5 rival players who can derail Red Sox’ Wild Card chase

Keibert Ruiz is a threat to the Red Sox’ Wild Card chase

Let’s put it this way: Keibert Ruiz was worth Max Scherzer and Trea Turner. Not on his own, of course, but he was part of the massive trade package Los Angeles sent to DC at the trade deadline.

Ruiz, who made his debut with the Dodgers in August 2020 (and homered in his first big-league at-bat), has actually played better since the trade. In 20 games for his new team, he’s hitting .284/.338/.405 with a .743 OPS. He’s 21-for-74 with eight runs scored, three doubles, two home runs, and 14 RBI. Over the weekend, he homered in back-to-back games, and earlier this month, he had a trio of three-hit games in the span of four games.

Over his last seven games, Ruiz has an OPS over 1.000 with the pair of homers and only one strikeout in 32 plate appearances. As the temperatures cool off, he’s only heated up, and since the Red Sox pitchers have never faced him before, he could spell big trouble.

Juan Soto is a threat to the Red Sox’ Wild Card chase

In fairness, Juan Soto is a threat, period. He’s the player the Nationals will rebuild around, and he’s making an NL MVP case for himself this season.

Soto is hitting .318/.468/.545 with a 1.013 OPS. He leads all of MLB in walks (139), and in on-base percentage for the second season in a row.

The total numbers are great, but it’s his second half that has people talking. Since the beginning of August, he’s slashing .354/.540/.616 with a 1.156 OPS, 11 home runs, eight doubles, a triple, and 35 RBI. Take the RBI number with a grain of salt; the Nationals have a 65-93 record and a -85 run differential, so there aren’t many players on base for Soto to drive in.

Soto is having a historically good season, his on-base numbers putting him in the rarified company of Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Rogers Hornsby. According to Sarah Langs, Soto and Williams are the only two players in MLB history to lead MLB in OBP twice before turning 23 years old.

Compared to his overall numbers, Soto’s career numbers are simply fine, a .261/.346/.391 line and .737 OPS in six games. But the way he’s hitting lately, those numbers could skyrocket this weekend, making it hard for the Sox to stay in the hunt.