Sure, the Red Sox played sub-.500 baseball for the final two months of the regular season, but their strong play for the first four months, along with a dramatic win in their final game, allowed them to squeak into Tuesday’s American League Wild Card Game and exceed the preseason expectations of many of baseball’s prognosticators.
None of the six Globe staffers predicted the Red Sox would reach the postseason at the beginning of the year, although all agreed the team would be better than it was in 2020. That was a low bar though, as the Sox’ 24-36 record in the pandemic shortened season amounted to a .