Looking at Cleveland’s remaining schedule compared to the White Sox, it’s hard to imagine the Sox not finishing first

For most of the season, the Sox have been winning against teams they should beat. September has been a different story, but this past series was encouraging. Going into the KC series and playing like they need the wins is the necessary approach. It'll be nice to make the playoffs, but winning the division should be the goal.

Anything can happen in 6 games. Sox just gotta take care of their own business and keep winning.

25 minutes ago, Thesieve300 said:

Looking at Cleveland’s remaining schedule compared to the White Sox, it’s hard to imagine the Sox not finishing first

Cleveland will have it easier now in Boston as the Red Sox clinched last night, I was hoping for the opposite. I’m figuring now that we need to win 2 in KC and probably sweep Colorado at home, nothing ever comes easy.

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by The Mighty Mite

Never underestimate how fucking annoying the Guardians are.

10 minutes ago, The Mighty Mite said:

Cleveland will have it easier now in Boston as the Red Sox clinched last night, I was hoping for the opposite. I’m figuring now that we need to win 2 in KC and probably sweep Colorado at home, nothing ever comes easy.

Yeah, the Boston situation sucks. Aren’t they essentially locked into the #5 and will face the Yankees in the first round no matter what?

4 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

Yeah, the Boston situation sucks. Aren’t they essentially locked into the #5 and will face the Yankees in the first round no matter what?

Yeah so they will align their pitching favorably for that series.

12 minutes ago, Snopek said:

Never underestimate how fucking annoying the Guardians are.

Yes, the 1 run they needed yesterday to win was a swinging bunt.

If they finish with a first round bye, will you be rejecting the playoffs

I don't see the Red Sox laying down for a series against a team they could face in the playoffs in a couple weeks. They still have six games to go against two tough teams and I'm sure don't want to limp into the playoffs on a losing streak. They may be a bit more conservative with pitching but this should be a tough series for Cleveland.

The difference is we get the Rockies at home and they get the Red Sox on the road. The schedule definitely favor the Sox but anything can happen in a 3 game series.

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by nrockway

1 hour ago, Thesieve300 said:

Looking at Cleveland’s remaining schedule compared to the White Sox, it’s hard to imagine the Sox not finishing first

Oh, it's not that hard to imagine that. Just look at the last 20 years of White Sox history. They've been very adept at pissing away a chance for the division title in September.

34 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

Yeah so they will align their pitching favorably for that series.

Which should mean they'll face the top of the rotation this week, eh?

23 minutes ago, HeGetzUs said:

The team that benefits the most from this is the cubs as they play Boston and that is when Boston will be scaling back on everything and getting ready for the playoffs.

That's what they said, what I said, in '67, my first year as a fan. Never again.

(almost as bad, if not worse, is what they did in the offseason that followed).

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by GreenSox

Famous last words.

No sox fan should ever be confident about anything until the clincher.

This time of the season you have no idea what your going to get from teams that are eliminated from the playoffs. Saying that, there has always been kind of an unwritten rule that teams that are eliminated put their best team on the field when playing teams that are still in the race. In other words nobody is going to be rolling over for the Sox these last 6 games.

Both the Royals and the Rockies can hit enough to give you problems. What neither of them do well is pitch. Both are in the bottom 4 in MLB in team ERA. The Sox bats need to come alive this last week.

Another thing you can't predict is how will the pressure effect the Sox. Clinching a playoff spot in the final 6 games will be stressful. You have some players that thrive in that pressure and some that wilt away. Let's hope the Sox have way more in the former category then the latter.

The argument that eliminated teams will lay down because they have nothing to play for doesn't really make sense. Whenever the Sox have everything to play for in September, they play their worst baseball.

11 minutes ago, Green Line said:

Famous last words.

No sox fan should ever be confident about anything until the clincher.

Any Sox fan who has been one for any length of time will be sweating every pitch until they clinch. Nothing will be easy this week, I don't care who the opponent is. Teams that have been eliminated are often the most dangerous as they have no pressure whatsoever and would like nothing more than to knock a team out of the playoffs.

Lmao some of you are so excited to s%*# on a playoff run

4 wins and they make the playoffs no matter what. Anything under 4 wins against KC and Colorado would be a huge failure. With that said, I'm very curious how Boston will approach this series vs Cleveland now that they clinched a wildcard spot?

1 minute ago, Kyyle23 said:

Lmao some of you are so excited to s%*# on a playoff run

I'm just trying to be realistic. As a 50 yr Sox fan I'm as excited as heck for this last week. I have also gone through enough heartbreak with this club to know it won't be easy.

3 minutes ago, brijames1957 said:

Any Sox fan who has been one for any length of time will be sweating every pitch until they clinch. Nothing will be easy this week, I don't care who the opponent is. Teams that have been eliminated are often the most dangerous as they have no pressure whatsoever and would like nothing more than to knock a team out of the playoffs.

But, I would also add that teams that have clinched will also rest some of their regulars especially players who have any health issues. Crochet is a major issue as to his status and it appears he won't start in the Cleveland series. Rafaela is also a major player for Boston and he is nursing an injury.

3 minutes ago, GreatScott82 said:

4 wins and they make the playoffs no matter what. Anything under 4 wins against KC and Colorado would be a huge failure. With that said, I'm very curious how Boston will approach this series vs Cleveland now that they clinched a wildcard spot?

Boston has their best 3 starters going. I don't know how long they will let them go but I would guess they are going to attack these 3 with Cleveland pretty normally. They might rest some starters this weekend closer to the playoffs starting. You don't want your hitters having too much time off heading to the post season.