I’ll confess. In late May, nearly 60 games into this Red Sox season, I did not see a path to where they are now, in these early days of September.
On May 27, the Red Sox were 27-30, 8½ games behind the division-leading Yankees, and not-so-proud owners of the American League’s 11th-best record. We were not basking in hope.
Rafael Devers was still here and acting allergic to both accountability and a first baseman’s mitt. Trevor Story was wrapping up a wretched month in which he would bat .158 with a .432 OPS, making some among us wonder whether the Red Sox should just eat the remainder of his contract and write his tenure here off as a lost cause.