Are the Boston Red Sox contenders this year?
(waiting for you to stop laughing)
Okay, now that you’ve gotten that out of your system: have you noticed that the Red Sox haven’t been terrible lately? And that as things stand currently, they’re only 7.5 games out of a Wild Card spot? Could they actually make a run in September and get back to the postseason?
In a word: no. They’re still 11 games under .500, and if they had designs on making the playoffs as a Wild Card, they’d have to jump over 8 other teams to get there. They simply have too many problems to overcome in order to make a serious late run at the postseason.
But there are signs of life in Boston in what has been a lost season. They’ve gone 12-11 in August and are trying for their first winning month since April. They’ve pitched better this month and their offense has been potent, hitting a combined .304/.358/.489 for the month. They’re not rolling over and dying, which is a credit to them considering just how poorly things have gone this year.
It’s been quite a month for the Sox. They hired Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations and lost their GM in the process. Manager John Farrell left the team to undergo cancer treatment. On the baseball side of things, they lost their closer Koji Uehara to a wrist injury and left fielder Hanley Ramirez to not-being-able-to-play-left-field. Turmoil has followed them everywhere, yet they seem to be dealing with it in a positive manner.
And there are signs things might get better for the Red Sox in the future, too. They seem to be willing to try an outfield of Jackie Bradley, Mookie Betts, and Rusney Castillo after the Ramirez experiment blew up in their faces and that could give them a dynamic defensive trio. Moving Ramirez to first base is probably all they can do with him now unless they find a taker for him over the winter, so they might as well see if he can handle the position now. And while no pitcher has had what could be considered a great year, they’ve been competitive in August (a 4.87 cumulative ERA, which would be one of their lowest of the season) and are giving Dombrowski an idea of who might be able to contribute next year.
Things didn’t go quite as planned this season: the Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval signings were huge busts, and the failure to add a significant starting pitching upgrade destroyed any chance the Sox may have had in an incredibly tough division. They’re on their way to another last place finish and the fan base is understandably upset.
But signs of life are a good thing, especially from a team going nowhere that could easily fold up their tents and start making October golf reservations. The Red Sox aren’t going to make the playoffs this year – sorry, but it’s true – yet they’re still making things interesting down the stretch. Sometimes a little positive momentum to carry into the offseason can go a long way.
