Fenway Park was buzzing over the weekend as the Boston Red Sox took three of four games from the New York Yankees. The series didn’t do much to put a dent in the standings – the Yankees take the field on Tuesday with a nine-game lead over Boston – but it gave fans a little hope that the 2019 Red Sox might just have an October run in them after all.
It was the first time all year the Red Sox gave us the feeling that they could beat one of baseball’s best teams in a series. Over the first three games, the Sox bludgeoned the Yankees – outscoring them 38-13 before a raucous Fenway crowd.
The Yankees rolled into town with one of the most feared offenses in the game, but it was the Red Sox who were spraying extra-base hits all over the park.
Xander Bogaerts, left, celebrates his three-run homer with Rafael Devers in the first inning of Boston’s 19-3 rout of the New York Yankees on Thursday night. AP Photo/Elise Amendola
Once again it was Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts leading the way. The two have been Boston’s most consistent offensive performers this season. Devers and Bogaerts finished the weekend with 82 and 81 RBI, respectively. Mike Trout was the only American League player with more (85).
If you were trying to name an AL MVP at this stage of the season, you’d have to put both Sox players on the list. The very short list of the best players in the game. It’s the second straight year the Sox have two players vying for MVP status.
Last year it was Mookie Betts (who ultimately won the award) and J.D. Martinez. Which means in a 16-month span the Sox have had four players performing at an MVP level.
“Last year, although J.D. and Mookie kind of carried us throughout the season there was always someone else dancing with them,” said Boston manager Alex Cora. “It was like three or four guys always hot throughout the season. It was Mookie and J.D. who seemed like they never slumped throughout. Then it was Xander or Benny (Andrew Benintendi) or Mitch (Moreland).
“This year it’s been (Devers and Bogaerts) and somebody else. … It’s a testament to who we are, the way we work in scouting and development and obviously the front office and ownership and what they bring on a daily basis.”
For the front office and ownership, watching Bogaerts and Devers blossom into superstars has to be gratifying. Bogaerts is 26 years old and signed a contract extension through 2025, although he has an opt-out clause after 2022. Devers, just 22, is under team control for four more years.
That’s a cornerstone that should continue to be one of the best one-two punches in the game, and it won’t be going anywhere for a long time to come. Even as the Red Sox figure out if they can sign Mookie Betts to a blockbuster deal, they know the top of the offense is in good hands.
The Red Sox don’t have one of the best farm systems in the game because so much young talent is already in The Show. As Hall of Fame reporter Peter Gammons pointed out over the weekend, the Red Sox fielded lineups in two straight games against the Yankees that featured eight players signed and developed by the team. Only Martinez was a free-agent signing.
That lineup brought fans to life over the weekend, even if the series with New York ended with a disappointing loss on Sunday night. The Red Sox began the week on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, but a wild-card spot is there for the taking.
And, as we finally saw for three memorable nights at Fenway Park, there is indeed hope this team could sneak into the playoffs and make a run in October with a lineup that should be firing for a long time to come.
Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.
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