To me, they need to learn to walk before they can run. If they are barely consistently above .500, I don't know why I'd even look at the playoff standings. Get above .500 for a while and then I'll look.
We've also seen some players just completely lose it. I don't think Devers is the type of player to completely lose it at his age though. For me, knowing there was an issue with his should just makes me wonder if something else is causing this slump. I don't agree with the nonsense about pouting about 3b.
Only problem being that the 8 AND 9 hole hitters are virtual black holes at the moment. I read somewhere that it's like that across the league though so maybe we have to reset expectations.
Schwarber was a great fit for the offense and not a great defensive fit. He was such a patient hitter and it really infected the other hitters around him. While he didn't have an ideal position here, I think he was one of those guys you shoehorn in to 1B/LF/DH for a year knowing that you weren't going to re-sign JD after '22 anyway. You have him fake it for '22 and then become a fulltime DH in '23. He just fit Boston too well IMO.