OK, the hitting is a worry. I get it. Heck, I started the thread because I like to panic early.
I am also aware of moonslav's strong opinion that Farrell is the wrong manager, especially as reflected in, he says, at least two bonehead plays every single game.
However, from July 31 to the present the Sox have played 14 games and averaged 6 runs per game and are 12-2 for those games, including a couple or so wins when we did not score 4 or more runs.
On top of that we finally have a true ace in Sale, a great closer in Kimbrel, and the knowledge that Betts, Bogaerts, Ramirez, et al,can hit better than they have been hitting thus far. Nunez and Devers--to my great delight because I never thought they would make much difference--seem finally to have pushed the ghost of Ortiz off stage just enough for this to team to play the way they are capable of. Even without Pedroia. Or Price.