Wait till next year?
OK, the Red Sox have played at a .500 pace for over 100 games this season. Do they have a realistic chance of making the playoffs in 2012 or will this be the third straight season that the team with the third-highest salary total in baseball misses the postseason?
During Terry Francona’s tenure in Boston he preached about building success by winning as many series as possible, so we’ll use that standard. If the Sox win every one of the 19 series they have left to play, they will finish with a record of at least 93-69. Of course, that could also improve should they manage to add some sweeps along the way, but even with this hypothesis the Sox would finish the season 42-18, a standard they’ve obviously failed to set so far.
If that happens, the closest wild card rivals — right now, Los Angeles and Oakland — would have to lose 25 of their 62 remaining games to allow Boston to sneak in by a game.
Using the same math, the AL East pennant appears out of the question as the Yankees would have to limp to a 32-29 close while every other team suffers the same unlikely fate.
Ortiz delayed
It looks like the Red Sox are going to have to wait a little longer than expected for the return of DH David Ortiz.
On Monday the Sox cancelled all of Ortiz’s baseball activities due to soreness in his injured heel meaning that he will have to spend some more time on the disabled list. According to ESPN Ortiz said he could neither jog nor bat while in New York this weekend.
If Boston wants to keep its slim playoff hopes alive the team will need Ortiz back ASAP, and it’s not looking like a quick return is a possibility. Ortiz has been on the DL since July 18 when he injured his heel rounding second base on an Adrian Gonzalez home run.
-Compiled by Chuck Frye
and Nick Curcuru
