Boston Red Sox Hitters of the Month: April 2026

[Alex Mayes]

The month of April is likely one that most members of the Boston Red Sox are hoping to forget; enough members of the team underperformed to the point that Alex Cora and the bulk of his coaching staff lost their jobs during the last weekend of the month. Since then, the team has played .500 baseball thanks to the offensive production from a handful of guys that are trying to put the team on their backs. It's a long road between now and contention, but Chad Tracy has seemingly inspired a bit more fire from the roster.

There weren't a ton of candidates for this award, but three players in particular stood out for the offensive steadiness in an otherwise difficult month.

Ranking Red Sox's Best Hitters in April

#3: Ceddanne Rafaela

The Gold Glove center fielder has proven through the first full month of the season that he has grown as an offensive player and will likely outplay the contract he signed two seasons ago. For the month of April, he slashed .266/.348/.367 with eight RBIs, a 100 wRC+, and a 0.3 fWAR. Where Rafaela has shown the most growth at the plate is in his pitch selection and his ability to work counts in his favor. While his strikeout rate is still higher than you’d like, 23.6%, it’s come down considerably to start the season and he no longer feels like just a guy who can come through in a clutch situation. When he’s standing in the box, you get excited instead of penciling a swinging strikeout most of the time. Both former manager Alex Cora and interim manager Chad Tracy have moved Rafaela up in the lineup and he’s continued to hit. If he keeps this offensive production up, he’s going to make his contract look even more like a bargain by the end of the season.

#2: Wilyer Abreu

The platoon training wheels have been taken off of Abreu and it’s paying dividends already. He slashed .287/.368/.404 with a 115 wRC+ and a 0.6 fWAR last month, knocking two home runs while driving in eight runs. He’s looking far more confident at the plate so far this season, and has been great at handling southpaws, hitting over .300 against them prior to May. His swing mechanics are noticeably different against left-handed pitchers—he’s shortened his swing and is getting the head of the bat around to the ball much quicker. Like Rafaela above, he looks more confident at the plate and his strikeout and walk rates prove that, sitting at 17.9% and 11.3%, respectively. His back-to-back Gold Gloves mean he’s locked into the starting right field role for years to come in Boston, but with his bat coming around against all types of pitchers, then he could be playing his way to a contract extension some time during or after the 2026 season. 

#1: Willson Contreras

In what should be a shock to absolutely nobody, Contreras has been the best hitter on the Red Sox during the start to the season. For the month of April he slashed .289/.387/.556 with seven home runs, 20 RBIs, and a 157 wRC+, adding up to 1.3 fWAR. His offensive approach is feast or famine; he’s striking out 29.2% of the time, but when he’s making contact, he’s doing damage. He’s been the spark in the lineup during almost every series so far, and even when he went cold for a couple of weeks, his personality helped keep his teammates in games. He has been the best addition that Craig Breslow made during the offseason without a doubt, and this team would likely be in (worse) shambles if it wasn’t for him. His play at first base has been a breath of fresh air and the passion he brings to each game, even if it’s sometimes a bit overboard when the Brewers are involved, is something this team desperately needs. 

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There’s not been too much to enjoy through April for the Red Sox, but these three hitters are all showing that we have something to look forward to if the front office and Chad Tracy can figure out how to get the most out of this roster. No one had the Red Sox being this bad on their bingo card, but it's a long season. More of the same from Rafaela, Abreu, and Contreras can only help push Boston back into relevancy.

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