After their game on May 20, the Boston Red Sox will leave Kansas City with a series win over the Royals, and potentially a sweep, if their luck continues. Boston's 7-1 win on May 19 lifted it to a 21-27 record and out of last place in the American League East.
The Red Sox have been in and out of the basement in their division nearly all season, but things have grown steadier now that interim manager Chad Tracy is in charge — he's been playing hot bats and the Sox's offense has shown it with an 11-10 record under the former Triple-A skipper. After beating the Royals on Tuesday with the most runs they've scored since May 5, the Red Sox left last place in the AL East.
The Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles seem locked in on a race to the bottom with the Red Sox. The latter rival fell into last place after a sweep at the hands of the first-place and AL-leading Tampa Bay Rays and Boston's win in Kansas City.
The Blue Jays and Red Sox share fourth place before their May 20 games after two demoralizing Toronto losses to the New York Yankees. The Jays are easily a better team than they've shown so far, however — they have four starting pitchers on the injured list alongside a far few position players, including Addison Barger, Nathan Lukes, Anthony Santander and Alejandro Kirk. When Toronto gets back to full strength, it won't be easy to beat.
Red Sox's fourth-place standing in AL East could change in an instant
The state of the AL East shows that not all is lost for Boston, despite an agonizing start to the season. A quarter of the way in, neither the Orioles or Jays have lived up to expectations, either, and a hot streak or huge trade deadline move by any team could change the outlook of the division in a hurry.
The Rays and Yankees are far and away the two top teams, but New York's start isn't as great as it looks on paper. The Yankees' schedule so far has been dominated by AL teams (the AL has been severely disappointing this season) and underwhelming National League teams like the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets. The Rays and Brewers are the only teams with winning records that the Yankees have played, and they've been swept by both.
The AL is still wide open and multiple division rivals have helped the Red Sox have a golden chance to move up the AL East with plenty of time to grow into a contender before the trade deadline. It's an optimistic outlook given the severe struggles of Boston's offense, but a breakout from Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran or any of its other struggling hitters could drastically change games in an instant.
The same goes for the Jays and Orioles, though — if their best players get going while the Sox stay stagnant, Boston will get left behind. The time to break out is now or never, while the division is still available for the taking, and Tracy is (slowly) helping the Red Sox find what works.
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