Is it time to start taking the Boston Red Sox seriously in the American League East?
Boston entered Thursday trailing the division-leading Tampa Bay Rays by 7 1/2 games. And the Red Sox have had enough problems from the mound this season to question whether they'll ultimately contend for an AL playoff spot. But there's no denying the recent results, which ESPN.com took into account Thursday when releasing its updated Major League Baseball power rankings.
The Red Sox jumped five spots -- from No. 19 to No. 15 -- in ESPN's MLB power rankings just over a month into the 2023 campaign.
Here's what ESPN's Joon Lee wrote about the Red Sox:
If you blinked, you might have missed that Boston has turned things around after a slow start. Right fielder Alex Verdugo and reliever Josh Winckowski are among the two biggest surprises, but recent performances from outfielder Jarren Duran and catcher Connor Wong could take the Red Sox to another level. After a bumpy 2022 that included run-ins with fans, Duran is carrying himself with a new confidence, reflected in his batting line of .396/.414/.679. Wong also continues to impress, hitting two homers in a game against the Blue Jays on Tuesday night, including one that brought in the go-ahead run.
This might not seem like a huge breakthrough, but it's another piece of evidence that the perception surrounding Boston is changing, almost daily. The Red Sox's offense has been both excellent and clutch. Boston is piling up series victories -- something it didn't do in 2022 -- and it never feels like the Sox are out of games, even when they fall behind early, thanks to the impressive level of competitiveness they've shown thus far.
Now, we're not saying the Red Sox suddenly are World Series contenders. Maybe they are. Maybe they aren't. There's still a long way to go this season. But with the Red Sox riding a five-game winning streak into their series finale with the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park, a stretch that improved Boston's overall record to 18-14, it's hard to knock the progress. And there are reasons to believe it's sustainable.
