While it was an absolutely nightmarish start for the Boston Red Sox, they are nicely rebounding and showing why this coming October, they will be an American League Wildcard team.
Boston Red Sox In Striking Distance Of A Playoff Spot
A big reason why the Red Sox will successfully overcome their slow start are the big bats in the line-up which include the likes of first baseman  Willson Contreras (210 HR, 61 RBIs), outfielders Wilyer Abreu (11 HR, 43 RBIS), Jarren Duran, who, despite batting under .200, still has 13 HR, 45 RBIs and 14 stolen bases and infielder Trevor Story, who unfortunately has missed a large chunk of the season’s first half after having sports hernia surgery, but will be back sometime in the second half to make the Red Sox offence even more explosive.
Baseball fans know that a playoff team needs solid pitching to succeed and that’s definitely what Boston has in veteran hurler Sonny Gray. (11-1, 2..54 ERA) and 23 year-old Connelly Early (7-5 with a 3.44 ERA).
Naturally the Red Sox had high expectations and that wasn’t met in the first couple of weeks when they started the season by going a disappointing 2-9. A few weeks later, in late April with the team sporting a 10-17 record ownership cleaned house when on April 25th, they fired eight-year Red Sox manager Alex Cora along with five of his coaches.
Not surprisingly, this shakeup, which saw Chad Tracy taking over as the manager received a negative reaction from Sox players and fans who were already showing frustration at Fenway Park.
“Alex Cora led this organization to one of the greatest seasons in Red Sox history in 2018, and for that, and the many years that followed, he will always have our deepest gratitude,” Red Sox principle owner John Henry said. “He has had a lasting impact on this team and on this city. He has led on and off the field in so many important ways. These decisions are never easy, but this one is especially difficult given what Alex has meant to the Red Sox since the day he arrived.”
Despite being well bellow .500 when the coaching moves were made the Sox season was more than salvageable as they are just to good to not find themselves come October in serious contention for a playoff spot.
A key ingredient to help Boston achieve that goal of coming all the way back and making the playoffs, is to see veteran starter Brayan Bello successfully bounce back from an inconsistent first half which saw him go 2-6 with a 6.06 ERA. He needs to find last year’s form which saw him win 11 games and a 3.35 ERA.
Every contending team need a quality bullpen stopper and the Red Sox definitely have one in fire ball closer Aroldis Chapman who at the break had 19 saves with a 2.20 ERA.
Another big momentum boost for the second half will be seeing  ace starter Garrett Crochet return after being sidelined since April 29th with shoulder inflammation. Last year, he won 18 games but this year he was 3-3 with a 6.30 ERA when injured.
Even though the Red Sox inconsistent play continued into June where they went 12-13 for the month and were several games out of a playoff spot, it couldn’t be ignored that it was only a matter of time before the Red Sox started to surge and rise in the American League East Standings.
Red Sox Go On Historic Winning Streak
The Red Sox showed a real knack for the dramatics when on Sunday, July 12th, they made a major statement by overcoming a 2-0 ninth inning deficit against the New York Mets to pull off an extra inning 3-2 win which heading into the All-Star break has them tied with the 1977 club for nine straight road wins.
Boston, who began this streak on July 3rd with a 5-2 win against the Anaheim Angeles, showed why this team shouldn’t be dismantled at the trading deadline as this current nine game winning streak saw them climb from last place in the American League East Division to only .5 games out of a wild card spot.
To show just how talented this Red Sox team is, they have won 14 of its last 16 games and 17 of 22 in making that loud statement towards critics and fans who doubted their ability to compete and believed they should start selling in order to rebuild.
Heading into the break, this is a confident Red Sox team who believe they can never be counted out.
Contreras Wants To Remain A Red Sox
Besides winning games and getting back into the playoff race, Red Sox fans have reason to be excited when Contreras went public about his love of playing in Boston. Contreras, who last December was traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to Boston, stressed that he wouldn’t waive the no trade clause in his contract and wants to eventually retire with the Red Sox.
Contreras who participated in his fourth All-Star Game is batting .285 with 89 hits, 20 HR and 61 RBIs and is a major reason why the Red Sox are playing so well and will make the playoffs.
“I like it here, I like Boston. It’s a great place to play,” Contreras said. “And it’s not easy to get traded again, so I think I’ve found my family here.”
With so much talent on the Sox and a newfound confidence, this is a team who if everything goes right can make it to the World Series.
Main Image: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
