Red Sox June Preview

The Red Sox came out of the gates firing on all cylinders in April, closing out the first month of the season in first place in the AL East. They are not there as we close the books on May and look ahead to June, though that is probably more to do with the Rays being out of their mind last month than anything they did. In all, they went 15-11 in May to push their overall record to 32-21. There were no perfect predictions from the comments of last month’s preview as the team played one game fewer than scheduled due to rain, but shoutouts are in order to CARedSoxFan and Free Pawtucket for being a half-game off, as well as to Jake Kostik and yours truly for the same reason. Don’t forget to leave your predictions for June below.

Speaking of June, it is going to be a very tough month for the Red Sox. In terms of travel, they start the month off with six games on the road (it’s a seven-game trip that started on Monday), which is followed by eight games back at Fenway. From there they go back for eight games on the road before returning home for six games at Fenway to finish the month. In all, that’s an even split of 14 games on the road and 14 games at home. There’s also only two days off in that stretch.

Things are even tougher when you take into consideration the quality of competition they will be facing in June. They have a game in each of the first 16 days of the month, and only three of them are against teams below .500. That includes two against the Braves as well, who could very well be above .500 before they play a pair of games in Atlanta to finish that stretch. All told, they have six against the Astros, six against the Yankees, four against the Blue Jays and three against the Rays. You can throw in six against the Royals as well, who sit at exactly .500, and that means 25 of the 28 games they have on the schedule this month are against teams who are at least .500 through two months of the season.

That all makes for a very difficult month for the Red Sox, and it will be a real test of where this roster is. Personally, I see a bit of a step back coming for the team this month, though not to the point where they totally tank. Instead, I see a bit below .500, with a record of 13-15 on the month. Put your prediction down in the comments below.

Full Schedule:

3 @ HOU

3 @ NYY

1 vs. MIA

3 vs. HOU

4 vs. TOR

2 @ ATL

3 @ KC

3 @ TB

3 vs. NYY

3 vs. KC