The Boston Red Sox are entering the All-Star break on a solid streak. They swept the Detroit Tigers in their 6-3 win on Sunday to mark their fourth straight win and head into the break with a 49-41 record.
However, despite their recent success, they haven't quite lived up to expectations. And Alex Cora said as much following the game when asked if the Red Sox were playing at an acceptable level.
“Nah, not yet,” Cora said per Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe. “We’re a lot better than this. We need to get better; we need to get better. There’s a few things here — although we finished strong and all that — they know it. They know it as a group. They have to be ready for Friday. We can be a lot better than this.”
Cora does have a point, as the Red Sox did start the season slowly and struggled to keep pace in the AL East. They are still 9 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the division and two games out of the Wild Card chase.
Comparatively, the team was a whopping 68-30 at the All-Star break last season, 38 games over .500. Granted, they have played eight fewer games before the break this year, but given that the squad is largely the same, that massive difference in winning percentage is a bit surprising. But as Jackie Bradley Jr. pointed out, it is difficult to compare any team to the Red Sox' "dream season" of 2018.
"You can’t compare it to the dream season we had last year, but our team is good," Bradley said to Abraham. "You can’t deny that. I think we can put something together."
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The Red Sox are going to have four days off to rest up, but they will face a gauntlet when they return from the break. They have a World Series rematch against the Los Angeles Dodgers in their first series back at Fenway before playing 21 straight games against divisional opponents. This stretch will be critical for making or breaking their postseason chances.
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