How Alex Cora Assessed Red Sox’s Post-Deadline Outlook

Alex Cora will prepare his Boston Red Sox squad for a heated playoff race.

The Red Sox didn’t make another tidal wave before the trade deadline, but they acquired Dustin May and Steven Matz to fortify their pitching staff. Boston begins August with the American League’s second of three wild-card spots at 59-51.

Before starting a three-game series against the Houston Astros, Cora discussed his roster after the deadline. He likes how his lineup looks despite not gaining any new hitters.

“We’ve got a good baseball team,” Cora said, per MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “I think Matzy is going to help us from the bullpen. May is going to help us in the rotation. Position-player wise, I think we have a dynamic group, very versatile and athletic. We’re playing well.”

Boston remains within arm’s reach of the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees in the AL East standings. FanGraphs only gives the Red Sox a 6 percent chance to win the division, but Cora isn’t counting out his team.

“Just got to continue. We’ve got a shot to make something special here this year, in the wild card, in the division,” he said. “You look at the Green Monster, we’re in third place, five games back, so we feel like we can compete with anybody. And we’ve got a real shot to win the division.”

Boston started July below .500, but Cora’s club has a much rosier postseason outlook after a 17-7 month.

Alex Bregman returned from the IL, Jarren Duran snapped out of a funk, and Roman Anthony quickly matured into an on-base machine. Yet some of Boston’s AL competitors made significant upgrades before the deadline.

The Red Sox will look to start August on a strong note when hosting the Astros on Friday night.