What’s Happening in Boston Sports
This website basically became an NFL Draft website over the last three weeks. Well, now that the draft is over it’s time to start turning our attention and focus to everything else that is happening in the sports world, especially here in Boston.
The Red Sox have the best record in the AL and are tied for the most wins in baseball. The 30 game mark is an important threshold in baseball. If you go back over the last five years and look at the MLB standings through 30 games you will find that the team with the best record went on to win the World Series four out of five times. The 2020 Dodgers, 2018 Red Sox, 2017 Astros and 2016 Cubs all had the best record in baseball through 30 games. The Red Sox are one of a few teams with 17 wins right now so they aren’t running away with it but they are clearly one of the best teams in baseball this year.
How about the Red Sox 3-4-5 hitters? They have been lethal, best heart of the order in baseball. JD Martinez, Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts have combined for 100 hits, 21 home runs, 62 RBI and a batting average of .326 through 29 games. Add in Alex Verdugo batting .306 and you have arguably the best lineup in baseball and I don’t see them slowing down anytime soon.
The Celtics just don’t have it this year. Since that 8-2 stretch where they looked like contenders they have been terrible going 3-4 over their last seven. They are a half game above having to play in the play-in tournament. They will make the playoffs but they are not going far. They have flashed at times this year but at the end of the day they just don’t have enough talent, health and coaching to make a run.
Despite the Celtics struggles, Jayson Tatum is establishing himself as a certified superstar on a nightly basis and my biggest fear is that the Celtics are going to waste him and/or lose him. They need to get a better coach in here to maximize him. If not, the next five year will be the exact same as the last few years. Maybe they’ll make it to another East Finals but an NBA Championship is not in the cards. If changes aren’t made here in the next couple years and the Celtics don’t make a major push at becoming legit championship contenders, Tatum will be gone when his contract is up.
The Bruins have made a strong push. When it looked like they were all but certain to be the 4 seed in their division about 2-3 weeks ago, they are suddenly just a point behind the Islanders for the three seed. It sounds like the goalie play has been the story of the Bruins season. For more in-depth analysis on this, tweet at @UncleStevie_. It will be interesting to see if they can carry this recent momentum into the playoffs. Maybe Uncle Stevie will give us a Bruins postseason preview blog next week.