BOSTON — The Red Sox were supposed to play their 81st game of the season on Wednesday against the Toronto Blue Jays, but the rain had other ideas.
With one out in the top of the second, the skies opened up at Fenway Park and the game was called after a one-hour, 48-minute delay. The teams will resume play on Aug. 26 at 2:05 p.m. (starting with one out in the second inning) as part of a split doubleheader. The Blue Jays will be in Boston that week for what will now be a five-game series Aug. 26-29.
Tonight’s pic.twitter.com/mthDq916Eo
— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 27, 2024
With the Red Sox off on Thursday before a three-game series against the San Diego Padres this weekend, it’s worth taking a look at where things stand at the (almost) halfway mark of the season.
Few expected the Red Sox to be six games over .500 at 43-37 through their first 80 games and in many ways the Red Sox have exceeded expectations, making the next month leading into the trade deadline an especially interesting one.
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Not only will it be chief baseball officer Craig Breslow’s first trade deadline, a topic he broached in a Q&A with The Athletic last week, but it figures to be a crucial period for Breslow to shape the club’s future.
“I think what we have to be careful of is trying to straddle the line (of buying and selling),” Breslow said.
Manager Alex Cora echoed similar sentiments Wednesday when discussing the last two trade deadlines.
“We didn’t get better,” Cora said. “We just stayed the same, and the teams around us got better. I can walk you through the trading deadline the way I see it. There’s three ways you can go: you buy, you sell, you stay put. When you stay put, well, there’s going to be teams that they added, and they’re going to be better than you.”
The Red Sox played .500 baseball for too much of the first half this season, though, and will need to keep up the kind of play they’ve displayed the last two weeks to show the front office this latest stretch wasn’t an anomaly.
If the playoffs started Wednesday, the Red Sox would have the third wild-card spot. But Cora clearly feels his club is capable of more.
“I know we’ve been talking about the wild card and all that stuff, but hey, let’s get greedy,” he said. “There’s teams ahead of us that are not playing good baseball. I know probably one of them is only for five days, but there’s more out there. This brand of baseball, I think we can maintain how we’re playing. Let’s not settle for the third wild card, let’s go higher and see where the season takes us.”
Here are a few takeaways on how the first half has unfolded for the Red Sox.
The pitching has been strong
The Red Sox haven’t quite maintained their incredible start to the year on the pitching front, but Red Sox pitchers are still among the best in baseball and that’s with Lucas Giolito and Garrett Whitlock sidelined with season-ending surgeries and Opening Day starter Brayan Bello, the expected ace of the club, sporting a 5.55 ERA.
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Overall the Red Sox have a 3.54 ERA, sixth in the majors. The rotation has posted a 3.62 ERA (ninth) while the bullpen sits at a 3.45 ERA (eighth).
A big surprise has been the performance of Tanner Houck, who is expected to make his first All-Star team next month with the top ERA among all AL starters at 2.18 (third in the majors). Houck began the spring fighting for a spot in the Red Sox rotation.
Meanwhile, Bello, who has been the inverse of Houck after signing a contract extension this spring, had his shortest career outing on Tuesday night, at just 2 1/3 innings. Cora announced on Wednesday that Bello will be pushed back a few days, making his next start Wednesday in Miami.
“Whether it’s mechanically or mental, just give him a breather,” Cora said. “I think that’s the most important thing. There’s a few things we’ve recognized that we have to be better — throwing strikes, staying ahead.”
Josh Winckowksi, who threw six innings in relief of Bello, will start in Bello’s place on Sunday. Nick Pivetta will start on Friday with Houck going on Saturday.
In other pitching news, reliever Liam Hendriks threw his first bullpen on Wednesday since Tommy John surgery in August. He threw about 15 pitches, all fastballs, and said he felt good, but the biggest test will be how he feels on Thursday. Pitching coach Andrew Bailey said the plan now, if all goes well, is for Hendriks to throw a couple of bullpens a week to ramp up. Hendriks is still targeting a return to the Red Sox in August.
The offense might have found its rhythm
Despite prolonged stretches with little production on offense, the Red Sox sit at a plus-44 run differential, ranking fourth in the American League and eighth in the majors. Their .253 team average ranks seventh in the majors and their .742 OPS ranks fifth, all numbers that seem surprising after a rough start to the year.
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A combination of rookies finding their rhythm and healthy players returning to the lineup has helped the club find more consistency at the plate in June. The Red Sox rank first in the American League with a .281 average and 31 steals this month while their .820 OPS ranks third in the AL.
Meanwhile, Triston Casas is drawing closer to returning. The first baseman swung a bat for the first time on Wednesday since late April. In typical Casas fashion, while he had told reporters he’d taken swings over the last few weeks, he clarified on Wednesday those were swings “without a bat, just in my head.” On Wednesday, he said he took 20 swings with a bat at about 75 percent effort and if he has no setbacks, he will continue to build up on Thursday. The next step will be to hit off a tee, followed by soft toss, batting practice, hitting off a machine and Trajeckt, then a rehab assignment. He estimated he might be ready for a rehab assignment in two or three weeks. Adding his bat back to the lineup can only help lengthen it.
“Hopefully I can come in and provide a little impact and power,” he said. “Hopefully I can provide protection for some of the guys as well, and score those guys that have been getting on base. I’ve been really happy with the way the team’s playing. Hopefully I can hit the ground running and fit right into the mold and keep contributing to wins because we can play great.”
The defense is better but still needs improvement
The Red Sox have made 21 errors in June, down from their awful stretch of 25 in March/April, but up from their 17 in May. Extra defensive work has been a focal point, but it needs to remain a priority.
Regardless, the Red Sox still lead the majors in errors with 62, nine more than the second-worst team in Miami. Sloppy play will be their easiest ticket out of postseason contention.
Rafael Devers has played well at third and David Hamilton has settled in more at shortstop but limiting mental mistakes like the one on Monday from Wilyer Abreu will be key going forward.
(Photo of Houck: Paul Rutherford / USA Today)