Reunion With Champion May Be Missing Piece Surging Red Sox Need To Reach Next Level

The Boston Red Sox are doing a little bit of everything right now.

Boston arguably is the hottest team in all of baseball after winning its seventh straight win Friday night against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Red Sox currently are in third place in the American League East at 20-14 and hold the fifth-best record in all of baseball.

To make matters even more impressive for the Red Sox, they have found this success with the club's starting pitching struggling for most of the young campaign so far. Boston's rotation has improved as of late, but there's always room for growth. The Red Sox have been fortunate lately and are riding an 11-game streak of their starters pitching at least five innings, but the club still has just one starter with an ERA under 5.00.

This fact should change shortly if the club can keep up its current momentum, but if the club wants to compete late in the season, an addition around the trade deadline may make sense to put them over the top. One player who reportedly may be traded -- according to The Athletic's Jim Bowden -- and could make sense for the Red Sox is lefty Eduardo Rodriguez.

Red Sox Nation certainly is familiar with Rodriguez after he spent the first six years of his big league career in Boston, but he currently plays for the Detroit Tigers after signing with the club as a free agent ahead of the 2022 season. Rodriguez is in the middle of the best season of his career so far and has an opt-out clause at the end of the 2023 season so there's a real chance that the Tigers deal him ahead of the deadline.

Rodriguez has compiled a 1.81 ERA in a league-leading seven starts so far this season for Detroit. The 30-year-old has struck out 39 batters so far this season with just eight walks in 44 2/3 innings pitched. If he opts out of his contract at the end of the season, he could be in line for a big payday so a trade may be likely.

If he's able to maintain his current level of play, he could be a perfect candidate to boost the Red Sox's starting rotation. Boston has shown that it can compete with anyone in the league, adding a potential All-Star pitcher to its rotation could take the club to another level.

More MLB: Don't Look Now But Red Sox Might Have Best Offense In All Of Baseball