Red Sox struggles could present prospects with opportunity

The Boston Red Sox season might not be going well, but this could present the opportunity for some younger players to shine.

The team really didn't do anything to make their roster anything better during the offseason. There's a good case to be made that it got worse by not re-signing Craig Kimbrel or Joe Kelly--and recently DFAing Blake Swihart. But let's just ignore all of that right now. Heck, let's ignore the Red Sox record. Let's just say it's not going as well as the fans wish it was. OK. Now that we're not thinking about the bad, let's think about the good. There could be some real opportunities for the youngsters to shine this season.

Second base is the most obvious example here. Brock Holt and Dustin Pedroia are hurt. Eduardo Nunez has been a liability since last year. OK, so what's going on in Pawtucket at the position? Tzu-Wei Lin, a .254/.345/.377/.722 (BA, OBP, SLG, OPS) in 63 big league games over parts of three seasons, can play second. He'll likely get a chance the way things are going.

Plus, Michael Chavis, the Red Sox top prospect, can play second base--so he could be in the picture at some point later this season. The 23-year-old clubbed 31 homers in 126 games in 2017 and was suspended for much of last year due to PED use--which means he must be even stronger now, and that's great.

And who could forget relief pitcher Durbin Feltman? The team's third round pick last season, he's a high floor guy. He's already in AA and has struck out 42 batters in 27.1 pro innings. He might give the team some good bullpen help later in the season, assuming he's not the next Craig Hansen.

And then there's Rusney Castillo but, you know....

The end.