1. The best offense in baseball
This goes without saying, but the Red Sox should be the favorite in the series simply on the basis of their offense. Despite a shaky bullpen for much of the regular season, Boston won a franchise-record 108 games entirely because of this lineup constantly beating the skin off of the ball.
Of course, there are the two biggest stars on the team, Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez, both of whom contributed plenty to this nearly unstoppable group. But this offense is so much more than just those two guys. The Red Sox have been getting contributions at the plate all the way through the lineup thanks to guys like Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers and even Jackie Bradley Jr., the ALCS MVP. Ian Kinsler entered the picture at the trade deadline and just added to it.
Thanks to these guys, the Red Sox led the Major Leagues in most offensive categories, including runs scored, RBIs, total bases and total team batting average, just to name a few. These Red Sox hitters even solved the dominant arms of the Astros’ rotation, including Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Dallas Keuchel — the biggest reason why there were able to take Houston out in just five games.
The Red Sox will be faced with yet another difficult pitching task against the Dodgers, as they possess a rotation full of aces. Boston will get to face Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Walker Buehler and Hyun-Jin Ryu, all of which will present problems for them on the mound.
But the Red Sox have the best offense in the league for a reason, and they might just decide to tee off on the Dodgers as well.