2. Boston Red Sox (41-35) (4.5 GB)
Why they win the AL East:
Boston started off the year scorching hot and was neck and neck with the Baltimore Orioles for the first couple months of the season, but he Sox slowed down considerably when the calendar flipped to June. Even with this recent slide, this shouldn’t be a reason for Red Sox fans to panic because the talent on their roster is just too good to completely let the club fall off.
Not only is this team young, but they are dynamic in the way they approach the game offensively. They have future stars in the league with players like Mookie Betts, Xander Boegarts and Jackie Bradley Jr. in the middle of the lineup. These guys can do it all; they have the capability to hit for power, have speed and can just flat out can hit the baseball anywhere on the field. The team also has hitters that can do damage with the long ball.
Veterans David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez are power hitters, whose swings play perfectly at Fenway Park. Not to mention that Dustin Pedrioa continues to impress even as he gets a little longer in the tooth.
Injuries have taken a bit of a tole on the club’s offensive numbers this past month, but once everyone gets healthy, the Red Sox boast one of the most dangerous lineups in the game that could lead them to an AL East title, even with a shaky starting rotation. Boston also has a deep farm system that they can use to improve their starting pitching enough to jump the O’s in the standings.
Why they won’t win the AL East:
Two words…starting pitching. While yes, they do have the assets to make a move for a quality starter or possibly two, their rotation has problems that even a trade deadline acquisition can’t fix.
Outside of knuckleballer Steven Wright, who has been outstanding so far this year, Boston is struggling to find their form when it comes to their starting pitchers, and this includes their big free agent signee, David Price. Price was just torched by Texas for six runs in just over two innings of work. The couple starts before that blow up, Price looked to be finding himself, but he needs to be more consistent if the Red Sox hope to go anywhere this season.
The Red Sox’s bullpen is good, but not as dominant as the the team who sits in first, the Baltimore Orioles. Boston’s offense as even taken a step back.
As good as they are, the likes of Travis Shaw and Brock Holt, who started off the season on very high note, have regressed to more of the type of hitters that they are, which isn’t a bad thing, but it still makes the Red Sox offense not as good as it was at the beginning of the year.
Ultimately though, the Red Sox will go as far as their rotation will take them. But with the way things have gone for Boston, outside of Steven Wright, the Red Sox offensive talent could be all for not.
Outlook
The Red Sox have the best chance to catch Baltimore because their offense is capable of putting up runs at the same pace and probably in a more consistent fashion. However, for them to take control of this division, they have to do what Toronto did last year and make a trade for a big time starting pitcher. The only problem is that there is no David Price on the market this summer.
Acquiring a solid starting pitcher will help the Red Sox chances in any capacity, but they do have the capability to control this division if they gave up an elite prospect to pry away an elite starting pitcher that is not expected to be dealt like Zack Greinke or Sonny Gray.
If the Red Sox opt to just get a middle of the rotation starter instead, it will certainly put them in better position to win, but they will be in a closer race for the division the rest of the regular season.
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