Chaim Bloom Addresses Red Sox’s Playoff Chances: ‘We’re In The Hunt’

The Boston Red Sox flipped the switch for a final nine-game stretch to assemble a five-game winning streak and break out of the .500 mark, sitting at 48-43 by the All-Star break to end the first half of the season.

Now, that still leaves plenty of work to do.

Boston is still last in the American League East, just three games from taking over third place and snagging a wild-card spot. That’s encouraging considering the Red Sox underwent a rocky, injury-filled first half that dug them a bit of a divot in the standings. Yet, not one deep enough to completely close the door on their playoff chances entering the second half of 2023.

“We’re in the hunt right now,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. “Obviously, different things can happen in these games between now and the deadline, but all the things we talked about as far as the trajectory we’re on, I don’t see anything happening in the next couple of weeks that’s gonna change how we feel about that and the progress we feel we’re making towards really being where we wanna be.

“Obviously what happens in the short-term, or on some level we’re gonna need to factor that in and be responsive to it. As long as we keep seeing the things we wanna see from our core guys, that’s obviously something that we’re gonna keep front and center.”

Bloom still hasn’t established where the organization will stand come the Aug. 1 trade deadline. With several teams having plenty to offer amid their respective paths to playoff misses, the Red Sox could test the market in order to snag a depth enhancer — rewarding the current roster for keeping the playoff window open despite a series of setbacks.

The Red Sox are still awaiting the returns of Chris Sale, Trevor Story and Tanner Houck to name a few. That’s forced manager Alex Cora to be quick on his feet, especially with the pitching staff, utilizing relief arms into opener roles in order to make up for a rotation that’s needed aiding on various instances throughout the season. That’s without accounting for the defensive hurdle Boston’s battled, committing an AL-worst 61 errors in the first 91 games.

With 71 games left to play, time is working on Boston’s side, but that might not be indicative of how they’ll decide to approach the deadline.