Continuing the Soxblogging, as promised, here are my thoughts and impressions on the Sox’ starting position players.

Batting first, the shortstop, Julio Lugo: While there’s no question that Lugo brings a great attitude and energy to the Sox, there’s some problematic numbers involved with this guy. For instance, we’ll start with .341, his career on-base percentage. Not bad for a #7 hitter, but pretty poor for the guy leading off. Next, we have the number 112 - his seasonal average for strikeouts. Ideally, you want your leadoff man to be a good contact hitter - and this guy’s no Ichiro or Damon, that’s for sure. Finally, we’ll examine the number 22 - the average number of errors Lugo commits in the field per year. You may perhaps recall the trade of a certain Nomar Garciaparra in 2004; it was stated (by Theo Epstein, no less) that the team simply wasn’t going to be a World Series-caliber team unless they improved their defense up the middle. Garciaparra and his 20-ish errors needed to go. The rest, of course, is history. Orlando Cabrera came in, did his best Hoover impersonation (the vacuum, not the president) at short, and the Sox would go on to sweep the Cards and end 86 years of misery. Lugo is as poor a defender while providing significantly less thunder with the stick. This would seem to point to a regressive philosophy in the front office, inviting back the same type of problems that threatened to sandbag the team in 2004.

As I said; not sold on this guy as a leadoff man.

Batting second, the first baseman, Kevin Youkilis: (cue “YOOOOOUUUUUUUUK” chant) While Youk isn’t the guy you think of as a “prototypical” first baseman, an examination of his first year in the majors is telling: .381 OBP (excellent for the #2 spot), 42 doubles and only 5 errors at first base (while showing remarkable agility with the leather, both at picking throws in the dirt and making diving plays at the line). He’s the sort of home-grown dirtdog that Boston fans love to cheer for, and he’s providing many opportunities for them to do so, both on offense and defense. Solid.

Batting third, the designated hitter, David Ortiz: I don’t think I have to say much here. Since 2003, this dude’s hit 173 homers, driven in 525 runs, slugged .616 and ran up an OPS of .999. And that’s given a 2003 season in which he only played 128 games, platooning with Jeremy Giambi (lol) and some other stiff I can’t remember (J.T. Snow, perhaps). Even those gargantuan numbers can’t speak to what he’s done to carry this Sox team, both in the regular and postseason. You all know the stories.

Batting fourth, the left fielder, Manny Ramirez: Creeping age is beginning to take a toll on Ramirez, as he takes longer and longer to hit his groove from season to season. Scope the numbers:

April 2002: .396 AVG, .495 OBP, .679 SLG, 1.174 OPS

April 2003: .347 AVG, .430 OBP, .551 SLG, .981 OPS

April 2004: .388 AVG, .448 OBP, .647 SLG, 1.095 OPS

April 2005: .274 AVG, .386 OBP, .607 SLG, .993 OPS

April 2006: .276 AVG, .417 OBP, .448 SLG, .865 OPS

April 2007: .205 AVG, .300 OBP, .227 SLG, .527 OPS

Now, let’s match his April numbers for the last 3 seasons up against his career numbers:

Career: .313 AVG, .410 OBP, .598 SLG, 1.008 OPS

At 35, Ramirez is a player beginning his decline. While his monstrous talent and excellent physical condition should keep that decline more gradual and less precipitous than most, I’m still both worried about what sort of actual production we’ll see from him in 2007 (especially given his historically bad start), and quietly relieved that his contract is nearly up. However, there’s still no good reason to expect less than .275 / .400 / .550 with 30+ homers and 100 batted in, meaning Papi should still see plenty of good pitches to hit.

Batting fifth, the right fielder, J. D. Drew: Unlike many diehard Sox fans, I was pretty excited about the prospect of Drew patrolling Fenway’s uncanny right field. He’s an excellent defender with a good throwing arm, and he fits well with the Sox offensive philosophy: sign guys that work pitchers and get on base. Don’t get me wrong; I’m sortof expecting Drew to be a “bad signing” by his fourth year. By then he’ll be 35, and looking the end of his career straight in the face, as Manny will have to begin doing soon. However, for the next couple of seasons, if the training staff can keep him healthy, I expect to see a top-notch player in the prime of his game.

Batting sixth, the third baseman, Mike Lowell: Like Billy Mueller before him, this is a player you can’t help but love. Rock-solid at the hot corner, he’s proven he can still pick it with the best of them. He’s begun this season in keeping with his normal career numbers, and I think we can expect another good, productive season along the ilnes of .275, .330, .450 with 45ish doubles and 15 dingers to boot. Any team besides the Yankees would be happy to have that sort of threat working late in the order.

Batting seventh, the catcher, Jason Varitek: No arm and no bat, anymore. I mean, he’s the captain, and deservedly so. Nobody in my memory has brought more pride and dignity to the uniform than Varitek, and watching him fade is a sad thing, as a fan. He’s still the master of preparation and working with his pitching staff, and his value as the teams primary catcher, like Derek Jeter’s value to the Yankees, cannot be quantified just by the numbers. Still, though, let’s all hope that George Kotteras really works out. We’re watching the end of Varitek’s career, with each game that passes.

Batting eighth, the center fielder, Coco Crisp: The best thing Boston could hope for this year is that Jacoby Ellsbury, their star AA / AAA CF prospect, somehow warps into Carl Crawford by midseason and gets called up, thus benching Crisp. I believe that the 2006 season, which began with such high hopes for a player who was replacing the wildly popular Johnny Damon, destroyed Crisp’s chances at a successful Sox career. He’s lost the fans in totality, he knows it, and it has shrunken him as a player. He’s got no arm and no bat. When you’re at the point where you’d prefer to see Wily Mo Pena patrolling center, you know you’ve got huge problems at that position.

So, keep your fingers crossed, and hope Ellsbury turns into “Young Johnny Damon”, as many scouts are projecting.

Batting ninth, the second baseman, Dustin Pedroia: The jury is out this season. This is his first year as a rookie starter, and you have to give the kid some leeway and assume time needed to adjust to the majors. His fielding is nothing special, yet neither was Wade Boggs’ when he came up. With diligent work, Boggs crafted himself into a Gold Glove third baseman, and Pedroia is said to possess an excellent work ethic of his own. Given time, I think we can still be optimistic that Pedroia can reproduce Youkilis-lite numbers (.285 AVG, .385 OBP, ~40 doubles) while doing a passable job as a middle infielder. It’s going to come down to how much he’s willing to work to make the correct adjustments and improve his gloveowrk and pivots around the bag.