Ryan Salvaggio

When The Police said they were “sending out an SOS to the world” their hope was that someone would get their message in a bottle. The message I’m sending out to Craig Breslow on behalf of all Boston Red Sox fans in the form of an SOS is a simple one: "Secure One Starter." After witnessing the Red Sox end up with Dustin May in the dying seconds of the MLB trade deadline last year, it was refreshing to see Craig Breslow take a more proactive approach in addressing one of the club’s biggest needs this season, acquiring right-handed power bat Curtis Mead from the Nationals in exchange for left-handed starter Connelly Early. While a risky one given that this is Mead’s first true breakout season and Early had quickly developed into a fan-favorite pitcher, the move showed Breslow was willing to be more on the attack rather than waiting around for the perfect deal to develop only to end up with scraps when it’s all said and done. [Though, of course, injury news regarding both players has sent that deal into baseball purgatory.] As fans and reporters now speculate what could be coming next for the Sox, both Jeff Passan and Alex Speier have given some insights into their next target, with Passan taking to X to answer a fan trade question with a somewhat vague “there will be more”, and Speier joining the NESN booth during Monday night’s game versus the Athletics to inform viewers that the team is interested in pitching, specifically rotation depth, which they were already looking into before trading Early. The idea of adding to the bullpen for some needed depth was also brought up in the discussion between Speier and NESN’s Mike Monaco and Lou Merloni, prompting Merloni to agree and remind viewers that you can never have too many bullpen arms. And while that statement does ring true and is a definite area the Sox should look to add to, their next pivotal addition should come via adding another arm to the starting rotation. While some fans may think that a group that has featured arguably the best five-man attack in baseball in Sonny Gray, Ranger Suarez, Payton Tolle, Jake Bennett, and Patrick Sandoval doesn’t need to be the primary focus over adding another bat— specifically at the shortstop or catcher positions—or taking some stress off the likes of Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock with an acquisition for the back-end of the bullpen, it never hurts to have more pitching. There are plenty of examples to point to as to why Breslow’s next move should come via adding another arm, preferably of the solidified veteran variety, to said rotation. For starters (no pun intended), it would be in the club’s best interest to avoid another situation like 2025, where the Red Sox were in need of rotation depth and Breslow, after balking at adding Joe Ryan or Merrill Kelly, had to settle for the disaster that was Dustin May. Sure it gave the Sox depth, but once he was injured, joining the likes of Richard Fitts, Hunter Dobbins, Tanner Houck, and eventually Lucas Giolito, it left Boston heading into their playoff series against the Yankees with Garrett Crochet and a prayer. This time around, the options are definitely better equipped in terms of experience, with Ranger Suarez (42.2 postseason innings) and Sonny Gray (30.1 innings) better suited to ease in postseason newcomers Tolle, Sandoval, and Bennett, who have one-third of an inning pitched in the playoffs between the three. With age comes experience, and an additional rotation arm can ease the workload of Gray, something that Chad Tracy and Andrew Bailey will surely like to do for the 36-year old who has been a workhorse thus far, tallying 106.2 innings over 19 starts. When it comes to Suarez, his concerns lie in the health department, an area where the Red Sox have already felt the impact with uncertain futures for Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Johan Oviedo, and most importantly Crochet, who Speier says could come back and pitch out of the bullpen toward the end of the season, if he comes back at all. Suarez has already been on two IL trips thanks to hamstring and groin injuries, so much like Gray, he could benefit from a smaller workload to stay fresh for the postseason push. There's also the impending threat of an innings limit for most of the young contingent in the rotation, all of whom have already surpassed or are close to resetting their career high in terms of workload. When it comes to evaluating and ultimately choosing the arm he best thinks suits Boston’s rotation, Breslow necessarily doesn’t need to hit a massive home run and mortgage the future for a ‘1C’ type to replace Crochet and supplement Gray and Suarez. However, he also can’t once again panic or settle for a May type that ends up not helping the club in any capacity either. How adequately the front office performs that balancing act could determine the fate of the 2026 season. View full article

Major League Baseball’s All-Star festivities have come and gone, and while the game itself may have been a bit of a snooze-fest to those who prefer offensive slugfests to a pitching-and-defense clinic, one thing we all can agree is that the removal of the clock in the Home Run Derby was one of the smartest decisions the league has made in recent years. This coming from someone who may be in the minority of actually liking the clock when it was first implemented way back in 2015, leading to one of the most electric and entertaining derby finishes in league history when Todd Frazier knocked off Joc Pederson with a homer in the final seconds to win the title. After watching Jordan Walker’s six home runs at sudden death to quite literally walk-off with the win over hometown favorite Kyle Schwarber though, I have no doubt saying that performance triumphs the Frazier one by a mile. Clock or no clock, Red Sox fans had plenty of reasons to tune in regardless with the inclusion of Willson Contreras, the first Boston participant since 2011 when Adrian Gonzalez and reigning derby champ David Ortiz both took part in the event. Contreras did not disappoint, as not only did he start the event off with a literal bang — hitting 13 homers with three being the longest of the first round, including a 490-foot bomb that fell short to only Junior Caminero’s 491-footer in round two — but also embracing his villain role so much as to almost knock off the clear fan favorite Schwarber in the second round, falling 9-8 to the Phillies and former Red Sox superstar. With Contreras’ inclusion, there will surely be fans that are convinced his swing is now “messed up” and his production will take a dip in the second half thanks to the alleged “Home Run Derby Curse.” The question is though, is that “curse” just a myth? Or is there actually some merit behind it that fans should be wary of for a player who has been, and will continue to need to be the driving force of getting Boston to a playoff spot? Second Half Spotlights: Do Previous Participants Give Any Insights into a ‘Derby Curse?’ When looking into the question of “Does the Home Run Derby ruin swings and cause second half slumps?”, it’s important to note that the “second half” of the baseball season doesn’t even technically exist. Take this year's Red Sox schedule for example; the true halfway mark occurred on Saturday, June 27 with their 4-1 win over the Yankees, a date that put them exactly at the 81-game mark. When the Sox return from the break on Friday, July 17, there will be 68 games remaining as opposed to the 94 that already took place. Take a step back to last year, and the Red Sox first and second halves had a 98/64 game split. In 2024, it was a 96/66 split, and if you want to go all the way back to 2011 when they had their last two participants in Gonzalez and Ortiz, that season saw a little bit of a better distribution of 90 first-half games to 72 second-half ones, but that's still not a truly even 81-81 game split. That means samples are smaller in the second half, and the opportunity to total big home run and extra-base hits numbers is lower. Below is a summary of the 2025 and 2024 Home Run Derby participants along with their first and second half splits, and any noteworthy injuries, absences, and or storylines that may have occurred: 2025 Derby Participants Looking at the 2025 derby participants, a few noticeable trends emerge. For starters, while Cal Raleigh’s numbers do drop off compared to his first half ones, the 22 homers, .526 slug, .297 ISO and 140 wRC+ don’t indicate any sort of slump or curse by any means. Keep in mind at that time, Raleigh was also attempting to (and did) break the all-time single season home run records for a catcher, switch-hitter, and Mariners player, adding a more psychological factor/pressure into the equation as well. Then there are the cases of Matt Olson and Junior Caminero, who not only continued to put up consistent numbers half to half, but were actually better statistically when it came to their average, on-base, slugging, ISO, and wRC+ totals, showing no signs of any sort of HR Derby fatigue. Brent Rooker is really the only player you could make the case for when it comes to the derby affecting his second half performance with how his numbers dropped off. As for the dip in Oneil Cruz’s, Byron Buxton’s, and James Wood’s production, all three can be attributed to injuries that were suffered during the second half rather than in the derby itself, as Cruz missed 13 games due to head (11) and ankle (2) injuries, Buxton 14 to side (13) and knee (1) ailments, and Wood, who although didn’t miss any significant time, is on record for saying nagging knee and quadriceps soreness helped factor into his rough second half. 2024 Derby Participants A review of the 2024 derby participants shows a similar trend of no player really being all that affected by any sort of derby curse. Teoscar Hernandez, Bobby Witt Jr., Jose Ramirez and Pete Alonso all followed similar paths to Caminero and Olson in using the derby to springboard better performances across multiple stats rather than just home runs and RBIs. Adolis Garcia and Gunnar Henderson may have seen significant drops in their home run numbers, indicating a bit of a power outage, but again showed solid enough numbers to not raise any red flags of a definitive curse. As for Alec Bohm, he falls into the same category of 2025’s Buxton and Cruz, missing 14 games throughout August and September with a hand injury that significantly hampered his second-half production. Recent Red Sox Participants For a look that hits closer to home in terms of any sort of curse affecting the Red Sox, you of course have to start with that infamous 2011 season for the most recent example — one that may actually help those who argue the derby does mess with players’ swings and production. In the midst of everything else that went wrong that year, two key contributors to that collapse were the falloffs in home run and RBI production from David Ortiz and derby runner-up Adrian Gonzalez. The argument for any sort of curse quickly falls apart, though, when you factor in that Ortiz was dealing with fatigue, soreness, and back spasms during that second half along with the fact that both players numbers didn’t completely fall off a cliff. Ortiz still managed to slash .315/.409/.527 with a wRC+ of 150 and Gonzalez posted a 137 wRC+ with a line of .317/.404/.489. Those are elite numbers. Not to mention once again that everything that could go wrong, did go wrong with that team, leaving some to wonder if the whole team had been cursed rather than just two derby participants. In terms of Ortiz, who took part in the event four times prior, including a victory in 2010, his second half production had never really taken a dip and was actually more consistent and at times better than any other player that’s been looked at thus far (which may be an unfair comparison to make given the level of hitter Ortiz was throughout his illustrious Hall of Fame career). What’s in Store for Willson Contreras in the Second Half? By now it seems pretty clear that the answer to the question of “Does the Home Run Derby ruin a player's swing?” is a resounding "no," meaning Red Sox fans should have nothing to worry about when it comes to Willson Contreras’ production at the plate. However, that isn’t where the concerns with Contreras should lay given his history in the league. In the 10 years he spent prior to Boston, excluding the 2020 pandemic-shortened year where there was no second half to the season, Contreras has missed a total of 180 games (not factoring in regular off-days). The makeup of these games missed include: 174 due to an injury, five due to suspension, and one from an undisclosed circumstance last season with St. Louis. Looking at his splits year-to-year, Contreras has proven to be a pretty consistent player all things considered, with the only two really glaring drop-offs occurring in 2018 and 2019 with the Cubs where his wRC+ figures plummeted from 123 to 63 and 139 to 90. As great as Contreras may be, his Achilles heel comes in the age-old saying: “The best ability is availability.” When the Sox return to action on Friday, kicking off the second half with a doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays, Contreras will be using the first to serve the fifth and final game of his reduced suspension stemming from his benches-clearing incident with Nationals starter Cade Cavalli. Once he is officially back, the All-Star slugger will look to make good on his comments of loving Boston and wanting to finish his career here trying to build off a superb first half that saw him finish just four home runs and 19 RBIs shy of his career highs. View full article

With June now in the rearview mirror, it’s safe to say there may not be another month this season that perfectly represents the 2026 Boston Red Sox. This was a team that, going into the year, was expected to win on their pitching and defense, and possibly struggle at times to score runs due to a lackluster and questionable lineup. Another inconsistent month saw the highs of finally winning a series at Fenway Park for the first time since April 6-8 vs. Milwaukee, when the Sox took two out of three from the Rangers, a west-coast trip that got off to a great start when they took two out of three from the first-place Mariners, and a shocking four-game sweep of the Yankees that led some fans to [foolishly] believe that they were finally turning a corner heading for the dog days of summer. That being said, June also saw the lows of the Red Sox continuing to be allergic to momentum, being swept by Toronto and losing two out of three to the Rockies and Nationals immediately after those aforementioned series wins against Texas, Seattle, and New York, plus an additional sweep at the hands of the Rays, and a 6-9 record against the AL East that was only propped up by that Yankees sweep. Add in the fact that there still doesn’t seem to be a timetable for the returns of Roman Anthony and Garrett Crochet, injuries have begun piling up to the likes of Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Marcelo Mayer, and Connelly Early, and a suspension that could be looming for Willson Contreras and what looked like an already grueling summer stretch could be getting a lot worse very quickly. Before we get to that point though, let’s dive back into June to see how the offense, rotation and bullpen all graded out: Grading Every Red Sox Player in June Offense One month ago, the Red Sox offense looked like it was maybe starting to branch out from the projections that worried fans and media members prior to the 2026 season. While they still had their inefficiencies at hitting with RISP and striking out more than you’d like to see, their surprise top-10 finishes league wide in AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, hits, doubles, triples, WAR, and BABIP positioned them as a middle-of-the-pack offense league-wide. Add in some standout performances from Wilyer Abreu, Willson Contreras, and a power-surge from Jarren Duran, and there was a dim light at the end of the tunnel that with a few more hitters getting hot, and a better performance in clutch spots, that things might take a turn for the better. Taking a look at Boston’s offensive numbers post-June, it's easy to see that reality won out. While they have improved on hitting with RISP, up from .227 (23rd in MLB / 11th in AL) in May to .232 (21st / 10th) and hitting with RISP with two outs, up from .178 (24th / 11th) to .253 (11th / 7th), their numbers in every other offensive category have taken a nosedive. When it comes to player highlights for the month, Willson Contreras (7 HR, 20 RBI, .933 OPS) and Ceddanne Rafaela (2 HR, 12 RBI, .288 AVG) have continued their strong seasons, but saw noticeable drop-offs in performance, with Contreras falling victim to a 5-for-38 with 14 strikeouts stretch, and Rafaela reverting back to his old ways of chasing, leading to an OPS drop from .826 to .735 and third-worst BB% (1.9%) in all of baseball. Then there’s the case of Duran, who instead of building off a strong May, proceeded to put up a historically bad June, finishing with not only the third-worst OPS for a single month in team history, but a league-worst finish for the month in AVG, OBP, wOBA, WAR (-0.8). He was also the only qualified player in the majors to finish with a negative wRC+ of -1. Fatigue may also be setting in, as the usually consistent Wilyer Abreu had his worst month of the season in terms of average (.228) and K% (20.8%). In trying to find some positives, the obvious answer is at the hot corner in Caleb Durbin, who was without a doubt Boston’s best hitter in the month, slashing a team-best .326/.359/.605/.964 with six home runs, 13 RBI, and a 160 wRC+ while continuing to give the Sox solid defense at third and some much-needed timely hitting. While the catching situation has been a tumultuous one to say the least, with Carlos Narvaez’s consistent offensive woes (.097, -33 wRC+, 38.9 K%), and Mickey Gasper coming back down to earth and being optioned back to Worcester, Connor Wong has continued to quietly put up solid numbers, slashing .333/.441/.444/.885 with a 150 wRC+ and second best 14.7 BB% for June. To go along with Durbin, June also saw the emergence of another player featured in that trade, that being Anthony Seigler who has been excellent covering for injuries to Kiner-Falefa and Mayer, slashing .350/.409/.550/.959 with a team=best 164 wRC+ in 13 games. These positives, however, can’t outweigh the negatives that made Boston’s offense one of the worst in baseball for the month of June. It's what continues to keep them from building any true momentum, earning them a lowly D grade as a unit. Position Player Name March / April May June Wilyer Abreu A+ B C+ Roman Anthony C+ C+ N/A Tsung-Che Cheng N/A N/A C Willson Contreras A A+ B Jarren Duran F A D- Caleb Durbin D+ D A+ Nate Eaton N/A N/A C+ Mickey Gasper N/A A+ D Romy Gonzalez N/A N/A C Isiah Kiner-Falefa D A+ C+ Marcelo Mayer B- D+ D Andruw Monasterio C D+ D Carlos Narvaez C- C- F Ceddanne Rafaela B A A- Anthony Seigler N/A N/A A+ Nick Sogard N/A B- N/A Trevor Story D- D N/A Connor Wong B- B A Masataka Yoshida B- C+ D Rotation Just when you thought the rotation couldn’t get any better than they did a month ago when they obtained an A- grade, they proceeded to double down and basically carry the Red Sox through June with a stretch of dominance that included a streak of 12 consecutive quality starts. Sonny Gray should be firmly cemented in the Cy Young race with another stellar run that saw him not only once again go undefeated at 3-0 in five starts with a 2.14 ERA and .211 average against in 33.2 innings pitched, but also come within five outs of no-hitting the Yankees in his final start of June. Fellow veteran Ranger Suarez was arguably just as good if not better, pitching to a 2-0 record with a 2.10 ERA, .219 average against, and 1.91 FIP in five starts, helping to create one of the most unhittable one-two punches in baseball over the last two months. As for the kids, it was a bit of a mixed bag. Jake Bennett got off to a slow start, allowing six earned runs over 10.1 innings pitched with a .323 BABIP in his first two starts, but turned things around in his final two, with just one earned over 12.1 with a .207 BABIP. Payton Tolle was the opposite, sandwiching three rough starts (17.0 IP, 10 ER, 11 K, 5 BB) in between two phenomenal shutout performances that saw him combine for 13.0 innings pitched with 12 strikeouts and four walks. And then there’s Connelly Early, whose bag was the most mixed of the bunch, allowing 15 earned runs and a season high six home runs in the month while striking out 36 over 30.2 IP to go along with a 4.87 FIP and .338 BABIP. Outside of a few hiccups along the way — and one very bad Brayan Bello start that was answered with a demotion to Worcester— the Sox rotation continues to be the least of their problems. Another month of both top-5 finishes in the American League and top-10 finishes in MLB grants the Red Sox rotation an A grade for June. Pitcher Name March / April May June Brayan Bello F- B+ F- Jake Bennett N/A C A Connelly Early B+ B+ C+ Sonny Gray C+ A+ A+ Ranger Suarez B+ B- A+ Payton Tolle B A+ B+ Bullpen Boston’s bullpen was a bit of a tricky one to grade out for June. On the side of positives, Garrett Whitlock bounced back after a bit of a shaky May to pitch to a 1.13 ERA, 24.1 K% and zero walks in eight appearances. Ryan Watson has continued to improve each month, holding opposing hitters to a .182 average against and racking up his lowest BB% of the season thus far at 6.3% over 12 innings pitched. Danny Coulombe has even brought himself back from the grave, pitching to a 2.08 ERA and holding opponents to a .200 average against in 11 appearances. And a new flame-throwing weapon has emerged in Tyron Guerrero, who was the Sox's best reliever, owning a 0.96 ERA and .194 average against while striking out a dozen and walking zero over 10 appearances. As for the negatives, and glaring ones at that, two of the most important bullpen pieces Aroldis Chapman and Justin Slaten may be broken. Starting with Slaten, his June was incredibly confusing as he made 11 appearances, seven of which where he did not allow a run, four where he did, and three of those where he allowed two or more runs, including a four-run blow up in the Bronx. All of that factors into his 9.00 ERA and unsightly .536 BABIP. When it comes to Chapman, his month was anything but smooth sailing, as along with struggling to even get into games (he made just seven appearances), he was reportedly dealing with a hamstring injury when he did pitch. These two factors could be the reasons for his struggles, as he entered the month with just one run allowed for the season and finished with five earned and a 7.50 ERA for June alone with most (if not all) of his saves coming of the nail-biting variety. While Boston’s bullpen may have been up there as one of the better groups in baseball for May, regressions across the board were clearly visible for June, leading to average to below-average finishes for numerous league-wide stats and a very pedestrian C grade. Pitcher Name March / April May June Aroldis Chapman A A+ D Danny Coulombe F F- A- Alec Gamboa N/A A A Tyron Guerrero N/A C A+ Tommy Kahnle N/A N/A F Joe La Sorsa N/A N/A F- Jovani Moran A C+ B Tyler Samaniego A C- B Justin Slaten A- B+ D Ryan Watson F B- B+ Greg Weissert D- C- C Garrett Whitlock B+ B A+ View full article

When the Boston Red Sox finally reach the 2026 trade deadline, they’ll be in a different spot than they were a year ago when Craig Breslow put together a performance that could only be described as “underwhelming.” With the Red Sox sitting at 59-51, good for third in the American League East and second in the AL Wild Card (both five games back coincidentally), the goals seemed obvious enough: acquire some help for the rotation and potentially another late-inning arm to help solidify the back-end of what was an impressively strong bullpen. Of course, we know Breslow answered those questions by acquiring left-handed reliever Steven Matz from the now-frequent trade partner St. Louis Cardinals, and right-handed starter Dustin May from the Los Angeles Dodgers, who should probably find themselves on the same “Do Not Trade With” list as the Milwaukee Brewers, given their consistent ability to seemingly send the Red Sox a lesser piece/pieces than what the Sox are sending them. Our managing editor, Brandon Glick, graded out these deals when they occurred, which you can find here. But now almost a full year removed, with neither player on the current iteration of this Red Sox roster, it’s time to take a big picture look back and re-grade Boston’s 2025 deadline acquisitions. Trade #1: Red Sox acquire LHP Steven Matz from the Cardinals for 1B/3B Blaze Jordan When the Red Sox entered the 2025 deadline, most people assumed that if they were going to acquire some sort of bullpen help, it would be of the late-inning, right-handed variety to not only ease the workloads of arms like Garrett Whitlock, Greg Weissert, and Justin Slaten, but to also make up for the failure that was Jordan Hicks. Instead, Breslow opted to acquire veteran lefty Steven Matz, a move that was surprising to say the least and met with some skepticism due to the fact the bullpen already featured four southpaws in Aroldis Chapman, Justin Wilson, Brennan Bernardino, and Chris Murphy. In return, they sent the Cardinals No. 19th-ranked infield prospect Blaze Jordan, who was tearing up Triple-A Worcester at the time, slashing .298/.341/.480 with six home runs and 25 RBIs in 44 games. However, he seemed to be locked out of any infield position given the team's glut of options at the corners. Almost a year later, and this deal is definitely the harder of the two to put a grade on. Initially, it garnered a ‘C’ and was justifiably labeled a “nothing-burger move” by Glick. As previously mentioned, Jordan looked like an easily expendable prospect and Matz came in sporting a respectable 3.44 ERA, 2.92 FIP, and 20.7 K% in 55 innings pitched with St. Louis. With the Red Sox though, Matz was borderline dominant with a 2.08 ERA, .218 average against, and 2.4 BB% in 21 regular season appearances to go along with two scoreless outings in Boston’s Wild Card series loss versus the Yankees. He ended up only being a gun-for-hire though, as he signed with the Rays on a two-year, $15 million deal this past winter with the opportunity to once again work as a starter. The move hasn't really panned out for Tampa Bay as he currently owns a 5.65 ERA and 5.55 FIP across 14 outings split between the rotation (10) and bullpen (4). As for Blaze Jordan, this is where the old “hindsight is 20/20” saying comes into play. After slugging .313 with a .921 OPS, 11 home runs and 35 RBIs in 57 games for Triple-A Memphis, the Cardinals called him up to make his major league debut on June 12 and he’s done nothing but hit since, slashing .286/.306/.486 with one home run, seven RBIs and an impressive 11.1 K% and 16.7 Whiff% in just nine games. That's production I’m sure disgruntled Red Sox fans don’t want to see given the team’s continued offensive woes. While Jordan’s production could definitely be used in this abysmal Red Sox lineup, the fact still stands he probably wouldn’t have a spot on this club at first or third base with the additions of Willson Contreras and Caleb Durbin (or even designated hitter, which has constantly been used to try and solve Boston’s outfield logjam situation). When it comes to Matz, the Red Sox got exactly what they needed from him as a shutdown arm a year ago and seem to have dodged a bullet given his struggles this year opting to not bring him back. Grade: B+ Trade #2: Red Sox acquire RHP Dustin May from the Dodgers for OF James Tibbs III and OF Zach Ehrhard When it comes to the second of Boston’s two 2025 deadline acquisitions I want to put this as lightly as I can… everything about this trade was an abject failure. Let’s start with the lead up to it. By now, everyone knows this ended up being a panic move by Craig Breslow, a deal that was one of those that trickled in after the deadline came and went, after numerous failed attempts throughout the afternoon to acquire a more dependable and solidified arm like Merrill Kelly and the tease that was Joe Ryan, who the Sox had consistently been linked to. Now to the player himself. Upon being dealt to Boston, May was the owner of a 4.85 ERA, 4.74 FIP, and 44.4% hard-hit rate across 16 games (15 starts) and looking like he was about to fall out of L.A's crowded rotation. With the Red Sox, things took a turn for the worse, as his numbers imploded to a 5.40 ERA, 5.39 FIP, even worse 45.6% hard-hit rate, and career-worst .307 average against in just six games (five starts) before having his short-lived Sox tenure end due to a right elbow neuritis injury. He, like Matz, would end up leaving Boston in the offseason for St. Louis where he has pitched to a pedestrian 4.30 ERA in 15 starts. And just when you think things couldn’t get any worse, we turn to the two prospects Boston sent the Dodgers’ way: James Tibbs III (No. 10 prospect via MLB’s rankings) and Zach Ehrhard (No. 17). Upon getting to the Dodgers organization, both reported to Double-A Tulsa and performed relatively well, with Tibbs hitting .269 with a .900 OPS, and seven homers to go along with 32 RBIs in 36 games and Ehrhard hitting for .282 with an .857 OPS, five homers, and 20 RBIs in 30 games. As for this season, where they both currently reside at Triple-A Oklahoma City, this is where Red Sox fans who haven’t been paying attention might want to avert their eyes. Starting with the latter, in 67 games Ehrhard is slashing .288/.394/.490/.884 with 11 home runs, 53 RBIs and 29 extra-base hits. As for Tibbs III, he not only has racked up a line of .291/.415/.585/1.000 with 20 homers and 62 RBIs, but also leads all PCL hitters in home runs, walks (57), extra-base hits (39), total bases (161) and runs (64), per of OKC Comets Communications & Broadcast Assistant Logan Bourandas on X). When Glick first graded this trade, he put a caveat on it that it would be a ‘B+’ if May was re-signed and a ‘D+’ if he wasn’t, which made sense given the price the Red Sox were giving up to get him but the flashes of potential and ability May had shown in the past to hopefully be a solid middle of the rotation arm. Given the absolute train-wreck that ensued everywhere you look with how this trade shaped up, I think it’s pretty obvious what this deal deserves. Grade: F- Final Verdict and Grade With almost a full calendar year to now look back on those who described the 2025 Red Sox trade deadline as “underwhelming” seemingly hit the nail on the head. Steven Matz gave them exactly what was needed, and while the Blaze Jordan departure doesn’t look ideal on paper right now, there was no true path to him contributing like he has on the Cardinals. On the flip side, at the time it was believed Dustin May wasn’t the right move for the rotation and that could not have been more of the truth; that trade not only hurt the Sox in-season with his horrendous performance and an injury that left the rotational depth weakened heading into the playoffs, but could come back to haunt them in a major way if Tibbs and/or Ehrhard grow into contributing big leaguers. Overall Grade: C- View full article

The Major League Baseball calendar has turned to June and as the Boston Red Sox prepare for the summer heat, they may be starting to feel like a crossroad is coming their way in terms of how to approach this year’s trade deadline, which occurs later than usual on August 3. On one hand, you have the fact that the American League still stinks, with just five teams over .500 at the time of writing this, one of whom is the Chicago White Sox. After that, the 27-36 Red Sox find themselves just four games back of the final playoff spot, currently held by the sub-.500 Texas Rangers. Boston, of course, would also have to leapfrog the Astros, Twins, Orioles, and Athletics to get there, but the task isn't as surmountable as you may believe. On the other hand, though, they have still struggled to gain any momentum in the crowded AL playoff picture thanks to consistent sub-.500 play as a whole, including a league worst 10-21 record at home, and 13-19 record against teams above .500. If this play continues as we inch closer to the trade deadline, and no ground can be gained on any of the aforementioned teams the Red Sox are chasing, it would be a borderline disservice not moving on from the following names. Ranking Red Sox's 3 Best Trade Pieces Aroldis Chapman 20 G, 0-1, 0.46 ERA, 19.2 IP, 26/9 K/BB, 1.99 FIP, .134 AVG, 13 Saves, 0.8 fWAR Maybe the most obvious name on the list of players the Red Sox should be looking to deal if they are sellers is their All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman. Chapman is currently on a one-year, $13.3 million contract with a conditional mutual option for 2027, which becomes guaranteed with 40 IP in 2026 plus a passed end-of-year physical. The deal also comes with a $300,000 buyout, and he has already begun garnering interest as USA Today Sports’ Bob Nightengale reported last month that the “San Diego Padres are eyeing the veteran reliever on the trade market.” While it would without a doubt be tough to see Chapman go and probably signal the waving of the white flag on 2026, his dominant performance and expiring contract makes him a chip the Red Sox must cash in on if they find themselves out of the playoff race come August. Chapman himself is no stranger to a deadline move, as fans will recall he was dealt at the 2016 trade deadline from the Yankees to the Cubs in exchange for RHP Adam Warren, outfielders Billy McKinney (ranked No. 5, in the Cubs system), and Rashad Crawford, and a 19-year-old shortstop by the name of Gleyber Torres who was not only Chicago’s top prospect, but the No. 24 prospect in all of baseball. Now, even though the Yankees were shipping out a 28-year-old version at the time as opposed to the 38-year-old one that the Red Sox would be moving on from, his production this season isn’t all that far off from where it was back then as Chapman finished 2016 with a K% of 40.5%, a whiff% of 36.8%, and a chase% of 32.5%. Fast-forward 10 years and outside of an understandable drop in average fastball velocity from 101.1 to 97.4 mph, his K% (34.7%), whiff% (33.3%) and chase% (32.2%) all still register as great to elite. If the Red Sox are serious about moving Chapman, then the asking price, even with his age and contract situation, should still be high. If the Padres are the team to come calling for instance, then one of their top two prospects -- catcher Ethan Salas (No. 51 in MLB) or left-handed pitcher Kruz Schoolcraft (No. 90) -- would be a great prize, As for a potential framework to go off of from last year’s deadline, while more upper-echelon arms closer to Chapman’s stature like Jhoan Duran and Mason Miller were moved, the deal to look at that fits a similar situation, i.e. a big arm on an expiring deal, is the Ryan Helsley trade. The Mets acquired Helsley, who had a 3.00 ERA and 41 strikeouts over 36 innings from the Cardinals for two top-20 prospects according to MLB Pipeline in infielder Jesus Baez (No. 8) and right-handed pitcher Nate Dohm (No. 14), as well as right-hander Frank Elissalt. If he does in fact become available, teams will be lining up for Chapman’s services and the Red Sox would be foolish to come away with anything other than a king’s ransom if a bidding war breaks out. Sonny Gray 11 G, 7-1, 3.20 ERA, 56.1 IP, 44/16 K/BB, 3.94 FIP, .252 AVG, 0.8 fWAR The second of Boston’s expiring contracts that makes the most sense to move on from is veteran starter Sonny Gray. Much like Chapman, there is a mutual option for 2027 with a luxury tax cap hit of $25 million and buyout of $10 million that gets forfeited if the Red Sox exercise the option but Gray opts out. While he hasn’t been the strikeout pitcher he was advertised to be when the Sox acquired him from St. Louis this offseason, seeing his K% drop from 26.7% to 19.9%, he’s seemingly reinvented himself as a pitch-to-contact pitcher who’s excelled at avoiding hard contact with a Hard-Hit% of 33.8%, good for the 76th percentile and a far cry from his 40.7% and 48th percentile finish in 2025. Also similarly to Chapman, Gray is no stranger to being dealt at the trade deadline. Back in 2017, a 27-year-old Gray was traded from the Athletics to the Yankees for outfielder Dustin Fowler (No. 4 in the Yankees system), infielder Jorge Mateo (No. 8) and right-hander James Kaprielian (No. 12), none of whom were considered Top-100 prospects in MLB Pipeline’s eyes, but were each able to put together seasons in the big leagues throughout their careers, with Mateo seeing the most success and longevity. When it comes to moving Gray and what to realistically expect to get back, the Red Sox can use their own framework from what they gave up to get him: Young, controllable arms with big league experience like Richard Fitts, and those with upside potential like Brandon Clarke (No. 5 in the system). They could also look to a deal from last year’s deadline, when the Rangers acquired fellow veteran right-hander on an expiring contract, Merrill Kelly, from the Diamondbacks. Kelly, who owned a 3.22 ERA over 22 starts at the time, was sent south for left-handed pitchers Kohl Drake (No. 5 in the Rangers system), and Mitch Bratt (No. 9), along with right-handed pitcher David Hagaman (No. 13). If a team comes calling offering up three top-20 prospects for the services of Sonny Gray, or a similar package that includes a young player who can help the Red Sox now, Craig Breslow should jump at the opportunity to collect on a veteran arm with no long-term future in Boston. Isiah Kiner-Falefa 31 G, .267/.327/.333, 85 wRC+, 4 SB, +5 OAA, 0.7 fWAR This final trade piece may come as a surprise to those looking to see Jarren Duran or Willson Contreras on this list. While those deals would make sense -- a Duran trade would finally put an end to the outfield logjam if and when Roman Anthony returns, and you could possibly get a haul the way Contreras is producing -- don't expect the front office to blow up the foundation they built over the last few years just because of one bad half of baseball. Enter an alternative option on another expiring contract who has had trade deadline experience before: Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Such a trade may have seemed like a laughable proposal coming out of a March/April run that saw him hit just .229 with an OPS+ of 44 and wRC+ of 38, but the man who said he was fighting for his career found a way to drastically turn things around in May, slashing .385/.467/.513/.979 with one home run and eight RBIs. He forced his way into a lineup starving for production and may get some looks from contenders after all. When Kiner-Falefa was brought in on his one-year, $6 million deal by the Red Sox, the belief was he’d be a solid utility infield option that also possessed a strong veteran leadership presence and postseason experience fresh off a trip to the World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays. Look around the current playoff landscape as of today and you’ll see plenty of young or inexperienced teams such as the Cardinals (26.7 years old on average), White Sox (27.4), Pirates (27.5), and Athletics (27.5), all in the top 10 of the youngest teams in the league, volleying for playoff positioning and potentially looking for a veteran who knows what it takes to win in the postseason. Factor in some of the more experienced squads like the Dodgers, Braves, and Padres who may just look to fill out their rosters with an additional piece, and Kiner-Falefa could be a name that surprisingly works for a lot of teams. In terms of what he could bring the Red Sox back in return, the Blue Jays and Pirates may have painted the picture back in 2024, when he was dealt from Toronto to Pittsburgh for minor-league utility man Charles McAdoo, who since the deal has turned into a top-30 prospect with the Jays (No. 25). If Boston truly does fall out of contention as we approach the August 3 trade deadline, it is imperative they identify which players they see as long-term pieces that can help the club’s future and which ones, especially these three listed, they should move on from in order to set themselves up for the most success moving forward. View full article

How does that old saying go? “April showers bring May hopes that the baseball season isn’t already a complete wash?” No… wait… that doesn’t sound right. Regardless, it seemed like a valid thought for Boston Red Sox fans who had sat through a March/April where everything that could go wrong, pretty much did. Whether it was the measly 12-19 start, numerous underperformance across the board, a coaching purge of epic proportions, or a seemingly backbreaking injury to ace Garrett Crochet to top it all off, hope lied in the idea that a new month meant an opportunity to turn the page and start anew. With May now in the rearview, it’s become abundantly clear that with the 2026 Boston Red Sox — who, let’s not forget, were 9-19 at Fenway this season entering June and hasn’t won a series there since April 6-8 vs. Milwaukee — the more things change, the more they stay the same. Here is a look into how the offense, rotation, and bullpen all graded out for May. Grading Red Sox's Offense By now, everyone knows if the Red Sox are going to turn things around, they’re going to need a massive resurgence from an offense that, outside of Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu, borderline sleep-walked through the opening March/April stretch. A run that saw them last in the American League in OBP (.309), SLG% (.351), OPS (.666) , wRC+ (84), HR (21), and WAR (2.6), as well as the bottom-third in batting average, runs, hits, and BB%. While May saw Contreras continue his hot start, slashing .315/.394/.528/.922 with 4 HR, 13 RBIs, and a wRC+ of 151, it wasn’t as kind to Abreu, who saw his OPS fall from .855 to .695 and K% increase from 17.5% to 20.7%. Add in injuries to Roman Anthony and Trevor Story, and an already-thin lineup was on the verge of completely collapsing. Injuries, however, not only opened the door to the unlikeliest of heroes like Nick Sogard (.721 OPS, 102 wRC+ in 12 games), Isiah Kiner-Falefa (.980 OPS, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 177 wRC+ in 19 games), and Micky Gasper (.333/.364/.392/.756 in 17 games), the later of which has seemingly taken over the starting catcher duties according to Chad Tracy (thanks to his consistent approach at the plate). That also doesn't mention also the continued emergence of Ceddanne Rafaela and re-emergence of Jarren Duran. Rafaela has taken a strong start and ran with it, not only continuing to decrease his K% (down to 19.6% from 22.9%) but also beginning to flex more power with his 4 homers, 13 RBI, .480 SLG and .826 OPS, earning him some more at-bats as Boston’s everyday No. 2 hitter. Where the Red Sox’s real power surge in the month of May came from was the aforementioned revival of Jarren Duran who saw his line of .170/.231/.250/.481 in March and April increase to .261/.331/.548/.879, and also managed to provide clutch hit after clutch hit, walloping a team-high nine home runs and 22 RBI. Even with these standout individual performances, the Sox offense as a whole was a bit of an enigma in May. As a team, they were able to climb into the top-10 league wide in AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, hits, doubles, triples, stolen bases, WAR, and BABIP, the latter of which they led all of baseball in. However, their Achilles heel for the month continued the trends that has plagued the offense all season thus far; the inability to take ball four with a 7.5 BB% (24th in MLB), avoid strike three with 227 strikeouts (19th in MLB), make solid contact with HardHit and Barrel percentages of 35.3% (28th in MLB) and 6.8% (23rd in MLB), and maybe most telling, the inability to hit in clutch spots with a .227 average with RISP (23rd in MLB) and even-worse .178 average with RISP with two outs (24th in MLB), leading to a still middle-of-the-pack 4.0 runs per game, good for just 18th in MLB and 9th in the AL. While there have been some positives to take away with how Boston’s offense seemingly improved, at least on the stat sheet in May, the eye test shows there are still too many stretches of inconsistencies and uncompetitive at-bats when the situation calls for more to give anything better than a C+ grade. Position Players Name March / April May Wilyer Abreu A+ B Roman Anthony C+ C+ Willson Contreras A A+ Jarren Duran F A Caleb Durbin D+ D Mickey Gasper N/A A+ Isiah Kiner-Falefa D A+ Marcelo Mayer B- D+ Andruw Monasterio C D+ Carlos Narvaez C- C- Ceddanne Rafaela B A Nick Sogard N/A B- Trevor Story D- D Connor Wong B- B Masataka Yoshida B- C+ Grading Red Sox's Rotation Record: 10-8 If the month of May showed Red Sox fans anything, it’s that they have two blossoming stars and hopefully foundational pieces for the rotation for years to come in Connelly Early and Payton Tolle. Both young southpaws have simultaneously taken the reins and filled the hole left by Garrett Crochet and then some, combining to go 5-2 with a 2.70 ERA, 60 strikeouts and 14 walks in 60 IP across 10 starts. When looking on the veteran side of things, Sonny Gray dominated going a team best 4-0 in five starts with a 2.00 ERA, .219 average against, and once again looking like the Gray of old in terms of strikeouts, doubling his K% from 13.1% in March/April to 26.2% in May. If there were to be one potential concern for the rotation, it comes in the form of the other vet on the staff in Ranger Suarez. His first three starts of the month against the Astros, Phillies, and Royals were phenomenal, posting a dominant 0.66 ERA and 2.12 FIP while allowing just one earned run over 13.2 IP. His last two starts of the month versus the Braves and Guardians, however, tell a different story, as he was roughed up for nine earned runs on 14 hits over 10 innings of work, spiking his ERA to 3.80. While the stats may show the Red Sox rotation still sits middle of the pack both in the AL and league as a whole, they also show a vast improvement from where they sat at the end of April, improving in ERA, opponent batting average, WHIP, FIP, K%, hits allowed, strikeouts, and WAR. The hope now is they can continue this success and get Crochet back healthy to really take them to that next level, and of course, give them a more bonafide option than the opener/Bello route they’ve had to take recently. Until then, the rotation finishes May with an A- grade. Grading Red Sox's Bullpen Record: 3-6 Boston’s bullpen was a bit of a mixed bag in May due in part to a couple of key injuries to Justin Slaten and Garrett Whitlock, as well as the decision to piggyback Brayan Bello off of an opener, that being either Jovani Moran or Tyler Samaniego — neither of whom have shined in that new role. We’ll start with Slaten, who returned from an oblique injury that sidelined him most of April and originally looked like his usual dominant self, tossing 4.2 scoreless innings in five outings before a four-run implosion against Minnesota ballooned his ERA to 5.40 and FIP to 5.16 for the month. Going forward, he will certainly be looked to as the bridge to Aroldis Chapman — who did his usual stuff in 10 shutout appearances, holding hitters to a .114 average against and tallying a 38.5 K% — a role that Garrett Whitlock (3.12 ERA, 34.3 K% in 8.2 IP) had been operating as before hitting the injured list with left knee inflammation. If not him, then the Sox might lean on Ryan Watson (3.94 ERA, .220 AVG in 16.0 IP), who has seemingly found success as a multi-inning arm after a disastrous start to his tenure in Boston. When speaking of multi-inning arms, though, there may be no bigger weapon outside of Chapman in the bullpen than Brayan Bello, who as a reliever has a 0.71 ERA, 1.69 FIP, and holding opponents to a .215 average against while increasing his K% to 22.7% and decreasing his BB% to 3.1% as opposed to 11.3% for each as a starter. [Unfortunately, he's since been optioned to the minors, but the idea of making him a long reliever is still tantalizing.] Where the Red Sox have started to run into problems within their bullpen is the lack of consistency and reliability. As previously mentioned, transitioning Moran (4.38 ERA) and Samaniego (5.40 ERA) back-and-fourth between opener and traditional reliever has seemingly hurt them both with their numbers falling off drastically from where they were after April. As for veteran lefty Danny Coulombe, his numbers only continue to get worse with a 7.36 ERA in 3.2 innings after posting a 6.14 in 7.1 in March/April. And then there’s Greg Weissert, who may be the model of confusion, posting a 3.27 ERA for the month and continuing to show he seems to be just fine when the pressures at its smallest, owning a .227 average against with the bases empty and .216 in low-leverage situations. However, ramp it up and have guys on base for him and forget it, as his average against jumps to .296 in medium leverage and .429 in high leverage with a .313 with men on base and .269 with men in scoring position — not to mention the 21 inherited runners he’s allowed to score, tied for the sixth-most in baseball. He constantly leaves fans wondering why he’s still the arm called upon in those situations. Much like the rotation, Boston’s bullpen finds itself improving in an abundance of league stats that puts them in the top 10 in a lot of categories. That being said, unlike the rotation that seems to be working as a full unit, it feels as though right now the pen is being carried by a three-headed monster of Chapman, Slaten, and the occasional Bello appearance. That mixed with concerns for the injury histories of Whitlock and Slaten and the up-and-down stretches a few of the previously mentioned arms are currently going through has made me not as high on the state of the pen as I was the rotation, earning the unit a B+ grade. Pitchers Name March / April May Brayan Bello F- B+ Jake Bennett N/A C Aroldis Chapman A A+ Danny Coulombe F F- Garrett Crochet D+ N/A Connelly Early B+ B+ Alec Gamboa N/A A Sonny Gray C+ A+ Tyron Guerrero N/A C Zack Kelly B- B- Jovani Moran A C+ Tyler Samaniego A C- Justin Slaten A- B+ Ranger Suarez B+ B- Payton Tolle B A+ Ryan Watson F B- Greg Weissert D- C- View full article

With all of the questions surrounding Boston’s offense, the thing that was going to put fans at ease in 2026 was the projection of a dominant, reworked rotation to complement a bullpen that was the team’s biggest strength in 2025. Through the first month-plus though, the staff appears to be treading water as the injuries and up-and-down performances have come fast and furious, leading the Red Sox to rely on arms no one would’ve thought they’d need to this early on. If the Sox are going to get back into the race in a still relatively wide-open American League, especially with how their offense has struggled, it’s going to need to be the pitching staff that carries the load as many expected entering the season. Below are the grades for all 19 of Boston’s pitchers for March and April. You can check out our hitter grades here. (Note, all players who appeared in at least one game in March/April have been listed in alphabetical order by last name to help easily review): Grading Every Red Sox Hitter from April 2026 Jack Anderson 3 Games, 0-0, 3.38 ERA, 8.0 IP, 6 SO, 2 BB, .267 AVG, 4.02 FIP, 0.1 WAR It’s fair to say not much was probably known about Jack Anderson to Red Sox fans when he was called up on April 14th on an emergency basis after Garrett Crochet had just had his doors blown off in Minnesota the previous night. Prior to his first appearance, all anyone really had to go off of was that Anderson had struggled when he was called up to Worcester in 2025, where he made three starts, lost all of them and gave up 14 ER over 11.1 IP, had pitched three innings in one appearance, allowing one run and striking out three for Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic, and had one scoreless inning pitched in Spring Training with the Sox this season. In three outings with the big league club, Anderson filled his role effectively, working two-plus innings in all three and limiting the damage from opposing teams, allowing just a single run in each. While the numbers may not jump off the page, if there are two areas Anderson can rely on and continue to give the Red Sox some confidence in utilizing him throughout the season it’s the above average Chase% (35.4%) and BB% (6.3) Anderson has operated with thus far. All in all, Anderson has proven to be a solid depth option so far for the Red Sox if they are ever in a pinch and need some immediate reinforcements from Worcester, pinning Anderson with a passing C+ grade. Brayan Bello 6 Starts, 1-4, 9.12 ERA, 25.2 IP, 17 SO, 15 BB, .374 AVG, 7.60 FIP, -1.2 WAR When the Red Sox acquired Sonny Gray via trade and signed Ranger Suarez this past offseason, the belief among some in the fanbase and media was that sliding Brayan Bello into the No. 3 or No. 4 spot in the rotation would be good for him, taking any potential pressure off of him thinking he had to pitch like a No. 2 as he did in 2025. Now just six starts into the season and that couldn’t be further from the truth as everything that could go wrong has gone wrong for him. Of those six outings, he has gone past the fourth inning just once and, among his struggles, has had a really hard time generating strikeouts (12.8 K%, 6th percentile) and missing barrels (13.9 Barrel%, 9th percentile) leading to his bloated ERA and average against. Maybe worst of all it seems as though he’s reverted back to completely melting down when things start spiraling out of control in-game, something that had shown a big improvement in 2025, but has seemingly reared its ugly head again this season, resulting in an F- grade. Aroldis Chapman 9 Games, 0-1, 1.04 ERA, 8.2 IP, 10 SO, 3 BB, .172 AVG, 2.19 FIP, 0.4 WAR So far Aroldis Chapman has picked up right where he left off following his dominant first season in Boston, slamming the door shut on all five of his save opportunities so far in 2026. Therein lies the problem though, as thanks to the Red Sox being in so few games this season, Chapman hasn’t been given many save opportunities and chances to get into games thus far, which is an unfortunate circumstance for a pitcher of his caliber. He’s made the most of his chances though when he does get into games and continues to tally up the swings and misses (39.3 Whiff%) and strikeouts (30.3 K%) as he’s effectively done throughout his career. What may be interesting to keep an eye on for the now 38-year-old Chapman is not only does he seem to be getting barreled up (5.5 Barrel% in 2025 to 21.1% in 2026) and hit harder (36.7% in 25’ to 52.6 in 26’) this season, but he’s seemed to have lost velocity on his sinker, which has dipped from 99.4 MPH to 97.9, 4-Seam fastball (98.4 to 97.0), AND slider, (86.7 to 85.6) all in a year’s time. Even with the slight drop-offs to start this season, Chapman is still Boston’s best weapon out of their bullpen, earning him a solid A grade to begin the year as the hope is they’ll be able to utilize him in more games going forward. Danny Coulombe 11 Games, 0-1, 6.14 ERA, 7.1 IP, 5 SO, 3 BB, .276 AVG, 5.16 FIP, -0.2 WAR Hand up, I will admit when the Red Sox first signed Danny Coulombe I thought the move was a slam dunk signing after posting a 2.30 ERA in 55 games with Minnesota and Texas in 2025. Looking back though the writing probably should’ve been on the wall for a player who was brought in towards the tail end of Spring Training as now 11 games and 7.1 abysmal innings in, it has been a dreadful start for Coulombe’s Red Sox tenure. While he’s had some success at missing barrels (4.2%) and inducing soft contact (29.2 Hard-Hit%), Coulombe’s low velocity (3rd percentile in Fastball Velocity) hasn’t helped him much in terms of getting many strikeouts (15.2 K%) or swings-and-misses (17.5 Whiff%) which in turn has led to a solid .276 average against and ghastly 6.14 ERA. For a player who was signed with such potential to be the Red Sox second shut down lefty behind Chapman, Coulombe hasn’t lived up to the stats on the back of the baseball card by any means, sticking him with an F grade to begin the season. Garrett Crochet 6 Games, 3-3, 6.30 ERA, 30.0 IP, 37 SO, 11 BB, .270 AVG, 4.32 FIP, -0.6 WAR On Opening Day in Cincinnati, Garrett Crochet looked like the Cy-Young runner up Red Sox fans had come to know and love a season ago, throwing six shutout innings with eight strikeouts en route to Boston’s 3-0 win. Then the cracks began to form with a four run, five innings pitched loss against Houston. A rare clunker, but one fans brushed off as they watched Crochet bounce back against Milwaukee the following start, hurling 6.1 innings of two run, seven strikeout baseball. Then came the “oh no, what is going on!?” outings against Minnesota and Detroit where he allowed a combined 15 earned runs, five walks, and four home runs over 6.2 innings leading some to wonder if Crochet had been pitching hurt. Despite his best efforts to reassure fans he wasn’t hurt, both verbally and by tossing six, three hit, seven strikeout innings in the Sox’s 17-1 thumping of Baltimore, it turns out he was hurt, ending up on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. The hope is he’ll only need the two weeks to recover and be back in the Red Sox rotation in no time, but with the uncertainty surrounding this injury, one he previously dealt with in 2023 which caused him to miss two-and-a-half months thanks to a setback, and the inconsistent nature he’s pitched with thus far, Crochet earns an uncharacteristically poor D+ grade. Connelly Early 6 Starts, 2-1, 2.84 ERA, 31.2 IP, 28 SO, 14 BB, .212 AVG, 4.60 FIP, 0.7 WAR After bursting onto the scene as one of Boston’s biggest surprises in 2025, Connelly Early has picked up where he left off, putting together perhaps the most consistent stretch out of any starter the rotation has seen. While Early’s numbers won’t blow you away, with numerous percentile rankings either at or below league average, he continues to be most effective at not letting the moment get too big and knowing how to bear down and make a pitch when needed. Looking more closely at his consistency that has helped him stand out is the fact he has pitched into the sixth inning or later in four of his six starts, something no other starter can say they’ve done so far. Going forward, in order for him to be at his most effective, Early will need to mainly find a better balance between his strikeouts and walks, with a solid 7.96 K/9 rate but underwhelming 3.98 BB/9 rate. Doing this while continuing to keep batters off balance and make the big pitches when he needs to will undoubtedly help him improve what’s an already strong B grade. Sonny Gray 5 Starts, 2-1, 4.30 ERA, 23.0 IP, 13 SO, 5 BB, .269 AVG, 4.49 FIP, 0.0 WAR Much like the rest of the members of Boston’s rotation to start 2026, Sonny Gray has had an up-and-down first month-plus. It began with a lackluster performance in game two of the season in Cincinnati, allowing three earned and making a costly error over four, then back-to-back solid outings against San Diego and Milwaukee that produced two wins for his new club. A horrendous outing in Minnesota where he allowed five on nine hits over four innings, and a start on Patriots’ day that looked to be heading in the right direction before leaving with a hamstring injury that has sidelined him since that start on April 20. While Gray’s starts have been hit-or-miss, the advanced metrics haven’t done him any favors so far. After finishing the last two seasons with 200+ strikeouts, it’s been interesting, or maybe more appropriate, concerning, to see that Gray has struggled to get hitters to chase (23rd percentile), whiff (11 percentile) and strikeout (7th percentile). With such an inconsistent start to the season, and an injury derailing a further look at if Gray can bring those advanced statistics up, he finds himself with a passable C grade to begin his Red Sox career. Zack Kelly 10 Games, 0-1, 3.48 ERA, 10.1 IP, 8 SO, 2 BB, .194 AVG, 3.41 FIP, 0.1 WAR They say the more things change the more they stay the same and as the 2026 season has gotten underway, Zack Kelly continues to do Zack Kelly things. To a non-Red Sox fan reading that, what it means is that he’ll look excellent one game, and completely melt down in the next. Kelly however has decided to go the route of breaking those inconsistencies up into five-game stretches thus far. In his first five outings, he sported a 6.75 ERA and 5.03 FIP with four hits, and four earned runs allowed over 5.1 while striking out three and walking one. However, in his final five outings before May, he completely turned things around with an ERA of 0.00, FIP of 1.75, and allowing only three hits and zero earned runs while once again walking one and striking out five. Along with the recent stretch of success he’s been on, where Kelly has really shined this season is dropping his BB%, something that has been lowered every year of his career so far to an outstanding 4.3%, securing a spot in the elite 9th percentile and earning a solid B- grade. Jovani Moran 9 Games, 0-0, 2.41 ERA, 18.1 IP, 16 SO, 10 BB, .156 AVG, 4.56 FIP, 0.3 WAR If Craig Breslow was ever looking for a prime example to say; “You know, I do know what I’m doing here,” he should look no further than Jovani Moran. It seemed like a bit of a head-scratcher when the Red Sox moved on from all of their left-handed reliever options this past offseason, leaving Moran, and at the time his career 4.26 ERA in four seasons, three of which where he finished with it 5.00+, as the only option behind the proven Aroldis Chapman. However, perhaps choosing to judge Moran solely on his 6.75 ERA in just four innings of work was unfair as a look into his Baseball Savant page showed Moran had actually pitched above league average to even elite rankings. Jump ahead to 2026 and he has seemingly silenced the doubters as not only has he been able to build off those strong numbers, specifically continuing his elite showings in getting swings-and-misses (80th percentile) and limiting hard hit rates (95th percentile) but has lowered his ERA and averages against, turning him into one of Boston’s most trusted weapons out of the pen in pretty much any situation. In a season full of dark points and poor performances, Moran has been a much-needed bright spot as he finds himself with an A grade after the first month plus. Johan Oviedo 1 Game, 0-0, 9.82 ERA, 3.2 IP, 3 SO, 1 BB, .400 AVG, 10.30 FIP, -0.1 WAR They say first impressions are everything and if that’s the case then Johan Oviedo may have put together one of the worst first impressions Red Sox fans have ever had to sit through. After seemingly making the Opening Day roster as Boston’s No. 5 arm in their rotation, the decision was made to slowly ramp up fellow newcomer Ranger Suarez after he had spent most of his Spring Training with team Venezuela in the WBC, opening a spot for Connelly Early to make the rotation and push Oviedo to a multi-inning reliever role. In this role, his lone outing came in relief of Suarez’s Red Sox debut against Houston, a game they lost 8-1 and saw him give up six hits, four earned runs, and two home runs over 3.2 innings with three strikeouts and a walk. Besides the dreadful showing on the stat sheet, perhaps the most alarming aspect of this outing for Oviedo was that his velocity was down drastically across the board, losing 1.2 MPH on his curveball, 2.5 on his fastball, 3.0 on his sinker, and 3.2 on his slider. Oviedo’s tough start went from bad to worse when he was placed on the 15-day injured list on April 3rd with a flexor strain, and then subsequently moved to the 60-day on April 14th, meaning there’s a good chance we may not see him again this season. If that’s the case and this is the only game Red Sox fans have to go off of, no more than an F grade can be given to Oviedo. Eduardo Rivera 1 Game, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3.1 IP, 3 SO, 0 BB, .100 AVG, 1.35 FIP, 0.1 WAR If much wasn’t known about Jack Anderson at the time of his call-up to the Red Sox, then it might not be so far-fetched to think that little to nothing was known about 22-year-old Eduardo Rivera, who made his major league debut on April 22nd against the New York Yankees. What made Rivera’s debut an intriguing one is that his major league debut actually came before his Triple-A one as he was fast-tracked to the big leagues after posting a 0.90 ERA, .167 average against, and 16 strikeouts in just 10 innings pitched in two starts with Double-A Portland. What also helped Rivera’s case was a strong showing for team Puerto Rico in this year’s World Baseball Classic, where he posted a 4.05 ERA and 12.2 K/9 over 6.2 innings pitched. His success continued in his debut as he not only limited the Yankees to one hit and zero runs over 3.1 innings, but showcased an absolutely dominant fastball, helping achieve an elite level Whiff% (42.1%) and Barrel% (0.0%). Even though it may have only been a short sample size, being able to make as potent a Yankees lineup look as lost as they did gives Rivera a ton of promise of being another young pitcher the Sox have been able to hit on recently and a well-deserved A+ grade to begin his big-league career. Tyler Samaniego 7 Games, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 8.1 IP, 8 SO, 4 BB, .143 AVG, 2.66 FIP, 0.3 WAR When Samaniego was acquired as part of the trade package from the Pirates that also gifted the Red Sox Johan Oviedo, most fans and members who cover the team saw him as a bit of an unknown but solid depth left-handed reliever for a team who worked to pretty much blow that depth up thanks to numerous other offseason trades. Fast-forward to March/April and Samaniego has actually become a bona fide weapon out of the bullpen, posting 8.1 shutout innings through his first seven big league appearances. Where he has really shined though is being able to avoid opposing hitters’ barrels and inducing soft contact with a 5.0% Barrel% and 35.0% Hard-Hit%, something not a lot of arms on the Red Sox staff have been able to do all that consistently thus far. With the low usage for Aroldis Chapman and rough start for Danny Coulombe, continued success for Samaniego going forward could further cement himself as a dominant left-handed option that the Sox should look to turn to in more high-leverage starts, garnering him an A+ grade. Justin Slaten 4 Games, 0-1, 0.00 ERA, 3.1 IP, 5 SO, 2 BB, .167 AVG, 1.95 FIP, 0.1 WAR It says a lot about the pitcher Justin Slaten is when you can feel his impact when he is and isn’t available for the Red Sox. When he is available, like he was during his first four appearances this season, he’s dominant, holding opposing hitters to a .167 average against while missing barrels (0.0 Barrel%) and avoiding hard contact (14.3 Hard-Hit%) and helping to create a nice bridge along with Garrett Whitlock to the ninth inning for Aroldis Chapman. When he isn’t out there though, like it’s been the case for most of this season and parts of last, the bullpen starts to crack and falls into disarray trying to find reliable arms to preserve leads and help lock down wins. With this in mind, even with the short sample size in 2026, Red Sox fans know how capable and important he is to the success of this bullpen, earning him an A grade and hope for a fast recovery from his oblique strain. Ranger Suárez 6 Starts, 2-2, 3.09 ERA, 35.0 IP, 29 SO, 9 BB, .197 AVG, 3.35 FIP, 0.7 WAR With a poor showing for Venezuela in the WBC, and even worse first two outings in a Red Sox uniform to begin his tenure in Boston, many fans and media members were left wondering if Ranger Suarez was going to live up to the No. 2 status he was given when he signed his five-year, $130 million contract this past offseason. Since those two starts against Houston and San Diego, where he allowed a combined eight earned runs over 8.1 innings pitched, Suarez has been dominant in three of his last four, going 2-1 while allowing just four earned runs and striking out 24 over 26.2 innings to help lower his ERA and BABIP from 8.64 and .393 to 3.09 and .231. What’s made him such a different pitcher during this stretch as opposed to his first two appearances is he not only has strayed away from trying to be too fine on the edges of the zone, but he’s begun relying on his other offerings rather than leaning so heavily on his sinker-changeup combo as he had been. With the injury to Garrett Crochet, Suarez’s emergence couldn’t have come at a better time as Boston will look to him to anchor the rotation, continuing this run of lockdown pitching that nets him a B+ grade through the first month plus. Payton Tolle 2 Starts, 0-1, 3.38 ERA, 10.2 IP, 15 SO, 5 BB, .162 AVG, 2.93 FIP, 0.3 WAR When Payton Tolle burst onto the scene in 2025, going toe-to-toe in his big league debut with eventual NL Cy-Young award winner Paul Skenes, Red Sox fans very quickly learned two things about him: he had a big fastball and an even bigger personality. But even with the high velocity and great movement, that big fastball proved to be somewhat of his undoing as opposing teams quickly figured out that it was his crutch – with a 64% usage rate – and swiftly made him pay. Heading into 2026, the Red Sox tasked Tolle with becoming more of a complete pitcher like fellow southpaw Connelly Early, and did he do just that in his first outing against the Yankees where he dominated allowing just one run on three hits while striking out 11 over six innings pitched, while also showcasing a newly improved repertoire that featured a reworked cutter and curveball as well as the addition of a nasty sinker. Taking a step back in his next outing against Toronto, where he walked four and allowed 3 earned runs over 4.2 innings, it showed that as electrifying and charismatic as Tolle can be, there is still some tinkering that needs to be done under the hood. The stuff is definitely heading in the right direction though, earning him a B grade through his first two outings of 2026. Tyler Uberstine 1 Game, 0-1, 3.38 ERA, 2.2 IP, 2 SO, 1 BB, .300 AVG, 7.65 FIP, -0.1 WAR Tyler Uberstine became the first of a few new faces the Red Sox have since called up from Worcester so far this season when he made his MLB debut on April 5th against the San Diego Padres – replacing the injured Johan Oviedo. While not much was known about Uberstine, aside from a 6.14 ERA in 7.1 innings in Spring Training, he did his job in that game, working two scoreless innings allowing the Red Sox to tie things up 6-6 before surprisingly to some, being sent back out in the 8th only to be met by Jackson Merrill and the only run he’d surrender, a solo home run that would prove to be the difference and hand Uberstine an unfortunate loss in his debut. He now finds himself on the IL after suffering a shoulder injury with Worcester on April 16, but when he hopefully returns, gives the Red Sox an intriguing option that showed an ability to miss bats (30.8 Whiff%) and make hitters guess (35.3 Chase%) at the big-league level, earning him a solid C+ grade. Ryan Watson 13 Games, 0-0, 6.62 ERA, 17.2 IP, 11 SO, 7 BB, .301 AVG, 5.61 FIP, -0.3 WAR When the Red Sox acquired Ryan Watson from the Athletics in a Rule 5 Draft day trade, one would think Red Sox fans couldn’t help but think the Sox had a chance to go three-for-three on Rule 5 acquired arms after the successes of Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten. Fast-forward to now, and that sentiment hasn’t held true as Watson has come nowhere close to capturing the same success. Watson has put together an elite start at getting downhill towards hitters with an Extension percentage that sits in the 95th percentile. This ability doesn’t seem to matter to those hitters however, as he’s had an incredibly difficult time getting hitters to chase anything in his repertoire (26th percentile), let alone strike out (14th percentile in K%) or avoid being barreled up which sits in the dreadfully low 7th percentile. With other arms working their way back from injuries, and plenty of options shining down in Worcester to start the season, the clock may be ticking on Watson to turn things around or run the risk of the Sox sending him on his way along with the F grade he has earned thus far. Greg Weissert 14 Games, 0-1, 5.11 ERA, 12.1 IP, 17 SO, 4 BB, .275 AVG, 5.55 FIP, -0.3 WAR Coming off a breakout year in 2025, where he put up a career best 2.82 ERA and 3.67 FIP in 72 outings, Greg Weissert had seemingly cemented himself among the likes of Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, and Justin Slaten as a trusted, late-inning weapon in Boston’s projected dominant looking bullpen. His start to 2026 in the WBC for team Italy also helped back this belief up as he managed five strikeouts and zero earned runs over 3.1 innings pitched across three outings, racking up big out after big out. Back with Boston, that same success hasn’t carried over as Weissert has been anything but dominant or a trusted arm to get out of big spots as Weissert has already allowed 11 inherited runners to score this season, tied for the 7th most in the league. While this grade will come down more so on the eye test than anything else, one that hasn’t been good at all, what should give fans hope of a potential Weissert turn around are that his Chase%, Whiff%, and K% are all up substantially from where they were a year ago, with his Chase and K numbers in the elite 93rd and 90th percentiles. The advanced metrics may indicate a turnaround could be coming for Weissert with a little more luck, but with how ineffective he’s been so far, mainly struggling to keep the ball in the ballpark, with four homers allowed already after giving up six in 67.0 innings last year, the aforementioned eye test has him sitting with a D- grade to start. Garrett Whitlock 11 Games, 2-1, 3.27 ERA, 11.0 IP, 13 SO, 5 BB, .195 AVG, 4.48 FIP, 0.2 WAR It’s been a bit of a strange start to the 2026 campaign for Garrett Whitlock as at first glance he seems to be operating as his usual dominant and reliable self, holding opposing hitters to a .195 average against and avoiding any sort of hard contact with a Hard-Hit% in the 93rd percentile. What’s interesting with Whitlock is diving deeper into some of his advanced stats, he has appeared to have regressed from an elite level arm to roughly league average across numerous noteworthy categories including: Chase% (97th to 62nd), Whiff% (93rd to 43rd), xERA (93rd to 42nd) and xBA (91st to 50th). Right now, all the Red Sox can hope for is that Whitlock, who earns a B grade through March/April can continue operating with a little bit of luck as he tries to return to that consistently elite level arm he’s accustomed to being. View full article

Heading into the 2026 season, the common questions surrounding this version of the Boston Red Sox were: “Does this team have enough to hit?” and “Where is the power going to come from in this lineup?” Well, outside of seemingly just Wilyer Abreu and Willson Contreras, both viable answers to those questions, the jury still seems to be out on the other 11 hitters on the roster. And as if their 12-19 start wasn’t bad enough, the offense has gotten off to a dreadful start ranking near or at the bottom of both the AL and MLB, including: 12th in K% (9th worst in AL) 24th in Runs Scored (4th worst in AL) 24th in Batting Average (4th worst in AL) 25th in On Base Percentage (worst in AL only ahead of NY Mets) 29th in Home Runs (worst in AL, only ahead of San Francisco) 29th in Slugging Percentage (worst in AL only ahead of NY Mets) 29th in wRC+ (worst in AL, only ahead of NY Mets) The positive takeaway is there’s plenty of time to turn things around just one month into the season, and an attempt to do so has already been made with the dismissal of former hitting coach Pete Fatse. The concern, though, is that the team may have already dug itself a hole too deep to climb out of. Here’s a look at grades for all 13 of Boston’s hitters for March and April. (Note, all players who appeared in at least one game in March/April have been listed in alphabetical order by last name to help easily review.) Grading Every Red Sox Hitter from April 2026 Wilyer Abreu 30 Games, .307/.373/.482/.855, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 11 XBH, 142 OPS+, 136 wRC+, 7 DRS, 1.7 WAR The decision to make Wilyer Abreu an everyday staple of Boston’s lineup as opposed to one who usually sits versus lefties seems to have paid off so far, as the two-time Gold Glove winner has blossomed into the Red Sox best all-around hitter through the first month and change. Abreu has seen his numbers against lefties jump so significantly from 2025, where he slashed .230/.299/.377/.676, to now hitting .375/.444/.438/.882, that he’s actually performing better against them than righties in all categories except slugging percentage, making him a consistently tough out in Boston’s otherwise struggling lineup. Abreu has been on a tear right from the jump, hitting .400 through the first five games of March and continuing that success right through April where he did not see his average fall below .280. The biggest contributing factors to this success so far can be traced back to the fact that Abreu has cut back on his Chase% from 29.0% to 27.2%, Whiff% from 24.0% to 20.7%, and K% from 24.2% to 17.5% which has allowed him to drastically increase the number of balls he’s squaring up, from 21.9% (16th percentile) in 2025 to 26.6% (60th percentile) so far this season. In an offense that has struggled tremendously so far, and has looked for any signs of consistency, Abreu has been one of the few bright spots. Couple that with his continuously stellar defense with 7 Defensive Runs Saved already and his superb all-around play nets him an A+ grade. Roman Anthony 26 Games, .208/.339/.292/.631, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 5 XBH, 82 OPS+, 80 wRC+, 3 DRS, 0.4 WAR Prior to the 2026 campaign, the stage was set for the pressure to be immense on Roman Anthony as not only was he garnering MVP predictions from some, but was already being looked at as the next face of the organization at only 21 years old. Now with a full month plus to look back on it seems like you can add de facto clubhouse leader to the list of things on Anthony’s plate as he continues to be one of the first players in front of the cameras & microphones night after night, and you’re left to wonder if that is starting to take a toll on the budding star. To say Anthony’s start to the year has fallen short of expectations would be an understatement. After a strong opening series in Cincinnati, Anthony has been hit with looking caught in between at the plate (24th percentile in K% and 21st in Whiff%), troubles throwing in the outfield, and a back injury that further derailed an already underwhelming season. Anthony is still managing to find his way on base (91st percentile in BB%) and hitting the ball hard (75th percentile), but with just a single home run, five RBI, and currently sitting with the third most strikeouts on the team with 32, the production hasn’t been there nearly enough and is one of the biggest reasons why the Red Sox offense has looked as anemic as it has, earning Anthony a D grade. Willson Contreras 30 Games, .262/.375/.486/.861, 7 HR, 20 RBI, 10 XBH, 143 OPS+, 138 wRC+, 3 DRS, 1.3 WAR Things got off to a bit of a slow start for Willson Contreras in a Red Sox uniform, as he was saddled with a rather unlucky 2-for-17 start with his new club. They say patience is a virtue though, and boy did that ever ring true, as Contreras now leads the Red Sox in: Slugging Percentage, OPS, Home Runs, Runs Batted In, OPS+, and wRC+, while not being too far behind Wilyer Abreu for the team lead in WAR as well. While everyone will point to Contreras’ production at the plate and strong veteran presence in the dugout as his biggest contributions since coming over from St. Louis, an overlooked aspect of his game that has made a significant difference thus far is how he has stabilized a first base position that has been crying out for just that for what has felt like ages, tallying three Defensive Runs Saved and, once again, and team-high five Outs Above Average. If it wasn’t for the aforementioned Abreu, Contreras may take the title as Boston’s best hitter in the lineup so far, but with a little bit more swing and miss in his game (team high 36.1 Whiff%), he falls just behind his fellow Venezuelan teammate. All things considered, Contreras’ well-rounded game still passes this first month plus with flying colors, granting him an A grade on the report card. Jarren Duran 26 Games, .170/.231/.250/.481, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 6 XBH, 37 OPS+, 31 wRC+, 2 DRS, -0.1 WAR The start to Jarren Duran’s 2026 has been anything but ideal whether you want to focus on his underperformance on the field, his run-in with a fan in Minnesota who he flipped off in retaliation for shouting derogatory comments towards him according to Duran, or his standoffish treatment of the media when asked to comment on the recent firing of Alex Cora, which he met with a side-eye and dismissive backhanded wave away. For the sake of this grade though, I’ll choose to focus on the on-field play that has been anything but up-to-expectations so far. Through his first 26 games, Duran ranks dead last among Boston’s hitters in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, OPS, OPS+, and wRC+ with a -0.1 WAR that is second worst only behind Carlos Narvaez’s -0.3. Similarly to Roman Anthony, Duran has looked lost at the plate numerous times this season, so much so that he has begun shuffling through different stances, hand positions, and toe-taps/strides at the plate on a nightly and sometimes at-bat to at-bat basis. None of his adjustments seem to be making a mark though, as he has found himself well below league average in numerous advanced statistics as well, most notably his Whiff% (6th percentile), Chase% (22nd) and Squared-Up% (33rd) which may be contributing to his lack of power so far, with just six extra-base hits, and what undoubtedly hands him an F grade through the first month plus. At least he seems to be turning things around in May. Caleb Durbin 29 Games, .172/.261/.263/.524, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 7 XBH, 50 OPS+, 46 wRC+, 4 DRS, 0.3 WAR Much like fellow newcomer from the NL Central Willson Contreras, Caleb Durbin’s Red Sox career got off to a bit of a slow start, just of a more extreme variety beginning the year on a 1-for-22 skid, and at one point 0 for his first 19. While his turnaround doesn’t come close to the resurgence that Contreras has had, there have been some things to like about Durbin’s game that may start to win over the fanbase if he can continue in the right direction. To start, Durbin was able to close out the month of April hitting safely in five of the final six games, helping bring his batting average up to .172. Still not ideal, but significantly better than his .045 mark to begin the month. When it comes to his approach at the plate, while he is still struggling to barrel the ball up (1.2%, 4th percentile), Durbin isn’t really chasing (78th percentile), or swinging-and-missing (95th in Whiff%, 87th in K%) all that much, leading one to believe the continuation of good at-bats will lead to better outcomes. Where he has shined brightest without question, though, is in the field where he has looked solid at third base, accumulating four Defensive Runs Saved, two Outs Above Average, and a few solid highlights, including most recently a diving stop to preserve Ranger Suarez’s no-hit bid at the time against Toronto. While it hasn’t been a superb start for Durbin by any means, there have been enough improvements through the first month to grant him a (generous) D+ grade. Isiah Kiner-Falefa 14 Games, .229/.270/.229/.499, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 0 XBH, 44 OPS+, 38 wRC+, 1 DRS, 0.0 WAR When the Red Sox surprisingly (and questionably) gave Isiah Kiner-Falefa $6 million this offseason, the belief was he’d come in and be a platoon option at second-base with Marcelo Mayer against lefties, be an option to get Trevor Story some rest if needed at short, and be a veteran presence in the clubhouse that was lost when Alex Bregman was kicked out the door. Through just 14 games, second fewest on the team only ahead of Connor Wong, it seems like Kiner-Falefa is only doing one of those things, and not even all that well. While he has looked slightly better at the dish of late, coming up with some clutch hits and producing all three of his RBIs to the tune of a .286 average and .571 OPS in the final five games of April, the results haven’t justified the investment with Kiner-Falefa. His defense, bunting, and base running abilities, all supposed strengths of his game, haven't been average to below at best. And when he is making contact, there aren’t many fireworks there either with zero extra base hits and an Average Exit Velocity of 81.7, exponentially below league average. His end to April is the only thing that truly saves him from an F grade on his first report card of the season, coming out with a D grade. That being said, one wonders how many more report cards he may even be a part of with the likes of Nate Eaton, Nick Sogard, Kristian Campbell, Mickey Gasper, and even spring training roster invitee Vinny Capra all off to better starts in Worcester, ready to replace him if given the opportunity. Marcelo Mayer 27 Games, .253/.321/.373/.695, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 7 XBH, 97 OPS+, 91 wRC+, 0 DRS, 0.2 WAR If Masataka Yoshida was the leader in the clubhouse on questions of where he would fit into the construction of this Red Sox roster, then Marcelo Mayer was the leader whether he would even be on it. Between offseason trade rumors for Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte, to former manager Alex Cora directly saying Mayer had to earn his roster spot leading some to believe a trip to Worcester was on the table for Mayer, there wasn’t much certainty for the second-year pro. Despite all the noise, Mayer put together a strong spring training and earned that Opening Day roster nod, and despite not being in the lineup to start, was able to come through with two clutch at-bats to help secure Boston’s 3-0 victory. Mayer did cool off quite a bit after a hot start in Cincinnati but has seemed to turn a corner once again as in his final 10 games of April, slashed .417/.462/.542/1.003 with 10 hits and four RBI. Through March/April, defense has continued to be Mayer’s calling card, fully taking over the second base role and racking up two Defensive Runs Saved, good for an elite level 89th percentile. Where Mayer has shown tremendous strides though is his approach at the plate, as he’s not only decreased his Chase% from 29.6% in 2025, to 23.7% this season, but cut his K% practically in half from 30.1% to 16.3%, which is good enough to spot him a B- grade out of the gate. Andruw Monasterio 15 Games, .227/.292/.386/.678, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 5 XBH, 91 OPS, 84 wRC+, 0 DRS, 0.1 WAR After being acquired as part of the package that brought Caleb Durbin to Boston from Milwaukee, Andruw Monasterio’s opportunity to make the roster came thanks to an offseason injury to lefty-killer utility man Romy Gonzalez. It seemed like that would be the role Monasterio, who slashed .273/.360/.477/.837 with two home runs and 10 RBI last year, would be taking on heading in to 2026. As we turn the calendar to May, it seems that might not necessarily be the case. Monasterio actually has more plate appearances against righties (26) than lefties (22) and has seen far more success against them too, owning a .280/.308/.400/.708 line with seven hits against them, compared to his .158/.273/.368/.641 one with just three hits against lefties. While the numbers don’t jump off the page by any means, Monasterio has been a fine utility bench option who has worked counts and fill in wherever the Red Sox have needed him to so far with at least one appearance at every infield spot — netting him with a C grade to start the 2026 campaign. Carlos Narvaez 19 Games, .234/.258/.359/.617, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 4 XBH, 74 OPS+, 65 wRC+, -2 DRS, -0.3 WAR After a breakout campaign in 2025, expectations were high for fan-favorite catcher Carlos Narvaez to build off an impressive all-around rookie campaign both offensively and behind the plate. While Narvaez has still been elite behind the plate in terms of Blocks Above Average (97th percentile) and Framing (98th percentile), he has seen his Caught Stealing Above Average drop from the 98th percentile to the 70th percentile as well as his Pop Time increase from 1.92 to 1.98. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Narvaez’s early season struggles, apart from a slow start at the plate that he started to turn around at the end of April (.763 OPS with two homers and three RBI in the final 10 games), has to be his poor ABS performance. A spot where many figured Narvaez would shine due to his excellent command of the strike zone behind the plate has been anything but as he’s won just 33% of his challenges (4/12) on a meager 1.1% Challenge Rate. If there is a positive takeaway to be had with Narvaez and the ABS Challenge System, it’s that four of them led to a strikeout being gained as a result of challenging with one also resulting in a walk being taken away. While his start hasn’t been as poor as others, Narvaez definitely has not lived up to the expectations set for him before the season, leading to a C- grade. Ceddanne Rafaela 29 Games, .263/.333/.379/.712, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 7 XBH, 102 OPS+, 98 wRC+, 0 DRS, 0.3 WAR When it comes to Ceddanne Rafaela, you have a pretty good understanding of what you’re going to get, elite defense in centerfield and a bat that will be as hot as a pistol when he’s locked in and cold as ice when he’s chasing out of the strike zone. Or perhaps, that might be pre-2026 Rafaela, as so far this season it’s been his defense that has taken a slight backseat out of the gate in favor of a much better approach at the plate that includes a surprising amount of patience through his first 29 games. Now while there have been a couple of miscues in center field, there have still been plenty of outstanding catches that suggest nothing drastic has changed in that aspect of his game. What’s worth noting specifically in Rafaela’s hitting is he has drastically improved two areas of his game that plagued him tremendously in 2025, that being Chase% (2nd percentile), and BB% (7th percentile), both of which have climbed to the 16th and 15th percentiles in their respective categories. And while the power hasn’t come just yet, one other improvement to his game offensively is Rafaela appears to be having more success at squaring up the ball this year, as that percentage has climbed from the 39th percentile in 2025 to the 62nd in 2026. There’s a lot to like about where Rafaela’s game is at right now with hope that his offensive numbers continue to improve and defense stays at its elite level, securing himself a B grade. Trevor Story 30 Games, .197/.237/.295/.532, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 8 XBH, 50 OPS+, 41 wRC+, -1 DRS, 0.0 WAR Coming off his best season in a Red Sox uniform, one where he was finally healthy, slugging 25 home runs and 96 RBI with an OPS of .741 in 157 games, many wondered if Trevor Story had an encore performance in him, with the added pressure of starting the year as Boston’s No. 2 hitter with the exit of Alex Bregman. Some doubted this belief and as we sit here now 30 games into Story’s season, those doubters may be able to take a victory lap. Outside of a two-week stretch from April 6th to the 17th, where he was coincidentally removed from the two-hole in the lineup and slashed .282/.302/.436/.738 with one home run and 15 of his 17 RBI this season, Story has been simply abysmal. Not only seeing his decline in the field continue to deteriorate with a Range and Arm Strength in the 31st and 22nd percentiles to go along with a team high four errors, but at the plate as well with extremely low Whiff (27th percentile), K (16th), BB% (12th) and Chase (2nd) percentages along with again a team-high 40 strikeouts. Factor in that Story was one of the most vocal and visibly upset members of the club when asked about Alex Cora’s dismissal, going so far as to publicly request a meeting with Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow and question the direction of the franchise along with his struggles and you begin to see why he earns a D- grade to begin the season, with his only saving grace from a F being that two week stretch where he seemed to carry Boston’s offense at times. Connor Wong 13 Games, .243/.333/.378/.712, 0 HR, 5 RBI, 5 XBH, 102 OPS+, 98 wRC+, 2 DRS, 0.6 WAR After an injury-riddled 2025 saw him lose his starting role to rookie newcomer Carlos Narvaez and an offseason that saw the Red Sox seemingly put an emphasis on catching depth with the amount of names they brought in via trade and free agency, there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding Connor Wong. Even after a lackluster spring training, Wong still managed to win a roster spot as Boston’s backup and through his first 13 games, has looked at times like there should be a conversation about him winning the starting gig back. In just 43 plate appearances, Wong’s five RBI and extra-base hits apiece have already come close to surpassing his totals in those two categories (seven & eight) than he had in all of 2025. What’s been encouraging from Wong, who has not been shy about noting how hampered he was a season ago at the plate due to nagging hands and finger injuries, is driving the ball with more authority as shown by his increased Hard-Hit and Squared-Up percentages. Wong has also been quite successful in utilizing MLB’s new ABS challenge system behind the dish, winning four out of his five challenges while also flipping a strikeout call in Boston’s favor. Even with a resurgence at the plate, where Wong still struggles — and where his grade takes a hit — is defensively behind the plate, where he owns a below-league-average Pop Time of 1.98 seconds and a -2 Blocks Above Average rate (15th percentile). Still, his strong contributions are worthy of a B- grade at the very least. Masataka Yoshida 18 Games, .265/.390/.327/.716, 0 HR, 5 RBI, 3 XBH, 106 OPS+, 109 wRC+, -2 DRS, 0.0 WAR There may not be a player on the Red Sox roster that had a bigger question mark on them than Masataka Yoshida heading into the 2026 season. Not necessarily because of his ability, but where exactly was he going to play with Boston’s outfield logjam never truly addressed in the offseason? As the calendar turns to May, those same questions still haven’t really been answered as Yoshida has appeared in 18 games so far, only starting 13 (11 DH / 2 LF) and being used as a pinch hitter in five. When Yoshida has seen the field, he continues to show excellent patience (13.6% Whiff% and 15.3% BB%) and command of the strike zone (23.3% Chase% and 11.9% K%), something the rest of some of his teammates haven’t been so lucky with. There have been plenty of times so far this season where the Red Sox could have used Yoshida’s professional approach at the plate to help a slumping lineup, but with no end in sight to the outfield dilemma, and the fact he’s seen as a defensive liability there (-2 DRS) constantly limiting him to mainly DH duties, it doesn’t feel like he’s going to see any consistent playing time anytime soon to fully showcase those offensive talents. Add it all up, and he seems worthy of perhaps a generous and respectable B- grade to round out the March/April report card for Boston’s hitters. View full article