On Thursday, Red Sox team president Sam Kennedy joined The Greg Hill Show for this week’s “Front Office Report,” as his team comes off a series-win out in Sacramento.
Boston (81-66) currently sits one percentage point behind the Yankees (80-65) for the first wild card position in the American League. But if New York can avoid a sweep in their series finale against the Tigers (84-62) at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, they’ll come to Boston up half-a-game over their AL East rival.
The final 15 games to finish off Boston’s regular season are no cake walk:
- 3 game series vs. New York
- 3 game series vs. Oakland (67-80)
- 3 game series @ Tampa Bay (72-73)
- 3 game series @ Toronto (83-62)
- 3 game series vs. Detroit
For those keeping score at home, that’s three teams almost certainly slated for postseason play, a division rival in Tampa that’s within shouting distance of the final wild card spot if things break their way, and a team in Oakland that just beat Boston on Wednesday 5-4.
The margin for error is gone. It’s time to lock in.
And according to Kennedy on Thursday, Boston’s goals are loftier than just grabbing a wild card spot.
“The goal is still to win the American League East and to get that bye,” said Kennedy. “I mean, it would be amazing. It's going to be hard, but that has been the goal, and that continues to be the goal.
“We've got a series left against the Yankees, obviously, this weekend. It's going to be huge. And then we actually go up to Toronto, so we've got a shot here. And giving guys rest is important, too. You gotta balance it. And Alex - nobody does a better job of managing that workload like Alex Cora. He’s doing a good job.
“It's really, really hard as you get into August and September. Because if we don't win these games, we're not playing in October. But you've got one eye on the playoffs as well. So it is a balance, but great to have these performances.”
When the Red Sox are back in action on Friday, it’s back to the top of their rotation: Lucas Giolito on Friday (10-3, 3.38 ERA), Brayan Bello on Saturday (11-6, 3.12 ERA), and Garrett Crochet on Sunday (15-5, 2.57 ERA).
The Yankees have horses on tap, too, with righty Luis Gil on Friday (3-1, 3.31 ERA) and lefty Max Fried on Saturday (16-5, 3.02 ERA). A slight step down in talent going on Sunday, with righty Will Warren (8-6, 4.22 ERA) slated to take the mound.
It’s go time, people!
First pitch for Friday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.
WEEI and WEEI.com are your home for Red Sox baseball all season long. Hear every pitch of the 2025 season on 93.7 WEEI-FM in Boston and across the WEEI Shaw's Star Market Red Sox Radio Network.