Is this 2026 Red Sox team…CONTENDERS or PRETENDERS?

[southpaw777]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

We will almost certainly need Bello or Crochet to eat some innings, if we stay in this thing and keep Gray.

Early and Tolle will be limited, and Bennett will not be overworked.

Gray & Suarez will need to max out.

I doubt Crawford or Oviedo even pitch. Houck is a long shot, even in a relief role for 2026.

Uberstine is a pen arm, and Holobetz & Eyanson are in AA and not on the 40.

Has Crochet even started throwing yet? I haven’t heard anything.

[moonslav59]

9 minutes ago, southpaw777 said:

I know butHe just returned last year and they will NOT throw him 172. I doubt his arm would go that far at this point anyway…. 

You are probably right, but I read pitchers usually throw between 50 and 130 inning in their first season back. This is his second, after he pitched 75 in the minors, last year.

I know Verlander is not human, but he won a Cy Young at age 39, the year after surgery (1.5 years after and 175 IP.)

[southpaw777]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

You are probably right, but I read pitchers usually throw between 50 and 130 inning in their first season back. This is his second, after he pitched 75 in the minors, last year.

I know Verlander is not human, but he won a Cy Young at age 39, the year after surgery (1.5 years after and 175 IP.)

You’re right Justin Verlander is definitely not human…I’m just saying that there are big obstacles in our way of getting to a ring this year. Way more teams in much better positions. I don’t want to overuse young guys when this team is NOT a real legit contender this year. We’d also be selling the future, which I believe is really good with the players we have almost ready for their turn in the show.

[moonslav59]

Just now, southpaw777 said:

You’re right Justin Verlander is definitely not human…I’m just saying that there are big obstacles in our way of getting to a ring this year. Way more teams in much better positions. I don’t want to overuse young guys when this team is NOT a real legit contender this year. We’d also be selling the future, which I believe is really good with the players we have almost ready for their turn in the show.

We agree. I'm not for giving up the future for a long shot at something special, this year.

I'm hoping 2027 can be special, and selling this deadline improves those odds.

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

33 minutes ago, southpaw777 said:

Has Crochet even started throwing yet? I haven’t heard anything.

I just checked on this yesterday and sadly the answer is no.  

[southpaw777]

12 minutes ago, Yaz Fan Since 67 said:

I just checked on this yesterday and sadly the answer is no.  

Some fans need to realize that Crochet  had lengthy injury stints in the past so this isn’t so new and to not expect him to be anything close to himself this year. If he makes it back. Same with Ranger. Dude starts 26ish games a year, but I think he’ll be back in a couple three weeks

[moonslav59]

11 minutes ago, Yaz Fan Since 67 said:

I just checked on this yesterday and sadly the answer is no.  

Nope, but Oviedo, Crawford and Houck have.

[JoeBrady]

4 hours ago, southpaw777 said:

Some fans need to realize that Crochet  had lengthy injury stints in the past so this isn’t so new and to not expect him to be anything close to himself this year. If he makes it back. Same with Ranger. Dude starts 26ish games a year, but I think he’ll be back in a couple three weeks

The updates on Crochet have been similar, with the latest coming about two weeks ago when he told MassLive's Chris Cotillo that he has been throwing with plyometric balls, but still not real baseballs.

Don't know what that means, but I doubt he'd be throwing anything if his injury was serious.

[mvp 78]

[drewski6]

On 7/10/2026 at 5:57 PM, moonslav59 said:

Nope, but Oviedo, Crawford and Houck have.

"Tom cruise isnt but I hear his agent is"

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, drewski6 said:

"Tom cruise isnt but I hear his agent is"

A lot of times, I give genius points when I think to myself 'what made anyone think this was a good idea?'.  And 50 years later, we will be looking forward to hearing it.  That's genius!

[southpaw777]

On 7/10/2026 at 10:27 PM, JoeBrady said:

The updates on Crochet have been similar, with the latest coming about two weeks ago when he told MassLive's Chris Cotillo that he has been throwing with plyometric balls, but still not real baseballs.

Don't know what that means, but I doubt he'd be throwing anything if his injury was serious.

[moonslav59]

MLB.com's injury report on Crochet has not been updated since June 22nd. Most other are from July 5-9th.

[Behindenemylines]

Only because of a weak AL that the Sox have a chance of still making the playoffs after the disaster of the first two months of the season.

[notin]

On 7/9/2026 at 12:04 PM, southpaw777 said:

PRETENDERS

Currently there are 4 injured starters with no real time table on returns.
they have no clue who’s starting this weekend because Breslow traded away all our starting pitching depth. 
Tolle is over 80ip already and has never gone past 120ip.

our best hitter is going away for four games. 

We are in the easiest part of the schedule and the best team we played, the Yankees, had all their offense injured.

 

This might be the most pessimistic possible summary of the recent road trip.  Might as well mention that the made 246 outs as well.

9-0 with 3 sweeps in 3 different time zones, something no other Sox team has ever done.  
 

Yes Judge was out, but how come no one else is sweeping the Yankees? Even in their paltry 3 game sets? 
 

It’s a crazy run.  Probably their best 16 game stretch since 2018.  

I think this team could contend. And I think it makes more sense to sell.

This team is being carried by young pitching, and pushing those pitchers to their limits to get into and make a dent in the postseason could easily ruin 2027.  Early is already down.  Let’s not force Bennett (who should be on a IP limit anyway) and Tolle join him.Deal away Gray, Duran and Chapman, and, if possible, IKF.  Keep the rest and reload.  
 

There might only be 6 or 7 teams selling to 20 postseason hopefuls.  Sellers’ market. Sell…

[notin]

On 7/9/2026 at 12:32 PM, moonslav59 said:

 

I'm still leaning sell, and even if we go 14-7 in the next 21, we might need too much to go "all in."

 

So…counting the last 5 series, you’re saying the Sox could have a 28-9 stretch that encompasses playing nearly a quarter of the season with a winning percentage over .750, and you’re thought is “but this team has too many flaws!”???

 I’m all for selling now, but if the winning keeps up, at what point do people think “hey, this team might actually be pretty good”?

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

4 minutes ago, notin said:

I think this team could contend. And I think it makes more sense to sell.

This team is being carried by young pitching, and pushing those pitchers to their limits to get into and make a dent in the postseason could easily ruin 2027.  Early is already down.  Let’s not force Bennett (who should be on a IP limit anyway) and Tolle join him.Deal away Gray, Duran and Chapman, and, if possible, IKF.  Keep the rest and reload.  
There might only be 6 or 7 teams selling to 20 postseason hopefuls.  Buyers’ market. Sell…

That's one way of looking at it. But I'm not worried about 2027, because someone might want to again protect Tolle, Early, Bennett and Rivera -- "it's their first full season and remember what that did to Crochet, who's still not the same... thank god Eyanson looks like Rookie of the Year; what -- shut him down immediately before we actually win something!"

Buy a home run bat now asap and see what happens. Don't wait 17 more games before the actual deadline clock, because that may be too late. The offense needs help now and the team deserves it for bouncing back.

[Old Red]

5 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

That's one way of looking at it. But I'm not worried about 2027, because someone might want to again protect Tolle, Early, Bennett and Rivera -- "it's their first full season and remember what that did to Crochet, who's still not the same... thank god Eyanson looks like Rookie of the Year; what -- shut him down immediately before we actually win something!"

Buy a home run bat now asap and see what happens. Don't wait 17 more games before the actual deadline clock, because that may be too late. The offense needs help now and the team deserves it for bouncing back.

I agree. If you’re going to get a big bat get it now. If this was a normal year where the league was strong most likely the Red Sox would be out of it by now, but its not, and this may be the weakest league I’ve ever seen, so I think it’s more wide open than  it’s ever been, so anything could happen in the postseason.

[notin]

15 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

That's one way of looking at it. But I'm not worried about 2027, because someone might want to again protect Tolle, Early, Bennett and Rivera -- "it's their first full season and remember what that did to Crochet, who's still not the same... thank god Eyanson looks like Rookie of the Year; what -- shut him down immediately before we actually win something!"

Buy a home run bat now asap and see what happens. Don't wait 17 more games before the actual deadline clock, because that may be too late. The offense needs help now and the team deserves it for bouncing back.

Like the enthusiasm.  But you can’t buy until someone is selling.  Apparently that McCullers trade wasn’t so much the star of the trading frenzy as it was a salary dump by a team that might still be buying.

One thing I’m not sure about wuth Breslow is he takes weird chances.  I mean, why trade for Brett Harris but let Pavin Smith pass through waivers?

[mvp 78]

36 minutes ago, notin said:

This might be the most pessimistic possible summary of the recent road trip.  Might as well mention that the made 246 outs as well.

9-0 with 3 sweeps in 3 different time zones, something no other Sox team has ever done.  
 

Yes Judge was out, but how come no one else is sweeping the Yankees? Even in their paltry 3 game sets? 
 

It’s a crazy run.  Probably their best 16 game stretch since 2018.  

I think this team could contend. And I think it makes more sense to sell.

This team is being carried by young pitching, and pushing those pitchers to their limits to get into and make a dent in the postseason could easily ruin 2027.  Early is already down.  Let’s not force Bennett (who should be on a IP limit anyway) and Tolle join him.Deal away Gray, Duran and Chapman, and, if possible, IKF.  Keep the rest and reload.  
 

There might only be 6 or 7 teams selling to 20 postseason hopefuls.  Sellers’ market. Sell…

They did go 13-2 right before the ASB last year and 10-3 around the deadline. 

In this stretch, they only made up 4.5 games on the Rays, the team they have a 4 game set with this weekend. 

[mvp 78]

28 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

That's one way of looking at it. But I'm not worried about 2027, because someone might want to again protect Tolle, Early, Bennett and Rivera -- "it's their first full season and remember what that did to Crochet, who's still not the same... thank god Eyanson looks like Rookie of the Year; what -- shut him down immediately before we actually win something!"

Buy a home run bat now asap and see what happens. Don't wait 17 more games before the actual deadline clock, because that may be too late. The offense needs help now and the team deserves it for bouncing back.

If they wait 17 more games, they'll get a bat that may be ineligible for the playoffs. 

[JoeBrady]

58 minutes ago, notin said:

Yes Judge was out, but how come no one else is sweeping the Yankees? Even in their paltry 3 game sets? 

It feels like a bit of trolling.  Before the Yankees came to Boston, they had won 11 of 16.  After the sweep, they won 6 of 13, including their last 4.  They been weakened but are still a good team.

The WS are in 1st, and have played an amazing .646 at home.  LAA and the NYM are weak, but they play .457 and .429 at home.  This is a very good streak.

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

It feels like a bit of trolling.  Before the Yankees came to Boston, they had won 11 of 16.  After the sweep, they won 6 of 13, including their last 4. 

A .461 winning % is good now? I said all along that they were a .500 team w/o Judge and it looks like it. 

[JoeBrady]

55 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Buy a home run bat now asap and see what happens. Don't wait 17 more games

With the usual caveat that it must be an okay deal.  Don't make a bad deal just to make a deal.  But past that, one of Bloom's best moves was making the Pivetta trade maybe ten days before the deadline.  He took some criticism for not waiting, but imho, if you have a deal you like, take it.  Don't try to get cute or cheap.

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

Didn't the All Star break used to be 3 days? I totally expected to watch a game tonight. With the wife out of town just what am I supposed to do now?  

[southpaw777]

2 hours ago, notin said:

This might be the most pessimistic possible summary of the recent road trip.  Might as well mention that the made 246 outs as well.

9-0 with 3 sweeps in 3 different time zones, something no other Sox team has ever done.  
 

Yes Judge was out, but how come no one else is sweeping the Yankees? Even in their paltry 3 game sets? 
 

It’s a crazy run.  Probably their best 16 game stretch since 2018.  

I think this team could contend. And I think it makes more sense to sell.

This team is being carried by young pitching, and pushing those pitchers to their limits to get into and make a dent in the postseason could easily ruin 2027.  Early is already down.  Let’s not force Bennett (who should be on a IP limit anyway) and Tolle join him.Deal away Gray, Duran and Chapman, and, if possible, IKF.  Keep the rest and reload.  
 

There might only be 6 or 7 teams selling to 20 postseason hopefuls.  Sellers’ market. Sell…

I chose pretenders so I focused on that.

I loved watching them on that streak. Maybe I didn’t mention enough positive stuff, and there is plenty. But I was hearing all about buying at the deadline after this run and I still think that would be a big mistake. Which is why I made this thread. My main focus was why we shouldn’t buy and no so much on the more positive things. 
overall I really like the pitching, a few good prospects we got in the organization. Drafting has been good as well. if done correctly, 2027, or whenever they play ball again, should be the start of a long run being real contenders. Not pretenders.

[Duran Is The Man]

2 hours ago, notin said:

So…counting the last 5 series, you’re saying the Sox could have a 28-9 stretch that encompasses playing nearly a quarter of the season with a winning percentage over .750, and you’re thought is “but this team has too many flaws!”???

 I’m all for selling now, but if the winning keeps up, at what point do people think “hey, this team might actually be pretty good”?

we just need a roster with 1458 pitchers where each one only pitches one inning a year. problem solved. that way none of them are "over their pitch limit". 

edit: we need 1459 because Crochet will be injured all year with a "strain" and unavailable.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

A .461 winning % is good now? I said all along that they were a .500 team w/o Judge and it looks like it. 

If I add up the two sets of numbers, it looks like 17 of 29..  Pretty sure that's > .500.  But if the Yankees are as bad as you think, we have a shot of catching the.

[notin]

3 hours ago, southpaw777 said:

I chose pretenders so I focused on that.

I loved watching them on that streak. Maybe I didn’t mention enough positive stuff, and there is plenty. But I was hearing all about buying at the deadline after this run and I still think that would be a big mistake. Which is why I made this thread. My main focus was why we shouldn’t buy and no so much on the more positive things. 
overall I really like the pitching, a few good prospects we got in the organization. Drafting has been good as well. if done correctly, 2027, or whenever they play ball again, should be the start of a long run being real contenders. Not pretenders.

I think they’re contenders but since it’s based on the weaklings around them, I think selling makes sense.  But I think Breslow will buy, because selling is always the unpopular move…

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

+I'm watching the Mets/Phils game and they're talking about the great Cora taking either the Phils or Mets job as manager.

Unless I've missed something over the last 8+ years, how is Cora considered a great manager? Does just having it said make it true?

Anyways, I'm just glad he's no longer here.