What's at Stake for Red Sox in Final 5 Series of the Season?

With the 2025 season beginning to wind down, the Red Sox have just 15 games remaining once they begin their weekend series against the New York Yankees. In that stretch, the team will play against three playoff teams, along with two others attempting to play spoiler. Today, we’re going to look at these series and the playoff implications they could hold.

September 12-14: New York Yankees

As of this writing, the Red Sox and Yankees are separated by just one game for the first AL Wild Card position. This weekend series at Fenway could very well determine who will be hosting the other team in the Wild Card round, especially since there is a three-and-a-half game difference between the second and third wild card positions. With the Red Sox three games behind Toronto for the division, it is looking exceedingly likely that they will finish with a wild card spot.

Because of that, it is important that the Red Sox manage to take at least two out of three games against the Yankees. At worst, it means the two teams will finish the series tied for the first wild card spot, something the Red Sox would much rather prefer than the second or third spots.

In the Wild Card Round of the playoffs, the first wild card will host the second, while the division winner with the worst record will host the third wild card. Unlike the other rounds, the best-of-three series will be played strictly at the home field of the stronger team. For the Red Sox, that could make or break their postseason.

The Red Sox are one of the more dominant teams at home, having gone 44-28 up to this point on the year. Road trips have been a different story, as the team has struggled at times and is currently just 36-37. Thee Red Sox would obviously rather play three games at Fenway rather than at their opponent’s home field, especially if it’s Yankee Stadium, where their only two losses to the Yankees have come this season, including a blowout loss on Sunday Night Baseball.

September 16-18: The Athletics

The Athletics will play the Red Sox in a three-game series for the second time in just over a week and would love to play the role of spoiler considering they’re out of the playoff hunt already.

The Athletics are a young team, but that doesn’t mean they lack talent. Early in the season, they were hovering around .500 before a rough stretch in May saw their record plummet. Now with many of their best young players on the roster, the Athletics have finished July and August with records over .500.

Despite a 66-79 record up to this point, the Athletics have played well on the road with a 37-38 record. A team on the rise, the Athletics would be smart to use these last few weeks to help develop their core of Nick Kurtz, Jacob Wilson, Luis Cohen and others to help get them used to winning important games.

While the series isn’t as big as the ones against the Yankees or Blue Jays, every game should be viewed as a must-win by the Red Sox until the season concludes.

September 19-21: Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays are a team that are usually in contention for a playoff spot up until the very last weekend of the season. After five straight playoff appearances, it is now looking like they’ll miss the playoffs for the second consecutive season. However, they're still mathematically in the hunt, which means you can't count them out.

With a record of 71-72 as of this writing, the Rays sit just 4.5 games back of a playoff spot. Should the Red Sox (or Mariners) lose the majority of their games leading up to this series, there is a real opportunity for the Rays to make up ground in the Wild Card race. If you’re a Rays fan, I wouldn’t hold out hope for it though.

Still, even if the Rays are out of playoff contention by the time this series rolls around, there is a good chance they would love to put their division rivals in a tough situation. It also wouldn’t be the first time the Rays were involved in a Red Sox collapse that saw them miss the playoffs; I’m sure everyone remembers that unforgettable September of 2011.

And yet, the Rays will very likely not be at full strength when Boston comes to visit. Currently, some key players who are on the injured list includes names like Jonny DeLuca, Taylor Walls, Jonathan Aranda, and Manuel Rodríguez. And that’s not even including ace Shane McClanahan, who last pitched in 2023.

The Red Sox could use a weakened Tampa Bay to either clinch a playoff spot or to set up a showdown for what could be their most important series of September.

September 23-25: Toronto Blue Jays

Shockingly, the Blue Jays could very well be the biggest series for the Red Sox in the coming weeks based on how many games out of the division they are. Before the season began, not too many people expected the Blue Jays to be this competitive. In fact, many probably expected them to sell at the trade deadline with the thought of losing Vlad Guerrero Jr. to free agency being the catalyst for a sell off.

Instead, the Blue Jays went from being under .500 after April to first-place in the AL East now, having took off as they had winning records in every month since, including an 18-8 July. Because of that, the Blue Jays currently have a three-game lead over second-place New York and Boston.

Should Boston arrive in Toronto just three games, or even less, behind the Blue Jays, it will be a huge series. Boston could hypothetically force themselves back into the division talk and set up a final weekend where the division is on the line.

The Blue Jays won’t be easy an easy opponent, however, as the team is nearly at full strength. The only players from their starting lineup that are currently out include Anthony Santander, who hasn’t played since the end of May, and Bo Bichette, who just landed on the 10-day injured list.

Pitching-wise, the rotation looks strong, as Kevin Gausman and Shane Bieber form a 1-2 punch atop the rotation while Max Scherzer, José Berríos, and Chris Bassitt make up the remainder of it.

This series won’t be easy for the Red Sox, but if they can play the Blue Jays even up to this point in September, the AL East will be on the line.

September 26-28: Detroit Tigers

The final series of the season sees the Red Sox facing off against the Tigers at Fenway. At this point in the season, the series could mean two different things for the Red Sox depending on how they played in the previous weeks.

Either they can use it to rest up and prepare for the playoffs because they already locked down a spot, or they’re going for every win to possibly get a better seed. (There’s also the thought of the Red Sox still fighting for a playoff spot, but I like to think that won’t happen at this point of the season).

There is a good chance that Detroit enters this series with a desire to go all-in and win it depending on how the race for home field and the number one seed is going at that point. As of this writing, Detroit is just 0.5 games back of Toronto for home field advantage, and unless a collapse occurs for either them or Toronto, it’s very likely the two teams will be fighting it out for the top playoff seed in the Junior Circuit. Of course, if Boston beats the Blue Jays in the previous series, this one could determine the top two seeds in the AL.

Detroit -- much like every team at this point in the season -- is dealing with injuries. So far, they have Matt Vierling, Kyle Finnegan, Jackson Jobe and Paul Sewald all on the injured list as players who were viewed as key contributors for the team. Should Detroit clinch the AL Central and fall out of the race for the top record in the American League, then there’s a chance they may just use the weekend to rest up their regulars instead.

Overall, the Red Sox need to keep fighting and win as many games as possible in order to stay in the race for not just the AL East, but also the best record in the American League. The loss of Roman Anthony will make that difficult, but this team has shown the ability to overcome challenges and win hard-fought games. These last few series will help showcase just the kind of team Boston can be.