Red Sox August Preview: It’s time to get back on track

While things are not trending in the right direction for the Red Sox, having started their month of August with a loss and dropping their last four overall to fall out of first place, they do have a chance in the coming month to right the ship. It won’t be a total cakewalk to be sure, but there is a chance to get back to their winning ways. Before we get to that, though, in the month of June Boston ended up finishing with a nearly even 13-12 record, their worst month so far this year, putting their overall record at 63-44.

Yours truly had predicted a 15-12 record, which was solid, if I do say so myself. With two games coming off the schedule due to rain, we didn’t have any exact guesses in the comments but both Umpire Strikes Back and BoSox Fan from Canada, Eh were with me at 15-2 while Splendid406in41 guessed 14-13. You all can share the nonexistent prize.

As we look ahead to August, with the stretch run now in full view, they do have a few days off. That includes today, and also the next three Mondays following it. Additionally, they have Thursday the 19th off as well. On the other side of the coin, they have a pair of doubleheaders already on the schedule from last month, one against the Blue Jays this coming Saturday on the 7th, and another against the Yankees on the 17th.

Full BreakingT Red Sox Collection

Take a look at the entire shirt collection from our friends over at BreakingT, including the one pictured above.

There is a little bit of travel on the docket as well, though nothing too far. They have a seven-game (in six days) road trip starting Tuesday, followed by a six-game homestand. They then take a quick trip to play three games on the road in two days before coming back home for six. Finally, they finish things off with five games on the road. In all, that’s 16 games on the road (this includes their loss on Sunday) and 12 at home. They do travel to Detroit and Cleveland, but no further west than those cities.

Where there is a little bit of encouragement for Boston is in the quality of their opponents. They do have some tough opponents on the docket, including Sunday’s game against Tampa and five more on top of that against the Rays, but it’s a mixed bag. In total, looking at teams’ records as we sit here today on August 2, they have 12 games against teams with records below .500 in the Tigers, Orioles, Rangers, and Twins; 13 against teams with winning records in the Rays (again, including Sunday), Blue Jays, and Yankees, and three games against Cleveland whose record as of today is exactly .500.

So there’s some good and bad mixed in, and this is a month that should also see Chris Sale’s return as well as Kyle Schwarber’s addition to the lineup. All in all, I think they’ll bounce back to some extent, finishing 16-12 on the month. Let us know your predictions down in the comments.