So. After starting the season with a disastrous run, losing Alex Cora and putting the future of the youth core in jeopardy, the Boston Red Sox have won 12 straight. Including 2 against the Rays. While, on one hand, cutting down the Rays a bit is good for the Yankees...the Red Sox may have transformed into a good team right before our eyes. They're in 3rd place now, at .500, might not even be selling anymore...and could be a serious problem.
I think the most indicative player on this team is Sonny Gray. They traded for him to get some kind of veteran presence on the team, it cost them Hunter Dobbins and Richard Fitts, fine whatever. Gray's April wasn't very good. And so people worried he was washed, as they did last year, and that the Sox made a rash decision. Then he evened out. And as it stands, Gray is currently 11-1 with a 2.54 ERA, a 1.098 WHIP and 85 Ks. One of the most under the radar great seasons in baseball, and it's been the backbone of this Sox team as they've inched their way back up. Gray is looking better than he has since Minnesota, and he's the ideal guy to lead them into the heat of this season.
A lot of 'ooh, I don't know about that' guys have been the center of the Sox comeback. Willson Contreras obviously, he was a supposed dead end financially, yet now he's the power 1st baseman they've needed since Devers' numbers, and mood, dipped. Contreras has a .921 OPS, 20 homers and 61 RBIs. Caleb Durbin was the Brewers' collateral to make room for Jett Williams [who still hasn't come up, by the way], and he's become a fairly decent corner bat, with improved 3rd base defense and some production. Jake Bennett was a 'well, if you insist' call-up and now he's got a 2.64 ERA in 8 starts. Even Patrick Sandoval seems to be back to his old tricks and helping this team.
That doesn't mean I'm not still concerned about the organizational depth. Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell have all been non-factors for this team. Jarren Duran is a .200 hitter who's barely above replacement level, despite his best efforts. Anthony Siegler and Tsung-Che Cheng have been decent filling in for infielders that are hurt, but are they the answers or just temporary solutions? I know it's not an issue if the team keeps winning games, but is this sustainable? Or is it just a passing summer fling that no one will remember in a year.
The Sox are hot, have leverage, and don't even need all their best pieces to win games. That's a dangerous skill. Doesn't automatically make them a playoff team, but it's more intriguing than most of what I saw from them in the first half.
Coming Tonight: A young second baseman whose team kicked the crap out of Toronto last night, putting THEM in last in the AL East.
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