The Boston Red Sox are one of the many possible playoff teams that need to figure out what works. They're still putting Ceddanne Rafaela at second, where he rightfully should be in center field. The roster depth is amazing, but there are too many cooks in the kitchen. Nobody, except for Roman Anthony, Alex Bregman, and Trevor Story, has played almost every game. Everyone else has been platooning with another player.
What's bad about it is that no matter what Cora tries, they've been struggling against key opponents that they needed to make a statement with. They had the roughest schedule since the All-Star Break. They had to face the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros (twice), Kansas City Royals, and the San Diego Padres.
The Minnesota Twins were a bonus as well, because they were playing for their season when the Red Sox were playing them, and they were in limbo, deciding whether or not they were to sell or buy.
But this five-game home stand will get the Red Sox back on track. They will be playing the Miami Marlins for three games and the Baltimore Orioles for two before heading to the Bronx to play the Yankees.
This will help because the Red Sox have been dominant when playing at home, with a 39-22 record. They've scored 321 runs while only giving up 245. The home crowd advantage, especially against presumably NL and AL pushovers like the Marlins and the Orioles.
The Marlins have gone 3-8 in their last 11 games, and have lost five of their last six games, only sneaking one win over Cleveland in their last series. The Orioles, who have been better than the Marlins, will be playing Houston before they get to Boston. The problem with them is that they're losing to teams like the Athletics, but just won their three-game series against Seattle of all teams. This means that if the Orioles slide more losses against the Astros, then they'll be playing right into Boston's lap.
If the Red Sox can smack around the Marlins for a few games, they can get their momentum back and beat up Baltimore for a couple more. All they need is two games to get on track, and it's shown within their season. Let's hope for the best, because we're heading into the final stretch of the season.