Boston Red Sox
“The way it ended Wednesday night in New York was painful and deeply disappointing to all of us.”
Chad Tracy, Craig Breslow, and Sam Kennedy addressed the media at Fenway Park on Monday. (David L Ryan/Globe Staff)
October 5, 2026 | 6:40 PM
7 minutes to read
Just a few days after the Red Sox’ roller-coaster 2026 season came to an end in the Bronx, manager Chad Tracy, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, and president/CEO Sam Kennedy addressed the media at Fenway Park.
Despite Boston’s impressive 32-5 surge in the summer and mid-year turnaround, the theme of Monday’s press conference was one of disappointment.
“The way it ended Wednesday night in New York was painful and deeply disappointing to all of us,” Kennedy said.
Here are five takeaways from Monday’s presser:
Beyond the disappointment of the Red Sox’ season coming to a close with a listless showing against the Yankees last week, Wednesday’s postgame press conferences with Red Sox players in New York were rife with grievances and head scratches from a few veterans.
First baseman Willson Contreras raised a few eyebrows when he seemingly insinuated that the Red Sox organization has been too reliant on data and analytics — which he believes doesn’t always translate to success out on the field, especially in October.
“It’s not enough when you have talent, or you have data, or you have computers telling you what to do, because this is baseball,” Contreras said. “The data is here to help us, but at the end of the day, you need experience and veteran guys to win games. There’s a lot of stuff I would like to say, but I’ll state it like that.”
“It’s not enough when you have talent, or you have data, or computers that are telling you what to do. This is baseball. The data is here to help us…but you need experience and to bet on the guys to win games.”
Willson Contreras’ thoughts on Sonny Gray exiting in the 5th: pic.twitter.com/gWGkrj6LZw
— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) October 1, 2026
Breslow was asked directly about Contreras’ comments and whether or not he’s had discussions with the veteran over the state of Boston’s baseball operations.
“I saw Willson’s comments,” Breslow said. “My interpretation is a little bit different than there are clearly things that he wants fixed and changed.”
Before the players went their separate ways to begin the offseason, Breslow said that he had an extended conversation with both Contreras and Tracy on Sunday.
“We met for over two hours and we talked about a host of things,” Breslow said. “Many of those I will keep private just to kind of preserve the relationship that we have. But it was incredibly constructive and covered a wide scope of things.
“Willson would be the right person to ask directly, but he spoke very, very highly of his time here, how much he’s looking forward to 2027 and the way that he and his family appreciated the Red Sox.”
Tracy says ‘decisions are mine’ with managing pitching staff, roster
Chad Tracy earned Boston’s full-time managerial title this fall after righting the ship with this roster.
But the Red Sox manager found himself in hot water during Boston’s two-game series against New York when it came to quick hooks with his starting pitching.
A strong rotation was a foundational piece in the Red Sox’ success this season. But Tracy opted to pull both Payton Tolle and Sonny Gray after just 4.2 innings of work in Games 1 and 2, respectively, against New York.
At the time, both righties had only given up one run and kept Boston in close contests in the Bronx, only for the Yankees to feast on the Red Sox bullpen.
In both games, Tracy immediately turned to lefty Erik Miller to close out the fifth inning — with the southpaw giving up a solo shot to Ben Rice in Game 1 and surrendering an RBI single to Cody Bellinger in Game 2.
Tracy’s approach to Boston’s pitching staff in the playoffs raised questions over whether or not there was a set plan or “script” in place for the Red Sox to turn to their bullpen immediately — rather than let their starters face New York’s line for a third time through the order.
Tracy pushed back against that sentiment, adding that all of Boston’s decisions on the field last week were his and his alone.
“Not one time since I’ve been here has anybody scripted a game, has anybody told me, ‘Use this number right here to decide in this inning,’” Tracy said. “Those decisions are mine. As far as that specific one, my decision. That obviously didn’t go great, and that falls on me.
“Do we have data and analytics? Of course we do. Everybody does. Is somebody standing there pushing me saying, ‘You have to do this, this and this?’ Absolutely not.”
Boston’s bullpen was also a strength all year long, only for it to splinter in the postseason. While Tolle and Gray allowed two earned runs over their 9.1 innings of work, Boston’s relievers coughed up 15 earned runs over 6.2 innings.
“Believe me, I see both sides and I don’t need to get too deep into defending this or that because I certainly could have gone the other way with that and that could have gone well,” Tracy said. “We wouldn’t even be having this conversation. But I do trust Sonny Gray and I do trust the guys in the bullpen as well.
“There is a factor of having a really strong bullpen that was pretty heavily left-handed in our sense. Was there scripts? No, there wasn’t anything scripted out. Just games got to certain points where you felt like it was time to go. We didn’t also want to ignore that we had some pretty good arms in our bullpen if we could get there and use those.”
Clearing the air with Gray
Tracy’s decision to pull Gray after just 4.2 innings of work in Game 2 clearly rankled the 36-year-old veteran once Boston’s season came to an end.
“I would have liked to be trusted in that moment,” Gray declared after Boston’s loss on Wednesday.
“I think I’m the best pitcher in the American League going through the order a third time,” Gray added after getting the hook after 70 pitches and one run allowed. “I think that’s a fact. I would have liked [for Tracy] to live or die with me in that moment, but that’s the competitor I am.”
Despite Gray’s blunt comments — including the pending free agent not exactly committing to a potential return to Boston — Tracy said on Monday that he’s hashed things out with the Red Sox’ top starter this season.
“Yes, I have had a chance to talk to [Gray]. The relationship there is good. Do I think he was wanting to stay out there? Quite obviously,” Tracy said. “But five months of relationship-building. I think there are some things that get painted sometimes, that that [ending] stained it or ruined it. No.”
“I have a very good working relationship with him and have had numerous conversations with him throughout the course of the year. I was able to talk to him and it (the relationship) is in a fine place, while also understanding his feelings [about] it.”
Offseason needs
While Boston’s pitching was strong for most of the 2026 campaign, its offense left a lot to be desired.
Boston was outscored, 18-2, and outhit, 26-7, in its two-game series in New York. But the Red Sox dealt with inconsistent offense and a dearth of power throughout the 2026 campaign.
The Red Sox closed out the 2026 season ranking 23rd in baseball in runs scored (689) and 26th in home runs (163).
Much like last offseason, Breslow said that Boston needs to prioritize adding more pop to the lineup in the coming months.
“Our offense was inconsistent. We got on base at a decent clip, but we didn’t really slug, didn’t hit a ton of home runs, and I’m not sure that we took advantage of the unique venue that we play in,” Breslow said. “So naturally, we’re going to spend some time thinking about how we can improve our offense, particularly how we build a roster that can thrive at Fenway Park.”
“There are a lot of reasons to believe the existing offense should be better in 2027,” Breslow added. “But we’re also going to do everything we can to improve beyond that.”
Injury updates
The 2026 campaign was a lost season for Roman Anthony, who missed over 100 games in the regular season due to a nagging wrist/hand injury — only for it to resurface in the playoffs and keep him out of Boston’s eventual season-ending loss last Wednesday.
Speaking on Monday, Breslow said that he doesn’t expect Anthony to need surgery this winter to correct his ailing injury.
“He’s had a bunch of follow-up appointments, including imaging,’’ Breslow said of Anthony. ”We’re still collecting information, still working through what the right course of treatment is, and at this point, it doesn’t seem as there’s any type of surgical intervention [needed], and that rest is likely the best path to recovery.”
While months of rest didn’t exactly help Anthony fully recover in time for the playoffs, Breslow said that a full offseason for Anthony should help him turn the corner — rather than a few months of intensive rehab in the summertime, as was the case from May through August of this year.
“Yes, he was trying to get healthy,” Breslow said, “but he’s also trying to do everything he could to get back on the field. And when he felt comfortable and confident, he pushed to get back on the field. … He was trying to swing and doing tee work and dry swings as soon as he could, and a couple of times, he tried and had to take a step back and would try again.
“Versus now having this window to rest it completely and make sure we don’t progress to step two until it’s completely clear.
Breslow also shared that Garrett Crochet is “fully healthy” going into the offseason — adding that Boston had no regrets over not trying to rush him back on the mound in August or September.
“There maybe could have been an opportunity to get him back on the field in what would have been an accelerated timeline, but it would have required unnecessary risk to do so, and potentially have longer-term implications,” Breslow said. “So we wanted to make sure that we had checked every box as it related to his return to play, and get his shoulder strength back up to where it was, or even better than it was at any point in 2025 when he pitched a full, healthy season.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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