Houston Astros: Five biggest road blocks to a World Series title

Boston Red Sox

While the Boston Red Sox are missing the production of David “Big Papi” Ortiz and their offense hasn’t been quite as stellar this year as it was last year, especially with the fall off in production from 2016 MVP runner up Mookie Betts (among others), the team still has the best pitcher in the American League right now in Chris Sale.

And an ace like that who can go deep into games and pitch on three days rest paired along with a dynamite closer like Craig Kimbrel can win you two games in a series on their own because of how dominant they are.

It’s especially impressive the place Boston is in right now considering the massive regression they’ve faced on both offense and pitching. From Mookie Betts to Jackie Bradley Junior to Hanley Ramirez to Rick Porcello to David Price, yet they are still in first place in arguably the toughest division in baseball.

A testament to their managing and their depth. Which are two things that have even more of an impact come the post season.

And of course, they have a diverse bullpen that ranks third in ERA and sixth in batting average against. There’s a common thread that ties all our biggest competitors together by the way and I’ll reveal it in the next slide.