This Dark Horse MLB Team Could Cause A Lot Of Problems For Contenders In October

There’s always that one team that sneaks into the playoffs that causes chaos for the MLB postseason favorites.

In 2019, the Nationals won the Wild Card Game and rode that momentum all the way to a World Series title. In 2023, the Diamondbacks and Rangers came out of nowhere to mow down their respective leagues and reach the Fall Classic. Last season, the Mets gave the eventual champion Dodgers a run for their money in the NLCS after sneaking in as a Wild Card.

Who is poised to be this year’s spoiler? The hottest team in baseball: the Boston Red Sox.

Yes, I know this is a bit easy to say given that they are on a 10-game winning streak (which started after they met Donald Trump, by the way). But there’s more to this team than a hot stretch just before the All-Star break.

For the first three months of the season, Boston had two major problems: they wouldn’t get good pitching and good hitting on the same day, and they couldn’t play clutch baseball. 

Offense puts up 6 runs in one game? Pitching lets up 8. Need a clutch hit somewhere in the final three innings to give yourself a chance? It wouldn’t come. That's what led to the Sox hovering around four games out of the Wild Card race before July.

Can Alex Bregman use his veteran presence to guide a young Boston team to October? (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

But during this win streak,  they’ve won in a fashion not imaginable. Blowouts. Come from behind. Walk-offs. Clutch pitching. The offense now sits in the top 10 in the league in average, home runs, runs, ops, and hits. As for the pitching? It sits just outside or in the top 10 in ERA, complete games, wins, saves, and home runs allowed.

While Boston doesn’t have many superstars (thanks to trading Rafael Devers), it does have a surprisingly well-balanced roster that has finally found its next gear. The sum of this team is greater than its parts, and a lack of a superstar is made up for by having a lack of any significant weakness.

 It’s a long way until the playoffs, but if the Red Sox can find a way to be in this kind of form in October, they’ll be a matchup nightmare.