Red Sox Report Cards: Team Grades for June

With June now in the rearview mirror, it’s safe to say there may not be another month this season that perfectly represents the 2026 Boston Red Sox. This was a team that, going into the year, was expected to win on their pitching and defense, and possibly struggle at times to score runs due to a lackluster and questionable lineup.   

Another inconsistent month saw the highs of finally winning a series at Fenway Park for the first time since April 6-8 vs. Milwaukee, when the Sox took two out of three from the Rangers, a west-coast trip that got off to a great start when they took two out of three from the first-place Mariners, and a shocking four-game sweep of the Yankees that led some fans to [foolishly] believe that they were finally turning a corner heading for the dog days of summer. 

That being said, June also saw the lows of the Red Sox continuing to be allergic to momentum, being swept by Toronto and losing two out of three to the Rockies and Nationals immediately after those aforementioned series wins against Texas, Seattle, and New York, plus an additional sweep at the hands of the Rays, and a 6-9 record against the AL East that was only propped up by that Yankees sweep. 

Add in the fact that there still doesn’t seem to be a timetable for the returns of Roman Anthony and Garrett Crochet, injuries have begun piling up to the likes of Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Marcelo Mayer, and Connelly Early, and a suspension that could be looming for Willson Contreras and what looked like an already grueling summer stretch could be getting a lot worse very quickly.

Before we get to that point though, let’s dive back into June to see how the offense, rotation and bullpen all graded out:         

Grading Every Red Sox Player in June

Offense

One month ago, the Red Sox offense looked like it was maybe starting to branch out from the projections that worried fans and media members prior to the 2026 season. While they still had their inefficiencies at hitting with RISP and striking out more than you’d like to see, their surprise top-10 finishes league wide in AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, hits, doubles, triples, WAR, and BABIP positioned them as a middle-of-the-pack offense league-wide. Add in some standout performances from Wilyer Abreu, Willson Contreras, and a power-surge from Jarren Duran, and there was a dim light at the end of the tunnel that with a few more hitters getting hot, and a better performance in clutch spots, that things might take a turn for the better.   

Taking a look at Boston’s offensive numbers post-June, it's easy to see that reality won out. While they have improved on hitting with RISP, up from .227 (23rd in MLB / 11th in AL) in May to .232 (21st / 10th) and hitting with RISP with two outs, up from .178 (24th / 11th) to .253 (11th / 7th), their numbers in every other offensive category have taken a nosedive.

When it comes to player highlights for the month, Willson Contreras (7 HR, 20 RBI, .933 OPS) and Ceddanne Rafaela (2 HR, 12 RBI, .288 AVG) have continued their strong seasons, but saw noticeable drop-offs in performance, with Contreras falling victim to a 5-for-38 with 14 strikeouts stretch, and Rafaela reverting back to his old ways of chasing, leading to an OPS drop from .826 to .735 and third-worst BB% (1.9%) in all of baseball. Then there’s the case of Duran, who instead of building off a strong May, proceeded to put up a historically bad June, finishing with not only the third-worst OPS for a single month in team history, but a league-worst finish for the month in AVG, OBP, wOBA, WAR (-0.8). He was also the only qualified player in the majors to finish with a negative wRC+ of -1. Fatigue may also be setting in, as the usually consistent Wilyer Abreu had his worst month of the season in terms of average (.228) and K% (20.8%).    

In trying to find some positives, the obvious answer is at the hot corner in Caleb Durbin, who was without a doubt Boston’s best hitter in the month, slashing a team-best .326/.359/.605/.964 with six home runs, 13 RBI, and a 160 wRC+ while continuing to give the Sox solid defense at third and some much-needed timely hitting. While the catching situation has been a tumultuous one to say the least, with Carlos Narvaez’s consistent offensive woes (.097, -33 wRC+, 38.9 K%), and Mickey Gasper coming back down to earth and being optioned back to Worcester, Connor Wong has continued to quietly put up solid numbers, slashing .333/.441/.444/.885 with a 150 wRC+ and second best 14.7 BB% for June. To go along with Durbin, June also saw the emergence of another player featured in that trade, that being Anthony Seigler who has been excellent covering for injuries to Kiner-Falefa and Mayer, slashing .350/.409/.550/.959 with a team=best 164 wRC+ in 13 games. 

These positives, however, can’t outweigh the negatives that made Boston’s offense one of the worst in baseball for the month of June. It's what continues to keep them from building any true momentum, earning them a lowly D grade as a unit.         

Rotation

Just when you thought the rotation couldn’t get any better than they did a month ago when they obtained an A- grade, they proceeded to double down and basically carry the Red Sox through June with a stretch of dominance that included a streak of 12 consecutive quality starts. 

Sonny Gray should be firmly cemented in the Cy Young race with another stellar run that saw him not only once again go undefeated at 3-0 in five starts with a 2.14 ERA and .211 average against in 33.2 innings pitched, but also come within five outs of no-hitting the Yankees in his final start of June. Fellow veteran Ranger Suarez was arguably just as good if not better, pitching to a 2-0 record with a 2.10 ERA, .219 average against, and 1.91 FIP in five starts, helping to create one of the most unhittable one-two punches in baseball over the last two months. 

As for the kids, it was a bit of a mixed bag. Jake Bennett got off to a slow start, allowing six earned runs over 10.1 innings pitched with a .323 BABIP in his first two starts, but turned things around in his final two, with just one earned over 12.1 with a .207 BABIP. Payton Tolle was the opposite, sandwiching three rough starts (17.0 IP, 10 ER, 11 K, 5 BB) in between two phenomenal shutout performances that saw him combine for 13.0 innings pitched with 12 strikeouts and four walks. And then there’s Connelly Early, whose bag was the most mixed of the bunch, allowing 15 earned runs and a season high six home runs in the month while striking out 36 over 30.2 IP to go along with a 4.87 FIP and .338 BABIP.    

Outside of a few hiccups along the way — and one very bad Brayan Bello start that was answered with a demotion to Worcester— the Sox rotation continues to be the least of their problems. Another month of both top-5 finishes in the American League and top-10 finishes in MLB grants the Red Sox rotation an A grade for June.

Bullpen

Boston’s bullpen was a bit of a tricky one to grade out for June. On the side of positives, Garrett Whitlock bounced back after a bit of a shaky May to pitch to a 1.13 ERA, 24.1 K% and zero walks in eight appearances. Ryan Watson has continued to improve each month, holding opposing hitters to a .182 average against and racking up his lowest BB% of the season thus far at 6.3% over 12 innings pitched. Danny Coulombe has even brought himself back from the grave, pitching to a 2.08 ERA and holding opponents to a .200 average against in 11 appearances. And a new flame-throwing weapon has emerged in Tyron Guerrero, who was the Sox's best reliever, owning a 0.96 ERA and .194 average against while striking out a dozen and walking zero over 10 appearances. 

As for the negatives, and glaring ones at that, two of the most important bullpen pieces Aroldis Chapman and Justin Slaten may be broken. Starting with Slaten, his June was incredibly confusing as he made 11 appearances, seven of which where he did not allow a run, four where he did, and three of those where he allowed two or more runs, including a four-run blow up in the Bronx. All of that factors into his 9.00 ERA and unsightly .536 BABIP.

When it comes to Chapman, his month was anything but smooth sailing, as along with struggling to even get into games (he made just seven appearances), he was reportedly dealing with a hamstring injury when he did pitch. These two factors could be the reasons for his struggles, as he entered the month with just one run allowed for the season and finished with five earned and a 7.50 ERA for June alone with most (if not all) of his saves coming of the nail-biting variety. 

While Boston’s bullpen may have been up there as one of the better groups in baseball for May, regressions across the board were clearly visible for June, leading to average to below-average finishes for numerous league-wide stats and a very pedestrian C grade.