Though Under .500, Boston Red Sox Believe They Can Reach The Postseason

The Boston Red Sox have shown at times this season they can play very good baseball.

That was evidenced by them posting a 20-6 record in June.

The Red Sox have also shown at times they can play very poor baseball. That was clear in July when Boston followed its great month with an 8-19 clunker.

So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Red Sox have a mediocre record in the middle of August. Boston is 58-59 going into its game against the Pirates on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Red Sox are in last place in the American League East, 14 games behind the first-place New York Yankees.

Yet thanks to Major League Baseball expanding to three wild card playoff berths in each league, the Red Sox are still holding onto postseason hopes. They are four games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the third AL wild card.

Between the Blue Jays and Red Sox in the standings are the Baltimore Orioles, Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox.

Baseball Reference gives the Red Sox just a 6.6% chance of returning to the postseason a year after advancing to the American League Championship Series before losing to the Houston Astros.

However, manager Alex Cora disputes those long odds. He fully expects his Red Sox to find their way back to the playoffs.

Cora insists the June version of the Red Sox was not a mirage.

ADVERTISEMENT

“You look at the guys in that clubhouse and they’ve been in place before and their teams took off at the end of the season,” Cora said. “There are a lot of (World Series) rings in that clubhouse and they’ve won in different ways. Some were Cinderella stories, some did it with the talent that they had and obviously what we did in 2018.

“There’s no panic here. It’s just a matter of we’ve got to keep playing better and we will.”

The Red Sox have won four of their last five games. Included in that stretch was taking two of three games from the Yankees over the weekend in Boston.

Cora feels the series victory over their archrivals was a signal his team is ready to put together another stretch like it had in June.

“We have another run in us and it started over the weekend,” Cora said. “We had a great weekend. As talented as we are, we’re capable of playing like that all the time. At the end of the day, though, we have to play good baseball.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The Red Sox did not make any major moves at the trade deadline two weeks ago as chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom decided to add and subtract from the roster at the same time.

Popular veteran catcher Christian Vazquez was shipped to the Houston Astros and left-handed reliever Jake Diekman was dealt to the Chicago White Sox for catcher Reese McGuire. Left fielder Tommy Pham was acquired from the Cincinnati Reds.

Pham has provided a spark as the leadoff hitter. In 13 games, he is hitting .281/.305/.526 with three home runs.

However, what encourages the Red Sox is the whittling down of their lengthy injury list.

Valuable utility player Kike Hernandez was activated Tuesday after missing nine weeks with hip and abdomen injuries. On Sunday, right-hander Michael Wacha returned from a shoulder problem and shut out the Yankees on two hits over seven innings.

ADVERTISEMENT

Key reliever Matt Barnes rejoined the bullpen earlier this month after sitting out two months with a shoulder injury. He pitched a perfect ninth inning to get the save Tuesday night in a 5-3 win over the Pirates and has allowed only one run in 5 1/3 innings over six games since being activated from the IL.

The Red Sox are also optimistic about getting second baseman Trevor Story, right-hander Nathan Eovaldi and left-handed reliever Matt Strahm back before the end of the month.

“Having Kike back was really important. Barnes coming in and showing he’s healthy was really important,” said right-hander Nick Pivetta, who pitched seven shutout innings for the win Tuesday. “It was good to see those guys back on the field. As we can continue to get guys back, we’re going to continue to get stronger and push forward.”

That kind of optimistic thinking brings a smile to Cora’s face.

“I’m feeling good about where we’re at,” he said.

ADVERTISEMENT