Red Sox September Preview

The Red Sox are coming off the best month of the season and are looking to ride high into the postseason by carrying the August momentum into September. The good news is that much of the August run was boosted by a pitching staff that is still intact and a lineup that has been led by newcomers in Rafael Devers and Eduardo Nuñez. They’ve taken a solid lead in the division and they have a chance to really put some distance between themselves and the Yankees with a four-game series that starts today. (Obviously, today is still only August 31 but it’s close enough to September). Over the last month, the Red Sox have gone on a ridiculous tear with an 18-8 record. That includes a four-game losing streak, two. Yowza. (Shoutout to gosawks in the comments of the August preview. They predicted an 18-9 record for the month.)

The Red Sox have 29 games remaining before they (hopefully) head to the postseason, and it’s a fairly favorable schedule leading up to that point. More than half of those games will be at home, too, with 16 games at Fenway vs. 13 on the road. They don’t really have to travel very far, either, as they have this upcoming trip to New York then a road trip that includes travels to Baltimore, Tampa and Cincinnati.

Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

As is generally the case every year, September is loaded with divisional matchups. Oddly enough, it’s not really loaded with series against the Yankees, though. They have this upcoming four-game set against New York, but that’s the last time to two sides play. Instead, they have two series against the Blue Jays and Rays and one against the Orioles. This is another advantage for the Red Sox, as Toronto and Tampa are the two worst teams in the division. Baltimore has been on fire of late and have generally destroyed the Red Sox this season.

Boston only has a few non-division series on the slate for September, with just one being against a playoff team. That is the final series of the season as the Red Sox host the Houston Astros for a four-game set at Fenway. This could be a fairly important series even if both teams have clinched a playoff spot by this point as they could be playing for home field advantage through the first two rounds, and more importantly, the right to play the wildcard winner in the ALDS. Beyond the Astros, the Red Sox also have a home series against the A’s and a series on the road against the Reds. Neither team is a playoff team. Playing on the road against the Reds, of course, means they’ll have to play by dumb NL rules.

The Red Sox do get a decent amount of rest, too, with three days off in the month. Unfortunately, it’s not spread out all that well with two of them being on both sides of a three-game series. Their last day off of the month will be on September 21.

All in all, it’s looking like it should be another strong month for the Red Sox. Things look good for the team right now, but they need to finish strong to ensure they take the division and possibly get the top seed in the American League. They have the schedule to do so and now it’s just about taking care of business.