Boston Red Sox: 2 thoughts on dominant sweep over the New York Mets
No. 1: A healthy lineup is a deadly lineup
After going through a phase where most of their hitters either were out or not hitting, the Red Sox lineup is finally back after going M.I.A for most of the second half of the season. Over their seven game win streak, the Sox are averaging 8.4 runs per game. Simply put, if you score eight runs per game, you probably aren’t going to lose very much.
We rarely saw this lineup at full strength in July and August, and with Christian Arroyo now back in the fold too, this team is ready to roll into the playoffs. They have been getting contributions up and down the lineup recently, and it appears they have finally turned the corner after struggling for so much of the second half of the season.
Bobby Dalbec has been arguably the Sox best hitter in the second half of the season. Xander Bogaerts has looked like a new hitter since coming back from a stint on the COVID list. Kyle Schwarber looks like he’s heating up. J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers remain consistent sources of run production. Hunter Renfroe and Kike Hernandez continue to make Chaim Bloom look a genius for signing them this past offseason.
And the scary part is, not all of these guys can play every night. The Sox sat out one of their hottest hitters in Dalbec last night, and still managed to put up 12 runs without him. One of Dalbec Martinez, Schwarber, and Alex Verdugo has to sit out on pretty much a nightly basis at this point.
Next. Chris Sale dominates the Orioles. dark
It can be viewed as a negative, but really it just allows manager Alex Cora some extreme flexibility to play matchups going forward. This means he can keep some of his best hitters rested, and if they end up going on a deep playoff run, that will probably be a big reason why. With the lineup back to their slugging ways, the Boston Red Sox are going to be a real threat if they find themselves in the playoffs.