Feeling pessimistic about the Red Sox' playoff chances right about now? Think the Red Sox are out of the AL playoff race? If you that's the case, Mitch Williams will have no problem dubbing you "sadly mistaken."
The former major league reliever-turned-MLB.com columnist wrote on Monday that he thinks the Red Sox are still primed to make the playoffs, despite trailing the Yankees and Rays by 6 1/2 games each.
"The AL wild card will come out of this division, and I believe it will be the Red Sox, which means the Yanekes or the Rays will be left out of the postseason," Williams wrote. "I think the Yankees will fall short, because they lack depth in the starting rotation."
While he thinks the Yankees' rotation will keep them out of the playoffs, Williams cites Boston's starting pitching as the reason for a potential comeback.
"Wild Thing" states that Jon Lester has some of the best stuff in the game while calling Clay Buchholz the ace of the staff. He also says that Josh Beckett looks to have turned things around and claims John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka "round out a rotation that give the Red Sox a legitimate chance to gain ground on the Rays and Yankees."
Williams did give himself some wiggle room by saying that he could be "dead wrong" about his predictions. That will certainly be the case if the Red Sox' rotation that Williams loves so much doesn't start pitching more consistently as a whole.
