Early-season musings

"It took a five-game Sox winning streak for this guy to post for the first time?"
OK, I would probably be thinking the same thing right about now, but I have some excuses. First off, it takes me a while to get into a rhythm during baseball season. There was no time to decompress from the excitement of UConn getting into the Final Four, with the first pitch just a day-and-half after the Huskies lost to Michigan State. And with all the day games from opening day through Patriot's Day, it's hard to get a true feel for the ol' ball club -- after all, it's hard to work and watch a game at the same time ...
But I do have some early-season thoughts on the Sox. While admittedly ecstatic to see the Boston Juggernauts show off their pitching prowess in a 2-1 Lester-powered victory over the Orioles on Sunday, and then show off their ability to pound the ball by routing the hapless boys from Baltimore with a dozen runs on Monday, all is not well in Beantown. The five in a row, including a four-game sweep of the Orioles, has us above .500 for the first time since opening day, but injuries are starting to become a worry. Justin Masterson is an excellent fill-in for Dice-K in the rotation, but what does that do to our long relief the next time Brad Penny is knocked out in the third inning or Tim Wakefield has one of his off days and heads to the showers after four? And shortstop is an even bigger worry, because if Jed Lowrie is indeed out for the year, or even several months, that means a huge dose of Julio Lugo and I don't know a Sox fan out there that wants to suffer through that! It's nice to see Varitek piling up some extra-base hits and Big Papi feasted on some terrible Orioles pitching yesterday, as well, but I'm not sure the newly-spectacled Mr. Francona has found the right batting order yet. As hard as it is to face the truthfullness of the decline of Ortiz, who we've made excuses for the last two years, it may be time to drop him several spots in the order, where his inability to catch up to an 88-mph fastball will hurt offensive rallies a bit less.
So perhaps I'm focusing too much on the negative so you all don't think I'm just a fair-weather blogger -- it is nice to have a nice little winning streak to get on a roll heading into the first showdown with the Yanks this weekend. But hey, two recent titles or not, what would a true Sox fan be without a healthy dose of pessimism ...