Red Sox Set To Open Postseason
The Boston Red Sox open the postseason Thursday at 4pm CT at Minute Maid Park in Houston. The Red Sox vs. Houston match up seems to be a lot better than the Cleveland match up from last year in the postseason. Chris Sale gets the start on Thursday, without a good September to close the regular season. The Red Sox clinched the division Saturday and celebrated in the clubhouse, but they still need 11 more wins.
Can They Win the American League East?
Winning the American League East means nothing if you get swept in the first round. They still backed into the playoffs with their win on Saturday just because of the way they’ve been playing lately. David Price currently is coming out of the bullpen, and like I’ve said before, the guy is makes $31M and should get a start in the postseason to earn his contract. The hitting has also struggled. This year they ranked 14th in slugging (.407) and dead last in home runs (167), through four players: Mookie Betts (24 HR), Hanley Ramirez (23), Mitch Moreland (22) and Andrew Benintendi (20). According to Tom Verducci , none of the last seven champions finished among the majors’ top five in homers.
David Price Comes Out Of The Bullpen
David Price out of the bullpen so far has had four appearances, 7- 2/3 innings, 11 strikeouts and just four base runners. The bullpen ranks second in the American League in ERA (3.10). The Red Sox rank sixth in the league in scoring runs, (4.86) runs per game. But they lead the American League in slugging percentage (.461), batting average (.282) and on-base percentage (.348) in 2016.
After Saturday’s, win Dave Dombrowski spoke about David Price, telling the Boston Herald. “I’m really happy for him, I know it hasn’t been easy in many ways, because of the injury factor but I’m really happy for him to see what he did. He’s a great pitcher. I know he gets scrutinized at times. But he really stepped up for us here down the stretch and I’m glad he’s healthy because when you have him healthy he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball.”