3 Players Most Responsible For Red Sox's Historic Winning Streak

The Boston Red Sox have quickly turned into one of the hottest teams in baseball. For a squad that entered the month of July in the “sellers” bin regarding trade deadline talks, they’ve thwarted the narrative and thrust themselves into playoff contention with an immaculate 15-game winning streak. How has this team flipped its fate around? While it truly is a group effort, these three players have helped push the team to the next level.

Willson Contreras

There’s playing up to a contract, and then there’s playing out of one’s mind. The Red Sox owe Willson Contreras a little over $14 million for his services this year, and in his age-34 season, he’s gained a reputation as one of the most dangerous hitters in all of baseball.

In the 2026 campaign, Contreras already has 22 home runs, two short of his career-best mark of 24 from the 2019 season. His .948 OPS is a career-best mark as well. Anyone who watched Home Run Derby could see it the fruits of his labor paying off; the first baseman's bat speed is next level. In fact, Contreras’ bat travels across the plate at a blistering 77.0 miles per hour on average, good enough to drop him in the 96th percentile. 

That converts to a variety of important metrics, with average exit velocity (75th percentile), barrel percentage (91st percentile) and hard-hit rate (80th percentile) all falling in line as signs of an elite hitter. He's the heart and soul of this team, and though he missed some of this win streak due to a suspension, Contreras is the superstar of the lineup.

Caleb Durbin

Caleb Durbin has quickly turned a disappointing start to the season into a respectable run, and as he’s heated up, the Red Sox have continued to accumulate wins. Durbin’s ability to serve as a tough at-bat is in a league of its own, as the 26-year-old Washington Univ. alum is punching out just 13.6 percent of the time (88th percentile). 

Bat speed, and any power-related metric to go with it, haven’t been a part of Durbin’s identity over his first few years in the major leagues. That’s entirely fine. The important part is that he’s playing to his strengths now. Durbin slashed .326/.359/.605 (.964 OPS) in the month of June, and he’s hitting north of .270 since the calendar turned to July. He’s succeeding against fastballs and breaking balls, and while the .152 batting average against off-speed pitches shows there’s room for improvement, he's actually starting to outperform Alex Bregman this year.

Now armed with double-digit home run and steals totals, Durbin is proving he can hold down the fort at third base in Boston.

Sonny Gray

Sonny Gray has painted an absolute masterpiece through the first two-thirds of the season. The 36-year-old veteran currently holds a 12-1 record, is posting a 2.48 earned run average and has given Boston 101.2 quality innings. The righty has proved to be reliable, and he’s proven to be effective in the categories that count.

Gray is walking just 6.9 percent of hitters, good enough to put him in the 75th percentile among active big league pitchers. He doesn't possess any one elite offering, but he mixes a variety of distinct offerings to produce one of the best ground-ball rates in the bigs, at 48.1 percent (79th percentile). 

He made three starts during the winning streak, going six innings and allowing just one run each time. With both Garrett Crochet and Ranger Suárez out with injury, he's stepped up as the ace of the staff when the Red Sox needed him most.