One way or the other, this ongoing stretch was always going to set the tone for the rest of the season.
Coming out of their last off day on April 27 the Red Sox were 13-13 and looking at a daunting 12-game stretch, with series against the Cleveland Guardians (reigning AL Central champs), Toronto Blue Jays (who owned Boston last year), Philadelphia Phillies (last fall’s World Series runner-ups) and Atlanta Braves (perennial title contenders). It wasn’t hard to imagine the Red Sox losing all four series and looking up at the end five or six games under .500 and well behind the pack in the playoff hunt.
Instead the Red Sox won the first three series, ripped off an eight-game winning streak and now head to Atlanta as one of the best teams in baseball.
Even the biggest optimist couldn’t have predicted things would be going this well. After going 8-2 over their past three series the Red Sox are now 21-15 and entered Monday with a 1.5-game lead for the third American League Wild Card spot. They are only a half-game behind Toronto and two games behind Baltimore in the standings, and overall they’ve won eight of their first 11 series despite facing the toughest schedule in the sport so far by a comfortable margin.
Now they have a chance to really make a statement.
Atlanta, only two years removed from a World Series title, is among the favorites to win it all again. The Braves boast the best record in the National League at 24-11 and rank near the top of the league in both runs scored (5.37, sixth) and runs allowed (3.77, fourth) per game. They boast a talented roster loaded with homegrown superstars, and this year’s club has heavily benefited from the offseason addition of catcher Sean Murphy, who was acquired from the Oakland Athletics and is looking like an early MVP candidate.
The Braves are, in many ways, exactly the type of club the Red Sox have spent the past five years trying to become. Even if it’s only a two-game set, this series is a prime opportunity for the Red Sox to silence the doubters who are still convinced this team is destined for failure.
However the next few days go, the schedule opens up significantly from here.
After returning home from Atlanta the Red Sox enter what’s shaping up to be softest portion of their schedule to date. Boston is expected to be favored in each of its next six series, starting with this weekend’s tilt against the surprisingly awful St. Louis Cardinals (11-24 entering Monday).
After that Boston welcomes the Seattle Mariners (17-17) to Fenway Park before embarking on its first and longest West Coast trip of the year, with series against the San Diego Padres (18-17), Los Angeles Angels (19-16) and Arizona Diamondbacks (19-15). The club wraps up May at home against the Cincinnati Reds (14-20) before welcoming the red hot Tampa Bay Rays (28-7) for a four-game set in Boston June 2-4, which figures to be the next big measuring stick opportunity after Atlanta.
The Red Sox still have a long way to go, but they’ve put themselves in position to make this an exciting summer.
After multiple setbacks and delays, James Paxton is finally set to join the Red Sox rotation more than a year after initially signing with the club.
Paxton was returned from his injury rehab assignment on Monday and Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters in Philadelphia over the weekend that the club plans to activate the veteran left-hander from the injured list during the Atlanta series and they’ll decide on when he’ll pitch after that. With Nick Pivetta and Brayan Bello scheduled to start against the Braves, Paxton will most likely debut at Fenway Park either during this weekend’s series against St. Louis or during the following four-game set against Seattle.
Paxton last appeared in a big league game on April 6, 2021, when he left his season debut with the Mariners after 1.1 innings and subsequently underwent Tommy John surgery. He signed with Boston ahead of the 2022 season with the expectation he might be ready during the second half but did not pitch after suffering a torn lat in August during his first rehab outing.
The 34-year-old experienced another setback during spring training when he suffered a hamstring strain and struggled to get going during his lengthy rehab assignment in Worcester, going 2-3 with a 6.23 ERA and 16 walks over 21.2 innings in his six starts at Triple-A. Paxton has looked better lately though, posting a 1.74 ERA in his last two starts while demonstrating impressive velocity.
Whether the Red Sox opt for a six-man rotation or relegate an existing starter to the bullpen remains to be seen, but Paxton’s return is an intriguing development and it will be interesting to see how he looks after barely pitching for more than three years.
Top Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer got off to a tough start, but lately the 20-year-old shortstop has been tearing the cover off the ball for the Greenville Drive.
So far in the month of May the former first-round pick has gone 16 for 31 (.516) with three home runs, six doubles, 12 RBI and only four strikeouts in just six games, a stretch that earned him South Atlantic League Player of the Week honors. He’s raised his average for the season from .179 on April 16 to .337 entering the week, and dating back to last season he’s now batting .301 with a blistering .912 OPS in 48 games at the High-A level.
Could a promotion to Double-A be in the cards? Last summer Mayer was called up from Low-A after posting similar numbers in 66 games with the Salem Red Sox, so if he keeps hitting at this rate through the rest of the month it’s reasonable to imagine we could see him suiting up with the Portland Sea Dogs sometime in June.