The Red Sox have spent much of the season fighting the same old storyline, but the last two weeks have started to push back against it. Boston has won nine of its last 11 games and suddenly looks like a team that can hang around the American League Wild Card race, not just watch it from a distance.
That turnaround has come from the formula the front office built in the first place: pitching and defense. The rotation has been giving Boston a chance almost every night, and the offense has finally stopped dragging the whole operation down.
It still needs more punch, especially from the right side, but it’s no longer performing like the worst lineup in baseball. Over the last 15 days, the Red Sox are 10th in the league in runs scored with 64.
For the season, though, they’re still 28th with 365 runs in 89 games played.
That’s why the trade deadline conversation points so clearly toward Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams. Boston is 41-48 and four games back in the Wild Card picture, and it has already climbed past teams like the Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, Athletics, and Kansas City Royals in the race. The next step is obvious: add a bat that changes the shape of the lineup.
The most obvious places to help are in the middle infield, with catcher also mentioned as a possible area. An outfielder or corner infielder would be a surprise.
Anthony Seigler has earned more time at second base, and if Boston were to land a second baseman instead, the club could shift Seigler to shortstop. But if Abrams is available, he fits the cleanest.
He would let Seigler stay put at second, take over shortstop himself, and give the Red Sox a much-needed jolt without forcing a chain reaction.
There’s also the bigger roster picture. Trevor Story is expected to get healthy eventually, and when that happens Boston could use him at second base or designated hitter.
Marcelo Mayer could also factor at second base once he’s healthy. That kind of flexibility matters, but the immediate issue is power.
Boston has just 80 home runs, which puts it last in baseball. Twenty of those belong to Willson Contreras.
Jarren Duran is next with 13, and Wilyer Abreu is the only other player on the roster in double figures with 10. That’s a thin margin for error, even with the recent surge.
Abrams would bring a very different profile. He has 19 home runs in 89 games and is on pace for more than 30.
He’s 25 years old, under team control for two more seasons, and is hitting .276/.354/.509 with an .864 OPS. Add in 65 RBIs, 15 stolen bases, 16 doubles and 55 runs scored, and you’re looking at the kind of player worth paying a premium for.
He’s also the kind of player Boston could envision as part of a longer-term core. An infield built around Abrams and Mayer in the middle, Contreras at first base and Caleb Durbin at second base has real upside. Story could still be part of the mix as a DH and occasional second baseman, while the future in the outfield would center on Roman Anthony and Ceddanne Rafaela.
Abrams has been in trade conversations since the offseason, but a move this summer may not be likely because the Nationals have been better than expected. Even so, ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel ranked him as the No. 6 overall potential trade chip in baseball and gave him a 15 percent chance of being dealt. If Boston wants the move that can shift this team from interesting to dangerous, Abrams is the name to chase.
In Other News...
Red Sox Prospects Are Making The System Look Too Deep To Ignore
The latest weekly check-in across the Red Sox farm was the kind that makes a system feel deeper than a single headline name. From Worcester to Portland to Greenville, Boston had multiple prospects turning in productive stretches at the plate and on the mound, with Allan Castro, Mikey Romero, Franklin Arias and Antonio Anderson among the players giving the organization something to track at several levels at once.
What stands out is not just that the numbers were good, but that they were spread around. Castro brought power and run production, Romero drove in a pile of runs, Arias showed a mix of patience and pop, and Greenville kept getting steady offense from Anderson, while Blake Wehunt added a strong pitching line. For a player development staff, that kind of week does not answer every question, but it does make the next one harder to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
This Bizarre MLB Record Still Belongs To The 2005 Red Sox
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It briefly looked like the Dodgers might put that number in danger this season, but their own streak finally ended in an 11-inning game against the Rockies. The common thread is part of what makes the record so odd: both clubs were defending World Series champions while piling up all those regulation games, a reminder that even on title teams, baseball can produce the kind of statistical oddity that lingers for years. [Read more 🡒]
Former Red Sox Infielder Hits An Early Setback In Milwaukee
David Hamiltons return to Milwaukee hit an early snag this week, a reminder that roster churn can turn quickly for a player still trying to settle in with a new club. The Brewers are already adjusting around him, with Greg Jones back on the major league roster and Brandon Lockridge moved to the 60-day injured list to clear space on the 40-man.
For the Red Sox, Hamiltons latest step matters because his path to Milwaukee began in the six-player trade that sent him out of Boston, and he also happens to be a player the Brewers know well from before his time with the Sox. His latest setback leaves another small thread of that deal in motion, even if the bigger picture around the trade is still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]