Necessary caveat: It's absurdly early in the 2018 season, so consider what follows to be more idle observation than bold pronouncement. Cool? Cool. 

Insofar as the Boston Red Sox and their 2-1 start are concerned (they edged the Rays 3-2 on Saturday), there a couple of encouraging developments that bear mentioning, even at this early hour ... 

1. The rotation has delivered thus far.

Through three games, Boston starters have pitched to a 0.49 ERA, and in 18 1/3 innings they've struck 18 against just four walks. They've also yet to allow a home run. There's also this ... 

You expect dominance from the likes of Opening Day starter Chris Sale, which he provided, but David Price and Rick Porcello also shoved against Tampa. That's notable because the Sox badly need Price and Porcello to bounce back in 2018. Last season, injuries limited Price to just 74 1/3 innings. Meantime, Porcello saw his ERA rise exactly 1.5 runs over 2016 levels. If the Red Sox's starting pitchers pitch in line with career norms in 2018, then that's one way they can likely distinguish themselves from the Yankees, who have some potential rotation questions. So far so good on that front. 

2. Xander Bogaerts has been crushing the ball. 

Bogaerts' has been a good hitter by shortstop standards throughout his MLB career, but let's not forget that he was expected to be a special hitter in the bigs. He was regarded as one of the best prospects in all of baseball coming out of the minors, and you've seen plenty of flashes of that over the years. He's also still just 25 years of age, so there's time for positive development and skills realization. 

Speaking of which ... 

Through these first three games, Bogaerts is batting .667/.667/1.333, which is ... good. No, that's not sustainable, but the spasm of power is encouraging given that Bogaerts entered the 2018 season with an Isolated Power of .128, which is comfortably worse than the league-average mark. 

No doubt, Bogaerts' lingering left hand injury sapped his power in 2017, and on that basis alone he should expect more thump in 2018. As well, Bogaerts this offseason worked to adjust his swing so as to yield more hard-hit balls in the air. Last season, he had an average launch angle of just 8.2 degrees. Thus far in 2018, that figure is up to 26.5. That kind of trajectory in tandem with solid contact (the ball's leaving Bogaert's bat at a robust 92.9 mph so far this season) often yields extra bases. Yes and again, it's early, but Bogaerts' power is something to monitor as our sample size grows. 

Getting better production at the plate from the young core is another big factor for Boston this season, and so far Bogaerts is doing his part and doing it in a way that hints at genuine improvement.