The Boston Red Sox emerged from the All-Star break with the most difficult second-half schedule in MLB, according to data from FanGraphs. Luckily for them, their remaining matchups were front-loaded in terms of difficulty.
The Red Sox sit in a Wild Card spot midway through August and are in a great position to hold onto it for the rest of the season. Boston's schedule will be much easier in the remaining month and a half of action, with the Orioles, Rays, Pirates, Marlins, A's and Diamondbacks making up eight of its remaining series — all teams with records under .500.
That doesn't mean every series will be easy. The Sox also have matchups with the Blue Jays, Tigers, Guardians and two series with the Yankees remaining. The Jays have a firm hold on first place in the American League East, the Tigers faltered after the trade deadline but seem to be bouncing back, and the Guardians are inching up the AL Central standings. The Sox have beaten and swept the Yankees in their two series this year, but anything can happen during those tense rivalry games.
The Red Sox have also shown this year that no team should be taken lightly, even with a poor record. Boston has lost series to the White Sox, Braves and Angels, and split with the Orioles this season.
The Red Sox have seven series against teams under .500 in the final weeks of the season
The Red Sox have played like a better team than they did at the start of the season when they lost most of their series to underwhelming teams. They've cut down on their strikeouts, Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito have emerged as serious contenders for the No. 2 title in the rotation, Roman Anthony's breakout has sparked the offense, and the defense is much more solid. After hovering around .500 for much of the first half, the Sox went on a 10-game win streak going into the All-Star break, and they've since been one of the better teams in baseball.
To begin the second half of the season, Boston faced the Cubs, Phillies and Dodgers in succession, and fared about as well as expected — the Sox won their series against the Dodgers, who have slowed in recent weeks, and avoided sweeps at the hands of Chicago and Philadelphia. Their relative success against three sure-fire playoff squads (along with a sweep and season series win over the Astros in the following weeks) allows the Red Sox to be in top Wild Card positioning as the rest of their season gets easier.