First Base: The Red Sox reached the 100 win mark on Wednesday after defeating the Blue Jays 1-0 in Boston behind seven scoreless innings from David Price. The Red Sox have had a historic season, attaining 100 wins in a season for the first time since 1946. Mookie Betts has been their best position player and has a good chance of winning the American League MVP award for the first time in his career. Betts, who is leading the league in batting average, is hitting .338/.433/.621 with 29 home runs and 71 RBIs, while also swiping 28 bases. Betts also reached 10 WAR on Sunday, entering rarified territory. While Betts has been the Sox’ best hitter, J.D. Martinez, who joined the Red Sox after signing a large deal over the offseason, isn’t far behind. Martinez is hitting .328/.398/.628 with 41 home runs and 122 RBIs. Although unlikely at this point, Martinez could become the first Triple Crown winner since Miguel Cabrera in 2012. Martinez is second in average behind teammate Mookie Betts, second in home runs behind the A’s Khris Davis, and leading the league in RBIs.
On the pitching side of things, Chris Sale is having his best season yet, and could potentially win his first Cy Young award. Sale is 12-4 with a 1.92 ERA and has thrown 32 consecutive scoreless innings and has only allowed one run in his last 48 innings total. To go along with Sale, David Price has turned a page since the All Star Break, putting together a 1.56 ERA in nine starts. The Red Sox are almost guaranteed to finish with the best record in the league this year, and will likely be hosting the winner of the A’s-Yankees Wildcard game in the ALDS. They will be looking to win their first World Series since 2013.
Second Base: The Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig hit three home runs in St. Louis on Saturday against the Cardinals, following up a two home run performance on Friday. Saturday’s game, in which the Dodgers ended up winning 17-4, was Puig’s first three-home run game of his career. Puig has had a solid year, hitting .272/.333/.504 with 21 home runs, 58 RBIs and 15 stolen bases in 113 games. He missed several weeks in July due to a strained oblique, but has come back strong since returning from the DL. Puig and the Dodgers are currently tied for first place in the NL West with the Colorado Rockies. The Dodgers are looking for their first World Series title since 1988, and made several big moves at the trade deadline this year, acquiring Manny Machado and Brian Dozier trying to try to help end their drought, a year after they heartbreakingly lost the World Series in seven games to the Astros.
Third Base: Mets legend David Wright had a press conference on Thursday and announced that he will play one final game in the Major Leagues on September 29th against the Marlins at Citi Field before officially retiring. The last few years have been tough for Wright, who hasn’t played in the Major Leagues since 2016, and has only played in 75 games total since the beginning of 2015, due to spinal stenosis and several other injuries. Despite his recent struggles with injuries, Wright is still beloved among the Mets fanbase. He was a centerpiece on the Mets for years and was one of the best players in baseball from 2004 to 2013. Wright made seven All Star teams, won two Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers. He received MVP votes in six different seasons, finishing as high as 4th in 2007, a year in which he hit .325/.416/.546 and was a member of the 30/30 club. Wright also famously hit a big home run against the Royals in the 2015 World Series. To go along with his Mets accomplishments, Wright played on Team USA in several World Baseball Classics and earned the nickname “Captain America,” due to his heroics in multiple different games. Wright has been just great off the field as he was on the field, setting up his own foundation to help children in need, and he has always appeared to take pride in helping others. Wright has worked very hard to come back for one last game, and it will be great to see him get the reception that he deserves as he jogs out to third base one last time as a New York Met.