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Red Sox Facing 'Lingering Concern' With Playoff Implications
Jun 28, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; A bucket of baseballs sits on the grass before a game between the Boston Red Sox and the San Diego Padres at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Eric Canha-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox enter play on Tuesday night as one of the hottest teams in Major League Baseball.

Boston has a 63-51 record and is just three games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the top spot in the American League East. The Red Sox took down the Kansas City Royals on Monday night to extend their winning streak to six games. Boston has won eight of its last nine games overall and has done so in dominant fashion. In the middle of this hot steak was the 2025 MLB trade deadline.

Boston added some more depth by acquiring Dustin May from the Los Angeles Dodgers and Steven Matz from the St. Louis Cardinals. The club's biggest question marks heading into the deadline were the rotation and first base. It seems like Boston is comfortably with first base and tried aiming for bigger fish, like Minnesota Twins ace Joe Ryan, but the starting pitching trade market wasn't as robust as expected.

With the trade deadline behind us, ESPN's Bradford Doolittle shared a column highlighting the "lingering concern" for each team moving forward. For Boston, it unsurprisingly involved the rotation.

"No. 10. Boston Red Sox," Doolittle said. "Win average: 88.9 (Last: 79.8, 19th). In the playoffs: 87.6 percent (Last: 17.8 percent). Champions: 5.5% (Last: 0.3 percent). Lingering concern: Starting rotation.

"This team makes a lot more sense if you plug a true No. 2 (or a co-No. 1) in the rotation next to Garrett Crochet. The Red Sox are playing so well it seems greedy to quibble, but what will this look like in the playoffs? Some teams tread water with the rotation and ride the bullpen in October. Boston's bullpen has been solid, but it seems like the Red Sox will need more balance. Boston needs big finishes from every starter not named Crochet. And Crochet, too."

The rotation may be a question, but Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito both have looked like superstars recently. Bello has a 3.03 ERA in 20 appearances and Giolito has a 3.57 ERA in 17 starts. It seems like these two have the No. 2 and No. 3 spot taken care of. Instead, the No. 4 and No. 5 spots are bigger questions right now. Walker Buehler and May are the likely answers, but now we just need to see how things play out.


This article first appeared on Boston Red Sox on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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