That’s the thing about this year though, right? Have we ever seen a team with such variance in potential outcomes?
Seems very much like last year in a sense. On
July 10, the Sox were 5 games over .500., two days ahead of the ASB. At the time Sale, Wacha, Whitlock, Eovaldi, Hill, Arroyo, and Hernandez were on the IL. Dalbec was OPSing .621, and JBJ was jealous of it.
If the team stayed healthy and/or got an effective rotation and support back relatively quickly, or saw an uptick in performance, or had Paxton progress quickly. . .but instead the hits kept coming. By July 30 they were two games under .500, and by Aug. 31, 5 games under .500.
Sale, Wacha, Whitlock, Eovaldi, Hill, Arroyo, and Hernandez
07/12/22 Boston Red Sox
activated LHP Chris Sale.
07/13/22 Boston Red Sox placed
RHP Matt Barnes on the 60-day injured list.
07/14/22 Boston Red Sox placed
RHP Josh Winckowski on the 10-day injured list.
07/15/22 Boston Red Sox
activated RHP Nathan Eovaldi.
07/15/22 Boston Red Sox
activated RHP Garrett Whitlock.
07/15/22 Boston Red Sox placed
LHP Matt Strahm on the 15-day injured list retroactive to July 13, 2022. Left wrist contusion.
07/16/22 Boston Red Sox placed
2B Trevor Story on the 10-day injured list retroactive to July 13, 2022. Right hand contusion.
07/19/22 Boston Red Sox transferred
LHP Chris Sale from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.
07/23/22 Boston Red Sox placed
CF Enrique Hernandez on the 60-day injured list. Right hip flexor strain.
07/23/22 Boston Red Sox placed
3B Rafael Devers on the 10-day injured list. Right hamstring inflammation.
07/26/22 Boston Red Sox
activated RHP Josh Winckowski from the 10-day injured list.
07/30/22 Boston Red Sox
activated 3B Christian Arroyo from the 10-day injured list.
08/01/22 Boston Red Sox traded
LHP Jake Diekman to Chicago White Sox for
C Reese McGuire.
08/01/22 Boston Red Sox traded
C Christian Vazquez to Houston Astros for 2B Enmanuel Valdez and OF Wilyer Abreu.
08/01/22 Cincinnati Reds traded
CF Tommy Pham to Boston Red Sox for Player To Be Named Later.
08/01/22 Boston Red Sox
activated LHP Rich Hill from the 15-day injured list.
08/02/22 Boston Red Sox placed
2B Rob Refsnyder on the 10-day injured list retroactive to July 30, 2022. Right knee sprain.
08/02/22 San Diego Padres traded
1B Eric Hosmer, 2B Max Ferguson, OF Corey Rosier and cash to Boston Red Sox for LHP Jay Groome.
08/02/22 Boston Red Sox
activated 3B Rafael Devers from the 10-day injured list.
08/04/22 Boston Red Sox released
CF Jackie Bradley Jr..
08/04/22 Boston Red Sox placed
RHP Brayan Bello on the 15-day injured list. Left groin strain.
08/04/22 Boston Red Sox
activated RHP Matt Barnes from the 60-day injured list.
08/09/22 Boston Red Sox placed
RHP Tanner Houck on the 15-day injured list retroactive to August 6, 2022. Lower back inflammation.
08/14/22 Boston Red Sox
activated RHP Michael Wacha from the 15-day injured list.
08/16/22 Boston Red Sox
activated 2B Rob Refsnyder from the 10-day injured list.
08/16/22 Boston Red Sox
activated CF Enrique Hernández from the 60-day injured list.
08/18/22 Boston Red Sox sent LHP James Paxton on a rehab assignment to FCL Red Sox.
08/19/22 Boston Red Sox
activated LHP Matt Strahm from the 15-day injured list.
08/23/22 Boston Red Sox placed
1B Eric Hosmer on the 10-day injured list retroactive to August 21, 2022. Low back inflammation.
08/23/22 Boston Red Sox placed
RHP Nathan Eovaldi on the 15-day injured list retroactive to August 19, 2022. Right shoulder inflammation.
08/27/22 Boston Red Sox
activated 2B Trevor Story from the 10-day injured list.
08/29/22 Boston Red Sox designated LHP Austin Davis for assignment.
08/29/22 Boston Red Sox designated RHP Hirokazu Sawamura for assignment.
That's just nuts. Some of that red is addition by subtraction, but some of that green was subtraction by addition.
Anyway, a healthy team outcome from roughly this point in 2022 would have been light years away from what we saw.