I Believe. Now It’s the Red Sox’ Turn.

Boston Red Sox

Well, this has gotten completely out of hand.

A couple of weeks ago, I officially gave up trying to understand the 2026 Boston Red Sox. After months of changing my mind every three games, I surrendered. I stopped waiting for the next collapse, accepted that hope was probably going to hurt me again and decided to enjoy the ride anyway.

That article was titled, “I Give Up: The Red Sox Have Finally Forced Me to Believe.”

Apparently, the Red Sox took that as a challenge.

Since then, the 15-game winning streak ended. They lost a game. The world did not stop spinning. Fenway Park did not sink into the Back Bay. More importantly, the Red Sox did not turn back into the confused, inconsistent team we watched stumble through much of the first half.

They just kept winning.

They took two of three from Toronto. They went west and won three of four against the Athletics. Then, because this story apparently needed another ridiculous chapter, they walked into Dodger Stadium and swept the two-time defending World Series champions.

The Red Sox finished July at 21-4, the best winning percentage for a full month in franchise history. After Sunday night’s 8-4 win over Los Angeles, they were 60-51, had won 28 of their last 33 games and owned the second American League wild-card position.

So, yes, I believe.

Now it is time to find out whether the Red Sox believe, too.

Monday is the trade deadline. Craig Breslow and the front office have until 6 p.m. to decide whether this unbelievable six-week run has changed the plan.

Actually, forget that. The players have already changed the plan.

There is no reasonable argument left for treating this season like another transitional year. There is no excuse for sitting back, protecting every prospect and hoping the current roster can somehow continue performing miracles without reinforcements.

This team has earned help.

That does not mean Breslow should empty the farm system for a two-month rental or make a reckless trade just so the Red Sox can say they did something. We have seen enough bad deadline deals in baseball to know that activity and improvement are not always the same thing.

But doing nothing would be worse.

The Red Sox have crossed that line. They are no longer a mildly interesting team hanging around the edge of contention. They are not a group that got hot for a week against bad pitching. This is nearly six weeks of sustained, convincing baseball.

They have won close games. They have won extra-inning games. They have come from behind. They have won when the offense looked dead for six innings. They have won when the starting pitching was great and when it merely kept them close.

They have won at Fenway, which seemed almost impossible earlier in the season. They have won on the road. They have beaten division rivals. Now they have swept the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

What else are they supposed to prove?

The Dodgers series felt different, too. It wasn’t simply three wins arriving during a soft part of the schedule. Los Angeles is still the standard. The Dodgers had already strengthened their rotation by acquiring Tarik Skubal, because that is what organizations with championship expectations do. They see a possible advantage and attack it.

Boston, meanwhile, arrived at Dodger Stadium with a roster that continues to look like somebody selected “randomize” on a baseball video game.

Andruw Monasterio is getting important at-bats. Caleb Durbin is bunting for hits. Jake Bennett is starting games in Los Angeles. Payton Tolle is pitching against Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Willson Contreras is playing first base. Chad Tracy is managing after taking over for Alex Cora.

Somehow, it works.

Ceddanne Rafaela has become the face of this entire strange transformation. On Saturday, he hit two home runs off Yamamoto in a 3-2 victory. On Sunday, he homered again as Boston hit four home runs and finished the sweep. He hit four homers during the three-game series.

Rafaela has always possessed talent that makes you stop what you’re doing. The defense, the arm, the speed and the ability to hit a baseball approximately 900 feet when he connects properly have never been the issue.

The question was whether all of it could become dependable.

Right now, dependable might not even be a strong enough word.

He is delivering in the middle of games, late in games and against some of the best pitching in baseball. He is no longer just making spectacular plays around the edges. He is deciding outcomes.

That has happened throughout the roster. Different players keep appearing at exactly the right moment.

Monasterio hit the go-ahead home run in the 10th inning against the Athletics. Wilyer Abreu and Contreras hit back-to-back homers to turn another possible loss into a win. Jarren Duran, despite an uneven and sometimes frustrating season, keeps finding ways to contribute. Masataka Yoshida homered Sunday. Durbin keeps doing the small, annoying things that winning teams need.

It isn’t always pretty. In fact, it is frequently very weird.

But it is becoming difficult to dismiss.

Even the injury to Curtis Mead felt like a test of whether the whole thing would begin unraveling. The Red Sox acquired Mead from Washington on July 26, only to lose him to a fractured left wrist after he was hit by a pitch in his second at-bat with the team. The fracture will not require surgery, and there remains some hope that he could return this season, but the immediate reinforcement Boston had acquired was gone almost instantly.

Earlier versions of this team may have responded by dropping four of the next five.

This version shrugged and kept going.

That is what has changed most. The Red Sox no longer appear to be waiting for someone to save them. They expect to find a way themselves.

Which is admirable, but it should not become an excuse for ownership or the front office.

A team playing this well should not have to drag itself through August and September with obvious holes because management was afraid to sacrifice future value.

Catcher remains one of those holes. Boston’s catchers entered Sunday with a combined .221/.305/.312 batting line and only four home runs, the fewest among major-league catching groups. Shortstop could be upgraded. Another dependable arm, whether for the rotation or bullpen, would also make sense.

The Red Sox do not need to solve every weakness by Monday evening. No team can do that.

They need to improve enough to show the clubhouse that the past month mattered.

Imagine being one of these players. You endured the miserable start. You heard the trade rumors. You understood that veterans could be moved and the season could be reduced to development, evaluation and the usual promises about next year.

Then you won 15 straight.

When that streak ended, you won another series. Then another. Then another.

You went into Los Angeles and swept the Dodgers.

At some point, the people above you have to respond.

This is where belief becomes more than an emotion. It becomes a decision.

Fans have made theirs. Fenway has changed. Games in July felt important again. People are watching the standings and calculating pitching matchups. They are staying awake for West Coast games, which may be the greatest sacrifice a New England baseball fan can make.

The players have made theirs. They clearly believe they belong here. They do not look surprised anymore when they win.

Now it is the organization’s turn.

Maybe this ends badly. Baseball usually does. Even good teams lose playoff series, and a wild-card spot in early August guarantees absolutely nothing.

I understand that. I spent most of this season pointing out every reason not to trust them.

But there is also a point where caution becomes cowardice. There is a point where waiting for more proof becomes an excuse to avoid responsibility.

The Red Sox are 60-51. They just completed the greatest July in franchise history. They have won 28 of 33 and swept the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium for the first time since 2010.

That is enough proof.

I gave up trying to understand them.

Then I gave in and started believing.

Now the Red Sox have one day to show they believe in themselves.

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