How far can the Boston Red Sox actually go in the 2023 MLB season?
Opening Day for the Boston Red Sox is just days away now and just like every other Sox fan, I cannot wait for this season to get underway.
For a team that came in dead last in their division last year, I still find myself thinking about what this team can actually do.
Boston Red Sox finished last in A.L. East with a 78-84 record in 2022
Everyone knows how many question marks this team has coming into Opening Day this year. They may have the most “what if” scenarios than any other team.
From Chris Sale to Masataka Yoshida, this years team is one of the most mysterious teams in recent memory, but how far can the 2023 Red Sox really go?
Last season, Boston was in the playoff hunt until mid-August when the wheels really started to come off the bus and everyone completely jumped off the ship come September. It doesn’t help that they were playing in arguably the best division in baseball (though Dave Roberts may disagree with me).
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Much like their division rivals in Baltimore, Tampa, and Toronto, the Sox had a relatively young team with Rafael Devers, Triston Casas, Brayan Bello, etc., in 2022 and maybe that contributed to their fallout at the end of the season.
Though they lost their captain (yes I’m still upset about it) in the offseason, Boston still went out and added some veterans to the roster to bring a spark of leadership that may have been lost in the drama of contract negotiations last season.
The additions of Turner, Jansen, and Duvall provide that age and experience that could be the difference in this Red Sox team in making a playoff push.
Saying that the Red Sox could make the postseason isn’t an outlandish comment to say considering the talent they brought in. I think when you think a little past that is when you can get a little far fetched.
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That’s not to say I’m not rooting for Boston to win the whole thing, of course the whole city and myself would love that. But will it happen? No comment.
It’s a safe bet to say they aren’t winning the division either. The Blue Jays have too much talent to let that slide and the Yan***s have the reigning AL MVP who proved last season he can carry a team to the one seed.
So best case scenario is the Red Sox finished in the first wild card spot. That would put them up against most likely the TOR, NYY, or TB (the second wild card spot since they can’t all win the division). Can they beat any of those teams in a best of three series? Well, it’s way too early to tell.
But, let’s say they do win that series. Their next opponent would be the one seed which could be TOR, NYY, or HOU most likely. The same question arrives in can they beat that team in a five game series but once again, it’s way too early to tell.
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If the Red Sox want to make some noise in the postseason everything is going to need to fall perfectly in place and they’re going to need to obliterate expectations that national MLB writers are giving them. Can they do it? Maybe, but as a Boston legend once said, anything is possible.