The Red Sox have been battling for a playoff spot all season long. They have a big opportunity starting on Tuesday to make a big move in the standings over the course of the next four weeks. There has been a lot of discussion recently about the difficulty of the Red Sox schedule in August and September. The Red Sox just through the first part of that with the end an eleven game road trip against the Angels, Mariners, and Dodgers. The Red Sox have still a lot of road games on the schedule. However, the reality is that the schedule is not very difficult over the next month.
The Yankees are coming to town on Tuesday. They’ll play a three game series against the Sox at Fenway Park. While the Yankees have a respectable record at 56-55, they just dumped a good portion of their big league roster. They’re not a playoff threat. The Red Sox should take two out of three and a sweep is a realistic possibility. Anything less than two wins in this series would be a major disappointment. After the Yankees series, the Red Sox then play 19 of their next 26 games against teams below .500. Tough schedule? Well, certainly not over the course of the next month. While just 12 of the next 29 games are at Fenway, the Red Sox have a great chance to make a move here. During this stretch, they have two series against Tampa Bay. They also have series against Arizona, Kansas City, Oakland, and San Diego. In between, the have crucial series against Baltimore and Detroit. They also have a makeup game against Cleveland on August 15th.
The Red Sox survived the eleven game road trip. It wasn’t pretty, but they kept themselves in contention. Now they have a chance to make their move. While the team has some flaws, the reality is that there may not be another team with more top end talent than the Red Sox. They’re a team with seven All Stars and that list doesn’t even include Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez, David Price, and Rick Porcello. The team is loaded with star players and anything less than a postseason appearance would be below expectations.
The pitching has really started to come around. The Red Sox now have five reliable starting pitchers. While Eduardo Rodriguez and Drew Pomeranz have not been great, they have have made quality starts recently. The top three of David Price, Pick Porcello, and David Price are as solid as they come. Wright and Porcello may both win 20 games. The Red Sox haven’t had two pitchers who won 20 games in a season since 2002 when Derek Lowe and Pedro Martinez accomplished that feat.
We all know about the Red Sox offense. Statistically, they have the best offense in baseball. They have two MVP candidates in Mookie Betts and David Ortiz. They also have Jackie Bradley Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Dustin Pedroia, and Hanley Ramirez who are all having good years. The top six in their lineup is better than any team in MLB. The offense has recently gone through a slump. Every team does. With the competition they’ll be facing in the next month, it’s a great opportunity for the offense to get back on track before the final weeks of the pennant race in September.
The Red Sox have an opportunity to make a big move in the next 29 games. Hopefully, a month from now, we’ll be talking about how they took advantage of it!
Let’s go Sox! They need to wake up and get the bats going. I am a long time red Sox fan and if they don’t start winning both at home and on the road they’re toast!