Why Red Sox Must Take Full Advantage In Visit With White Sox

The Boston Red Sox have 100 games to go in 2024.

Through 62 games, they sit even at .500 with a 31-31 record. Boston has stayed afloat despite a barrage of injuries, though the Red Sox need to catch fire to stay competitive in a talented American League East.

That’s further the case given the Red Sox’s hefty slate of competition coming up in June. Boston does receive the chance to find momentum with a four-game road trip to Chicago to take on the White Sox.

Chicago’s struggles are well-documented across baseball this season. The White Sox are 15-47, 26 games out of the American League Central and are the only MLB team without 20 wins in 2024. The White Sox enter the series on a 13-game losing streak. The offense ranks last in several offensive categories, including a .217 team batting average and a .615 OPS.

The pitching staff also owns the American League’s highest ERA (4.94), giving Chicago several areas to improve in. The lone bright spots on the mound among starters are Erick Fedde and lefty Garrett Crochet (3.49 ERA), who is slated to face the Red Sox on Friday against Boston right-hander Cooper Criswell.

Putting together wins is important enough for the Red Sox. It’s even more paramount given that Boston will return home for consecutive series against the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees. Those teams, both at 44-19, are tied for MLB’s best record and are firing on all cylinders through the first two months.

Needing to break free from the .500 trend, the Red Sox face a sense of urgency to take care of business over the weekend in the Windy City. Boston is just 4-8 against the White Sox over the last two seasons, so the chance to turn that tide is on the table in the battle of the Sox as well.

“We gotta go,” Alex Cora told reporters on Wednesday, per NESN’s postgame coverage. “We gotta play. We have four in Chicago. Just put good at-bats and pitch well. Hopefully, win the series. We got Monday off. Then, we got the Phillies and the Yankees. We just gotta play better baseball. That’s the bottom line.”

The Red Sox faced a difficult stretch to start the month of May with legitimate talent. They start June with the chance to build momentum for another critical stretch as the summer approaches.

The Red Sox and White Sox start the four-game series on Thursday night. First pitch is set for 8:10 p.m. ET. You can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.