Dombrowski dazzled
Not even Sox president envisioned this hot start
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Not even the architect of the 2018 Red Sox thought they would be this good.
Off to the best start in franchise history at 16-2, the Sox just knocked around the Los Angeles Angels for a three-game sweep. The same Angels who own the second-best record in the American League at 13-5 were outscored, 27-3.
Entering last night’s game in Oakland, Dave Dombrowski’s offense ranked first in the majors in runs (118), doubles (55), batting average (.292) and OPS (.859) while the pitching staff ranked second in ERA (2.63), third in WHIP (1.09) and sixth in strikeouts (181).
Just like the Red Sox drew it up in the offseason, right?
“Well, we’re really playing good ball right now, so I don’t think you can ever say that you’re anticipating this type of play,” Dombrowski told the Herald after his team finished the sweep Thursday night. “But we knew they had the ability to be better, to bounce back. We have very good players and they’ve done a nice job of doing that. We thought the capabilities were there. But for me to say we expected it to this point, that would be a bit much.”
Having just entered his third full season as the Sox president of baseball operations, if Dombrowski wanted to climb to the top of the Prudential Center and yell out, “I told you so,” it would certainly be within his rights.
No team had won 16 of its first 18 games since the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers. According to MLB.com, two of the last four teams to go 16-2 have won the World Series (the 1984 Detroit Tigers and 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers).
Coming off a season in which the Sox had a powerless offense that ranked last in the American League in homers before getting routed in the Division Series for the second straight year, the expectation was that Dombrowski would make some big moves in the offseason.
But the general manager’s meetings passed in November, then the winter meetings went by in December, and still the Sox hadn’t added any new players. All the while Dombrowski’s message was the same: the offense would improve on its own.
No new players were needed, he said. The players they had would be better.
“We really believed it,” Dombrowski said. “I know a lot of people didn’t believe it, but we believed it.
“We were thinking the possibility existed that we would have a better offense and all of our scouting, all of our analytics pointed to that.”
Three weeks into the year and the Sox’ boss is looking like a fortune teller. Of the 10 returning position players with more than 25 at-bats, seven of them have an OPS higher than last year’s figure. Jackie Bradley Jr., Christian Vazquez and Eduardo Nunez are the only outliers.
The addition of J.D. Martinez late in spring training has undoubtedly helped. After signing a $110 million contract, Martinez has 10 extrabase hits while hitting .338 with a .983 OPS in his first 16 games.
“It makes a difference,” Dombrowski said. “I can’t say it makes that much of a difference. I think there are different factors.
“Mitch Moreland playing on a broken toe for a few months and never being the same after that. He’s giving you everything he could but still being hurt. (Xander Bogaerts), he won the Silver Slugger two years in a row. He was doing really well and then he got hit and wasn’t quite the same. When you start combining all those things and when you look at the guys’ careers that they’ve had, you would look for some of them to bounce back.”
The Sox hit eight homers in their first 18 games last year. They have 24 this time around. Has the approach changed?
“I’m sure that has something to do with it, too,” Dombrowski said. “We’re approaching some things in a different fashion and once you get on a positive roll, it’s like a lot of things, it just rolls. Guys are taking a different approach, a little bit more aggressive. Mookie (Betts) is hitting at the top of the order on a consistent basis and (Andrew Benintendi) is No. 2. We’re a little deeper so we can give a day off when our bench is a little bit deeper.”
Martinez might have been the only new player added, but almost the entire coaching staff was replaced.
“They’ve done a nice job, sure,” Dombrowski said. “I don’t want to plant it on guys in the past because we had a lot of good people and won divisions with people. But I think our new staff has done a really good job. With Alex (Cora) and the hitters, they’ve had some good communication, made some adjustments. We’re in a good streak right now.”
First-time skipper Cora has downplayed the team’s hot start, as have most of the players. But the new manager has made a difference, his boss thinks.
“All along I’ve had a real good feel for his leadership, communication, knowledge, what points he’s wanted to get across,” Dombrowski said. “Bringing everybody together, players and coaching staff. Really trying to be a sponge in trying to grasp every little bit he can. We’re well prepared. Everybody gets involved. We have a lot of people involved in meetings.
“He knows what he wants done in the front office, from an analytical perspective. He’s more involved with (vice president of research and development) Zack Scott and his staff. He’s really brought people together. And yet, we’re on a nice streak, guys enjoy the victory but they don’t get carried away. It’s like, ‘OK, let’s come back the next day and we expect to play the same way and play well.’ You get beat at times but nobody is getting carried away.”
His baseball team is playing the best they have since he took over in 2015. And just about everything he predicted in the offseason has been accurate.
Does Dombrowski feel validated?
“No, we’re early in the season so you keep things in perspective,” he said. “We have a long haul ahead of us. It’s nice to see. You enjoy when you’re playing well and we’re playing very well right now. You don’t get on these type of runs very often. Not only are we winning but we’re winning by some big scores in some of these games. There are a lot of things going well for us. But you don’t get carried away and know you have a long way to go.”