The Red Sox are playing out the string. They have 16 games left, and whether they go 10-6, 6-10 or 8-8, they will be watching the playoffs on TV like the rest of us. The beautiful thing about baseball, when compared to other sports, is that it’s an individual sport and a lot of the players the Sox are trotting out still have a lot to play for, personally. Team results be damned, there’s a lot of money to be made and roster spots to be secured over the last two-plus weeks of the season.
Rafael Devers: Raffy has played in 127 of 146 games (86%) and is having a pedestrian year compared to the standards he has set. He’s hitting .292 with 26 HR and 82 RBIs. Those are solid numbers but Devers is looking to either secure a massive extension from the Red Sox this winter before entering his walk year, or to set himself for a similarly massive contract on the open market after the 2023 campaign. To do that, he needs a strong finish. If he can hit 4 more home runs (30) and figure out a way to get close to 100 RBIs while maintaining his batting average, he’ll be in good shape for a hefty contract from the Red Sox.
Xander Bogaerts: Entering Tuesday night’s game in Cincinnati, Xander is hitting .316, one point behind AL leader Luis Arraez. Bogaerts, who is playing out what’s ostensively a walk year given his opt-out, saw his power swing disappear for the middle 3-months of the season but has maintained a league-leading batting average all year. With his improved defensive metrics and still relatively young age, he’ll be looking for a big contract this offseason and a batting title will help his cause tremendously.
Brayan Bello: The Sox rotation has been a weak spot this year and projects to be a major point of emphasis this offseason. If Bello can finish this season strong in his final 3 or 4 starts, he will for sure be penciled into the 2023 rotation. If he struggles, the conversation all winter will be different. With Sale being a human question mark, Pivetta being nothing more than a 4-5 starter, and Eovaldi, Hill (gross), and Wacha all being free agents at years end, a strong finish from Bello would be huge for the Sox offseason plans.
Triston Casas: Another young player auditioning for a job. Casas won’t be 23 until February, but already looks the part of a Major League first basemen. He’s a 6’4″ 252-pound left-handed power hitter with great control of the strike zone. Organizationally, the Sox like him, and the bar set for first base performance has been set quite low over the past 2 seasons, so if Casas can play a respectable first base, defensively, and show an ability to hit for even .200 over the final 16 games, he’ll probably be their opening day first basemen in 2023. In order for that to happen, though, he needs to figure out how to hit just .200. His current .088 average won’t guarantee him anything going into Spring Training and may be enough for the Sox to start him in Worcester and go into next year with the veteran Hosmer at first base early in the season.
The Race for .500: If the Red Sox can find a way to go 10-6 over the final 16 games, they’ll finish with a .500 record. Although it doesn’t really matter what their final record is given the high standard they are held to around here, finishing at .500 feels a lot better than finishing with a losing record, ESPECIALLY after going to Game 6 of the ALCS last season. They have two against the Reds today and tomorrow, then finish with 14 against the AL East, a division that will see three teams make the playoffs, so finishing 10-6 will feel even better given who they would have done it against. Will they? Probably not, but it’d be nice.
There are a bunch of other things to watch for, such as whether Matt Barnes (and any other bullpen pieces) can be trusted going into next year, if Reese McGuire and Connor Wong are enough behind the plate, and if JD Martinez will continue to suck enough play his way out of a full-time role (elsewhere) next year, but the five listed above are the most important, IMHO.
