Alex Mayes

Hello forums! Long time reader, first time poster. Some of you may be aware that @Maddie Landis and I host the Talk Sox Podcast and we are set to record our 50th episode Monday night! We thought it would be fun to open the episode up to you all and see if anyone wanted to submit questions for us to answer on the podcast. If you’re interested, drop a comment here and we’ll organize them and have some great conversations around your ideas! Let’s put the cutoff for questions at 3 pm CST on Monday, June 15. Looking forward to answering your questions and chatting with you all!

I had no idea Alan was married!

We’re less than two months away from the 2026 trade deadline and, thanks to the underperformance of the Boston Red Sox as a whole, there’s been little indication as to which path Craig Breslow is going to take as the summer market starts to heat up. Truth be told, it would be hard to figure out what Breslow was going to do even if the team wasn’t currently sitting outside the playoff picture with a losing record, despite the overall state of a very bad American League. If the team was just a fraction better, they would be in a clear ‘buy now’ mode. If they were somehow even worse than they currently are, they would sell off their most valuable short-term commitments while trying to retool for the 2027 season and beyond. Right now, though, we’re stuck in a sort of no-man’s land. With that in mind, I wanted to dive into the past two trade deadline seasons and see if we can maybe predict what Craig Breslow is going to do as we get into hot-stove season. Red Sox 2024 Trade Deadline Moves: Players In: RHP Quinn Priester, RHP Luis Garcia, RHP Lucas Sims, C Danny Jansen, LHP James Paxton Players Out: INF Moises Bolivar, INF Cutter Coffey, INF Eddison Paulino, RHP Gilberto Batista, RHP Ovis Portes, RHP Ryan Zeferjahn, RHP Yeferson Vargas, 1B Niko Kavadas, UTIL Matthew Lugo Talk about underwhelming. Going into the 2024 trade deadline, Breslow continually spoke about the need to add a right-handed hitter to the lineup, and the team wound up with Danny Jansen who worked in a platoon role and offered very little offensively. The other additions all made various contributions; Priester made one start for the Red Sox, Garcia appeared in 15 games and posted an 8.22 ERA, Sims also appeared in 15 games with a 6.43 ERA, and Paxton only appeared in three games before landing on the injured list to end his season. Red Sox 2025 Trade Deadline Moves: Players In: LHP Steven Matz, RHP Dustin May Players Out: OF James Tibbs III (acquired in the Rafael Devers deal in June of 2025), OF Zach Ehrhard, INF Blaze Jordan The 2025 deadline haul offers even less to say than its predecessor. Matz was a solid contributor out of the bullpen in Boston but wasn’t brought back this season, and May was awful in his five starts before he ended the season on the injured list. Revisiting these deals likely paints a pretty clear picture of the path that Craig Breslow is likely to take as we approach the August 3 trade deadline: He’s going to try and thread the impossible needle of buying and selling at the same time, as it seems that has been his modus operandi since he arrived in Boston. The biggest difference between the last two trade deadlines and this year are that the Red Sox are in a drastically different place in 2026. The team had a couple of obvious needs in 2025, but they were clearly in the midst of a playoff push thanks to a 10-game winning streak as they headed into the All-Star break. In 2024, there was reason to believe they could be competitive if everything broke in their favor. This year, though, one or two trades likely won’t make a difference for this team even in the short term. ESPN’s Buster Olney went on record on June 3 saying that he’s heard from his sources that the Red Sox are “aggressively looking for a right-handed hitter and signaling to the industry, look, we're willing to take on money.” That’s all well and good, but Breslow has shown that he’s more in the business of saving money in trades that welcoming it in. Just look at the Rafael Devers deal. There is a fairly lengthy list of right-handed hitters that are carrying bad contracts that Breslow could be looking at here, but adding that one piece won’t fix the inability to play quality baseball at home. If a deal for an impact right-handed hitter is on the table, does anyone really trust Breslow to get it done? It’s unlikely at this point. It feels like Breslow is approaching this trade deadline under the impression that his decisions may decide his fate in Boston. There has been more and more reports that members of the ownership group have grown unhappy with the hyper-focused analytical approach, and you have to assume that the length of leash ownership has given him is drastically different than previous seasons. With that in mind, expect Breslow to sell off short-term commitments that the team currently has while attempting to deal from the farm system to add a right-handed bat somewhere in the lineup. From the past two deadlines, we can see that Breslow tends to deal from positions of strength when making deals. Right now, that involves anyone who plays in the outfield, though perhaps the impending lockout may put an additional premium on prospects with years of team control. Simply put, Craig Breslow has a tall task in front of him by trying to both buy and sell at the deadline. That same mentality likely played a large role in costing Chaim Bloom his job in 2023, so Breslow has to be hoping that a similar fate isn’t in store for him in 2026. If he’s being trusted to navigate the trade deadline, and all signs point to that being the case, then he needs to be decisive and take advantage of however much leeway John Henry and company are giving him. View full article

For me, I’d rather have Narvaez in the lineup figuring things out and providing stellar defense behind the plate than Gasper. Gasper is outhitting his expected stats and that’s great, but he’s due to regress and he’s awful behind the dish.

In a move that was somehow both a long time coming and shocking at the same time, Brayan Bello was sent to Triple-A Worcester after his miserable start on June 4. He allowed six first-inning runs, appeared to tell his catcher to not come out to the mound during the inning, and then doubled down on the fact that he was a starter and was going to work through his issues at the big-league level. Just a few hours after those comments, he was sent down to begin a stint with the WooSox where he will be looking to move past the emotional outbursts and meltdown innings that have plagued his 2026 season. After that shocking demotion, I wanted to take a look and see what other 26-man roster members may be next in line for a demotion in the coming weeks. I didn’t include names like Nate Eaton or Anthony Seigler on this list, as they are unlikely to see much time with the big-league club; rather, let's focus on a trio of players who have garnered more playing time than they've deserved this year. 3 Demotion Candidates for Red Sox #3: C Carlos Narvaez Using one of Narváez’s minor-league options right now would be shocking, arguably more so than Bello’s demotion, but offensively he’s been a shell of himself this season. Narvaez broke out in a big way during his 2025 rookie campaign but was hindered by a knee injury over the second half of the season. After a procedure to fix the knee and a full offseason to rest and get healthy, big things were expected of Narváez as the 2026 season got underway. So far, he’s yet to fully get going though. Narváez was benched during the first Astros series of the season for arriving late to the stadium and, while his defense behind the dish is still incredible, his bat has yet to come around. He’s currently slashing .209/.283/.304 (64 wRC+) on the season and has seen his playing time decrease significantly as Mickey Gasper, and even Connor Wong, have been outperforming him offensively. Jen McCaffrey from The Athletic spoke to Narváez where he said that the dip in playing time, “wasn’t expected…and it’s not easy.” The young backstop is likely the catcher of the future in Boston, but without regular playing time, Craig Breslow and Chad Tracy may decide to give him more reps in Triple-A until he’s needed on the big-league roster again. #2: SS/2B Marcelo Mayer Although Mayer is a highly touted prospect with excellent defensive abilities, he’s yet to prove that he can stick at the major-league level from an offensive standpoint. He began the season at second base, where he flashed a ton of great defensive ability, but the injury to Trevor Story has allowed Mayer to slide over to his natural position, shortstop. The fan expectation is that Mayer will remain the starting shortstop for the Red Sox even once Story returns from his sports hernia surgery in late July, but there’s a chance that he may not even be on the big-league roster at that point if his offensive production doesn’t catch up to his defensive value. He’s currently slashing .222/.281/.311 (63 wRC+) but is underperforming even those numbers in the last 25 days, where he’s only hitting .167 with a single extra-base hit. He currently has a massive hole in his swing against off-speed pitch at the bottom of the plate and pitchers are taking full advantage of that. The flip side of that is he’s only going to learn to hit big league off-speed pitches with the Red Sox; the team will have to balance his confidence with his development the rest of the season. #1: RHP Greg Weissert Maybe the only person more deserving to be sent to Worcester than Brayan Bello is the closer for Team Italy himself, Greg Weissert. The right-hander has been brutally awful this season, being an almost automatic loss when he enters a game with ducks on the pond. That’s the sole reason his ERA is, miraculously, just 3.96 on the season. He’s second to Ryan Watson in reliever innings pitched at 25.1, but you rarely feel good when you see him warming up in the bullpen. Often, Weissert will be getting warm next to someone like Justin Slaten and you have to wonder, once runners get on base, if Weissert begins to hope that Tracy will call for someone else when he takes that walk to the mound. The most frustrating part about the veteran set-up man is that his slider is arguably the most lethal pitch in the game. When he’s feeling it, that pitch is almost unhittable for a right-handed hitter. He lets it leak over the plate though, and when it doesn’t have the snap that it needs to, it gets crushed. Weissert could likely use some time without the pressure that pitching for the Red Sox brings to reset after Team Italy’s Cinderella run in the World Baseball Classic that gave all of us hope while we watched him pitch. Burning his last option keeps him in the organization and allows for the team to keep working with him to get him back on track. View full article

Boston Red Sox Weekly Snapshot Record Last Week: 2-3 Runs Scored Last Week: 18 Runs Surrendered Last Week: 22 Standings: 5th in AL East 10.5 GB First Place Transactions: 06/03/26: Boston Red Sox recalled 2B Anthony Seigler from Worcester Red Sox. 06/03/26: Boston Red Sox signed free agent LHP Victor Aracena to a minor league contract. 06/03/26: Boston Red Sox placed 3B Nick Sogard on the 10-day injured list retroactive to May 31, 2026. Right oblique strain. 06/04/26: Boston Red Sox selected the contract of RHP Tommy Kahnle from Worcester Red Sox. 06/04/26: Pittsburgh Pirates traded LHP Joe La Sorsa to Boston Red Sox. 06/04/26: Boston Red Sox optioned LHP Tyler Samaniego to Worcester Red Sox. 06/04/26: Boston Red Sox transferred SS Trevor Story from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Sports hernia. 06/05/26: Boston Red Sox selected the contract of LHP Joe La Sorsa from Worcester Red Sox. 06/05/26: Boston Red Sox optioned RHP Brayan Bello to Worcester Red Sox. 06/05/26: Boston Red Sox sent LHP Patrick Sandoval on a rehab assignment to Worcester Red Sox. 06/05/26: Boston Red Sox transferred LHP Garrett Crochet from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Left shoulder inflammation. 06/06/26: Boston Red Sox recalled LHP Alec Gamboa from Worcester Red Sox. 06/06/26: Boston Red Sox placed LHP Jovani Morán on the 15-day injured list retroactive to June 5, 2026. Left elbow inflammation. 06/06/26: Boston Red Sox sent RHP Garrett Whitlock on a rehab assignment to Worcester Red Sox. Scores: Game 58: BOS 2, BAL 4 Game 59: BOS 8, BAL 1 Game 60: BOS 2, BAL 8 Game 61: BOS 5, NYY 3 Game 62: Postponed to August 29 Game 63: BOS 1, NYY 6 Series Breakdown/Highlights Orioles Series: The Fenway magic once again couldn’t be found as the Red Sox returned home for a quick, three-game series against the division rival Orioles. Connelly Early wasn’t sharp in game one, throwing just 5.2 innings and surrendering four earned runs. The rookie southpaw has a high ceiling but when he’s not sharp then he can get knocked around. The biggest red flag waving for Early at this point is that he’s being beaten hard with home runs in recent starts. Early isn’t the flamethrower his buddy Payton Tolle is, so he has to rely more on his secondaries to live around the zone. He failed to do so in this particular start and got punished for it. Game two saw Tolle toss six shutout innings and make an incredibly athletic jump play, all while striking out five. Ryan Watson pitched the closing three innings, surrendering one earned run and striking out two. Wilyer Abreu hit a ball to the moon and Caleb Durbin continued to showcase his new plate approach, going two for four with one RBI. In the finale, starter Brayan Bello was as advertised, giving up eight earned runs, six in the first inning alone, over five innings of work. His first inning was predictably awful, but he settled in for most of the rest of his start. After the game, Bello was optioned to Triple-A Worcester where he will spend time figuring out how to be a big-league starter again. Yankees Series: Not all is lost in the series against the Evil Empire, since the second game of the three game series will be made up in a double-header on August 29, but we saw both versions of the Red Sox in this two game sample. In game one, Andruw Monasterio and Willson Contreras delivered huge home runs to help power the Red Sox past the Yankees. Sonny Gray tossed 6.1 innings of three-run ball while striking out three. Aroldis Chapman walked two in the bottom of the ninth inning, but otherwise was his typical dominant self. He’s nursing a hamstring injury that Chad Tracy is trying to navigate to give the team the best possible chance at winning, but the velocity is still there. In the Sunday game, Ranger Suarez was fantastic on the bump. He tossed 6.1 innings of one-run baseball, only to be let down by Justin Slaten in the eighth. Slaten surrendered a solo home run to Cody Bellinger. Slaten was then replaced by the newly acquired Joseph De La Sorsa who promptly gave up a three-run home run to Jazz Chisholm Jr. A game that had the potential to be a statement game for the Red Sox was wasted by a leaky bullpen once again. Website Highlights Brayan Bello’s 2026 Crisis: The Cutter That No Longer Cuts by Yirsandy Rodriguez Anthony Seigler’s Well-Deserved Promotion Comes With Strong Praise from Iggy Suarez by Nick John Payton Tolle’s Next Step Forward Will Require Fewer Fastballs by Alex Mayes Red Sox Report Card: Grading Every Player in May by Ryan Salvaggio Looking Ahead 06/08: Red Sox (Connelly Early) @ Rays (Ian Seymour): 6:40 PM EDT 06/09: Red Sox (Payton Tolle) @ Rays (Nick Martinez): 6:40 PM EDT 06/10: Red Sox (TBD) @ Rays (Drew Rasmussen): 1:10 PM EDT 06/11: Day Off 06/12: Rangers (TBD) @ Red Sox (Sonny Gray): 7:10 PM EDT 06/13: Rangers @ Red Sox: 4:`10 PM EDT 06/14: Rangers @ Red Sox: 7:20 PM EDT Sunday Night Baseball View full article

Alan has noted it and Alex will make sure that Alan fixes it in future writings!

Absolutely correct, thank you for catching that.

Pitching for the Boston Red Sox was a mixed bag during the month of May. There were some clear highlights, but for the most part, one of the preseason strengths for this club suffered from inconsistent performances. The pitching staff was bitten by the injury bug during the month of May as well, and that has led to there being more questions than answers outside of the names featured below. There’s room for improvement in both the starting rotation and the bullpen from most arms, but with the summer quickly approaching, we are squarely in ‘put up or shut up’ territory; the pitching staff needs to take a big step forward to help keep the team afloat just outside of the playoff picture. Ranking Red Sox's Best Pitchers in May Honorable mentions: (Bulk reliever) Brayan Bello, Connelly Early #3: Sonny Gray May Stats: 27 IP, 2.00 ERA, 2.71 FIP, 26.2 K%, 8.4 BB%, 1.11 WHIP, 0.8 fWAR Gray has been utterly dominant since he returned from the hamstring injury he suffered on Marathon Monday in April. Throughout the month, he made five starts and notched four wins. He had one rough start that can likely be attributed to the weather (he was throwing in the pouring rain for that start) but even he would say that’s just an excuse and he needed to be better in the moment. During May, he pitched to more than one strikeout per nine innings and kept his walk rate down to three per nine. He’s been incredible at limiting contact but when people have gotten on, he left them on base at the end of each inning at an 85% clip. He’s getting a ton of whiffs now and that is the game that Gray built his career off of. #2: Aroldis Chapman May Stats: 10 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.28 FIP, 38.5 K%, 10.3 BB%, 0.80 WHIP, 0.6 fWAR Chapman occupies a space in the second-best closer in baseball conversation behind Mason Miller, so it may be surprising to see him clock in at number two on this list, but this dominance has come to be expected. Chapman has been better than advertised for the Red Sox for the past two seasons, and his ability to still get massive strikeouts while throwing 100+ mph is just an unfair advantage in the ninth inning. It’s gotten to the point where you just assume no one is scoring when Chapman comes in. While he hasn’t been infallible this season — his walk rate is up and he is allowing a bit more contact than last year — he’s been dominant. The team has kind of forced Chad Tracy’s hand in using Chapman awkwardly, because they tend to go long stretches without requiring a save situation. When he gets the end of the game, even in situations like he was in against the Guardians to end the month, he shoves. For as long as Chapman is in Boston, he’s going to be an imposing presence at the back end of the bullpen. #1: Payton Tolle May Stats: 30.2 IP, 2.35 ERA, 2.59 FIP, 26.1 K%, 5.0 BB%, 0.85 WHIP, 1.0 fWAR The rookie southpaw commands the top spot on this month’s top pitchers because he has been an absolute animal since he was called up to the big leagues. He has only posted two wins over five starts during May, but that’s not due to him being ineffective, it’s due to the defensive lapses behind him and the offense being unable to plate runs with runners in scoring position. Tolle has been striking out more than one batter per nine and walking just under two batters per nine. His fastball mix has been highly touted throughout the start of the season, and it’s proven to be effective during multiple turns through the lineup. He’s working on a curveball that, when he figures it out fully, will likely put him in the ‘ace’ discussion as he builds a résumé worthy of All-Star credentials. His performances in May have been some of the best in the league, and it’s safe to assume that Payton Tolle is going to keep climbing the ladder and step even further into the spotlight with the Red Sox. View full article

In less than one season, Payton Tolle has become a folk hero in Boston. His huge laugh, inviting personality, and transparency have aided in making him arguably the team’s fastest rising star, and he hasn’t even reached his ceiling yet. While he’s taken a significant step forward this season, there’s still room for improvement before he can officially carry the ‘ace’ title that seems to be waiting for him down the road. Let’s dive under the hood just a bit so we can paint a picture of just how great Tolle has been to begin this season. He’s currently sitting on a 2.61 ERA with a 28.6% strikeout rate, a 6.8% walk rate, 2.66 FIP, and 1.4 fWAR. We can also see that Tolle’s expected metrics paint an even better picture. His Baseball Savant page is on fire. His xERA (expected ERA) is lower than his actual ERA at 2.19, good for the 97th percentile. His xBA (expected batting average) is .183, slightly higher than his actual average against at .174, but it shows you just how dominant he has been through 41.1 innings this season. The major knock against him is his groundball rate sits at 34%, but Tolle isn’t a pitch-to-contact style of pitcher. He’s going to throw gas and, hopefully, mess with your timing with a breaking ball that has you swinging out of your shoes for strike three. We already know that Tolle features what the pitching lab is calling a ‘three-headed monster of hard’ that allows him to dominate with his fastball mix. He features a four-seam fastball, sinker, and cutter that all play incredibly well in the zone. His four-seamer brings the heat while he can nibble around the edges of the zone with his sinker and cutter. What is keeping him from the absolute dominance he’s capable of is the back end of his pitch mix. His three fastballs are lethal and work to get him through the lineup the first and second time, but he’s missing something with more bite. Last season, Tolle threw a slider that he’s scrapped this season, along with his change-up and curveball (but neither of them had much success). This season, though, his curveball has become the pitch he’s going to when he’s trying to mess with the hitter’s timing. He’s throwing it slower than he did in 2025, 82.4 mph instead of 83 mph, but he’s getting an inch and a half more glove-side break with it this season. from 5.4” to 6.9”. If we want to see how dominant a southpaw with a breaking put-away pitch can be, just look at the man that pitched opposite Tolle in his last start, old friend Chris Sale. Sale is one of the most dominant pitchers in professional baseball, even at the age of 37. While the pitch mix is drastically different. Sale features a wipeout slider that he employs against both left and right-handed hitters at a 41% clip. That slider is Sale’s main pitch, but it helps to set the stage for what Tolle’s curveball could become. If Tolle can feature it against hitters from both sides of the plate comfortably — he’s currently throwing it 11% against righties and just 5% against lefties — then it becomes his go-to strikeout pitch when he needs to keep hitters off-balance. The biggest knock with Tolle’s curveball is that when he misses with it, he typically leaves it middle-middle, so it can be hit hard. Batters are only hitting .222 against it with an xBA of .177 this year, but it’s going to take real game usage to be able to feature it as prominently as it should be. If we look at the pitch mix from his start against the Braves, we see that he threw 94 pitches but obviously wasn’t trusting anything outside of his fastballs. He threw 54 four-seamers, 26 sinkers, 11 cutters, two curveballs, and one changeup. Those four-seamers play up so well in the zone, but limit his effectiveness when he doesn't have either a breaking or off-speed pitch for them to play off of. The Braves, who Tolle threw against just a week before (it was the first time he saw the same team twice in the same season), were obviously sitting on that fastball. Against Tolle alone, the Braves hit 40 foul balls and every single one of them was on some version of the fastball. It’s a dominant pitch, but when Tolle isn’t trusting his curveball, then the offense can wear him down as they time up his best pitch(es). Payton Tolle arguably has the highest ceiling of any young pitcher not named Garrett Crochet on the Red Sox’s roster; he just has to fully develop a true put-away pitch as he tightens up his major-league arsenal. Tolle is going to be a fan favorite in Boston for a long time, and may even be in the conversation for an extension if President of Baseball Operations Craig Breslow wants to attempt to rebuild some goodwill with the fanbase. He just needs to expand his selection of offerings to keep his opponents guessing a little more frequently. View full article

The end of May is often considered the point in the season where teams solidify their season-long identity. The weather starts to warm up, pitchers have been given enough runway to be fully stretched out, and the injury bug has reared its ugly head across your 26-man roster. Coming into the month, the Boston Red Sox were an awful offensive team; as we turn the corner into the start of Jun, we see that there are a number of guys who are starting to find their footing and contributing in a major way on the offensive side of the baseball. So, let's give some flowers to the team's best hitters from last month. Ranking Red Sox's Best Hitters in May Honorable Mention: Connor Wong May Stats: .276 AVG, .344 OBP, .379 SLG, 33.3 K%, 6.1 BB%, .103 ISO, 102 wRC+ Clocking in at just 33 plate appearances, Wong’s name on this list may be a bit of a surprise, but he’s been quietly good when he’s been given a chance to start behind the dish. He drove in six runners during the month in his limited capacity. It seems as though he will be splitting time behind the plate with Mickey Gasper to catch the Red Sox’s left-handed starters for the time being, so it’s likely he won’t get another shot to crack a hitters of the month article unless he heats up to the point Chad Tracy can’t ignore or the season falls completely off the rails. The home run line rules in Cleveland robbed us of Wong’s first home run in a year and a half and for that, we’re annoyed. Good on you, Connor, for showing everyone that last year was hopefully the absolute basement floor of your professional career and that we're climbing back to something that this team can be excited about. #3: Ceddanne Rafaela May Stats: .286 AVG, .346 OBP, .480 SLG, 19.6 K%, 6.5 BB%, .194 ISO, 127 wRC+ Rafaela has been the best offensive version of himself all season in 2026. In May, he put up a fantastic slash line while homering four times, driving in 13 runners, and swiping six bases. Most impressive, though, are his strikeout and walk rates for the month. We all know that Rafaela has struggled with swinging too freely at non-competitive pitches throughout his career. Over the offseason, he made a concerted effort to fix the holes in his swing and it is paying dividends so far. He’s striking out less than 20 percent of the time and taking walks when he needs to. Chad Tracy has moved him to the two hole in the lineup and he’s come through in big spots already and looks comfortable hitting at the top of the lineup. His Gold Glove defense has been his calling card but if the offensive uptick sticks, and it looks like it’s going to, then Rafaela should be headed to Philadelphia in July to represent the Red Sox in the Midsummer Classic. #2: Willson Contreras May Stats: .315 AVG, .394 OBP, .528 SLG, 21.2 K%, 8.7 BB%, .213 ISO, 151 wRC+ Contreras is the driving force on the offensive side of the baseball for the Red Sox. He’s on pace for a career year in home runs, slugging four in May, and until others started to heat up, he was pretty much the only person you’d assume would come through in a big moment at the plate. He helps to spark the offense with his fiery attitude and he’s shouldered the pressure of being an offensive leader in Boston with ease. Through May, he’s logged 104 plate appearances, driven in 13 runners, and even swiped one base. He logged his 1000th hit earlier in the month after he legged out a triple (he hit two of those in May) and he got on base four times after being hit by a pitch. He’s had some issues with his hand barking a couple of times, so Tracy has had to sit him after a run of consecutive starts, but managing that is going to be part of keeping him in the lineup as much as possible this season. If he were to go down with an injury, the offense looks pretty bleak. #1: Jarren Duran May Stats: .261 AVG, .331 OBP, .548 SLG, 29.2 K%, 8.5 BB%, .287 ISO, 137 wRC+ I’ll gladly admit that I’m letting the end of the month absolutely carry Duran to the top spot on this list. For the majority of the season so far, Duran has looked lost at the plate and overmatched during most at-bats. Some of that can likely be attributed to his inconsistent playing time under Alex Cora and the logjam in the outfield that Craig Breslow has yet to figure out, but the injury to Roman Anthony opened the door for Duran to play daily in the outfield and that seems to have sparked a turnaround for him. He’s tinkered with his plate approach, alternating between his leg kick and a toe tap again, but seems to have landed on keeping the kick and that has impacted his timing in a positive way. He went on a homer tear to end the month, launching nine in total in May while driving in 22 runs and stealing five bases. He’s been back in the leadoff spot and seems to finally be settling down there. Yes, he still has a strikeout problem, but he’s starting to draw walks again and when he’s on base he’s a threat to score from first. Duran coming into form should hopefully mean that the Red Sox are primed to start winning more games. View full article

Boston Red Sox Weekly Snapshot Record Last Week: 3-3 Runs Scored Last Week: 37 Runs Surrendered Last Week: 26 Standings: 5th in AL East 12 GB First Place Transactions: 05/28/26: Red Sox recalled LHP Tyler Samaniego from Worcester Red Sox. 05/28/26: Red Sox placed RHP Garrett Whitlock on the 15-day injured list retroactive to May 25, 2026. Left knee inflammation. Scores: Game 52 (05/26): BOS 6, ATL 7 Game 53 (05/27): BOS 8, ATL 0 Game 54 (05/28): BOS 2, ATL 10 Game 55 (05/29): BOS 3, CLE 4 Game 56 (05/30): BOS 9, CLE 1 Game 57 (05/31): BOS 9, CLE 4 Series Breakdown/Highlights Braves Series: The home woes continued for the Red Sox against the Braves. As of this writing, the Sox are 9-19 at home and they tend to play the most uninspired version of baseball at Fenway Park this season. It’s unfortunate, because the team got after the top of the rotation in the first two games of this series. They hung three earned runs on Spencer Strider and tagged elite reliever Raisel Iglesias for two runs later in the game. Those two runs are the only earned runs he’s given up on the season so far. Unfortunately, the Braves managed to take advantage of Tyron Guerrero’s two-inning relief stint and the Sox were unable to mount a comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning. In game two, the Sox tagged Bryce Elder for five earned runs over 3 ⅓ innings while they held the best offense in baseball scoreless. They didn’t flinch in front of two of the best starters that the National League has to offer. In game three, though, there was a different story. Old friend Chris Sale was slightly better than rookie Payton Tolle through the first five innings, but the Sox’s bullpen just absolutely melted. Danny Coulombe, Greg Weissert, Jovani Moran, and Ryan Watson combined to give up eight earned runs while the calls to either demote or DFA both Coulombe and Weissert have grown louder and louder. It’s a shame Boston couldn’t string two wins together in games one and two because both were winnable against a team that is in a different stratosphere from the Red Sox. Guardians Series: The Red Sox traveled to Cleveland for a date with the AL Central leaders, though by the end of the series, they looked like the better team. Game one was closer than it should have been after opener Tyler Samaniego gave up four earned runs in the first, but Brayan Bello continued to show his dominance as a bulk-reliever by tossing seven scoreless innings. The Red Sox scored three runs off starter Slade Cecconi but defensive lapses were the name of the game early on and the team couldn’t get over that combined with the buzzsaw that is the back of Cleveland’s bullpen. Games two and three saw drastically different offenses than game one. The Sox scored 18 combined runs over those two games while the starting pitching was a bit of a mixed bag, thanks to Ranger Suarez. Sonny Gray tossed six innings of seven strikeout, one-run baseball. Justin Slaten worked more than one inning and kept his velocity up during the outing while striking out two. Ranger Suarez looked visibly upset during the third game, especially after Masataka Yoshida lost a ball in the sun in left field. He settled through five innings but he hasn’t looked as sharp as the Red Sox have needed him to be as of late. The two biggest news stories to come out of this series have to be the fact that Jarren Duran has been red hot to close out the month of May and Caleb Durbin seems to have figured out his plate approach. If both of them can be even league average hitters, the Red Sox may be onto something. Website Highlights Red Sox’s Identity has Collapsed During Team-Wide Power Outage by Yirsandy Rodriguez Jake Bennett Is Restoring Faith in Red Sox’s Pitching Depth by Nick John Boston Red Sox Flashing more of the Same Despite Manager, Coaching Staff Changes by Jordan Leandre Looking Ahead 06/01: Day Off 06/02: Orioles (Shane Baz) @ Red Sox (Connelly Early): 6:45 PM EDT 06/03: Orioles (Chris Bassitt) @ Red Sox (Payton Tolle) 6:45 PM EDT 06/04: Orioles (Trevor Rogers) @ Red Sox (TBD): 1:35 PM EDT 06/05: Red Sox @ Yankees: 7:05 PM EDT 06/06: Red Sox @ Yankees: 7:35 PM EDT 06/07: Red Sox @ Yankees: 1:35 PM EDT View full article

Boston Red Sox Weekly Snapshot Record Last Week: 3-3 Runs Scored Last Week: 27 Runs Surrendered Last Week: 23 Standings: 5th in AL East 13 GB First Place Transactions: 05/19/26: Red Sox sent LHP Danny Coulombe on a rehab assignment to the Worcester Red Sox. 05/22/26: Red Sox selected the contract of RHP Tyron Guerrero from the Worcester Red Sox. 05/22/26: Red Sox optioned RHP Zack Kelly to Worcester Red Sox. 05/24/26: Red Sox optioned LHP Tyler Samaniego to Worcester Red Sox. 05/25/26: Red Sox activated LHP Danny Coulombe from the 15-day injured list. Scores: Game 46 (05/18): BOS 3, KC 1 Game 47 (05/19): BOS 7, KC 1 Game 48 (05/20): BOS 4, KC 3 Game 49 (05/22): BOS 6, MIN 8 Game 50 (05/23): BOS 2, MIN 4 Game 51 (05/24): BOS 5, MIN 6 Series Breakdown/Highlights Royals Series: The Red Sox have swept two teams this year and both were penciled in to win the AL Central at one point or another. That should give any fan of this team something to grab onto to celebrate but, both the Tigers and the Royals are pretty much in the same boat as the Red Sox are in right now, so sweeping the latter in late May doesn’t feel like the giant victory that it should. Game one saw Willson Contreras stay hot and smoke a long home run into the rain soaked night in Kansas City behind a six-inning, nine strikeout performance from Sonny Gray. Justin Slaten, Garrett Whitlock, and Aroldis Chapman held down the back third of the game and put it away easily. In game two, the offense woke up thanks to a ninth-inning onslaught that was sparked by a Jarren Duran three-run home run. Ranger Suarez didn’t look his typical dominant self during the game, only going 4 ⅓ innings with three strikeouts, but he was serviceable enough to make sure the game didn’t get out of hand. Game three saw familiar face Michael Wacha toss six innings of one-run baseball, until Duran went deep against a Royals bullpen that has been struggling all season. The sweep should have marked a turnaround in the Red Sox’s season as they were about to matchup with the underperforming Twins to kick off the next homestand, but things don’t always work out how they should. Twins Series: It’s safe to say that the Red Sox can’t play cohesive baseball against the Twins. In back-to-back series against middling AL Central teams, the Sox should have back-to-back sweeps. Instead, they are heading into their series against the Braves after being swept by the Twins. In game one, the Fenway Green magic wasn’t to be found. Payton Tolle pitched six innings while giving up three earned runs and striking out nine. Like almost every other start for the young southpaw, this should have been a victory. Slaten came on in relief and promptly gave up two home runs, good for four earned runs. The offense failed to pick Slaten up after the meltdown and game one was a loss. In game two, Brayan Bello moved back to his second inning entrance behind Jovani Moran to decent success. It’s become clear that Moran likely doesn’t need to act as an opener again because he has allowed multiple earned runs each time he’s done it, but Bello seems to operate at his best when he doesn’t actually start the game. He tossed five innings with five strikeouts. The offense went mostly cold, save for RBIs from Ceddanne Rafaela and, shockingly, Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Game three arguably shouldn’t have been played, but that was a call that Major League Baseball made since the two clubs won’t see each other again this season. The weather prevented clean baseball from either club, but the Twins came out on top after a fluke-filled bottom of the ninth came up just short for the Sox. Gray had his worst start since returning from the IL, only tossing four innings with three earned runs and four strikeouts. The two bright spots from this game were that Masataka Yoshida hit his first home run of the season, and Marcelo Mayer finally started at shortstop. This team is built to play great defense behind superb pitching. Both the defense and the bullpen let this team down in each game of this series. Website Highlights Red Sox Turnaround Timeline: When Does “Still Early” Stop Applying? by Ryan Painter Sonny Gray Has Mastered the Kitchen Sink Approach to Pitching by Jack Lindsay What More Does Justin Gonzalez Need to Do to Get Promoted? by Nick John Ceddanne Rafaela is Officially a Red Sox Building Block by Alex Mayes Looking Ahead May 26: Braves (Spencer Strider) @ Red Sox (Ranger Suarez): 6:45 PM EDT May 27: Braves (Bryce Elder) @ Red Sox (Connelly Early): 6:45 PM EDT May 28: Braves (Chris Sale) @ Red Sox (TBD): 4:10 PM EDT May 29: Red Sox @ Guardians: 7:10 PM EDT May 30: Red Sox @ Guardians: 4:10 PM EDT May 31: Red Sox @ Guardians: 1:40 PM EDT View full article

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it 100 times here on Talk Sox, I’m a Brayan Bello guy. I followed his journey through the system and into the Show with a ton of interest. I celebrated when he was named the Opening Day starter in 2024 and then felt myself get increasingly let down by every emotional outburst and meltdown that started off that season. After the July 4 series in Miami though, Bello began to change. The outbursts stopped and Bello went deeper into games, Then, in 2025, he was on fire to begin the season. He looked like a legitimate number two option to slot in behind ace Garrett Crochet for much of the season. Then as we drew towards the playoffs, he started to fall off a cliff. When his name was called to start game two of the 2025 Wild Card series, he was on the shortest leash imaginable. This season, he reported back to spring training from the World Baseball Classic where he wasn’t getting as much work as both he and the team hoped he would, and the belief was he would slot in nicely as the hybrid number three/four starter for the team this season. Things haven’t gone according to plan. As a true starter this season Bello currently holds a 9.68 ERA over 30 2/3s innings pitched with an opposing slash line of .370/.437/.440. He’s both struck out and walked 18 batters while allowing 10 home runs and 33 earned runs. When you look at his ERA each time the lineup flips over, it makes things look even more dire. The first time through, Bello has 7.11 ERA. The second time through it goes up to a 9.00 ERA. The third time it's a staggering 18.00 ERA. In short, he’s been awful. Abysmal even. I’ve already taken a dive into the mechanical and pitch mix changes that seem to have been plaguing Bello throughout the season, but at this point the answer is pretty clear: Bello no longer needs to be in the starting rotation for the Boston Red Sox. Bello has worked with an “opener”, or as a long reliever coming in after a bullpen arm started the game, three times this season, and the results have been more or less spectacular. In his first two outings, he tossed 13 ⅓ innings in this long relief role and held a 1.35 ERA with 12 strikeouts and one walk. He’s only allowed two earned runs to boot. Then, he produced another nice outing this weekend, holding the Twins to two (unearned) runs over five frames of work. Each game he’s entered as after the opener haven’t been clean for Jovani Moran, but Bello never seemed bothered. He toed the rubber with poise and pitched deep into those games. He seems to have more control over his pitches and has a confidence that doesn’t show up when he starts games. What is maybe most impressive is that his strikeout rate goes from 11.3% as a starter to 24..5% out of the bullpen and his walk rate drops from 11.3% to 4.1% in the same situation. As a reliever, Bello’s ERA each turn through the rotation is incredible. In his first two long-relief outings, through both the first and second turns, he’d posted a 1.93 ERA. Through the third turn, he’s at a flat zero. While the opener route isn’t the most conventional, this wouldn’t be the first time that the Red Sox opted to go this route to try and salvage a starter’s poor start to the season. Just a few years ago, the team did this exact same thing with RHP Nick Pivetta. Pivetta started the season in a less-than-ideal fashion and was moved, against his will at the time, to the bullpen. While he complained at the beginning of the experiment, it ended up salvaging that season in Boston and likely helped propel him into the contract he signed in the 2025 offseason with the Padres. Bello, like Pivetta, is searching for consistency as a starter and has proven that he’s effective when he’s used out of the bullpen for multiple innings. The role of a second-inning starter doesn’t make a ton of sense on paper, but it seems to be working for Brayan Bello. After two successful long-relief appearances he was given a true start against the best offense in baseball, the Braves. Things went about as poorly as you would expect. While interim manager Chad Tracy has seemingly pushed most of the right buttons for the Red Sox, that previous start showed he didn’t quite have his finger on the pulse of what was best for Bello. While Tracy won’t fully commit to going with an opener for Bello from here on out, choosing to instead say that it’s going to be matchup dependent, it’s pretty clear to everyone watching that Bello needs the stability of seeing the opposing lineup take hacks against someone else first. View full article

The Boston Red Sox have all the makings of a strong foundation on the 2026 roster, they just need everything to come together. Roman Anthony was playing well below his ability when a right wrist sprain sidelined him on May 7; Marcelo Mayer has been playing Gold Glove-caliber defense at second and his bat seems to be slowly heating up; Wilyer Abreu has been the best offensive player on the team and is squarely in the conversion to take home a third straight Gold Glove in right field. The name flying under the radar when it comes to foundational pieces, though, is Ceddanne Rafaela. He signed an eight-year, $50 million contract before the 2024 season that will keep him around through 2031 and is only paying out an average annual value of $6.25 million a season. Talk about an absolute steal. The player he’s most consistently compared to, the Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong, signed a six-year, $115 million contract before the 2026 season. If Rafaela keeps playing like he currently is, his contract could be the steal of the league and he should be viewed as a major building block for this franchise moving forward. In the easiest of all discussions, Rafaela’s defense is arguably second to none in Major League Baseball. He’s as sure of a thing as you can be in center field and the discussion about moving him to second base ever again needs to be over. According to Baseball Savant, Rafaela currently is in the 99th percentile with an astonishing +6 Outs Above Average and the 81st percentile in Arm Strength. His expected catch percentage is at 87%, but his actual catch percentage outpaces that at 93%. If there’s a ball hit to center field, you can just feel that Rafaela is going to be able to track it down in a way that looks routine but is often anything but. The start of the season was flukey, and he misplayed a few balls that tanked his defensive metrics, but he’s shined since then and has all but completely righted the ship. I had the opportunity to see this catch in St. Louis in person and no one in the stadium believed he’d actually get to this ball, let alone make the catch. Even Cardinals fans gave him a standing ovation as he ran off the field at the end of the inning. What’s been most surprising for Rafaela though, is his offense has finally come around. He’s currently slashing .284/.354/.432 with a .352 wOBA, 120 wRC+, and 1.4 fWAR. Interim manager Chad Tracy has moved Rafaela up in the lineup since Alex Cora was fired, but the center fielder has stayed solid and produced from any position in the lineup he’s been asked to hit in. What is arguably more impressive is that the swing-and-miss has started to leave his profile; his strikeout percentage is 22% so far this season, but his walk rate is the highest it’s been in his career at 6.1%. While that’s not an ideal figure, you’ll take it on a guy who, up to this point, was willing to swing at anything that was thrown his way at the plate. His plate discipline has been so much better in 2026 and no matter which manager has been calling the shots, it’s obvious that they trust him to come through when it matters most. Plus, his clutch gene has been on display again this season. With incredible defense and an improved offensive profile, Ceddanne Rafaela may be the biggest bargain on the roster right now. His contract is incredibly team friendly and he’s playing way above how much money he’s making. Don’t be surprised if Craig Breslow receives calls around Rafaela if the team continues this downward trajectory, but it would be foolish for the front office to circle him as a piece worth moving. Ceddanne Rafaela will likely be an All-Star for the Red Sox this year and for good reason. He’s been showing out in all facets of the game in 2026. He’s a foundational piece as the team starts to turn their attention to 2027 and beyond, and his contract means the team has more money to allocate for other names to bring in to help make the team better and, hopefully, compete for a World Series championship in the near future. View full article

Boston Red Sox Weekly Snapshot Record Last Week: 2-4 Runs Scored Last Week: 11 Runs Surrendered Last Week: 19 Standings: 5th in AL East 11.5 GB First Place Transactions: 05/15/26: Red Sox sent LHP Danny Coulombe on a rehab assignment to Portland Sea Dogs. 05/15/26: Red Sox recalled 1B Nick Sogard from Worcester Red Sox. 05/15/26: Red Sox placed SS Trevor Story on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 15, 2026. Sports hernia. Scores: Game 40 (05/12): BOS 1, PHI 2 Game 41 (05/13): BOS 3, PHI 1 Game 42 (05/14): BOS 1, PHI 3 Game 43 (05/15): BOS 2, ATL 3 Game 44 (05/16): BOS 3, ATL 2 Game 45 (05/17): BOS 1, ATL 8 Series Breakdown/Highlights Phillies Series: Much like every other series this season, the Phillies series was defined by stellar starts from the Red Sox that couldn’t be backed up with any sort of offense. Time and time again, Boston had opposing pitchers on the ropes with runners in scoring position and they failed to capitalize. Maybe the biggest flaw in the Red Sox’s offensive approach is that they can’t get deep into counts. In the first game of this series they saw a combined 16 pitches through the first three innings against Zack Wheeler, who is still working his way back from a medical procedure and isn’t quite the pitcher the Phillies need him to be. In game two, the Red Sox managed to ride Sonny Gray’s best start of the season to a win, thanks in large part to some excellent defense from Willson Contreras and Marcelo Mayer. Ranger Suarez shoved in his return to action against his former club, tossing 5 ⅓ innings with eight strikeouts, one walk, and zero earned runs. Wilyer Abreu also kept his hot streak against left-handed pitching going against the Phillies. Maybe the best thing to happen during this part of the week was when Garrett Crochet began throwing off a mound. Braves Series: The series against the Braves was more of the same, except for terrible starting pitching in the rubber match on Sunday. Why the decision to abandon the opener for Brayan Bello was made is something that will be discussed for the next few days as the club looks to rebound, but it’s obvious he’s not cut out for a full starter’s role at this point in the season. Connelly Early and Payton Tolle both got tagged by Drake Baldwin to start games one and two, but they settled in nicely. As it currently stands, the two rookies are the brightest spots of the Red Sox’s rotation. They carry themselves like veterans and have an infectious energy each time they step on the mound. Game one ended in an extra-inning walk-off for the Braves, but the Red Sox were mostly in it despite some defensive miscues from Caleb Durbin at the hot corner. Game two saw Tolle toss eight innings of three strikeout baseball, but the defense behind him picked him up and made sure he secured the win. Game three was over by the end of the first inning. In other news, Trevor Story landed on the injured list with a sports hernia during this series. Website Highlights Payton Tolle Has Earned A Long-Term Spot In the Red Sox’s Rotation by Nick John The Red Sox Are One of Baseball’s Fastest Teams, but Gosh Are They Bad At Manufacturing Runs by Maddie Landis Red Sox must Balance Andruw Monasterio’s Bat & Glove Following Trevor Story’s Injury by Gottie Chavez Wilyer Abreu Has Covered Up His Greatest Weakness This Season by Alex Mayes Looking Ahead May 18: Red Sox (Sonny Gray) @ Royals (Seth Lugo): 7:40 PM EDT May 19: Red Sox (Ranger Suarez) @ Royals (Kris Bubic): 7:40 PM EDT May 20: Red Sox (Connelly Early) @ Royals (Michael Wacha): 7:40 PM EDT May 22: Twins @ Red Sox: 7:10 PM EDT May 23: Twins @ Red Sox: 4:10 PM EDT May 24: Twins @ Red Sox: 1:35 PM EDT View full article