NEW YORK — How are you feeling about the prospects for your first-place Red Sox when the playoffs get going next month?

Me? I’m not feeling great about this team.

Sorry. I know these guys have good pitching and they’ve had all those walkoff wins and they have been in first place since Aug. 1 and they have one of the top six records in all of baseball. Closer Craig Kimbrel is enjoying a historic season.

But I just don’t feel good about this team in October.

Maybe it’s because of their recent history. For all their payroll and pub, the Red Sox have won a playoff game in only one of the last eight Octobers. Are they really better than last year when they were swept in the Division Series by Cleveland even though they had Mookie Betts and David Ortiz enjoying MVP-worthy seasons?

Maybe I’m just nervous about these Sox because they’ve lost six of their last 10. Maybe it’s because they are 14-20 against the Yankees and Orioles this year. Maybe it’s because they can’t hit a lick with runners in scoring position against the Yankees (0 for 15 in this series). Maybe it’s because the game seems to get too fast for the manager sometimes. Maybe it’s because they run the bases carelessly, stubbornly confusing recklessness for aggressiveness. Maybe I’m still mad at them for allowing David Price to insult Dennis Eckersley, failing to make it right, then allowing everyone to carry on as if Price actually did something constructive. Maybe it’s because Cleveland just seems so much better right now.

The Sox played dead-ass baseball and lost a 5-1 decision to the Yankees Saturday. Drew Pomeranz lost for the first time since June 11, surrendering a three-run jack to Matt Holliday, Rafael Devers looked a little green at third base, and Betts (.262, 18 HRs, 78 RBIs) continued his summer-long slumber, scratching out an infield single and driving home nobody.

Farrell seemed testy when somebody asked him about his team’s “inconsistent’’ play of late.

“I think we won 18 games in August and we’re two days into September and we’re 1-1,’’ said the manager. “We had a sweep. It’s the natural ebb and flow of the season.’’

Fair enough. But Boston’s vaunted “sweep’’ was against the Blue Jays, who have quit for the season. We can’t punish the Sox for taking care of business against moribund ball clubs, but it’s hard to give them much cred for brooming John Gibbons’s sorry nine last week.

The Red Sox undoubtedly will win Sunday night on ESPN­ when the indomitable Chris Sale takes the mound at Yankee Stadium. They’ll have a 5½-game lead with 25 left to play and they can crow about baseball’s best winning percentage since the non-waiver trade deadline. They will still be the only AL East team with a winning record on the road.

Swell.

But, again, how to you like them in October?

This would be a good time to start rooting for the Indians to vault ahead of the Houston Astros. Otherwise, it’s back to Cleveland for the second straight ALDS. The matchup did not go well for the Sox last year and Tito’s Tribe looks like a wagon at the hour. If Andrew Miller comes back, the Indians should return to the World Series.

It says here that the Astros, even with the addition of Justin Verlander, would be a better first-round matchup for Boston. Anybody but Cleveland.

We know that Sale will be Boston’s No. 1 starter in October, but his rough history against Cleveland makes that matchup frightening. Pomeranz would no doubt get the ball for Game 2 and he’s been money since June, but his fragility could be problematic. Pomeranz has pitched a full seven innings only once in 27 starts. Farrell needs to be quicker with the hook for the young lefthander. Pomeranz was losing it Saturday when Holliday launched his three-run shot into the left-field seats. Rick Porcello, last year’s Cy Young winner, would probably be Boston’s No. 3 starter in the playoffs, but like Price, he’s never won a playoff start. Veteran Doug Fister remains the only Sox starter who has won a playoff start and he’s emerged in the playoff picture, vaulting past kid lefty Eduardo Rodriguez.

Price, of course, remains the wild card. Farrell seems more optimistic that the petulant portsider can get back on the mound this season, but the notion of Price making a start in the first round feels like fantasy. It’s probably just as well. In the wake of everything that’s happened this year, the playoff pressure would likely be too much for Price.

Meanwhile, the Sox need some production from their core hitters — Betts, Hanley Ramirez, and Xander Bogaerts. Their output has been sorry. Hanley is sitting on 52 RBIs. Bogaerts has played himself to the bench. And Betts­ is nothing like the Willie Mays Betts of 2016.

Asked Saturday why these Sox are having so much trouble hitting with runners in scoring position, Betts politely answered, “I have no idea what the answer to that question is. It’s not like we’re not trying.’’

They are trying. And they are in first place. And they are going to make it to the playoffs. And Dave Dombrowski has done a nice job and the Sox have had much better pitching than usual.

So, how do you like their chances?

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Dan_Shaughnessy