Boston Red Sox
“The Red Sox will remain intact at least for the foreseeable future.”
Craig Breslow might have some tough calls to make if the Red Sox continue to struggle. AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough
The Red Sox haven’t exactly inspired confidence through the first seven-plus weeks of the 2026 season.
A Boston roster seemingly poised to take another step forward after a brief playoff appearance last October has instead struggled in several areas, leading to Alex Cora’s firing in late April.
The arrival of interim manager Chad Tracy hasn’t exactly helped Boston right the ship, with lingering injuries, stark regression, and dreadful offensive production continuing to hamper a Red Sox roster plagued with several flaws.
Entering Tuesday’s game against the Royals, the Red Sox still sit in last place in the AL East with a record of 20-27.
But, even with Boston potentially looking at another lost season, longtime MLB insider Ken Rosenthal doesn’t believe that the Red Sox are ready to put up a “For Sale” sign over their clubhouse at this stage of the 2026 season.
At least not yet.
“They’re not going to give up yet. And they’re not going to give up yet for the reason I just stated — the American League is weak. I believe the Red Sox [on Monday] morning are only three, three-and-a-half games out of a Wild Card race,” Rosenthal said Monday on “Foul Territory.” “So at that point you’re thinking, ‘All right, we get hot, we get our offense going’ — maybe they will, maybe they won’t.
“Certainly isn’t going right now — ‘then we have a chance.’ They certainly pitch well enough. Come July, if it’s not looking great, then you do sell pieces off, but you don’t give up yet.”
The Red Sox have several appealing trade chips they could flip for future assets if this season is a lost cause, including veterans like Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, and Aroldis Chapman.
However, Rosenthal expects Boston not to wave the white flag at this juncture — especially with Boston not fully buried in what has largely been a pedestrian field in the American League so far this season.
“The Red Sox will remain intact at least for the foreseeable future,” Rosenthal added.
Getting Roman Anthony back in the lineup might help assuage a Red Sox offense that has been stagnant for most of this season, with Boston ranking 29th out of 30 MLB teams in runs per game at 3.62.
However, Anthony’s scheduled return appears to be in a holding pattern after he experienced soreness in his injured hand after swinging a bat on Monday.
If the Red Sox’ bats can’t get hot, Boston’s playoff odds will continue to shrink — even with the club’s strong pitching corps and improved defense.
Monday’s 3-1 win over the Royals marked the ninth-straight game where the Red Sox have scored three or fewer runs — the longest streak of that sort of offensive futility since the last nine games of Boston’s 2012 season under Bobby Valentine.
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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