5 reasons the Houston Astros will topple the Red Sox…again
By Sam Fels
I know this thing said “5 reasons.” But seeing as how we’ve just highlighted all the main areas here…
Yeah, it’s something of a cop-out. And it feels wrong, or at least confusing, to label a 108-win team inferior in all the major categories of a match-up. But I don’t make up the rules, and I don’t make up the teams, and that’s divisional baseball for you.
Go around the diamond, and where do the Sox have a clear advantage? Left, right, and DH? That’s just about it. They may take the No. 1 starter tete-et-tete, but the Astros would take the next three. The Sox might have the better closer, and that’s a close one, but the Astros have the superior bridge to get them there. Craig Kimbrel might want to become one with the eighth inning this series.
It’s baseball, and bats can go cold at any time. Someone like Brock Holt can come up with a cycle in a series-turning game. Porcello and Eovaldi may toss gems back-to-back again, because baseball is gonna baseball on you whether you like it or not.
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But on paper, there’s a reason the Astros sport the jewelry from last year. You feel like if the Sox don’t get something from Betts and Martinez, they don’t have the backup. Meanwhile, the Astros get hits from everywhere.
If Sale isn’t CHRIS SALE, like he wasn’t in Game 1 last year against Houston, the Sox are behind in every other starter matchup. If Verlander struggles, there’s still three behind him you’d count on. It feels like too much.