Editor’s Note: All my graphics going forward will come directly from my new website, Stat Soldier. Go check it out by clicking here.
Overall Takeaway
4-2 on the road trip. The magic number is ONE. Nothing but love in this series review. I am only guaranteed one more of these this season, so I don’t want to bring any negative vibes into this world.
Offense looked great in the first two games, and then couldn’t handle a bullpen game on Thursday. Frustrating, and a little scary that the Red Sox go into the weekend against a Tigers team that is desperate. But all they need is one win, or an Astros loss. The Astros are going up against the Angels, who are 2-8 in their last 10, so nothing is guaranteed.
There's a very good chance that the Red Sox will be back in Toronto next week. They have to be feeling pretty confident about that after this series.
Game 1: Red Sox 4-1
Game 2: Red Sox 7-1
Game 3: Blue Jays 6-1
What I Loved
Masataka Yoshida
Everyone slept on Masataka. Everyone wanted him trading. Everyone wanted him sent down to the minors. But when the going got tough, Masa strung out four straight multi-hit games. He is batting .300 with a .740 OPS over his last 15 games.
Ceddanne Rafaela
We now have pre-All-Star game Rafaela again. Has zero power right now (0 HR over last 15 games), but is batting .360 over the last seven games, which has been crucial in Boston’s quest to make the playoffs.
Trevor Story
I have a blog coming out this week that covers Trevor Story’s season. If you go to his Baseball Savant profile page, you would see a lot of blue. However, if you actually watched the games, you would know he is the lifeblood of the offense. He is approaching 100 RBIs and has been great at the plate since June. His defense, on the other hand………
Garrett Crochet
I was shocked to see Cora allow Crochet to go into the 8th inning. I suppose that if they make the playoffs (they should), he will still be on full rest before the Wild Card games.
Carlos Narvaez
Oppo home run on Wednesday, followed by a beautiful interview reflecting on the last year for him. He went from being overlooked by the Yankees to becoming a top-10 catcher in baseball.
What I Was ‘Mid’ About
Lucas Giolito
Giolito looks very tired. This isn’t a huge surprise, given that he missed all of 2024 due to injury. Over the last seven games, he has a 2.82 ERA, but a 1.41 WHIP, and a significantly higher xERA (I usually don’t care about this, but he is also walking a lot of guys).
Brayan Bello
Bello was “okay”, but his control and inability to deal with Vladdy and Springer killed him tonight. Frankly, Bello has been terrible all of September. Let’s hope that October looks a little different.
What I Didn’t Love
Not Clinching Playoffs Yet
Will happen tomorrow night (hopefully)