A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[Duran Is The Man]

22 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

DD didn't care about the bottom of the 40 man or even fielding a AAA team TBH. I think the org is stronger now and don't really have to rely on guys like Jack Lopez if there's an injury. Bloom did a good job, but couldn't get the team over the finish line. I don't know if he was unable to do certain deals because of ownership or because he didn't have the experience. He doesn't seem to have a problem pulling the trigger in STL!

too bad Jack could never hit. he's got a helluva an arm. and he's a good guy. i watched him pitch the 9th of a game in Round Rock, Texas last year. for each batter that came to the plate, he'd do an impression of a different pitcher. he did Kimbrel (who was in the other dugout laughing), Fidrych and el Tiante, among others. and he threw a couple of fastballs 95mph. he had the whole stadium laughing. it was about the most fun i've ever had at a ballgame.

[Duran Is The Man]

33 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Yeah, but it's still the same swing profile. I think his numbers will get better, but he's not going to provide the power that the Sox needed. Good defense and will reduce the over k% issues, but no pop at all. That's what I mean by "he's the same guy as last year." 

and a typical sideways move by the Sox front office.

[drewski6]

29 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Yeah, but it's still the same swing profile. I think his numbers will get better, but he's not going to provide the power that the Sox needed. Good defense and will reduce the over k% issues, but no pop at all. That's what I mean by "he's the same guy as last year." 

I think it was Alsoason poster in the game thread - but he said this base to base crap suxx.

And I believe hes onto something.

If Durbin cant drive it over the wall, he should be able to air-pull profile: doubles down the line, drive gaps.

That could be enough for him to hold the spot , but we need to see it.  If you are hitting single digit HRs, you need 40+ doubles

[moonslav59]

33 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

DD didn't care about the bottom of the 40 man or even fielding a AAA team TBH. 

No need to: he was handed a highly ranked (over-ranked as it turned out, but he traded the overhyped ones) and solid 40 man roster. 

When he took over the team, we were just a handful of slots away from greatness.

How many slots did Bloom have to fill after the great purge?

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

In hindsight, Blooms biggest problem is he created an 8 year plan in a job that comes with 3-4 yr security.

I used to say Ben has a 5 year plan and lasted 4 years.

[moonslav59]

5 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

I think it was Alsoason poster in the game thread - but he said this base to base crap suxx.

And I believe hes onto something.

If Durbin cant drive it over the wall, he should be able to air-pull profile: doubles down the line, drive gaps.

That could be enough for him to hold the spot , but we need to see it.  If you are hitting single digit HRs, you need 40+ doubles

Well said.

Durbin's....

Pull%: 43% MIL> 52% BOS

Hard Hit: 27%>32%

BB%: 5%>8%

It's hard to make these numbers jive, unless you look at LD%: 19%>13%

[mvp 78]

12 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

I think it was Alsoason poster in the game thread - but he said this base to base crap suxx.

And I believe hes onto something.

If Durbin cant drive it over the wall, he should be able to air-pull profile: doubles down the line, drive gaps.

That could be enough for him to hold the spot , but we need to see it.  If you are hitting single digit HRs, you need 40+ doubles

They stole a bunch of bases last year. They built this team with speed and guys who get on base. Why not use that speed? Turn a bb into a 2b? 

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

No need to: he was handed a highly ranked (over-ranked as it turned out, but he traded the overhyped ones) and solid 40 man roster. 

When he took over the team, we were just a handful of slots away from greatness.

How many slots did Bloom have to fill after the great purge?

SP, SP, CL, 1B, 2B, DH

[drewski6]

15 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They stole a bunch of bases last year. They built this team with speed and guys who get on base. Why not use that speed? Turn a bb into a 2b? 

They should be running more too.  To win despite a lack of power, I would argue you need both athleticism + baserunning smahts (stolen bases), xtra base hits (2Bs + 3Bs)

[moonslav59]

18 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

SP, SP, CL, 1B, 2B, DH

And the bottom 12-15 slots on the 40 sucked.

[Bellhorn04]

So if the offense continues to be this putrid what do they do?  New hitting coach?  New manager?  I used to be a big Cora fan but I think I'm now a Cora agnostic...   

[mvp 78]

19 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

So if the offense continues to be this putrid what do they do?  New hitting coach?  New manager?  I used to be a big Cora fan but I think I'm now a Cora agnostic...   

Fire Fatse now.

Cora is going to sink with this season. 

I think they'll keep tinkering with the lineup until the guys start regressing to norms. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

15 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

So if the offense continues to be this putrid what do they do?  New hitting coach?  New manager?  I used to be a big Cora fan but I think I'm now a Cora agnostic...   

Haven't you been listening? President Sam Kennedy said in an interview yesterday the Sox will start hitting home runs as soon as the weather heats up.

How hard is that? LAME it on the weather... because none of the other 29 teams have had to bat in crap cold and even snow this month.

But we keep paying for tickets or NESN no matter how much they SUCK, thus...

The President knows the Nation is dumb, so he just continues to lie every single time he opens his mouth (that felt good for some reason).

[mvp 78]

44 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Haven't you been listening? President Sam Kennedy said in an interview yesterday the Sox will start hitting home runs as soon as the weather heats up.

How hard is that? LAME it on the weather... because none of the other 29 teams have had to bat in crap cold and even snow this month.

But we keep paying for tickets or NESN no matter how much they SUCK, thus...

The President knows the Nation is dumb, so he just continues to lie every single time he opens his mouth (that felt good for some reason).

Home Runs:

Boston 13

Opponents 30

Just wait until the weather heats up for the opposition! 

 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Haven't you been listening? President Sam Kennedy said in an interview yesterday the Sox will start hitting home runs as soon as the weather heats up.

...and other teams will hit less?

LMAO

[alsoason]

They are making it extremely hard to remain upbeat about this team. Duran was a plus last night, lets see if he can break the power of the giant black hole at the top of the batting order, sucking the life out of this team. personally I HAVE SEEN ENOUGH of Durbin in a Red Sox uni, and I am all for giving Capra, or Romero a shot at 3B. Of course I know it will not happen but I would not mind if they traded Anthony and Mayer to the Padres for Tatis, move Story to 2B, Tatis would play SS until Arias is ready to take over, outfield traffic jam solved and a much needed right handed bat in the lineup. 

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, alsoason said:

They are making it extremely hard to remain upbeat about this team. Duran was a plus last night, lets see if he can break the power of the giant black hole at the top of the batting order, sucking the life out of this team. personally I HAVE SEEN ENOUGH of Durbin in a Red Sox uni, and I am all for giving Capra, or Romero a shot at 3B. Of course I know it will not happen but I would not mind if they traded Anthony and Mayer to the Padres for Tatis, move Story to 2B, Tatis would play SS until Arias is ready to take over, outfield traffic jam solved and a much needed right handed bat in the lineup. 

Romero will get a look at some point. His k% is much lower this year, but I think they want him to pull the ball more and keep that k% down for more than just a few weeks. His 710 OPS isn't really telling the whole picture, but I think they'll want him to have more on field success before giving him the callup. 

Capra is just a 29 year old journey man. He didn't perform all that well in stints with the White Sox or Brewers last year. He can hit AAA pitching and that's good enough to keep the fans in WOO happy. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, alsoason said:

 Of course I know it will not happen but I would not mind if they traded Anthony and Mayer to the Padres for Tatis, move Story to 2B, Tatis would play SS until Arias is ready to take over, outfield traffic jam solved and a much needed right handed bat in the lineup. 

I doubt JH would pay the Tatis contract (goes to 2034.)

[moonslav59]

Some WOO OPS (listed in order of most ABs- 30+)

.711 Romero

.723 Campbell

.677 Eaton

.806 Sogard

.620 Castro

.982 Gasper

.944 Cheng

.859 Capra

.778 Ward

.939 Delay

[Bellhorn04]

Ouch.  Brez might go down as the worst offense builder in Sox history.

[mvp 78]

13 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Ouch.  Brez might go down as the worst offense builder in Sox history.

Red Sox April 2022:

65 wRC+ (29th)

-1 fWAR (29th)

12 HR (25th)

273 OBP (28th)

266 wOBA (28th)

0.27 BB/K (30th)

38% Pull (27th)

[Bellhorn04]

The Sox SLG is 331, dead last in the majors.  Unspeakably feeble.  

[mvp 78]

15 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Some WOO OPS (listed in order of most ABs- 30+)

.711 Romero

.723 Campbell

.677 Eaton

.806 Sogard

.620 Castro

.982 Gasper

.944 Cheng

.859 Capra

.778 Ward

.939 Delay

None of those guys could give this team a boost. 

[mvp 78]

You need KC and Romero to be OPSing in the 900's for the WOO numbers to matter. 

[moonslav59]

56 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

None of those guys could give this team a boost. 

Agreed.

As you pointed out, Arias offers the best chance at helping, even if it's a long shot.

[Randy Red Sox]

On 4/22/2026 at 2:10 PM, JoeBrady said:

And who is this second bat that would have made a difference, and at what price?

a loaded question that you can't wait to bash the answer.  Better to simply go with what we have since our record is so good.

[moonslav59]

It would have been nicer if these guts just made a sincere attempt at adding a second bat.

[mvp 78]

10 minutes ago, Randy Red Sox said:

a loaded question that you can't wait to bash the answer.  Better to simply go with what we have since our record is so good.

Even if they added a FA that is currently struggling, there'd be hope that his bat would turn around soon. Right now, the path forward is a little murky. They can do it, but it's still a low ceiling. 

[mvp 78]

We're gonna win with pitching and defense.