Entering the final month of the season the Red Sox are poised to end their modest two-season playoff drought. Their odds of making the playoffs are looking pretty good at many online sportsbooks. The Sox find themselves in a nip-and-tuck race for the AL Eastern Division crown–which they won in 2013–and they are currently atop the wildcard standings–a postseason route that they have taken on seven previous occasions, which is of course how they got into the playoffs in 2004 and laid to rest the 86-year Curse of the Bambino.
One of the chief reasons the Red Sox are in such a good position and showing no signs of slowing down is the MVP caliber season of right fielder Mookie Betts. He now has more than 100 runs scored, he’s a cinch to go over 100 RBIs in the next few games, and he just slugged his 30th home run to go along with a top-five league batting average. The Angels Mike Trout is often thought of as the best player in the American League. But as the Angels continue to fade down the stretch, and the Red Sox surge, Betts has inserted himself as one of the MVP favorites. Plus, he’s still just 23 years old and only in his second full Big League season.
Per this website, the schedule also favors the Red Sox continued place in the standings as the calendar ticks over to September. They start the month off on the road against last place Oakland and nearly last place San Diego, before heading to Toronto for a series that could see them pass the Blue Jays for first place in the division. Regardless of what happens with the Sox in that series in Toronto, with two wildcard places up for grabs, Betway see them as favorites to make the postseason and battle it out for another trip to the World Series.
Almost as important as the Sox doing well and thinking about October baseball is the fading of the Yankees and their current fourth place standing. Plus the Sox still have seven games remaining with the Yankees including four at Fenway Park, so the Sox will hopefully get the honor of officially ending the Yankees’ fading playoff hopes and showing them the offseason door. So keep your eyes on the series slated for September 15th though the 18th.
If nothing else, this very good 2016 campaign for the Red Sox has cleansed the palate from the very disappointing 5th place finishes the previous two seasons.
