Wild Card
It’s never too early to start thinking about the playoff race. With Boston currently trailing two teams in their division, the Wild Card hunt will be something for us to keep an eye on.
The Yankees and O’s are tied at the top of the AL East and whichever one of them falls behind will be in position for the first Wild Card spot. After that there’s a tight race for the second spot, with a handful of teams within two games of each other in the loss column.
American League Wild Card race heading into May, via https://t.co/nGtObuSrAY. pic.twitter.com/MAxGF1RvgS
— Sean Penney (@spenney83) May 1, 2017
The Red Sox are one of those teams, entering the day a half game behind the Chicago White Sox. That’s right, we took Sale from them in exchange for prospects that haven’t made a mark in the big leagues yet this season and Chicago has still been ahead of Boston in the standings. The Pale Hose have been riding a breakout season from Avisail Garcia and the league’s best bullpen, although both should be expected to drop off from their scorching paces.
The Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Angels are within a half game of the Red Sox, with the Detroit Tigers lurking a game behind them.
Next: Not time for Red Sox to panic yet
A lot can happen over the next five months to shake up this race. However, the early returns suggest that the Red Sox will have some stiff competition for a playoff spot. If they get some key players back from injury and the bats in their lineup wake up then Boston can easily vault up the standings, but not if they continue to play at this mediocre pace that has them stuck in the middle of the division.