The Red Sox do not have a player on the roster who hit 30 homers in the big leagues last year.
So we worry about offense. Too many Marcos. Not enough Mannys. Where’s Dick Stuart when you need him?
The young men who step into the batter’s box are getting a little tired of the theme.
“You guys also predicted the Cubs to win the World Series last year,’’ said Kevin Youkilis before yesterday’s workout at the Red Sox’ minor league complex. “Predictions are predictions.
“You can’t worry about that stuff. No guy is out here going, ‘I’m going to prove all the writers wrong about this offense.’ It is what it is.
“You’ve just got to go out and play your game and you can’t really worry about it. There are some guys that are predicted to have great years and they might be a little less than that.’’
The Sox have plenty of punch at the top in Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, and Youkilis, but there is concern about the middle and bottom of the lineup. David Ortiz is coming off the worst season of his Red Sox life and Mike Lowell has been erased from the equation. Fans want more than 68 RBIs out of J.D. Drew, and new third baseman Adrian Beltre hit only eight homers in 449 at-bats last season. Mike Cameron is a .250 hitter who fanned 156 times last year.
“We’ll be fine,’’ said Pedroia. “We’ve got a lot of good offensive players. We’ve had two practices. I don’t think anybody can judge our offense until we get out there and start playing.
“I don’t even know what our lineup’s going to be, but wherever we’re at, we’re going to hit. We were third in the league [in offense] last year and we only had Victor for half the year. I know we lost Jason Bay, but everyone’s going to have to pick up the slack and we’re confident we’re going to do that.’’
Even without a 30-homer guy, the Sox are tough on enemy pitchers. Ellsbury’s speed gets the attention of all pitchers and Pedroia and Youkilis regularly work through eight- and nine-pitch at-bats.
