Alex Mayes

Liberty Biberty vs Limu Emu, who wins?

Incredibly valid, haha

I take it all back. Breslow is a broken down car with its doors rusted out on the side of a riverbank that no one should pay attention to anymore.

Despite the mini-mutiny we saw in the locker room at the end of Game 2, Chad Tracy is the correct choice to lead the Boston Red Sox for the foreseeable future. He was able to get the team to find their identity and rattle off a massive win streak from the end of June through the beginning of August that invigorated a fan base that had very little to look forward to through much of the first half of the season. He will be in the Manager of the Year conversation and luckily for him, those votes have already been cast. Thus, his shortcomings in the Wild Card Round won’t work against him amongst the voters. Before I dive too far into this, Chad Tracy is not on the hook for the offense’s poor performance in the series. Ultimately, the lineup’s inability to score runs was their downfall. Tracy can’t make the lineup hit, he’s not responsible for Roman Anthony’s incessant hand injury, or the small defensive lapses that allowed the Yankees to stay on base when innings should have been over. Where he shoulders the bulk of the blame though, is in his bullpen mismanagement for both games. He seemed to be managing scared. We can start with Payton Tolle’s start in Game 1. He wasn’t quite fooling the Yankees’ lineup, only notching four strikeouts in the 4.2 innings he was on the bump, but he was pitching well and his velocity hadn’t begun to drop in the fifth. Tolle only threw 83 pitches before Tracy made the slow trek to the mound, motioned for Erik Miller, and asked Tolle for the ball with Ben Rice due up. Rice hits fastballs really well and struggles with sinkers. Sinkers are Miller’s speciality, but Miller has been struggling mightily throughout the month of September. In his last seven appearances alone, he recorded an 8.53 ERA over 6.1 innings while allowing six hits, six earned runs, seven walks, and seven strikeouts. Due to injuries in the bullpen, he was unable to be moved from his high-leverage role, but it was clear he was struggling and shouldn’t be trusted against the big bats of the Yankees. Miller promptly left a sinker down the middle of the plate and Rice deposited it into the seats to fire up a restless crowd. Jake Bennett has pitched well against the Yankees this season and was just sitting in the bullpen, watching Miller deliver a meatball to Rice. Why not turn to the rookie if the decision was to follow up Tolle with another lefty? The move to go to Greg Weissert, Wyatt Olds, and Alec Gamboa can be mostly explained away. Even Tracy himself admitted that he stayed away from the back end of his bullpen, and a returning Garrett Crochet, because a loss is a loss in the postseason. It doesn’t matter if it’s by two or nine, it counts just the same. He’s right, but the issue comes with how quick of a hook he had for Tolle. The hulking southpaw has the best stuff on the pitching staff and instead of letting him go at least five full innings (he’s gone into at least the sixth inning in 14 of his 26 starts), Tracy waved the white flag at about the halfway point of the game. That’s fine for a series in the middle of June in Seattle. It’s unacceptable for game one of the Wild Card Series against your biggest rival. Arguably more egregious in that game, though, was the decision to bring Brayan Bello into a lose-lose situation in the eighth inning. He was brought in to try and induce an inning-ending double play and stop the bleeding for the Red Sox. Instead, he melted down and allowed a grand slam to Rice that put the game fully out of reach. Bello has struggled through parts of this season with his mental makeup and bringing him in in that situation, in the place he had the shortest leash of his career last year, only set him up for failure. Once again, where was Bennett? If a loss is a loss in the postseason, why not let Gamboa continue to wear it? Why risk Bello coming apart at the seams and setting him back after he worked so hard to reestablish himself as a reliever? Game 2 started off better, at least from a pitching management standpoint. Tracy seemed content in letting Sonny Gray be Sonny Gray. He gave up his signature solo home run, but was pitching well through his 4.2 innings, when Tracy once again stepped out of the dugout, motioned for Miller, and asked for the ball from Gray. We all already know that Miller allowed two hits and runs crossed the plate, again. Then, in a last-ditch effort to save the series, Tracy turned to Crochet, who was the victim of terrible decision-making by Adley Rutschman. The skipper relented and went to Garrett Whitlock, who looked like he was just going through the motions, Gamboa for the second night in a row, and Aroldis Chapman because why not at that point. Tracy’s poor management of his bullpen, and failure to trust his starters to go deep into games that they were well-equipped to go deep into, set the tone for this series. Throughout the season, Tracy was incredibly successful at pushing the right buttons with the bullpen. This time, it appears the moment got to him. I fully believe in Chad Tracy—he's the right guy for this job, despite what some folks in the locker room had to say. Still, he is going to be kicking himself for quite a while when he reflects on how this season ended. View full article

The Boston Red Sox made it official this week, naming rookie southpaw Payton Tolle the Game 1 starter for their Wild Card Round clash against the New York Yankees. While this is what I had been advocating for on recent episodes of the Talk Sox Podcast, there was a lot of debate amongst fans between which starter between Tolle or veteran Sonny Gray should get the nod to take the rubber in the opener. Manager Chad Tracy went with the rookie with the electric stuff and, judging by Tolle’s quotes from the first media availability on Monday afternoon, he’s up to the task. Since I’ve already profiled how the pitcher Tolle is squaring off against, Cam Schlittler, has fared against the Red Sox, I wanted to do the same for the hulking southpaw.. Starting with his overall season numbers, Tolle turned in 148.2 innings, a 28.4 K%, 6.6 BB%, 3.03 ERA, 3.04 FIP, and a 4.1 fWAR. He finished the season with 171 strikeouts to only 40 walks while only allowing 50 earned runs. His batting average allowed sits at an impressive .221 mark. If we shrink that down to just his starts on the road though, his numbers get even better. Road Tolle has been an absolute dog all season. He’s pitched 72 innings away from Fenway Park and has posted a 25.1 K%, 6.5 BB%, 2.50 ERA, and a 3.07 FIP. Plus, sis batting average allowed on the road shrunk down to an even more impressive .202. Tolle has been dominant all season, but he seems to shine even brighter when he’s challenging a hostile crowd. Luckily for him, the Wild Card Series takes place in the same location he first got a taste of the postseason last year. Before we dive into Tolle’s numbers against the Bronx Bombers, it needs to be said that he’s only made two starts against them this season, and both of those were at home. Still, the numbers at Fenway indicate that we’re in for an absolute gem of a start come Tuesday night. In Tolle’s first outing against the Yankees, he actually lined up against Schlittler and went almost pitch for pitch with him. Tolle tossed six innings of three-hit, one-run, 11-strikeout baseball. The lone sour mark on Tolle’ line came off a Pesky homer hit by Jazz Chisholm. Since this was the early season Red Sox, though, Tolle was handed a no-decision after the bullpen fell apart late in the game. The second time Tolle saw the Yankees, he was utterly dominant. He went seven shutout innings while walking two, striking out seven, and only allowing one hit. He was able to carry a perfect game into the sixth inning in this start, which came during the magical run of the summer. In these two starts against the Yankees, Tolle allowed a grand total of one run in 13 frames. He’s dominated Boston’s biggest rivals, and now it’s time for him to continue to do so under the bright lights of (almost) October. With those numbers in mind, it stands to reason that Payton Tolle is going to walk into Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night in primetime and be his usual dominant self. The Red Sox lost some firepower in the bullpen as the season was winding down, but Tolle has already provided quite a bit of length in his two starts against the Yankees; another deep outing could go a long way to giving Chad Tracy a full assortment of bullpen options in Games 2 and 3. It’s a lot of pressure to put on a rookie to walk into your rival’s stadium and out-duel the likely Cy Young winner, but Tolle only seems to get better when the challenge is greater. A win in this contest would set the Sox up perfectly to avenge their loss from one year ago. View full article

Boston Red Sox Weekly Snapshot Record Last Week: 3-3 Runs Scored Last Week: 11 Runs Surrendered Last Week: 13 Standings 3rd in AL East 2nd in AL Wild Card Transactions 09/23/26: Boston Red Sox optioned LF Nate Eaton to Worcester Red Sox. 09/23/26: Boston Red Sox activated CF Ceddanne Rafaela from the 10-day injured list. 09/25/26: Boston Red Sox optioned LHP Raymond Burgos to Worcester Red Sox. 09/25/26: Boston Red Sox recalled RHP Jedixson Paez from Worcester Red Sox. 09/27/26: Boston Red Sox recalled LF Nate Eaton from Worcester Red Sox. 09/27/26: Boston Red Sox recalled RHP Wyatt Olds from Worcester Red Sox. 09/27/26: Boston Red Sox optioned RHP Jedixson Paez to Worcester Red Sox. 09/26/27: Boston Red Sox activated RHP Tanner Houck from the 60-day injured list. 09/27/26: Boston Red Sox placed DH Mickey Gasper on the 10-day injured list retroactive to September 26, 2026. Right biceps strain. 09/27/26: Boston Red Sox placed RHP Tyron Guerrero on the 15-day injured list retroactive to September 24, 2026. Right shoulder strain. 09/27/26: Boston Red Sox transferred CF Eli White from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Right foot ligament injury. Scores Game 157: BOS 2, CLE 3 Game 158: BOS 1, CLE 0 Game 159: BOS 0, CLE 1 Game 160: BOS 4, CHC 3 Game 161: BOS 2, CHC 0 Game 162: BOS 2, CHC 6 Series Breakdown/Highlights Guardians Series: We’ll jump right into the games for this week since everyone is turning their attention to Tuesday night. In game one against the Guardians, Payton Tolle tossed 5.2 innings of two-run, five-strikeout baseball. Alec Gamboa, Jovani Moran, and Erik Miller all came out of the 'pen with Miller allowing an earned run. Offensively, The Goateed Menace Mickey Gasper hit a home run while Nick Sogard accounted for both of the runs for the Sox in the loss. Game two saw Sonny Gray pitch another one of his patented quality starts, going six innings while allowing four hits, zero runs, and striking out three. Tyron Guerrero, Garrett Whitlock, and Aroldis Chapman combined for the shutout final three innings of the game. Offensively, the lone RBI came off the bat of Andruw Monasterio when he drove in Jarren Duran. Game three saw the Guardians return the shutout favor to the Red Sox with Ranger Suarez allowing a solo home run to Angel Martinez. Suarez struck out five over five innings in his final appearance of the regular season. Patrick Sandoval, Miller, and Raymond Burgos all came out of the 'pen for the Sox. Offensively, Sogard and Rafaela contributed the two hits for Boston in a sleepy finale. Cubs Series: This series was dominated by weather talk, and for good reason. The Red Sox and Cubs were forced to fly to Tampa Bay to play the meaningless final game of the 2026 season. In game one, which was the first game of an unscheduled doubleheader, the Sox looked far more like the Sox from the summer as they fought back late to secure the victory. This was a bullpen game in every sense of the word with Gamboa, Jake Bennett, Greg Weissert, and Burgos all throwing multiple innings against the Cubs. Offensively, Roman Anthony showed off his bat-to-ball skills, going 3-for-3 with a walk, while Adley Rutschman, Connor Wong, Jarren Duran, Monasterio, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa all contributed hits as well. Wong and Rutschman were responsible for three RBIs on the first half of the day. Game two was played later in the day on Friday and the Sox shut out the Cubs behind strong pitching performances from Brayan Bello and Jedixson Paez, the latter earning his first big league win of his career. Offensively, Abreu contributed the two RBIs on the nightcap when he drove in both Kiner-Falefa and Jahmai Jones. Both teams flew to Tampa with an unscheduled off day on Saturday before completing the season on Sunday. The final game of the season saw the Sox drop a meaningless game to the Cubs while playing at Tropicana Field. Tanner Houck returned from Tommy John surgery to start the game and wasn’t sharp, but he was obviously working on his mechanics throughout the three innings he was on the field. He allowed three earned runs, four hits, and struck out one. Wyatt Olds, Patrick Sandoval, and Jovani Moran came out of the bullpen to finish the game, combining for three earned runs. Offensively, Rutschman homered and Monasterio drove in the other run on the afternoon. On to New York. Website Highlights Four Alarming Trends Red Sox’s Offense Must Snap Out of Before Postseason by Yirsandy Rodriguez Jarren Duran’s 20-20 Season is Literally the Worst in Baseball’s Live-Ball Era by Maddie Landis Caleb Durbin Epitomizes the 2026 Red Sox, but That Needs to Change in October by N.B. Lindberg Chad Tracy Was the Only Man for Red Sox’s Manager Job by Nick John Craig Breslow has Officially Earned the Benefit of the Doubt with Red Sox by Alex Mayes Looking Ahead 09/29/26: Red Sox (TBD) @ Yankees (Cam Schlittler): 8:00 PM EDT NBC/Peacock 09/30/26: Red Sox (TBD) @ Yankees (Max Fried): 8:00 PM EDT NBC/Peacock 10/01/26 (if necessary): Red Sox (TBD) @ Yankees (Gerrit Cole): 8:00 PM EDT NBC/Peacock View full article

The Boston Red Sox have drawn a tough match in the American League Wild Card Round after the New York Yankees announced that AL Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler is going to take the mound in Game 1. It’s going to be a tall task for the visitors to go in and steal game one, but that’s something this team hasn’t shied away from at any point during the 2026 season. Some would point to Game 3 of last year’s Wild Card Series as Schlittler’s coming out party. To put it succinctly, he absolutely shoved in that start. He tossed eight innings while allowing zero runs, five hits, no walks, and 12 strikeouts. You can say what you want about the state of that Red Sox offense, but the facts are that Schlittler was untouchable on the mound for that game. He's since continued that dominance into the 2026 season The Sox first saw Schlittler this season all the way back on April 23, just two days before the organization decided to move on from Alex Cora. The Yankees took that game by a score of 4-2. When we look at the line from Schlittler in that game, it’s not hard to assume that it had a direct impact in the decision to move on from Cora; he once again tossed eight innings in the outing, allowing four hits, one walk, one earned run, and five strikeouts. He allowed one home run in the game, to Carlos Narvaez who will be watching the postseason from his couch in Baltimore. The other RBI on the night? Courtesy of Marcelo Mayer, who will be enjoying an early offseason in San Francisco. Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu had the other two hits for the Sox, so there’s a positive for guys who are still on the active roster. The next time the Sox saw Schlittler was on June 7, and while it was a shorter outing (lasting only 5.2 innings), it was more of the same in the long run. The Sox could only muster up one run for the whole game, when Willson Contreras drove in Ceddanne Rafaela. The center fielder was alone with two hits in the game while Contreras, Mickey Gasper, Anthony Seigler, and Andruw Monasterio all contributed one hit each on the day. Schlittler faced the Sox for the third time this season on June 25, when he was chased out of the game after only five innings, but he still struck out nine while allowing zero earned runs. That stat line looks a bit funky though, as four runs scored in the fifth inning, though none counted against the right-hander's ERA. This game was the lone win for the Sox in any game started by Schlittler, by a final score of 6-3. Offensively, Caleb Durbin hit a clutch home run in the game, but it didn’t come off the starter. Rafaela, Duran, and Nate Eaton all contributed one RBI while Durbin had two. The final time the Sox saw Schlittler before the postseason came on August 28 and he was dominant once again. He tossed 5.2 innings again, striking out eight, walking five, and allowing two hits and zero earned runs. Rafaela, Abreu, and Eli White all had hits for Boston in the losing effort. I know, this sounds like I'm essentially projecting the Red Sox to drop game one of the Wild Card since Schlittler has been so dominant all season, both against them and the rest of the league. There's reasons to be optimistic about a different outcome this time around, though. Adley Rutschman is waking up at the plate and will be hitting from his preferred side in Game 1, Durbin is coming out of his slump, Contreras is back and playing, Rafaela has avoided another setback with his hamstring injury, and the team has three incredible starters lined up to face the Yankees. It's going to be a difficult series, but it would be shortsighted to count the Red Sox out right now. At the top of this I said that the Red Sox have a tall task in front of them to take Game 1 in the Bronx from the Yankees, and recent history says that Schlittler is going to pitch well, but the playoffs are ripe for surprising upsets and series-altering outcomes. It’s going to take a big swing or two, with stellar pitching from the Red Sox’s own starter and bullpen, for the team to win, but crazier things have happened in this rivalry. And, hey, maybe the team will have some travel issues flying into NYC from Tampa. Those seem to have preempted the big moments all season. View full article

What a week it's been for the Boston Red Sox. Along with the announcement that manager Chad Tracy has signed an extension through 2029, the team also confirmed that they have picked up both contraction options for Craig Breslow in 2029 and 2030. Fenway Sports Group has given both men a huge vote of confidence as the team prepares to head back to the postseason in 2026. There will be much to say about Tracy’s deserved contract, but the Breslow announcement caught me a bit by surprise if we’re being honest. It was fairly obvious that he would hang around in Boston through at least part of the 2027 season since we’re staring a landscape-shifting lockout dead in the face at the end of the year, but with all of the negative press surrounding him throughout the early part of the season, I think we all kind of assumed Breslow’s tenure in Boston would end well before his contract options were even a consideration. Just two games into the historic winning streak over the summer, I even wrote about how Breslow’s tenure in Boston was set to end with a whimper. Then, as the trade deadline approached, I said that his past trade deadlines showed that he couldn’t pull off the big deal. But then, on August 3, Breslow pulled off a massive in-division trade that showed me he deserved far more credit than I had given him up to that point. We can point to a number of Breslow additions throughout the first two years of his time in Boston as huge successes: trading for Garrett Crochet and Carlos Narvaez on the same day, acquiring both Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras from the Cardinals over the offseason, bringing in Caleb Durbin to settle the hot corner in the wake of Alex Bregman’s departure, and signing Ranger Suarez to be a veteran, middle-of-the-rotation anchor for a starting rotation of mostly young talent. While he’s swung and missed as well (the trades for Vaughn Grissom and Dustin May come to mind immediately), Breslow’s decision to go all-in on Adley Rutschman to settle the catching position for the rest of 2026 and all of 2027 showed that he understood what the team needed to finally push themselves over the edge of contention. That he was able to get a deal of that magnitude done during the season was an even bigger feather in his cap. He identified a problem, found a solution that benefited the organization both now and for the future, and did what he had to do to get the deal done. In my mind, that was the last hurdle that Breslow had to clear to show that he could be trusted to lead the Red Sox through the next few years. While Rutschman hasn’t been the offensive force we all hoped he would be, his impact on the pitching staff can be seen game in and game out and it feels like he’s been here far longer than six weeks. It’s entirely likely that the team will discuss a long-term deal with the catcher before the lockout begins and if that gets done, then Breslow can add yet another blockbuster move to his résumé. While the Rutschman trade was the main move of the deadline, Breslow also addressed two other areas of need by trading rookie southpaw Connelly Early for Curtis Mead and former top prospect Marcelo Mayer for lefty reliever Erik Miller. While Mead’s Red Sox debut was short lived—a broken wrist after a hit by pitch that has kept him on the shelf for the majority of the second half of the season—he profiles as a second base/DH option next season and provides a nice source of power from the right side of the plate. Miller started his Red Sox’s career on fire, becoming one of Tracy’s trusted weapons out of the bullpen, though he's faltered after his mechanics started to break down during the month of September. That being said, he seems to have fully bought into Breslow and pitching coach Andrew Bailey’s program and should be a very useful weapon for years to come. Craig Breslow may still struggle with the human connection part of baseball, but he’s made obvious strides in the right direction in that regard and FSG has given him their full stamp of approval for the next three seasons at least. This season’s turnaround and the additions he’s made along the way have given the president of baseball operations a ton of runway to prepare to bring another World Series title to Boston. If he can continue to operate the way he has in 2026, Craig Breslow will prove just how right John Henry and company were to take a gamble on him in 2023. View full article

I assume Houck gets activated at some point this week as well. He's looked good in his rehab outings so they'll want to get him on the bump against major leaguers at least once before the postseason. As much as I want Arias playing meaningful innings with this team, it's not going to happen. The earliest he'll be on the 26-man roster is the start of next season. At this point, you don't take away his development time during the lockout just for a bench role in the playoffs.

Boston Red Sox Weekly Snapshot Record Last Week: 2-4 Runs Scored Last Week: 15 Runs Surrendered Last Week: 23 Standings 3rd in AL East 2nd in AL Wild Card Transactions 09/15/26: Boston Red Sox sent RHP Tanner Houck on a rehab assignment to Worcester Red Sox. 09/17/26: Boston Red Sox sent RHP Johan Oviedo on a rehab assignment to Worcester Red Sox. 09/20/26: Boston Red Sox optioned RHP Wyatt Olds to Worcester Red Sox. 09/20/26: Boston Red Sox activated RHP Tyron Guerrero from the 15-day injured list. Scores Game 147: BOS 2, TEX 4 Game 148: BOS 3, TEX 7 Game 150: BOS 4, TEX 3 Game 151: BOS 4, TB 2 Game 152: BOS 1, TB 2 Game 153: BOS 1, TB 5 Series Breakdown/Highlights Rangers Series: It’s safe to say that the Red Sox may end up limping into the postseason with the way they’ve played baseball over the last week. In game one in Texas, we saw Patrick Sandoval once again be unable to provide any real shot at staying in the contest from the first inning. He only tossed 2.2 innings while allowing four hits and four earned runs while walking two and striking out five. Due to his short start, Chad Tracy relied on Brayan Bello, Alec Gamboa, Wyatt Olds, and Jovani Moran to all spend precious bullets in an effort to keep the game from getting further out of hand, which they were successful at. Offensively, Nick Sogard hit a two-run home run for the only spark of the night. Game two was pretty much more of the same unfortunately. Willson Contreras launched a two-run home run but, once again, that was the only offense the team could muster. Jake Bennett was looking to rebound from his last outing and mostly accomplished that feat. He tossed 4.2 innings of three-run baseball while striking out seven. Greg Weissert, Erik Miller, and Raymond Burgos came on in relief. Miller specifically, continued to struggle by allowing three earned runs. Game three was a turnaround for the Red Sox, finally stopping the skid for a bit. Most notably on offense, Roman Anthony continued to heat up at the plate and that’s something the team is going to need in the worst way as we enter the last week of the season. Trevor Story contributed the winning home run on the day. Defensively, Sonny Gray looked a lot more like his usual self again. He threw 6.1 innings of three-run baseball while striking out six on the day. Olds, Gamboa, and Garrett Whitlock all worked in relief to put the game away. Rays Series: Game one was Anthony’s true late-season breakout, going two-for-five with one home run and three RBIs. Jahmai Jones added another home run for good measure to give the Red Sox a late-inning lead. Ranger Suarez hit a career high in walks with five, but also struck out five over 5.2 innings. Olds, Weissert, and Miller all worked in relief with Miller still looking shaky. The pendulum swung back the other way for game two, though. Brayan Bello pitched a great game as the starter, going eight strong innings while only allowing one run and striking out 11. Whitlock is technically charged with the loss in this game, but if you watched it you know that baserunning mistakes by Caleb Durbin and Connor Wong’s inability to play passable defense behind the plate really lost the game for the Sox. Offensively, Anthony had the lone RBI for the Sox on the night. Finally, in game three, we had Sandoval take the rubber again and promptly forget that the Red Sox were in the midst of a playoff push. Tracy left him out there to wear it though, having the southpaw toss seven innings while giving up five earned runs and striking out five. Recently activated Tyron Guerrero came in in relief to get some work in before the conclusion of the season. Offensively, Story provided a late inning home run to keep the Sox from being shut out. The good news? The Red Sox officially clinched their spot in the playoffs on Sunday once the Astros lost to the Braves, removing some pressure ahead of the final week of the regular season. Website Highlights Red Sox’s Offense is Collapsing in Clutch Situations at the Worst Possible Time by Yirsandy Rodriguez Red Sox Playoff Scenarios: Two Vastly Different Paths to the World Series by Alex Mayes Roman Anthony is Agonizingly Close to Breaking Out of His Slump by Billy Heyen Jarren Duran Can be Fixed, but the Red Sox Are Running Out of Time by N.B. Lindberg Looking Ahead 09/21/26: Off Day 09/22/26: Guardians (Parker Messick) @ Red Sox (Payton Tolle): 6:45 PM EDT 09/23/26: Guardians (Foster Griffin) @ Red Sox (Sonny Gray): 7:10 PM EDT 09/24/26: Guardians (TBD) @ Red Sox (Ranger Suarez): 6:45 PM EDT 09/25/26: Cubs @ Red Sox: 7:10 PM EDT 09/26/26: Cubs @ Red Sox: 7:15 PM EDT 09/27/26: Cubs @ Red Sox: 3:05 PM EDT View full article