Senior baseball analysts Jordan Shusterman and Jake Mintz from Yahoo Sports sit down with MassLive beat reporter Chris Cotillo to debate whether the Boston Red Sox present a genuine postseason threat. Catch the entire episode of the “Baseball Bar-B-Cast” podcast—and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred audio platform.
Transcript of the Video
How strong do you truly believe this team is?
Granted, the American League is currently weak and the path is wide open, but to what extent have they altered your assessment of them as a franchise?
And now, of course, they have integrated these new acquisitions to strengthen the roster, but prior to those moves, how much had they genuinely shifted your perspective?
Well, I think there were a few stretches during this extended run where they benefited from some fortunate breaks along the way.
They squared off against the Mets and the Angels during an away trip.
During that mid-July stretch, both squads looked ready to wrap up their seasons early when the matchups occurred.
Then again, the Red Sox returned to their home field.
So, that is the counterargument you could make.
One might observe the situation and say, “Sure, they only went up against the Mets.”
The Mets essentially handed them those three matchups right before the All-Star break.
And, as we know, they faced some struggling opponents.
However, they managed to sweep a four-game series against the Yankees at home.
They also swept the Rays at home, which I find to be their most remarkable achievement of this entire run.
Right after the All-Star break, they swept a doubleheader, followed by victories on Saturday and Sunday.
Even though the Rays did not perform at their best, they remain a highly capable roster.
They simply find ways to secure victories.
Boston figured out exactly how to defeat them.
Following that, they traveled to Dodger Stadium over the weekend and swept all three games.
Their series in Sacramento was perhaps the most remarkable part of their recent trip, considering how poorly they played for four days straight.
They struggled to generate hits in four very tight contests.
They were uncomfortable with the batter’s eye setup at that stadium—whatever its name is—yet they still managed to take three out of four games—Sutter, man.
Sutter Health Park, rather, excuse me.
Sutter Health.
Despite all these challenges, they have consistently found ways to keep pushing forward.
This is no longer just a brief 20-game sample; we are looking at a 40-game run despite dealing with significant injuries throughout.
They achieved all this even with Anthony and Crochet sidelined.
Clearly, no club—unless they are an absolute powerhouse, which Boston likely isn’t—can expect to sustain a 32-8 stretch indefinitely.
However, what stands out as truly fascinating, and should terrify postseason opponents, is their starting rotation. It is widely considered elite even without the addition of Crochet, which explains why Breslow made those aggressive roster moves.
If that unit stays healthy and maintains this level, they will be an incredibly daunting matchup in the postseason.
