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Red Sox fan’s guide for who to root for in AL Wild Card Game

By Cole Witaszek

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 01: Gleyber Torres #25 of the New York Yankees celebrates his solo home run in the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on August 1, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 01: Gleyber Torres #25 of the New York Yankees celebrates his solo home run in the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on August 1, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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BALTIMORE, MD – AUGUST 12: Jackie Bradley Jr. #19, Mookie Betts #50, and J.D. Martinez #28 of the Boston Red Sox celebrate after the game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 12, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. Red Sox won 4-1. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – AUGUST 12: Jackie Bradley Jr. #19, Mookie Betts #50, and J.D. Martinez #28 of the Boston Red Sox celebrate after the game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 12, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. Red Sox won 4-1. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

The Red Sox have locked up their spot in the playoffs but their first opponent is TBD. What team should we hope the Red Sox run into in the ALDS?

As of September 14th, the Boston Red Sox have already won 101 games this season and have clinched a playoff birth. They also hold a commanding 10.5-game lead over the second place New York Yankees in the AL East and an 8.5-game lead over the Houston Astros for the top AL seed.

For the purposes of this article, *knock on wood*, I’m going to assume the Red Sox won’t have a catastrophic meltdown and hold their lead over the rest of the American League. This means that the Red Sox would play the winner of the AL Wild Card Game.

The Wild Card race has yet to be completely settled in the AL. Currently, the A’s are only three games back of the Astros in the AL West and one game back of the Yankees for home field in a one-game playoff series. However, we can say that barring a historic comeback by the Mariners, two of the A’s, Yankees, and Astros will be competing in the AL Wild Card Game. So a natural question for Red Sox fans is who should we be rooting for? What playoff scenario most benefits the Red Sox?

Let’s jump right in and compare these three potential opponents componentwise.

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