catcher, was placed on the 60-Day disabled list and is feared to need Tommy John surgery on his right throwing elbow.
"You're talking about a 24-year-old kid and nobody saw this coming. He was supposed to be a rock back there," said Mazz. "They are going to suffer in some capacity. We all know how good he is at throwing out runners and he frames pitches well;blocks the ball well."
3. Edward Mujica is currently your closer, because soon-to-be 40-year-old Koji Uehara has an injured right hamstring.
4. Shane Victorino, the team's probable Opening Day right fielder, has struggled to stay healthy and is recovering from offseason back surgery.
"To me, Victorino is not going to last. He's not going to hold up. He's a bench player at this stage of his career, if you ask me," said Mazz.
5. Mookie Betts, the Opening Day center fielder, hasn't even played the position for a full year.
6. Nobody is really certain whether or not Xander Bogaerts can field the shortstop position in the majors.
Those are some major holes for a team expected to compete. What is your concern level for this Red Sox team?
Listen below for Felger & Mazz's full conversation:
