The Red Sox have a weak offense.

I am new on this site and this is my first debate on this site, so I want to make this clear: I do not believe that the Red Sox weak offense. Also, I am not just doing this because they scored nine runs against the Yankees Sunday night. Here is the lineup: 1. Jacoby Ellsbury Ellsbury is one of the best young leadoff hitters in the game. He is capable of hitting over .300 in a season (he hit .301 last season) and has been far above the league average in batting average in both of his full seasons. His OBP last season was .355, above the league average. Ellsbury is very good at getting on base. This is absolutely vital for a leadoff hitter. You may point to his sub-par SLG and OPS numbers, but keep in mind that he is a leadoff hitter. His primary job is to get on base. Besides, Ellsbury led the MLB in steals last season with 70. He can get into scoring position even if he doesn't get an extra base hit. Ellsbury's speed is his biggest asset. He runs the bases very well, which is evident after looking at his stolen base numbers (120 total in '08 and '09) and his maturation will lead to better decisions, less times caught stealing, and more runs scored. 2. Dustin Pedroia Is there any question about Pedroia's hitting? He has already won a Rookie of the Year, an MVP, a Silver Slugger and has made two All-Star games. Pedroia hit .296 last season and had a bad season in that respect! He is a career .307 hitter who was above the league average in BA, OBP, SLG and OPS each of the last three years! Pedroia is capable of hitting over .300, hitting 20 homers, 50 doubles and 20 stolen bases! The former Silver Slugger can do it all and is the heart and soul of this Red sox lineup. 3. Victor Martinez Finally, Varitek is out of the starting lineup! This will be Victor's first full season with the Red Sox and he is a vast improvement over Varitek in every single major hitting statistic. It is not even close. In his half season with the Red Sox, V-Mart .336 with a .405 OBP, 8 home runs and 41 RBI in 56 games. If he can come even close to this production throughout the entire 2010 season, he will be an excellent addition to the lineup. Look for Martinez to one-up his '07 stat-line which included 25 home runs, 114 RBI, a .301 BA, a .374 OBP and a ridiculous .505 SLG. 4. Kevin Youkilis I know what you are thinking; "A #4 hitter whose career high in home runs is 29? That's terrible!" It's not as terrible as you might think. Yes, his home run numbers aren't very impressive, but Youkilis could definitely hit at least 30 homers. He hit 27 in '09 despite missing a number of games due to injury and playing injured part of the season as well. Youkilis is an absolute OBP machine. Here are Youk's stats 162 game averages since '07 compared to Mark Teixiera's: Youk (Teixeira) BA - .302 (.302) OBP - .397 (.398) SLG - .523 (.560) OPS - .920 (.957) 2B – 44 (43) HR – 28 (38) RBI – 111 (127) Not as big of a different as you might think right? Tex is one of the best hitters in the MLB, you can't expect every #4 hitter to be as talented as him. 5. David Ortiz Ortiz is not the feared hitter he once was. He had a dismal season last year and has zero hits in the first two games of this season. His recent ineffectiveness is part of the reason that some people believe the Red Sox have a lack of offense this season. However, David Ortiz isn't hitting third anymore and the Sox aren't relying on him to be the best on the team anymore. Ortiz' 1st half stats: 23.17 AB/HR .58 RBI/G .222 BA .317 OBP .416 SLG 2nd half: 15.5 AB/HR ,75 RBI/G .258 BA .350 OBP .516 SLG As you can see, there is a vast improvement from the first half to the second. If the Sox tough out the first half, Ortiz will reward them again. Also, Ortiz had the lowest BAbip of his career since 2001, which means he was extremely unlucky. His luck should improve and therefore, his stats should as well. 6. Adrian Beltre Was anyone else surprised to see Beltre batting before Mike Cameron and J.D. Drew? I know I was, but I can see the why the lineup was set up this way. First of all, it separates the lefties (Ortiz and Drew), but also, Beltre is a very underrated hitter. If you look at Beltre's stats last season, they are quite enderwhelming. However, Beltre had an injury-plagued season in '09 and played in one of the worst parks for a hitter in the Majors. His BA away is .029 higher and his sOPS+ was 28 points higher on the road! Now Beltre is going to one of the best parks for hitters in the league. From '06 to '08, Beltre's three last completely healthy seasons, he hit 25 home runs twice and 26 once, he also had 77+ RBI each of the three seasons, on top of a .270 BA. Beltre is a Comeback Player of the Year candidate. 7. J.D. Drew A batter like Drew hitting 7th? How can anyone think that this is a weak lineup? I know that everyone believes that Drew has been terrible since joining the Sox, but answer this. Since '07 (the year he joined the Sox) Drew has hit .276 with a .390 OBP and a surprising 124 OPS+! His home run numbers have increased every year, as has his SLG. Drew had a very bad '07, but both of his years since then were strong. He is not a #3 hitter, but he is a far above average #7. Show me another team with a #7 hitter as strong as J.D. Drew and I will show you a very, very good offense. 8. Mike Cameron Cameron is a freak. I know he is 37 years old, but the guy does not play his age. He finished second in Red Sox speed and agility drills, behind only the MLB stolen base leader, Jacoby Ellsbury. Pretty crazy, right? In fact, '09 was a better season, hitting-wise, for Cameron than each of the last two previous years. Cameron is a career .250 hitter and averages 17 homers per season. However, look at the teams he has played for: Brewers, Padres, Mets, Mariners, Reds and White Sox. Most of these ballparks are pitchers' parks. The biggest hitters' park was the White Sox, but those were only his first four seasons (he averaged just 206 AB per season with the Sox). Ever since '06, Cameron hasn't had a season with less than 21 home runs. A number #8 hitter who averages 23 home runs, 82 RBI and 26 steals per 162 games? Sounds good to me. 9. Marco Scutaro Last season Scutaro hit .282 with a .379 OBP, 12 homers and 60 RBI as a leadoff? And now he is the 9th hitter?? Sign me up to manage that lineup! His numbers last season were above average for him, but even his average stats per year since '04: .267 BA / .338 BA / 92 OPS+ / 8 HR / 47 RBI / 24 2B Don't doubt Scutaro. He can hit and so far this season, he has proven just that, getting three hits in seven at bats and one walk. He is excellent for a #9 hitter. This starting lineup is also very balanced. 1.Jacoby Ellsbury - L 2.Dustin Pedroia - R 3.Victor Martinez - S 4.Kevin Youkilis - R 5.David Ortiz - L 6.Adrian Beltre - R 7.JD Drew - L 8.Mike Cameron - R 9.Marco Scutaro - R That makes five right-handed hitters, three left-handed hitters and one switch hitter. Therefore, the starting lineup is 55.6% righties, 33.3% lefties and 11.1% switch hitters. Very balanced. A lefty starter will not be able to dominate this lineup with favorable match-ups, nor will a righty be able to. Also, because the lefties are separated by at least one right-handed hitter, specialty relievers that shut down lefties will not be able to take advantage. They will either have to struggle with a righty or pitch just one batter and then come out. David Ortiz is probably the worst hitter in this lineup against lefties. Good thing he is the designated hitter because any bench player will be able to come in. Mike Lowell hit over .300 against lefties in 2009 and with a higher OBP, SLG and OPS than against right-handers. There are zero easy outs in this lineup. This is not a weak offense. More to come.