On April 25, the Red Sox were 10-17, tied with the Royals for the second-worst record in the American League. Boston management shocked the baseball world by firing popular championship-winning manager Alex Cora and replacing him with minor league manager Chad Tracy.
Since then, the Red Sox have gone 70-50, the second-best team in the AL over that time. They have climbed back into the pennant race, sitting comfortably in the #2 Wild Card spot. It has been one of the best turnaround in recent history,
and Tracy will likely get support for Manager of the Year.
Kansas City Royals (65-82) vs. Boston Red Sox (80-67) at Fenway Park, Boston, MA
Royals: 4.28 runs scored/game (22nd in MLB), 4.88 runs allowed/game (25th)
Red Sox: 4.44 runs scored/game (17th), 3.88 runs allowed/game (5th)
The Red Sox have been hit by injuries to Triston Casas, Willson Contreras, Curtis Mead, and Masataka Yoshida, and Roman Anthony and Trevor Story only recently returned to action. Jarred Duran has had a rough season – he has the third-worst wRC+ of qualified hitters, and Adley Rustchman has hit just .188 since being acquired from the Orioles. But the Red Sox have gotten offense from some surprising places like utility players Mickey Gasper, Nick Sogard, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Andruw Monasterio.
Who’s hot:
- Trevor Story is hitting .341 (14-for-41) with five doubles in ten games since coming off the Injured List.
- Carter Jensen won American League Player of the Week and is batting .292/.434/.708 with seven home runs and 16 walks in his last 19 games.
Who’s not:
- Caleb Durbin has just one extra base hit in his last 20 games and is hitting .188/.325/.203 over that time.
- Kyle Isbel is hitting .156/.208/.178 in his last 14 games.
Interesting matchups
- Wilyer Abreu is a career .300 hitter (3-for-10) with a home run and two walks against Seth Lugo
- Salvador Perez struggles against Sonny Gray, hitting .167/.189/.222 in 37 career plate appearances with just two extra base hits and no walks.
- Seth Lugo has a 6.19 ERA in 14 road starts this year.
- Sonny Gray is 10-2 with a 1.74 ERA in 14 career starts against the Royals.
- Randy Dobnak has a 2.54 ERA since joining the Royals, the 7th-lowest ERA in the American League since the start of July.
- Lefties have a wOBA of .334 against Ranger Suarez, the fifth-highest against any left-handed starting pitcher.
- Noah Cameron has 1.7 rWAR since July 24, the fifth-most among any starting pitcher.
- Payton Tolle is second among all rookie pitchers with 3.7 rWAR
The Red Sox have the second-fewest blown saves in baseball and their 3.14 bullpen ERA is second-best. Former Royals closer Aroldis Chapman has a 32.3 percent strikeout rate, ninth-highest among relievers. Erik Miller, acquired mid-season from the Giants, is fifth at 35.1 percent, but his 14 percent walk rate is fifth-highest. Brayan Bello has a 2.03 ERA in 14 games since moving to the bullpen.
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