Monday marks the last full week of games before the deadline, and entering Friday, 23 teams were within eight games of a playoff spot.
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While it’s unlikely this weekend will force anyone to throw in the towel, or mortgage the farm for reinforcements, five key series may nudge teams closer to their fates.
OK, enough about the Mets. Their foibles are well-documented, and frankly rather boring at this point. Wake us up when you win five in a row.
The Red Sox, though, are intriguing, a startling thing to acknowledge after roughly 20 years of mass media overexposure. They sit just 2 ½ games out of the final AL wild card spot and eight games out of the AL East lead, kind of wild in that they trailed the first-place Tampa Bay Rays by 15 games on June 30.
Young Brayan Bello is nearing ace status. James Paxton has stayed healthy. While still erratic, swingman Nick Pivetta has struck out 94 in 75 innings.
And Trevor Story, perhaps intended to take over at shortstop for Bogaerts all along, begins a rehab assignment Friday and should make his season debut by the end of the month.
No, there’s no banner awarded for “more interesting than the Yankees and Mets.” But the new-look Red Sox can certainly make the case they deserve a shot at a real prize should they keep up this 10-4 July pace.
Pitching matchups: Friday – Kodai Senga vs. James Paxton. Saturday – Max Scherzer vs. Kutter Crawford. Sunday – Carlos Carrasco vs. TBD.
