The Red Sox have a nice, comfortable ten game lead but the time to take care of business is right now. With a four game series against the Jays to open the second half, if the Red Sox can pad their lead to 12 or even 15 games, they could turn even whoever is second place into sellers at the trade deadline. If the Red Sox want to seriously clinch things and give their players the best chance to play deep into the playoffs, how they do in the next three weeks could go along way towards helping things along.
If I had to pick a team MVP on offense right now, it’d go to Mike Lowell. He’s tied with Big Papi in homeruns with fourteen and he’s even driven in more runs all while hitting .300. He was decent in 2006, but he’s been very good in 2007.
Julio Lugo has to be the biggest disappointment. Hitting right at the Mendoza line, he’s been an anchor in the lineup. His defense has been average (exactly average if you like Baseball Prospectus’ fielding runs above average, which shows Lugo right at zero) and he’s definitely not earning his keep salary wise.
Josh Beckett has been the best pitcher. Even after hitting the DL with the blister, he leads the league with 12 wins and his 3.44 ERA leads the team. He’s been the stopper and the Red Sox are 13-3 in Beckett’s starts.
This second half opening series is a big one with four against the second place Blue Jays. Tim Wakefield has his work cut out for him in the opener as the Red Sox hitters have to contend with Roy Halladay.
