Major League Baseball's All-Star Game is this evening in Washington, D.C., and the Red Sox have five players representing them. Individual success has gone hand in hand with team success. The Red Sox have the best record in baseball so far this season. Alex Speier covers baseball for the Boston Globe, and he'll be at tonight's game in Washington. He spoke with WGBH News' All Things Considered anchor Barbara Howard about the game and what's expected from the Red Sox going into the All-Star break. This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Barbara Howard: As we said, the Red Sox have five players at the game tonight, right fielder Mookie Betts, designated hitter J.D. Martinez, first baseman Mitch Moreland and closer Craig Kimbrel. Meantime, ace Chris Sale gets the start. He'll be taking the mound for the American League tonight. The Sox own Major League Baseball's best record of 68 and 30. They're in first place, four-and-a-half games ahead of the Yankees in the AL East, and they've really been humming along lately winning 12 of the last 13 games heading into the All Star break. So what's been the driving force behind their success?
Alex Speier: Well, a team doesn't win that many games without having a very, very good team and one in which there is star caliber talent at the top but also contributions from elsewhere. Both Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez are having two of the best offensive seasons in the history of the Red Sox right now.
But beyond that, they've had a number of excellent contributions from other line-up members whether, it's All-Star Mitch Moreland, shortstop Zender Bogarts or even more recently, some of the players at the bottom of their order — some guys who had struggled earlier in the year such as Jackie Bradley, Jr. and that top to bottom effectiveness of the lineup has given them a kind of balance of their team that's given them different formulas on a night to night basis for winning.
Howard: As far as I understand it, the Sox are winning nearly 70 percent of their games. They’re on pace to win 112 by season's end. Is this sort of success sustainable though?
Speier: There’s reason to believe they can remain very, very good, partly that the rest of the league isn't that good and so they're able to beat up on some lesser opponents. Part of it is that they are probably going to be getting some reinforcements with the trade deadline. They are dealing with some injury issues, particularly one of their starting pitchers has been very good thus far this year. Eduardo Rodriguez suffered a pretty bad ankle injury over this final weekend entering the All-Star Game. Those types of inevitable injuries can make it hard to sustain such an extraordinary pace, but there's reason to believe that they'll be able to remain a very very good team through the rest of the regular season at least.
Howard: You mentioned the trading deadline — the end of the month. Do you see the Sox making any additions to bolster their roster?
Speier: They're almost certain to add to their reliever mix. They've had an effective bullpen thus far this year particularly with you mentioned All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel. He's been very good at the end of games.
They still are looking for further complementary players because in the playoffs in recent years so much has relied on having great pitchers at the end of games. And then they could look to add on elsewhere, whether it's at second base where they've been dealing with a number of injuries this year or even with the starting rotation depending on Eduardo Rodriguez's health. But they're somewhat constrained by a limited pool of prospects in their farm system right now.
Howard: After the All-Star break and heading down a stretch, what kind of problems do you think the Sox are going to run into?
Speier: I think their foremost problem is how good the Yankees are. Right now, the Red Sox have a pretty commanding lead in the division of four and a half games, but the Yankees are still very very good. They're on pace also for 100 plus wins this year and they have more prospects from which to trade at the trade deadline, so the gap may close.
Howard: Looking past the All-Star break, what's the schedule look like? How tough is it going to be for the Sox afterwards?
Speier: Well immediately after they have what should be a somewhat easy re-entry into the second half. They play a Detroit Tigers team that isn't very good and then they go to Baltimore, and Baltimore is now on pace to be a historically bad team and they're about to trade away their best player. So the re-entry should be kind to the Red Sox. The bigger challenges are going to come when, for instance, they resume their games against the Yankees at the beginning of August.
Howard: Well have a great time with the game tonight. Alex.
Speier: Thanks very much, Barbara.
Howard: That's Alex Speier. He covers baseball for the Boston Globe and he will be at tonight's All-Star Game in Washington, D.C. That's where the Red Sox have five players representing them at the All-Star break. The Red Sox have 68 wins just 30 losses at this point. That's good for the best record in baseball. This is All Things Considered.
