2026 Red Sox/MLB Season Thread

[Vermont Green]

They're dominating for sure but it will be a matter of time before ESPN or the media starts accusing them of cheating of some sorts like Spygate or PitchCom I'm hearing. After all, haters will find excuses for their accomplishments.

And Boston sports and cheating together have been a bad rap

If Cora was still here, no doubt they would be speculating about sign stealing.

[Vermont Green]

This game/win represents a milestone of sorts to me.  At the start of the season, I had predicted 90+ wins, wildcard, top of the league pitching, and middle of the pack hitting.  The Sox at 64-51 are now exactly on 90 win pace.  They are number 1 in the all of baseball in Runs Allowed and 7th in Runs Scored.  Back to about where I (and others) predicted them to be.  Big question now is where do they go from here.

I think they will continue to score runs, maybe not staying at 7th in baseball  (they may cool off some), but enough to win games at a 90 win pace or better.  C, 1B, 2B, 3B, CF, RF, and DH are all solid, or should be when Mead and Rutschman get in the line up.  The soft spots are SS and LF.  Look for platoons to play a big role for SS and LF, DH also.  Yoshida and Duran (for example) hit very well vs RHP on a career basis.  Jones and White are solid vs LHP.  SS will probably be more "by committee" but Monasterio hits very well vs LHP and they have other options to work in for different match ups or for defense.

I actually have more concern on the pitching, not so much for the rest of the regular season, but for the playoffs.  I fear that Bennett and Tolle could wear down (although Tolle didn't look worn down last night).  I don't see anyone who is a true #1 (assuming no Crochet).  They are a bunch of very good #2s or maybe #1.5s, and #3s, which is great, but it makes a big difference in the playoffs to have a guy like Crochet at the top.  Even without Crochet, this team won't be an easy out in the playoffs.  With Crochet in top form (a long shot hope), this team is right there with anyone.

[Silas]

This game/win represents a milestone of sorts to me.  At the start of the season, I had predicted 90+ wins, wildcard, top of the league pitching, and middle of the pack hitting.  The Sox at 64-51 are now exactly on 90 win pace.  They are number 1 in the all of baseball in Runs Allowed and 7th in Runs Scored.  Back to about where I (and others) predicted them to be.  Big question now is where do they go from here.

I think they will continue to score runs, maybe not staying at 7th in baseball  (they may cool off some), but enough to win games at a 90 win pace or better.  C, 1B, 2B, 3B, CF, RF, and DH are all solid, or should be when Mead and Rutschman get in the line up.  The soft spots are SS and LF.  Look for platoons to play a big role for SS and LF, DH also.  Yoshida and Duran (for example) hit very well vs RHP on a career basis.  Jones and White are solid vs LHP.  SS will probably be more "by committee" but Monasterio hits very well vs LHP and they have other options to work in for different match ups or for defense.

I actually have more concern on the pitching, not so much for the rest of the regular season, but for the playoffs.  I fear that Bennett and Tolle could wear down (although Tolle didn't look worn down last night).  I don't see anyone who is a true #1 (assuming no Crochet).  They are a bunch of very good #2s or maybe #1.5s, and #3s, which is great, but it makes a big difference in the playoffs to have a guy like Crochet at the top.  Even without Crochet, this team won't be an easy out in the playoffs.  With Crochet in top form (a long shot hope), this team is right there with anyone.

While we wait for Crochet, I think Sonny Gray has been a great #1....14-2 with a 2.78 ERA, not too shabby.

[Vermont Green]

This game/win represents a milestone of sorts to me.  At the start of the season, I had predicted 90+ wins, wildcard, top of the league pitching, and middle of the pack hitting.  The Sox at 64-51 are now exactly on 90 win pace.  They are number 1 in the all of baseball in Runs Allowed and 7th in Runs Scored.  Back to about where I (and others) predicted them to be.  Big question now is where do they go from here.

I think they will continue to score runs, maybe not staying at 7th in baseball  (they may cool off some), but enough to win games at a 90 win pace or better.  C, 1B, 2B, 3B, CF, RF, and DH are all solid, or should be when Mead and Rutschman get in the line up.  The soft spots are SS and LF.  Look for platoons to play a big role for SS and LF, DH also.  Yoshida and Duran (for example) hit very well vs RHP on a career basis.  Jones and White are solid vs LHP.  SS will probably be more "by committee" but Monasterio hits very well vs LHP and they have other options to work in for different match ups or for defense.

I actually have more concern on the pitching, not so much for the rest of the regular season, but for the playoffs.  I fear that Bennett and Tolle could wear down (although Tolle didn't look worn down last night).  I don't see anyone who is a true #1 (assuming no Crochet).  They are a bunch of very good #2s or maybe #1.5s, and #3s, which is great, but it makes a big difference in the playoffs to have a guy like Crochet at the top.  Even without Crochet, this team won't be an easy out in the playoffs.  With Crochet in top form (a long shot hope), this team is right there with anyone.

While we wait for Crochet, I think Sonny Gray has been a great #1....14-2 with a 2.78 ERA, not too shabby.

I agree, he has been great, but do you feel he is overachieving or that this is his "steady state"?  He may keep it going, but I think there will be some slippage from this level once he gets into the playoffs.

[Silas]

This game/win represents a milestone of sorts to me.  At the start of the season, I had predicted 90+ wins, wildcard, top of the league pitching, and middle of the pack hitting.  The Sox at 64-51 are now exactly on 90 win pace.  They are number 1 in the all of baseball in Runs Allowed and 7th in Runs Scored.  Back to about where I (and others) predicted them to be.  Big question now is where do they go from here.

I think they will continue to score runs, maybe not staying at 7th in baseball  (they may cool off some), but enough to win games at a 90 win pace or better.  C, 1B, 2B, 3B, CF, RF, and DH are all solid, or should be when Mead and Rutschman get in the line up.  The soft spots are SS and LF.  Look for platoons to play a big role for SS and LF, DH also.  Yoshida and Duran (for example) hit very well vs RHP on a career basis.  Jones and White are solid vs LHP.  SS will probably be more "by committee" but Monasterio hits very well vs LHP and they have other options to work in for different match ups or for defense.

I actually have more concern on the pitching, not so much for the rest of the regular season, but for the playoffs.  I fear that Bennett and Tolle could wear down (although Tolle didn't look worn down last night).  I don't see anyone who is a true #1 (assuming no Crochet).  They are a bunch of very good #2s or maybe #1.5s, and #3s, which is great, but it makes a big difference in the playoffs to have a guy like Crochet at the top.  Even without Crochet, this team won't be an easy out in the playoffs.  With Crochet in top form (a long shot hope), this team is right there with anyone.

While we wait for Crochet, I think Sonny Gray has been a great #1....14-2 with a 2.78 ERA, not too shabby.

I agree, he has been great, but do you feel he is overachieving or that this is his "steady state"?  He may keep it going, but I think there will be some slippage from this level once he gets into the playoffs.

I checked his stats from a few years ago...in 2023 when he finished 2nd in the Cy Young voting his ERA was 2.78.  I think he is benefiting from the Sox being on a hot streak but I don't think he is overachieving.  He has pitched at least 6 innings in 11 of his last 12 outings. That along with his ERA tells me he is the real deal so far this season.  If he stays healthy I would hope that his strong regular season plays well in the playoffs.  Gray along with a healthy Crochet would be great news for the Sox in the playoffs.

[Vermont Green]

This game/win represents a milestone of sorts to me.  At the start of the season, I had predicted 90+ wins, wildcard, top of the league pitching, and middle of the pack hitting.  The Sox at 64-51 are now exactly on 90 win pace.  They are number 1 in the all of baseball in Runs Allowed and 7th in Runs Scored.  Back to about where I (and others) predicted them to be.  Big question now is where do they go from here.

I think they will continue to score runs, maybe not staying at 7th in baseball  (they may cool off some), but enough to win games at a 90 win pace or better.  C, 1B, 2B, 3B, CF, RF, and DH are all solid, or should be when Mead and Rutschman get in the line up.  The soft spots are SS and LF.  Look for platoons to play a big role for SS and LF, DH also.  Yoshida and Duran (for example) hit very well vs RHP on a career basis.  Jones and White are solid vs LHP.  SS will probably be more "by committee" but Monasterio hits very well vs LHP and they have other options to work in for different match ups or for defense.

I actually have more concern on the pitching, not so much for the rest of the regular season, but for the playoffs.  I fear that Bennett and Tolle could wear down (although Tolle didn't look worn down last night).  I don't see anyone who is a true #1 (assuming no Crochet).  They are a bunch of very good #2s or maybe #1.5s, and #3s, which is great, but it makes a big difference in the playoffs to have a guy like Crochet at the top.  Even without Crochet, this team won't be an easy out in the playoffs.  With Crochet in top form (a long shot hope), this team is right there with anyone.

While we wait for Crochet, I think Sonny Gray has been a great #1....14-2 with a 2.78 ERA, not too shabby.

I agree, he has been great, but do you feel he is overachieving or that this is his "steady state"?  He may keep it going, but I think there will be some slippage from this level once he gets into the playoffs.

I checked his stats from a few years ago...in 2023 when he finished 2nd in the Cy Young voting his ERA was 2.78.  I think he is benefiting from the Sox being on a hot streak but I don't think he is overachieving.  He has pitched at least 6 innings in 11 of his last 12 outings. That along with his ERA tells me he is the real deal so far this season.  If he stays healthy I would hope that his strong regular season plays well in the playoffs.  Gray along with a healthy Crochet would be great news for the Sox in the playoffs.

Not sure we are disagreeing.  With Sonny Gray as the #1, the Sox are a playoff team and based on the depth of the pitching staff, the Sox can make noise in the playoffs.  But many of the playoff teams will have an equal or better #1 than Gray.  If we have Crochet pitching like he can pitch (which is probably unlikely) then our #1 is right there with anyone and our #2 is probably better than most others.

Gray has himself in the Cy Young discussion.  He has pitched great.  I am pretty optimistic relative to the norm on the Sox, have been all season.  But I feel that to be something more than a potential Cinderella World Series team, we would need Crochet.  Doesn't mean Gray can't win playoff games when matched up against the other team's #1 but the Sox need to have better starting pitching as most playoff teams will have better line ups/run production.

I will happily admit that  I may be over analyzing this (I am an engineer, I tend to do that).  I am all for just going with this and enjoying the ride.

[Silas]

This game/win represents a milestone of sorts to me.  At the start of the season, I had predicted 90+ wins, wildcard, top of the league pitching, and middle of the pack hitting.  The Sox at 64-51 are now exactly on 90 win pace.  They are number 1 in the all of baseball in Runs Allowed and 7th in Runs Scored.  Back to about where I (and others) predicted them to be.  Big question now is where do they go from here.

I think they will continue to score runs, maybe not staying at 7th in baseball  (they may cool off some), but enough to win games at a 90 win pace or better.  C, 1B, 2B, 3B, CF, RF, and DH are all solid, or should be when Mead and Rutschman get in the line up.  The soft spots are SS and LF.  Look for platoons to play a big role for SS and LF, DH also.  Yoshida and Duran (for example) hit very well vs RHP on a career basis.  Jones and White are solid vs LHP.  SS will probably be more "by committee" but Monasterio hits very well vs LHP and they have other options to work in for different match ups or for defense.

I actually have more concern on the pitching, not so much for the rest of the regular season, but for the playoffs.  I fear that Bennett and Tolle could wear down (although Tolle didn't look worn down last night).  I don't see anyone who is a true #1 (assuming no Crochet).  They are a bunch of very good #2s or maybe #1.5s, and #3s, which is great, but it makes a big difference in the playoffs to have a guy like Crochet at the top.  Even without Crochet, this team won't be an easy out in the playoffs.  With Crochet in top form (a long shot hope), this team is right there with anyone.

While we wait for Crochet, I think Sonny Gray has been a great #1....14-2 with a 2.78 ERA, not too shabby.

I agree, he has been great, but do you feel he is overachieving or that this is his "steady state"?  He may keep it going, but I think there will be some slippage from this level once he gets into the playoffs.

I checked his stats from a few years ago...in 2023 when he finished 2nd in the Cy Young voting his ERA was 2.78.  I think he is benefiting from the Sox being on a hot streak but I don't think he is overachieving.  He has pitched at least 6 innings in 11 of his last 12 outings. That along with his ERA tells me he is the real deal so far this season.  If he stays healthy I would hope that his strong regular season plays well in the playoffs.  Gray along with a healthy Crochet would be great news for the Sox in the playoffs.

Not sure we are disagreeing.  With Sonny Gray as the #1, the Sox are a playoff team and based on the depth of the pitching staff, the Sox can make noise in the playoffs.  But many of the playoff teams will have an equal or better #1 than Gray.  If we have Crochet pitching like he can pitch (which is probably unlikely) then our #1 is right there with anyone and our #2 is probably better than most others.

Gray has himself in the Cy Young discussion.  He has pitched great.  I am pretty optimistic relative to the norm on the Sox, have been all season.  But I feel that to be something more than a potential Cinderella World Series team, we would need Crochet.  Doesn't mean Gray can't win playoff games when matched up against the other team's #1 but the Sox need to have better starting pitching as most playoff teams will have better line ups/run production.

I will happily admit that  I may be over analyzing this (I am an engineer, I tend to do that).  I am all for just going with this and enjoying the ride.

I'm also an engineer, let's enjoy the ride together...Go Bosox!

[Roy H.]

Tough loss today.

[Redz]

Chapman getting tired a bit.

[Vermont Green]

Interesting to think who the Sox might get back:

Anthony          0.859 OPS last season
Rutschman      0.756 OPS Career
Mead              0.851 OPS 2026 season

And that is potentially replacing really poor production at these positions:

LF                  0.665 OPS for 2026
C                   0.630 OPS for 2026
2B                 0.647 OPS for 2026

Hard to know how well these 3 will hit down the stretch or on the playoffs after coming back from injuries, but not hard to expect it will result in some improvement over the production they have gotten out of these positions to date.

The Sox currently sit tied for 12th in MLB (with CWS and MIN) for OPS, a little ahead of NYY, surprisingly.  They rank 17th in runs, but with 1-2 less games than than the 3 team just ahead of them, so very much middle of the pack. 

OPS generally correlates with runs very closely.  So for the Sox to rank higher in OPS than in runs scored means they are leaving runs on the table more that their OPS would predict they should.  Or more directly, if they continue have a similar or better OPS, they should improve their runs scored rank.

[Goldstar88]

Catcher Adley Rutschman acquired by Boston on Aug. 3 as part of a blockbuster deal with the Orioles could play his first game with the Red Sox as soon as Tuesday night in Toronto. ​

The 28-year-old catcher, who has been sidelined since mid-July due to wrist inflammation, played two rehab games with Triple-A Worcester over the weekend and will travel with the Red Sox to Toronto to start off a four-game series at Rogers Centre.





The healing process has advanced to where Anthony can hit off a machine, per interim manager Chad Tracy. The first task is to swing to the point it doesn?t hurt and use a Trajekt machine, which simulates opposing pitchers.

Tracy is optimistic about the first encouraging news we?ve heard about Anthony in a while.

All things are positive. Let him keep taking steps, temper expectations until he crosses and checks all these boxes, then we?ll see when we can get him here, Tracy said via MassLive.

​

[BitterJim]

I learned about the 4th out rule a couple weeks ago, but never expected to seeit (well, hear it) live in a game. Such a weird rule but hey a run is a run

Not the 2 we needed, though

[SparzWizard]

Welp Sox back to their losing ways again. Just dropped one to the Blue Jays after losing two straight to the A's