2015 turned into yet another dismal season for the Boston Red Sox after they finished with yet another losing record in what had originally seemed ike a promising season. Former General Manager Ben Cherington took the blame for the team’s back-to-back losing seasons following highlight World Series win in 2013.

“There’s no single player that’s responsible for [the team’s failures]. No single player can be responsible for a lot of reasons. The only person who perhaps is responsible for a longer list of reasons is me,” said Cherington in an interview with George Henry back in June.

In the wake of Cherington’s exit, the Red Sox have since hired former Detroit Tigers President Dave Dombrowski. His presence was immediately felt when he acquired all-star closer Craig Kimbrel, ultimately addressing a big hole in relief pitching.

Since Dombrowski’s arrival, he has also signed pitching ace, David Price, to bolster the team’s starting rotation, a move that was desperately needed after last years starters finished with a dismal 4.31 ERA.

With Spring Training just around the corner and pitchers and catchers reporting to the field in a week, the team hopes to rebound this season, relying on a spark from potential pitching success to carry the team to the post-season.

By throwing David Price into the mix, Dombrowski may have found the missing piece to the puzzle. Having an ace like Price to lead your rotation can be the difference between going golfing or on a trip to the World Series. Red Sox Manager John Farrell agreed with that notion.

“It makes a difference,” Farrell said during a press conference at the Red Sox Winter Weekend event on Jan. 24.

“Now, if that bona fide number one starter was present last year, does that change our bottom line? We could debate that all day long because in the month of May, after an OK April, we scuffled offensively. So, a number one starter isn’t a guarantee of a postseason appearance, but it certainly helps,” said Farrell.

Another pitcher looking to make a difference this season is Clay Buchholz, who hopes to bounce back this season with his goal of pitching 200 innings. After injuries have plagued him over the past two seasons, Buchholz hopes a new offseason routine will help prolong his upcoming season.

“In my mind I was thinking I was trying it a little bit different this year,” he explained to Rob Bradford of WEEI.

“Instead of ramping up and throwing bullpens in the offseason I’m going to get to camp around the first or second (of February). I felt like this route was going to work well for me this year,” said Buchholz on-air.

The team is also facing fierce competition behind the plate for the starting catcher position. Blake Swihart assumed catching duties for the team after Christian Vazquez was sidelined with an elbow injury, which required Tommy John surgery. The injury held him out all of the 2015 season.

What Swihart brings to the plate fits the mold of a Ivan Rodriguez caliber catcher: a player who can get on base and score runs while also being able to hold his own on the field. One flaw Swihart needs to address this spring is his problem in keeping the ball in front of him. His pitchers will lose faith in him quickly if he can’t improve his blocking ability.

Christian Vazquez is a defensive minded catcher. He has the ability to gun down runners with ease. Vazquez also held the lowest team ERA when he last played in 2014. The Red Sox ranked 10th out of the 15 American League teams in ERA (4.01) during the 2014 season and of the four Sox catchers in 2014, Vazquez had the lowest catcher’s ERA.

Outfielder Mookie Betts has matured from top prospect to top of the batting order last season and is a lock to start in centerfield. After proving last year he has all the skills to become one of the best center fielders in the league, Betts is out to prove that last year was no fluke. Teammate Xander Bogaerts fully endorses Mookie as the team’s everyday centerfield and believes 2015 was only the start of something great for him.

“Mookie is a special player. I really love that guy,” Bogaerts said to Ian Browne of MLB.com in an interview on Feb. 7. “Seeing what he did last year after he struggled towards the middle, he just built up and ended really strong. It was nice to see. Every time he hits, you can learn from him. Sometimes he gets a bit hard on himself, but that’s what drives him to become what he is.”

Bogaerts is also setting the bar high to keep improving; he hopes to steal more bases this season after showing huge progress defensively.

“If I would have goals, I would only say base stealing,” Bogaerts said to Christopher Smith of MassLive.com. “I like to steal bases. Sometimes I get shut down less hitting third with Papi (Ortiz), Hanley (Ramirez), Pablo (Sandoval) behind me. They never used to let me go a lot because they don’t want me running into an out when you’ve got these guys that can just hit it out. So I just would want to steal more bases. I’m looking for 20. I’m not being greedy, 15-20 is good.”

Bogaerts also showed what he could really do swinging the bat last year after having poor hitting stats in 2014.

Last season, Bogaerts posted a stat line of .320 batting average with a .355 on-base percentage, .421 slugging percentage, .776 OPS, seven homers, 35 doubles, 3 triples, 81 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. To top it off Bogaerts also won the Silver Slugger award for shortstop position.

Bogaerts accredited a lot of last season’s success to batting in front of Red Sox star David Ortiz.

“I got a lot of help from David,” Bogaerts said to Smith. “Just seeing him on deck, sometimes I would foul a few pitches off and he would look at me and be like, ‘Hey, remember this. You’re doing this.’ Just a quick chat in between pitches. That definitely did help.”

The team anticipates a season much different than last years. Could we see a repeat of 2013?