To get a perspective on how the Red Sox are still very much in contention , last year's WS opponent , the Dodgers, on May 17, 2018 had a record of 16-26 (.380) , 8 games back in the NL West. They won 9 of their next 11, then eventually took the division in Game #163 edging out the Rockies. The 2018 Sox steamrollered them in the WS despite Max Muncy's HR .
So now that we have started a new winning streak of 1 , it is possible to run off a 10-1 streak. The bench still is a weak aspect of this team ( Pearce, Nunez and Leon (?)) with the coming reinforcements of Pedey and Holt no real solutions yet. Why Brian Johnson is considered a step up over Velazquez is a mystery , neither brings much as a 5th starter . The bullpen still has questions (Thornburg, Brewer, what happened to Brasier?) but has performed well enough to not be the prime issue right now.