Alex Mayes

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

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

There was a lot of confusion around the league when the Boston Red Sox inked Isiah Kiner-Falefa to a one year, $6 million contract late in the offseason. The thought was that he didn’t make much sense as a veteran addition to a team that had rookie Marcelo Mayer, Caleb Durbin, Nate Eaton, and an injured Romy Gonzalez already under contract for the season. Sure, he’s a veteran presence in a very young clubhouse but at what cost? Mayer needs to be playing at second every day, even against left-handed pitchers, and Gonzalez is looking to return in just over a month if Chad Tracy still believes that Mayer needs a platoon partner at the keystone. It’s time for the Red Sox to cut their losses and move on from Isiah Kiner-Falefa. If we just look at the numbers, they paint the picture of a veteran who is likely past his prime and struggling with the looks he’s given. He’s only played in 19 games with 42 plate appearances. He’s currently slashing .205/.244/.205 with a zero fWAR and a 23 wRC+. If you look at his Baseball Savant page, he’s not qualified for any of the batting metrics but the stats we have are less than ideal. When he’s at the plate, he’s striking out just 16.7% of the time, but his walk rate is an abysmal 4.8%. His chase rate is 44.4% and he’s only barreling 3.1% of the pitches he makes contact with. He’s as close to an automatic out as you can be at this point in his career. He’s starting against left-handed starters as Mayer is eased into the role of an every day big leaguer, but Mayer has looked at least competent against most southpaws he’s been allowed to face. Any at-bat that Kiner-Falefa is taking from Mayer is doing a disservice to Mayer’s growth and the future of the organization. There was some hope, before the news of Garrett Crochet’s injury broke, that when Nate Eaton was called up at the end of April that maybe Kiner-Falefa had been DFA’d, but that wasn’t meant to be at the time. The saving grace in all of this is Romy Gonzalez is nearing his return to the club. He’s responded well to his shoulder surgery and has been playing catch and taking grounders during the most recent homestand. While he’s not close to game action yet, he’s started baseball activities and that means the next step should be a rehab assignment with a minor league club. Once Gonzalez is big league ready, it’s likely safe to assume that a Kiner-Falefa DFA would be the most logical corresponding move. Gonzalez has been a contributor to this team in recent seasons and has both a higher floor and ceiling than Kiner-Falefa possesses at this point in his career. Romy mashes left-handed pitchers and plays valuable defense at all infield positions. His skillset makes Kiner-Falefa a redundant, and expensive, bench piece that will only see his playing time decrease once the season heats up in late June. Isaiah Kiner-Falefa is a journeyman utility player that has put together a decent professional career. While he was likely brought in due to the nature of Gonzalez's injury, he should be the first name called once Romy is ready to join the big league club. Kiner-Falefa’s skillset is obviously diminishing and he’s taking time away from younger players who need more exposure to at-bats during major league action. It’s rare for Craig Breslow to admit when he made a mistake, but he can save a bit of face by releasing Kiner-Falefa the second Romy Gonzalez is ready to join the club. View full article

While there hasn’t been much going right for the Boston Red Sox so far this season, arguably the biggest bright spot has been Wilyer Abreu. Defensively, Abreu has been his usual self by making amazing catches in right field to help prevent runs from scoring. He’s well on his way to winning his third straight Gold Glove this season, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone. Yet the best part of his 2026 season has been that the platoon training wheels have now been taken off, and he’s finally able to fully showcase what he’s capable of doing on the offensive side of the baseball. As of the week of May 11, Abreu is slashing .295/.377/.473 with a .375 wOBA, 134 wRC+, and 1.4 fWAR over 39 games. He’s launched six home runs, stolen three bases, and added 18 RBIs to his ledger. Dive a bit deeper, and we can see that Abreu has been absolutely dominant against left-handed pitchers. He’s come up to bat 48 times against southpaws and is slashing .372/.417/.488 with a .400 wOBA and 150 wRC+. He’s only hit one home run and has five RBIs when hitting against same-handed pitchers, but he’s getting on base at a massive clip and that puts him in position to score runs. We’re seeing a few different factors that contribute to his success against lefties at the plate. First, Abreu has actually slowed down his bat speed from last season from 74.1 MPH to 73.6 MPH. While this isn’t a huge change, it’s enough that it’s allowing him to leave the head of his bat in the zone for longer. He’s squaring up 30.8% of all of his swings this season, good for the second-best rate in his career. The bat speed isn’t the only difference this season, though. He’s currently standing the shallowest he’s ever been in the box at 29.6”, up from 31.4” when he entered the league in 2023. He’s widened his stance from 30.6” last season to 33.3” this season and has opened up his stance by three degrees from 25 degrees open to 28 degrees open. What explains his uptick across the board against southpaws though is that he’s now standing 27.3” off the plate. This, along with his slightly slower swing, allows for the sweet spot of his bat to travel through the zone for longer. While we haven’t quite seen the power he's accustomed to, he’s hitting screaming line drives into gaps that allow him to reach extra bases. The one knock against his new mechanics is that he’s lowered his attack angle from nine degrees last year to seven degrees this year while upping his tilt from 31 degrees to 33 degrees. In a perfect world, that slight change in tilt would force Abreu to get the ball in the air more, but his attack angle is forcing the ball to play lower once it leaves his bat. He’s also altered his attack direction from one degree to the pull-side to one degree to the opposite field. We all know that playing in Fenway Park for left-handed hitters means that to become great at home, you need to become friends with The Green Monster and learn how to use it. The stats show us that Abreu, while not quite driving the ball to the Monster, is at least starting to spray hits to left field. As he finds a harmony between his new mechanics, then we’ll likely start to see him punish the Monster when he’s not pulling home runs to the bullpen at home. This season almost felt like a make-or-break season for Wilyer Abreu, even with his defensive accomplishments. We needed to see him take multiple at-bats against left-handed pitchers and perform well in those situations. So far, so good on that front. In fact, he’s been outstanding. The Red Sox are underperforming, but so is pretty much the entire American League. If Abreu stays hot, he can be the spark that finally gets this team out of the gutter. Maybe it’s even time to re-explore those extension talks from last season, but that’s a conversation for another day. View full article

Boston Red Sox Weekly Snapshot Record Last Week: 4-2 Runs Scored Last Week: 26 Runs Surrendered Last Week: 19 Standings: 5th in AL East 9.5 GB First Place Transactions: 05/06/26: Red Sox optioned LHP Alec Gamboa to Worcester Red Sox. 05/06/26: Red Sox activated RHP Sonny Gray from the 15-day injured listed. 05/06/26: Red Sox sent RHP Justin Slaten on a rehab assignment to Worcester Red Sox. 05/07/26: Red Sox recalled C Mickey Gasper from Worcester Red Sox. 05/07/26: Red Sox signed free agent RHP Raymond Burgos to a minor league contract. 05/07/26: Red Sox placed LF Roman Anthony on the 10-day injured list retroactive to May 5, 2026. Right wrist sprain. 05/08/26: Red Sox recalled RHP Jack Anderson from Worcester Red Sox. 05/08/26: Red Sox optioned LHP Jake Bennett to Worcester Red Sox. 05/09.26: Red Sox optioned RHP Jack Anderson to Worcester Red Sox. 05/09/26: Red Sox activated RHP Justin Slaten from the 15-day injured list. 05/09/26: Red Sox signed free agent RHP Leonel Figuera to a minor league contract. 05/09/26: Red Sox signed free agent RHP Juan Verdus to a minor league contract. Scores: Game 34 (05/04): BOS 5, DET 4 Game 35 (05/05): BOS 10, DET 3 Game 36 (05/06): BOS 4, DET 0 Game 37 (05/07): BOS 4, TB 8 Game 38 (05/08): BOS 2, TB 0 Game 39 (05/10): BOS 1, TB 4 Series Breakdown/Highlights Tigers Series: The beginning of the week saw three straight games of the best baseball the Red Sox have played all season. Granted, they lucked out by two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal going on the injured list before game one, but they took advantage of a gifted situation and won a game that shouldn’t have been a one-run victory. Garrett Whitlock allowed two runs in the eighth inning to give everyone a bit of an uneasy feeling, but Payton Tolle was able to lock up his first major-league win after pitching through a torrential downpour for two innings by turning in the best start of his career. He threw seven innings of two-run baseball, neither earned, while striking out eight. Game two is where we saw the fireworks, in more ways than one. The Red Sox have always had a propensity for picking up pitcher tells and pitch grips when they are on second and Tuesday was no exception. The Red Sox tagged starter Framber Valdez for seven earned runs, four of those being home runs. Valdez gave up back-to-back moonshots to Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu, then promptly threw at Trevor Story. Benches cleared, Valdez was ejected, and the Red Sox kept rolling. Overshadowed by the offense was just how good Brayan Bello was coming in after an opener for game two. He tossed seven innings with seven strikeouts, one walk, and one earned run. The finale of the series saw Sonny Gray return from the injured list and pitched decently against the Tigers. The team secured their first series sweep of the season against a team that is penciled in to win their division, even if their ace wasn’t able to pitch during it. Rays Series: We had our first reschedule due to rain during the series against the Rays. The Saturday game will be made up on July 17. Game one saw rookie Jake Bennett get tagged for four runs, but the Red Sox fought to stay in the game. Unfortunately for them, Greg Weissert and Ryan Watson had other plans. They allowed four more Rays to score and the late game push to even things up came up short. In game two, the Sox kept the Fenway Green magic rolling by shutting out the Rays behind seven innings and eight strikeouts from Connelly Early. The rookie southpaw showed he was the correct option to take Johan Oviedo’s rotation spot at the end of spring training and is mostly trending up with each start. The reschedule gave Payton Tolle another day of rest but he couldn’t score runs on his own. He gave up three earned, but the eye test looked far better than what the line showed. Unfortunately, Willson Contreras was hit on the hand early in the game and was replaced by Andruw Monasterio. Scans on Willson’s hand came back negative, but manager Chad Tracy said he was very sore. They’ll reevaluate him on the Monday off day and move forward with that information. If there’s one player the Red Sox can’t afford to lose right now, it’s Contreras. Website Highlights Red Sox Minor League Recap: Anthony Eyanson’s Dominance Continues Despite Shaky Red Sox Affiliates by Ben Lofy Boston Red Sox Minor League Pitchers of the Month: April 2026 by Nick John Red Sox Report Cards: Grading Every Boston Pitcher for March/April by Ryan Salvaggio Justin Slaten is More Than Ready For His Return to Boston by Nick John Looking Ahead May 12: Phillies (Zack Wheeler) @ Red Sox (TBD): 6:45 PM EDT May 13: Phillies (Andrew Painter) @ Red Sox (Sonny Gray): 6:45 PM EDT May 14: Phillies (Jesus Luzardo) @ Red Sox (Ranger Suarez): 6:45 PM EDT May 15: Red Sox @ Braves: 7:15 PM EDT May 16: Red Sox @ Braves: 7:15 PM EDT May 17: Red Sox @ Braves: 1:35 PM EDT View full article

Boston Red Sox Weekly Snapshot Record Last Week: 2-4 Runs Scored Last Week:13 Runs Surrendered Last Week: 21 Standings: 5th in AL East 10 GB First Place Transactions: 04/29/26: Red Sox recalled OF Nate Eaton from Worcester Red Sox. 04/29/26: Red Sox placed LHP Garrett Crochet on the 15-day injured list retroactive to 04/26/26. Left shoulder inflammation. 04/30/26: Red Sox optioned OF Nate Eaton to Worcester Red Sox. 05/01/26: Red Sox recalled LHP Jake Bennett from Worcester Red Sox. Scores: Game 28 (4/27): BOS 5, TOR 0 Game 29 (4/28): BOS 0, TOR 3 Game 30 (4/29): BOS 1, TOR 8 Game 31 (5/01): BOS 3, HOU 1 Game 32 (5/02): BOS 3, HOU 6 Game 33 (5/03): BOS , HOU 3 Series Breakdown/Highlights Blue Jays Series: The Red Sox never really looked overmatched by Dylan Cease during the first game of the series. Ranger Suarez was magical for the Sox, tossing eight scoreless innings, giving up only one hit while striking out 10 on the night. The offense seemed to be firing on all cylinders against one of the better starters in the league and maybe, just maybe, there was some hope for a turnaround on the horizon. Then games two and three happened. The offense fell back into their ways of not working at-bats, leaving the top half of innings in 10 pitches or less on more than one occasion. Trey Yesavage out-dueled Payton Tolle, who was clearly laboring through arm fatigue after pitching just four days prior, in game two. Then, game three gave us another forgettable outing from Brayan Bello, who looks like a shell of the Bello we saw last season. Astros Series: The Fenway Greens were out in full force during game one of the series. The game was circled on some people’s calendars solely because the pitching matchup had ‘TBD’ for the opener instead of Garrett Crochet. He landed on the 15-day IL with left shoulder inflammation and LHP Jake Bennett was called up to make the start. He pitched well, tossing five innings one one-run baseball while striking out three. Jarren Duran’s bat seemed to finally be waking up as he was good for all three runs the Sox scored in the victory after he put a three-run home run into the seats behind the home bullpen. On Saturday though, Connelly Early looked far from sharp. He surrendered five earned runs over four innings, mostly due to the fact he couldn’t command his pitches at all during the outing. In the final game of the series, Duran was responsible for the lone run with another home run, but Zack Kelly allowed two runs in extra innings to let the game slip away. Ranger Suarez was pitching well, striking out three through four innings but as he walked off the field after the fourth, he seemed to tell Andrew Bailey that he wasn’t going back out. It later was revealed that he was removed due to right hamstring tightness. The bigger story of the entire series was that the Red Sox couldn’t do anything with runners in scoring position. The Astros were begging them to score runs in both game two and three and the Red Sox just couldn’t do it. The bases were loaded multiple times in both games and the team couldn’t do anything to get runners across. Website Highlights Chad Tracy Knows the Red Sox’s Immediate Bullpen Answers Lie in Worcester by Nick John Red Sox Copium: Can an MLB Team Fire Its Manager and Still Make the Playoffs by Maddie Landis Pitching at a Premium: Do the Red Sox Have Enough to Survive Crochet’s Shoulder Injury? by Ryan Salvaggio Brayan Bello’s Struggles Won’t be Easily Fixed by a New Red Sox Coaching Staff by Alex Mayes Looking Ahead May 4: Red Sox (Payton Tolle) @ Tigers (TBD): 6:40 PM EDT May 5: Red Sox (Brayan Bello) @ Tigers (TBD): 6:40 PM EDT May 6: Red Sox (TBD) @ Tigers (TBD): 6:40 PM EDT May 7: Rays @ Red Sox: 7:10 PM EDT May 8: Rays @ Red Sox: 7:10 PM EDT May 9: Rays @ Red Sox: 4:10 PM EDT May 10: Rays @ Red Sox: 1:35 PM EDT View full article

Much like most of the offense, the Boston Red Sox's pitching staff left quite a bit to be desired in April. For a team that was built around elite starting pitching, the rotation has been surprisingly ineffective thus far. As the month closed the top two arms in the rotation, Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray, were on the injured list and were working their way back to form. That leaves us a limited group of pitchers to choose from, but there are a few standouts who deserve their flowers for trying to hold things together before May. Ranking Red Sox's Best Pitchers In April #3: Aroldis Chapman Chapman gets the number three spot because he’s seen fairly limited action, but he’s been mostly solid when called upon. For the month of April, he posted a 1.35 ERA, 2.25 FIP, a 12.15% K/9, and a 4.05 BB/9. He’s been less sharp than he was last year, but he’s still a dependable closer for the team. There was some initial concern about his lack of velocity early in the season, but he’s been ramping back up to his usual high-90s fastball that tops out above 100 mph when he needs it to. What’s interesting is he seems to be throwing his off-speed pitches a bit more this year instead of just reaching back and throwing gas, so he may be looking to ease some of the stress that years of hurling fireballs has put on his left arm. #2: Connelly Early Early appeared in five games in April and posted a 3.08 ERA, 5.16 FIP, 7.52 K/9, 4.10 BB/9, and an impressive 42.5% groundball percentage. The rookie southpaw has been arguably the most consistent arm throughout April and posted the best start of his career against the Orioles to close the month out. He’s lost a bit of velocity this season, but has showcased his ability to get into the upper-90s when necessary. The biggest knock against Early right now is that he seems quite impacted by the weather on his start days, and he’s sometimes struggled to get past the fourth inning, even when things are going well. That being said, he’s shown a ton of potential so far this season and has the makings of a top-of-the-rotation arm as long as he can remain durable enough to turn over a lineup more than twice. #1: Ranger Suarez Suarez had a rough start to the season, but he has settled down nicely to end the month. He turned in a 2.35 ERA over 30 2/3 innings in April, posting a 2.66 FIP, 1.0 fWAR, and a .208 BABIP. He left 72% of runners on base during the month and worked deep into a handful of games. It’s likely no coincidence that the team’s strongest offers often coincided with Suarez’s best starts of the season. He’s almost the antithesis of the program that Craig Breslow and Andrew Bailey are running; he’s not a fireballer and his K/9 only sits at 7.63 for the month, but he’s effective at getting groundball outs, so long as the defense behind him plays up to par. Suarez felt like a panic signing after the team missed on bringing back Alex Bregman but as April waged on, we started to see the same version of Suarez that helped bring the Phillies to the postseason over the last few seasons. While his contract may be a bit of an albatross in a few years, if he’s going to continue to produce numbers like he did in April, then he’s going to be someone that fans enjoy supporting while he’s on the mound, regardless of what happens during the games he doesn’t start. Not all hope has been lost in Boston, as Crochet and Gray are both nearing their returns and as long as they are able to pitch like we’ve seen in the past, then the Red Sox should be in a better place. The offense can’t be ice cold forever, so everyone on this list should get ample opportunities to either put games away or pitch their way late into games behind multiple runs of support. Chapman, Early, and Suarez weren’t the only bright spots on the pitching side of things, but their performances in April offered the kind of optimism that has been sorely lacking over the past six weeks. View full article