The Red Sox have had a historic first half
Robert Bouffard - Contributing Writer
Wednesday night’s 4-2 victory against the Rangers was the Red Sox’ 65th win this season. If they are able to win just one more game before the All-Star game – they are playing a four-game set against the Blue Jays – it will be the most wins ever for a team before the break.
Last week, the team was sitting at 56-29 and had just come off a series loss against the Yankees where they were outscored 19-2 in the losses. There wasn’t a whole lot of thought of them winning 66 games before the All-Star Game. But since then, they’ve swept three straight series for nine wins in a row, outscoring opponents 67-26. With the fourth place Blue Jays coming to town next, the Red Sox should be able to continue their winning ways.
The Red Sox have had a number of players step up during this winning streak. Xander Bogaerts is batting .370 with two doubles, two triples, two homeruns, 13 RBI, eight walks, and seven runs scored. He’s raised his batting average from .271 to .283 in that stretch. Bogaerts has been up and down since his hot start to the season, but overall, he’s come up big for the team when they need him. According to Baseball Reference, he’s batting .339 with a 1.050 OPS and 29 RBI in high leverage situations.
Meanwhile, J.D. Martinez has continued to be an incredible pickup. He leads the league in homeruns and RBI, is second in slugging (behind Mookie Betts), and is third in OPS and average. Martinez has 12 RBI, a .400 average and a 1.219 OPS during this streak. He has been an anchor to this prolific Red Sox offense.
But it is Chris Sale that has been most impressive over his last few starts. Yesterday marked his fifth straight start where he struck out at least 11 and walked one or fewer. No other pitcher has ever done that. On top of that, he’s gone at least six innings in each of those starts. A 10-4 record and a 2.23 ERA before the break is nothing to scoff at. He’s continuing to show that with all of the question marks in the Red Sox rotation, he will go out and give an excellent performance almost any time he is on the mound.
This Red Sox team is quite possibly the best in baseball. There are only a couple obvious areas of weakness on the team: bullpen and bench depth. With the trade deadline approaching, those aspects of the team could still be upgraded.
But this is a team that leads the league in wins. They have also played the most road games in baseball. The have the best home record in the MLB, so there is no reason this tear should end any time soon.
Click here to read more from Robert Bouffard. Follow him on Twitter - @robouf5
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Photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images |
Last week, the team was sitting at 56-29 and had just come off a series loss against the Yankees where they were outscored 19-2 in the losses. There wasn’t a whole lot of thought of them winning 66 games before the All-Star Game. But since then, they’ve swept three straight series for nine wins in a row, outscoring opponents 67-26. With the fourth place Blue Jays coming to town next, the Red Sox should be able to continue their winning ways.
The Red Sox have had a number of players step up during this winning streak. Xander Bogaerts is batting .370 with two doubles, two triples, two homeruns, 13 RBI, eight walks, and seven runs scored. He’s raised his batting average from .271 to .283 in that stretch. Bogaerts has been up and down since his hot start to the season, but overall, he’s come up big for the team when they need him. According to Baseball Reference, he’s batting .339 with a 1.050 OPS and 29 RBI in high leverage situations.
Meanwhile, J.D. Martinez has continued to be an incredible pickup. He leads the league in homeruns and RBI, is second in slugging (behind Mookie Betts), and is third in OPS and average. Martinez has 12 RBI, a .400 average and a 1.219 OPS during this streak. He has been an anchor to this prolific Red Sox offense.
But it is Chris Sale that has been most impressive over his last few starts. Yesterday marked his fifth straight start where he struck out at least 11 and walked one or fewer. No other pitcher has ever done that. On top of that, he’s gone at least six innings in each of those starts. A 10-4 record and a 2.23 ERA before the break is nothing to scoff at. He’s continuing to show that with all of the question marks in the Red Sox rotation, he will go out and give an excellent performance almost any time he is on the mound.
This Red Sox team is quite possibly the best in baseball. There are only a couple obvious areas of weakness on the team: bullpen and bench depth. With the trade deadline approaching, those aspects of the team could still be upgraded.
But this is a team that leads the league in wins. They have also played the most road games in baseball. The have the best home record in the MLB, so there is no reason this tear should end any time soon.
Click here to read more from Robert Bouffard. Follow him on Twitter - @robouf5
