With a new year once again upon us, the sports world will relatively stay the same. The month of February is no different in those terms. The Super Bowl has come and gone, with the Patriots defeating the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 on route to their sixth Lombardi Trophy.
February gives sports fans a very special present: the Super Bowl and the start of the MLB season. With many attendees at Plymouth being Red Sox fans, the start of the 2019 baseball season could provide more magic for New England fans.
The Red Sox, fresh off a World Series win last season versus the Dodgers, look to repeat again this season as champions. Many of the same players from last year have returned; postseason Cinderella Nathan Eovaldi re-upping on a four-year contract worth $67.5M and World Series MVP Steve Pearce resigning as well. However, that’s only the beginning.
The Sox also look to unleash Chris Sale with the hopes he remains healthy this season. Sale, when healthy, contributed tremendously to the Red Sox last season with a 12-4 record and a 2.11 ERA in 27 games played. Sale, being paired up with Eovaldi, provides the Red Sox with a deadly one-two combo that can easily overpower any opposing team.
Through all this, however, David Price could once again end up being the player that Makes or Breaks the Red Sox season. Price seemingly found his Cy Young form in the playoffs, going 3-1 with a 3.46 ERA. Despite sustaining a loss in his first start to the Yankees, Price was lights out from the Houston series on. Much of the Red Sox success hinged on David Price delivering in the playoffs, and he answered.
It’s now David Price’s job to answer once again. Sale’s reliability has never been in question and Eovaldi is dark horse candidate for a Cy Young, but David Price is the pitcher that this staff will rely on the most. If 2019 is the season the Red Sox repeat, David Price will to deliver.