fb-pixelWhy the Red Sox are the team no one wants to face - The Boston Globe Skip to main content
Alex Speier

Why the Red Sox are the team no one wants to face

The Red Sox will begin postseason play next Thursday. AP

It was a funny way to enter the October tournament, the equivalent of a backward jog and fall across the finish line after running away from the rest of the pack in the final mile of a marathon.

No matter. Though they lost style points at the end in their 5-3 walkoff loss to the Yankees Wednesday, the Red Sox were not going to apologize for what they’d done. One inning was not going to obscure the work of the 1,403 that came before it, or deny them the opportunity to blast bubbly across the visitors clubhouse of Yankee Stadium.

After all, the Red Sox will arrive in October as the undoubted favorites to emerge from the American League, the team that no one wants to face, the one that is playing at another level than the other teams that are contemplating a postseason run. They are the one team in the AL without a glaring deficiency, armed with the swagger of pulling away from the toughest division in baseball (four AL East teams will finish with a winning record) over the season’s final weeks.

“Let’s put it this way: Where we are now, I wouldn’t want to play us going into the playoffs, because this is a really talented team and really tough,” said Red Sox principal owner John Henry, who also owns the Globe. “You saw what happened. When a team is effective as this team has been on the road late in the season, you know there’s something special. So, we’ll see.”

Advertisement



The markers of menace to AL opponents are far-reaching. The Red Sox have scored 868 runs, more than 100 more than any other team in the league. A year ago, the Royals inspired homages to the value of contact-hitting lineups in the postseason; this Red Sox team strikes out less (18.3 percent of plate appearances) than any other playoff team in the AL, yet instead of hitting for singles, they’ve driven the gaps en route to a major league-leading 569 extra-base hits and .465 team slugging percentage.

Advertisement



Moreover, in an indication of the team’s combination of sage veterans and an energetic young core, the Red Sox add to the elements of contact and power the ability to push the tempo and claim runs on the bases, taking extra runs with their legs.

“If you compare this team to teams that have gone deep into October, we’re similar in that we’ve got a great blend of veteran leadership and youthfulness and athleticism,” said manager John Farrell. “But this is a more dynamic offense than those other teams, where we’ve got more team speed, we’ve got more athleticism.

“I can’t say this is a better team, [but] it’s a little bit different. So time will tell how good we are.”

Depending upon the evaluation system, the Red Sox defense is somewhere between good and great at turning balls in play into outs. Fangraphs pegs the Sox defense as 17.8 runs better than average by Ultimate Zone Rating, 10th best in the majors. Baseball Information Solutions is even more bullish on the glovework, pegging the Sox defense as having saved 51 runs more than the average team in baseball, second best in the AL and tops among teams that remain in playoff contention.

In essence, the Red Sox feature a five-tool lineup, a team that ranks with any in the AL. in terms of its ability to hit, hit for power, field, throw (their 34 outfield assists are tied for fifth-most in the majors), and baserunning.

Advertisement



As the Red Sox’ last run through the postseason — past a Tigers team that had been assembled by then-Detroit president/CEO/GM Dave Dombrowski — suggests, the ability to win games in numerous ways matters a great deal in October, when the margin for victory can be thin.

The Red Sox beat a loaded Tigers team in that ALCS in no small part because they ran the bases with precision, claiming extra runs on pitches in the dirt while Detroit stumbled its way to extra outs. Moreover, in contrast to the powerful but unathletic Tigers, the Sox created outs with their defense rather than giving them away.

“I think that’s a key for us,” Dombrowski said from the champagne-drenched clubhouse Wednesday night. “For us, we’re not a one-dimensional type team. We can score runs. Everybody knows that. But we’re in a position where we can not only score runs by slugging the ball, but we’re athletic.

“We’re also in a spot where we’ve had good starting pitching recently, our bullpen has stepped up, we played good defense, so there’s a lot of good dimensions to this club. I think it’s a well-rounded club, and those are clubs that usually give you a good opportunity to get it done.”

As for Dombrowski’s assessment of his team’s pitchers: Their 4.01 ERA is now the eighth-best in the majors, with a 3.47 ERA in the second half that is the best in the AL. The rotation’s 4.22 ERA (third in the AL) is down to 3.64 since the All-Star break, best on the junior circuit. The recent excellence of Eduardo Rodriguez (3.10 ERA, 70 strikeouts in 72⅔ innings since the break) and Clay Buchholz (4-0 with a 2.63 ERA in his last seven starts, none more impressive than his six shutout innings of one-hit ball Wednesday) gives the team perhaps the deepest rotation in the AL of any playoff contender.

Advertisement



Despite Craig Kimbrel’s ninth-inning meltdown Wednesday — a sharp contrast to his streak of 18 straight scoreless appearances — the bullpen likewise has rounded into form, with a 3.14 ERA in the second half that is indeed the best in the AL.

“I felt like our pitching, really, in the second half, took a major step forward, particularly in the quality innings that our starters were getting into games,” said Farrell. “That was going to give us a chance nightly.”

There is also a psychological X-factor.

“We want to make sure we send David [Ortiz] off the right way,” said Dustin Pedroia. “Hopefully we do that.”

The ingredients are present for a deep run into October, and the Red Sox are as impressive on paper as any team this side of Chicago. Since the All-Star break, they have performed at a level that suggests a fairly balanced tale-of-the-tape with the Cubs.

Advertisement



“Anything can happen in the postseason,” said general manager Mike Hazen. “There are going to be other good clubs that we’re going to be up against, but I think we’re fairly well-balanced. In the postseason, you’ve got to play well at the right time. That’s what we need to do now.

“We have the best record in baseball in September. That’s a great indication of the type of club and level of maturity that these guys have achieved, but there are more steps to go. Hopefully this is just the first one.”

Will there be a second? A third? A fourth? For now, the Red Sox made official their claim to the title of best team in the toughest division in baseball — something that served as a prelude to championships in 2007 and 2013.

“I think,” said Mookie Betts, “we can be really dangerous.”


Follow Alex Speier on Twitter at @alexspeier.