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Boston Red Sox are stuck between a rock and a hard place

By Cesar Fuentes

Apr 22, 2023; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers (11) celebrates with first baseman Justin Turner (2) after hitting a 2-run home run in the sixth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 22, 2023; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers (11) celebrates with first baseman Justin Turner (2) after hitting a 2-run home run in the sixth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports /
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If I told you before the season started that the Boston Red Sox would be in last place of the AL East going into May, you most likely wouldn’t find that too surprising.

If I told you that the Sox would be a .500 team entering May, you might be a little surprised. Now, if I told you the Sox would be a .500 team in last place, you might’ve been even more surprised.

Boston Red Sox in a division with the best winning percentage

Every single team in the AL East has a winning percentage of at least .480 or better. No other division in baseball is even close to that.

If you placed Boston in any other division, they would be a second-third place team, but they’re not in any other division so that doesn’t matter too much.

With the division being so tough, the Boston Red Sox have some work to do this season, along with every other team in the division. If every team in the AL East continues to play at this place or around this pace, they’re all going to be playoff contenders come September.

If that happens, there’s going to be a very good team that misses the playoffs.

Fortunately for Boston, two of their best players are set to come back in the middle of the season; Trevor Story and Adam Duvall.

Both are set to come back about the same time as the All-Star break (that’s the optimistic outlook for Story’s injury) and if/when that happens this Red Sox team could easily break the “.500ish” team stigma.

Before getting injured in Detroit, Duvall had the hottest Red Sox bat, batting .455/.514/1.544 (!!!) with four home runs and 14 RBI. As a matter of fact, Duvall started the season so hot that even though he hasn’t played since April 9, he is still tied for third in RBI and second in home runs.

When Story comes back, most likely he’ll be the starting shortstop for Boston rather than second baseman like he was last year. We know what he can do with his bat (a career .268 hitter), but defensive he can be one of the best defenders for Boston as he ranked in the 96th percentile for outs above average last year.

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When Story and Duvall come back things could drastically change for Boston, but for now this ball club will probably continue to play .500 ball and if they can sustain that for a couple more months, watch out AL East.

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