Everyone who’s watched the Boston Red Sox lately knows they’ve been tearing the cover off the ball this season. But you might be surprised to learn just how much more productive the Red Sox’s offense has been than any other in Major League Baseball.
Boston, which is fresh off a seven-game homestand during which it averaged 10.4 runs per game, entered Tuesday as the major league leader in runs, hits, doubles, total bases, RBIs, batting average, slugging percentage and OPS.
The Red Sox have scored 49 more runs than the next-highest-scoring American League team (the Texas Rangers, who’ve plated 180), and their advantages in both average and OPS also are sizable, to say the least.
The Sox also lead the AL in on-base percentage and trail the overall leader in that category, the Chicago Cubs, by a mere six points.
It’s important to note, though, that John Farrell’s club has spent much of the last month beating up on the likes of the Oakland Athletics, Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves, all of whom entered Tuesday in either last or second-to-last place in their respective divisions.
The road ahead is considerably more difficult. Beginning Tuesday night in Kansas City, the Red Sox will play 16 of their next 19 games against opponents ranked in the top half of the AL in team ERA, including four against the third-ranked Baltimore Orioles (3.53) and six against the fourth-ranked Toronto Blue Jays (3.56).
Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
