Three Changes That Explain the Red Sox’s Run

As of June 18, the Boston Red Sox had a 5.6% chance of making the playoffs. Then, heading into their June 25 game, the Red Sox had a record of 32 wins and 46 losses

At that point, they were one of only 473 teams in Major League Baseball history with a record at least that poor after 78 games; none of those nearly 500 teams had ever made it to the postseason.

However, heading into yesterday's (Sunday's) game, the Red Sox's chances of making the playoffs had risen to 66.9% thanks to a thirteen-game winning streak.

What explains this drastic and completely unexpected turnaround? Among other things, three factors stand out, starting with the fact that the Sox's pitchers are throwing strikes.

Only the pitchers for the Seattle Mariners and the Tampa Bay Rays strike out more batters than those of the Red Sox, while only five MLB teams have a lower walk rate than the Massachusetts team.

Pitching coach Andrew Bailey places a great deal of emphasis on this aspect of the game, especially since the Red Sox have one of the best defenses in the American League.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Sox hitters have also been doing an excellent job lately, with the home run rate rising from 0.86 per game over the first 78 games to 1.37 over the next 19. Caleb Durbin and Wilyer Abreu deserve the most credit in this regard.

Finally, the bullpen has also played a key role in the team's success. In fact, after starting the year with a 7–18 record, the Red Sox relievers are 6–0 in July, leading the Manfred League in ERA (1.65) and WHIP (0.90).

It's unclear how long this will last, but let's just say this turnaround is quite impressive.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.