We thought about throwing out 40 Red Sox-related thoughts when there were 40 games left, just to try to be cute. But creativity was limited. So here's 20 thoughts on the state of the team and all that exists around them as we head into the final score of games (a nod to Abe Lincoln).
1. In one way, the most important member of this team right now might be Dan Wheeler. With the rotation unstable and Matt Albers struggling, there will be many nights when a hole exists between an abbreviated start and Daniel Bard. The rotation continues to produce the 12th-fewest innings per start in the American League, and that won't go up much when you have a foursome of Tim Wakefield, Andrew Miller, John Lackey and Kyle Weiland. For now.
By the way, the top four pitchers on the Red Sox in terms of WHIP are as follows: Bard, Jonathan Papelbon, Josh Beckett and Wheeler.
2. Speaking of Wakefield, his fruitless pursuit of 200 wins is becoming a bit painful. He's been just fine, pitching pretty much how the team would expect him to (three quality starts, one complete game and two others in which he left with the lead). What probably hurts more than anything for Wakefield is all the time lost in his pursuit of the all-time Red Sox record for victories, which will have a lot more staying power than, say, 206 career victories.
With two or three wins in this stretch he would be right on the coattails of Roger Clemens and Cy Young, who have seven more victories than Wakefield. One wonders if Wakefield figures out a way to come back another year, and how many wins he will need to catch those two if he does.
3. Speaking of wins, the Red Sox will need to go 15-5 in their last 20 games to reach 100 for the season. It's possible, but with three at Tampa Bay and three at New York still on the slate, it seems as if one of the trendy preseason predictions will fall flat.
4. Speaking of the schedule, it's been screwy for some time now, hasn't it? August was just so bizarre with that road trip followed by a three-game, two-day homestand followed by eight more on the road. Then, Hurricane Irene changes some things around. And now, because of prior weather-related issues, the team's final homestand has the potential to be a nightmare. There are 10 games in nine days, four in the afternoon and six at night.
5. Speaking of schedules, the team Boston is trying to track down doesn't have it so easy as well. The Yankees, after finishing up a rain-soaked two-city series with Baltimore, have a nine-game road trip, including a trip to the West Coast. After that, New York returns home for a seven-day, eight-game homestand. In all, the Yanks play 15 games in the final 14 days of the regular season.
6. Speaking of AL East teams, this weekend's series between the Red Sox and Rays has the potential to do two things. It will either serve to bury Tampa Bay's small playoff hopes, or it will turn a race for the wild card once thought over into something worth watching.
If Boston falls in the Andrew Miller–Ricky Romero matchup Thursday, its lead in the loss column is just six with seven games left against the Rays.
7. Speaking of playoff contending teams, it's safe to say that Detroit Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski deserves top honors for his work at and around the trade deadline. Doug Fister has proven to be an incredibly valuable pickup for the Tigers, and almost nobody talks about the addition of Delmon Young. Since picking up Young in a waiver-wire trade, Detroit is 16-6 and the former Rays and Twins outfielder has turned the lineup into one that can hang with Boston's and New York's and Texas' on some nights. Young is batting .312 with 17 RBIs in his 21 games with the Tigers.
8. Speaking of quality outfielders, has Jacoby Ellsbury separated himself from the pack in terms of Red Sox MVP candidates? While others on the team have had some swoons since the ballyhooed days of June and July, Ellsbury has not. He is batting .379 in September with a .479 slugging percentage, higher than any of the previous five months, and he’s five home runs shy of the 30-30 mark.
9. Speaking of months, did you know that the American League Division Series, both of them, start on Sept. 30 this year? So when you use "October" as another term for the postseason, it’s not entirely accurate, is it?
10. Speaking of the postseason, we know that’s a time for guys like Terry Francona to stop playing matchup games. Teams usually stick with their top guys at each position, and it’s become incredibly evident that there’s no need to go with anyone other than Marco Scutaro at shortstop, regardless of the opposing pitcher.
11. Speaking of opposing pitchers, the Red Sox were 27-12 against left-handers to start the year. After that they went 3-7 before pounding Toronto lefty Luis Perez the other night. They will see Romero on Thursday and then again in a two-game set next week in Fenway, in all likelihood.
12. Speaking of statistics, there are many approaching milestones listed on the Red Sox game notes, among them Wakefield's 200th win. Others are Scutaro's 1,000th hit (currently at 993), Gonzalez's 1,000th game (998), Papelbon's 500th strikeout (497), Ellsbury's 100th double (99) and Beckett’s 1,000th strikeout with the Red Sox (994). Those five all may occur before Wakefield even takes the mound again, depending on Beckett's status.
13. Speaking of Beckett, the only way the Sox will "rush" him back is if the Rays do get within four games or so by the end of the weekend, right? Otherwise, there's no need.
14. Speaking of recovering righties, it’s looking more and more like Clay Buchholz will have a chance to return in a relief role. With the bullpen the way it is (see No. 1), he may end up being a real important piece of the postseason puzzle.
15. Speaking of the bullpen (again), can we call this Papelbon's best season? His ERA has been lower and he won't get anywhere near his career-high 41 saves, but his WHIP and strikeout rate are the best they’ve been since 2007. Same goes for opponents’ batting average, opponents' slugging percentage and a few other figures. OK, so maybe it is his best season since 2007, but even then he didn’t have a scoreless streak of 18 innings, such as he does now.
16. Speaking of guys in contract years, David Ortiz is one home run shy of hitting 30 once again. Some shy away from designated hitters as MVP candidates, but since we are talking about so many on this team, it’s worth noting that the club leader in slugging and OPS is Ortiz, and it’s not really that close.
17. Speaking of close, the Sox and Yanks have exchanged leads in the AL East 10 times since May and neither team has held a lead of more than three games. If the wild card didn't exist, what would the tension level in these two cites be right about now? Someday, somebody would pen a book and call it "Summer of '11."
18. Speaking of…well, there’s no good segue to this one, but did you know the Red Sox are just 21-25 in series openers this season, but 30-15 in series finales? Contrast that to 2010, when they were 30-22 in series openers and 25-26 in series finales. Strange game, this baseball.
19. Speaking of strangeness, the Red Sox' most recent stretch of results has to qualify. In the last six games, they’ve scored at least 10 runs three times, allowed at least 10 runs three times, were shut out twice and recorded one shutout of their own. Their losses have been by 10 runs, seven runs and two by one run. They've won by five and 14.
20. Speaking of five and 14, they add up to 19, which is the number of thoughts we could come up with. Sorry for selling you short, we're just trying to save something for October (or Sept. 30).
