Red Sox Report Cards: Team Grades for September

As the old saying goes, “they don’t give out points for style”, and nowhere was that idiom more apparent than the September stretch run for the 2026 Boston Red Sox. After a ferocious July and August saw them go 38-16, good enough for a .704 win percentage and more importantly, a climb back into the postseason picture, Boston spent the past month treading water, still managing to clinch a spot in the playoffs but all the all while playing just .500 baseball at 12-12. 

While an 87-75 record was good enough for a No. 2 Wild Card finish and an encore matchup with the Yankees in the Bronx (that ended just as poorly as 2025), September also gave way to a number of performances worth building on in 2027 and beyond.

Grading Every Red Sox Player In September (2026)

Offense

There’s ice cold, and then there’s what the Red Sox offense was throughout September. After a two-month stretch that saw the Sox evolve into one of the best and most efficient offenses in baseball, the final month of the regular season saw the reversion back into everything that made awful throughout the spring. The offense concluded September in the bottom third in nearly every statistical category, with American-League-worst finishes in batting average, on-base percentage, OPS, wRC+, runs, hits, WAR, HardHit%, and average with RISP.

Now, I’m sure there are some fans who may want to put an asterisk next to that, as it was clear they chose to rest certain players to gear up for the playoffs. The two most obvious cases were Willson Contreras and Ceddanne Rafaela, both of whom played in just five games due to IL stints. Eli White looked to be taking up the mantle of ’Latest Unsung Hero of 2026’ when he posted an .889 OPS and 156 wRC+ to go along with a homer and nine RBIs through eight games before having his season cut short due to an ankle injury. Trevor Story (.725 OPS, 95 wRC+, 2 HR, 7 RBIs) and Roman Anthony (.733 OPS, 101 wRC+, 4 HR, 10 RBIs) continued to put up respectable numbers working back from their own IL stints. Even Adley Rutschman turned his disastrous first month in Boston around tremendously, improving his .499 OPS and 41 wRC+ to .846 and 129 to go along with four home runs and nine RBIs of his own.      

The problem is that no one really stepped up to become a leader throughout the month, which really hurt with Contreras out of the picture. Lineup staples Wilyer Abreu (.207 AVG, .615 OPS, 71 wRC+), Jarren Duran (.588 OPS, 65 wRC+) and Caleb Durbin (.217/.365/.304, 669 OPS) all struggled to consistently produce, while the depth options Boston had leaned so heavily on to turn things around such as Jahmai Jones (.614 OPS, 68 wRC+), Isiah Kiner-Falefa (.432 OPS, 29 wRC+) and Andruw Monasterio (2-for-27, -45 wRC+) all became borderline nonexistent factors. Even Mickey Gasper saw his herculean run come to an end as he hit just .185 with an OBP of .313 before succumbing to a biceps injury. 

That tailspin really couldn't have come at a worse time. With the emphasis that is put onto timely hitting in the playoffs, and the Red Sox's lack thereof over the last month, hitting just .163 with RISP and .194 with RISP and two outs—good for 30th and 27th in MLB, respectively—it's no wonder that they barely made a dent against the Yankees' elite pitching staff in the Wild Card Round.

Final Grade: F

Rotation

While the offense sputtered through September, the Sox leaned on the trio of Payton Tolle, Sonny Gray, and Ranger Suárez to dominate opposing lineups start after start. Game 1 belonged to Tolle, who more than earned the role thanks to three electrifying starts that not only featured an immaculate inning, but also a season-best 1.53 ERA, 1.23 FIP, and 4.1 BB%. Gray continues to defy Father Time with a four-start stretch that saw him add to his award campaign by holding opposing hitters to a .186 average against to go along with a 2.13 ERA. 

As for Suárez, he put a disastrous August behind him and locked in to be the big game pitcher Boston paid him to be, not only posting a 3-1 record across four starts with a season-low 1.09 ERA and .182 opponents average, but regaining his usual command as he lowered his August walk rate of 10.3 to 7.3%. When it comes to where the Red Sox's rotation struggled in September, you’d have to look to the writing that had been developing on the wall starting over the summer: Jake Bennett and Patrick Sandoval. Bennett simply never recovered from hitting his rookie wall, posting season worsts in ERA (5.49), opponent average (.325), and FIP (5.14). As for Sandoval, his month started in the rotation, where things went from bad to worse as he lost all four of his starts to go along with a 7.32 ERA, and ended in the bullpen where he posted an equally uninspiring 4.76 ERA across two outings. 

September also saw the return of two arms to Boston’s rotation who should have a role in the future: Brayan Bello and Tanner Houck. While Bello posted a 2.08 ERA across five outings as a whole for the month, his three starts harkened back to the height of his dominance at times in 2025, allowing just a single earned run over 17 innings to go along with 20 strikeouts and just three walks. Houck, of course, had to wait until game 162 to make his return to the big-league mound, where he allowed three runs over three innings as a final tune up before the playoffs. 

The rotation wasn't able to do enough to keep the Yankees at bay in the postseason, but this is clearly the main strength of the team heading into the winter, especially when factoring in Garrett Crochet's long-awaited return in the Wild Card Round.

Final Grade: B+

Bullpen

If the July and August stretch saw the Red Sox's offense adhere to the next-man-up approach, then it was the bullpen’s turn to follow suit in September. Even though the 'pen lost Justin Slaten to elbow inflammation, Tyron Guerrero to two separate shoulder injuries, and dealt with Aroldis Chapman managing lat tightness—which in turn caused him to miss four games—the unit as a whole never seemed to miss a beat. The relief corps managed to finish in the top five league-wide in ERA (2.15), left-on-base percentage (84.1%), hits allowed (67), blown saves (1), FIP (3.01), saves (9), strikeout rate (26.7%), and WAR (1.7). 

It should come as a surprise to no one that Garrett Whitlock was the man leading the way, continuing his season-long dominance with 7.1 shutout innings to go along with a 1.47 FIP. Whitlock wasn’t the only reliever to post scoreless September appearances, though, as Greg Weissert has put his early season struggles in the rearview, tossing nine shutout innings with a .212 average against, and Jovani Morán bounced back from a rough August to toss 7.1 shutout innings of his own while holding hitters to a .160 average. Call-ups Wyatt Olds, Raymond Burgos, and Jedixson Paez all find themselves in the unsung heroes category for their efforts in helping the Sox maneuver through injuries and lightening heavy workloads. Like Morán, Burgos bounced back from an underwhelming August to become an unlikely force for Boston, owning a 2.00 ERA, .182 opponents average, and 0.0 BB% across nine innings. Olds continued his surprising dominance with a 1.86 ERA and .206 average against in eight appearances. And Paez shook off a rocky starter debut to blank the Cubs over five innings of work, allowing just three hits and striking out five en route to his first big league win. 

If there is one concern to be had here, it comes in the form of Erik Miller. After looking like an absolute steal in August with a 0.79 ERA, .190 average against, and elite strikeout and walk percentages of 41.7% and 6.3%, things quickly fell apart for the big southpaw, as he struggled to a 7.36 ERA. We're not including postseason performances in this report card, but if we were, we might have had to invent a letter grade below "F" for Miller.

Final Grade: A

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