3 (or 4) Players to watch in the playoff race

Conor Frederick
Contributing Writer

We are into the second half of the season, and the AL East is tight. Without any further ado, I will be taking a look at three players in this division that could change the outcome of the division race in their team's favor.

Clay Bucholz, Boston Red Sox - To me, the ultimate success or failure of the Red Sox will depend on his return. When he get's back, I'm sure he would tip the scales enormously in our favor. He has been our ace when he's been healthy, and he was a large part of our early success. If he had stayed healthy, I'm sure he'd be going win for win with Matt Scherzer of Detroit right now, given the way his season was going before he had all of these problems. It's hard to tell, though. What isn't hard to tell is that he gives the Red Sox rotation a massive boost and gives us an edge in the postseason race.

Chris Davis, Baltimore Orioles - True enough, the guy hasn't been hitting that many home runs in the second time, but he is the X factor for Baltimore. Once he gets back to business as usual, he gives Baltimore some major power and that could spell trouble for every one else in this division because Baltimore's defense is one of, if not the best in the AL East. My point is this: All they'd need in a game is one or two home runs from Davis and their defense to shut down opponents. If they do that, they can get hot. If they get hot, they could overtake Boston and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Will Myers/David Price, Tampa Bay Rays - Both of these guys are game changers and it was hard to put one over the other, so I'm going to talk about both. David Price is Tampa Bay's ace, and if you have any doubts just look at what he's done to the Red Sox in his last two starts - a shutout and one run allowed last night. Most of the credit for shutting us down belongs to Price. Price has great stuff, and the Rays will make the postseason if he has anything to say about it. Then there's Will Myers, who is one of the best young players in the game right now. He's hitting .328 with 7 home runs, according to ESPN. While the Rays have Price holding down the fort on the pitching side of things, Will Myers is doing his thing on the offensive side of things.

These are the guys I think could swing the postseason argument in their team's favor. If you disagree or have another player or players, tweet me @ConorJF1016 or leave a comment with your thoughts.