Red Sox Report

Zak Drapeau
2 minutes ago
3 min read

by Zak Drapeau

Sportz Nation - 4/15/2026

Currently sitting at 6-11 in 5th place in the AL East, the Red Sox have had an up and down couple of weeks. After back-to-back 2-1 series wins over the Cardinals and Brewers, the Sox have lost two straight in Minnesota in horrendous fashion.

Photo by Michael Thomas/ Associated Press

Hitting

The top hitters so far of this season have definitely been Willson Contreras, Wilyer Abreu and Cedanne Rafaela who have a .941, .935 and .748 OPS respectively. Players like Trevor Story and Roman Anthony have had one or two big games thrown in there but for the most part have struggled like the rest of the team.

As a whole, the Sox are 20th in Hits and batting average and are 29th in Home Runs. These hitting stats have dropped the Red Sox to 25th in slugging and can directly corelate with the teams' slow start in the win column.

Over just the last 7 games, the Sox have scored 32 runs. Story (8), Contreras (7), Duran (6) and Durbin (5) have accounted for 81% of those runs. Willson Contreras has easily been the best hitter with a 1.208 OPS during that time with Trevor Story behind him with a .888. The biggest issue with the Red Sox have been their slugging during this time, with a team slugging of .274. During that same period, they're getting on base over 40% of their plate appearances but without a real power threat, they haven't been able to make those base runners count.

On the opposite end Marcelo Mayer and Isiah Kiner-Falefa have been atrocious from the plate with Roman Anthony just outside of this group. Mayer is 3/16, IKF is 2/11 and Anthony is 4/22 in that span with Anthony grabbing the only RBI between the three. IKF may be the odd man out but if the Red Sox want to turn this ship around, they will need a LOT more out of their prize young players Anthony and Mayer.

Pitching

Now for the mound, the Pitching has been slightly better than the hitting but not by much. Aside from Monday, Garrett Crochet had been pretty decent in his first three starts but the best pitcher in the rotation has been the kid, Connelly Early. 13 strikeouts in 13 innings and only earning 4 runs across 3 starts has given him a team-leading 2.63 ERA. Other starters like Suarez, Gray and Bello have each had one very good game but have been lackluster as a whole.

The relievers have been pretty solid especially over the last 8-10 games. Aroldis Chapman and Jovani Moran both have under 2.00 ERAs in 6 and 10 innings of work respectively with Danny Coulombe not far behind with 1 earned run in 4 innings. As a whole, the relievers have a 2.52 ERA in the past 7 games with Zack Kelly personally responsible for 3 of those 7 runs.

Looking Ahead

Moving forward, the Red Sox finish up their road trip with the final game in Minnesota with Early on the mound opposing Simeon Woods Richardson. From a pure matchup between the pitchers, this should be a win for the Sox. However, after the last two games, anything can happen and unless the Sox bats wake up a little more this game could go either way.

After they finish up with the Twins, they will host the Tigers for 4 games and the Yankees for 3 immediately after at Fenway Park. Both series will be essential but winnable for the Red Sox and I believe will be the most important homestand of the first half of the 2026 season based on where the Red Sox are currently.

The Tigers and Yankees both have 2 of the best rosters in the American League on paper but have also underperformed this season. The Tigers have started 8-9 and have seen key players like Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson have very slow starts to the season while Tarik Skubal, Dillon Dingler and Kevin McGonigle have been red hot for them.

The Yankees started off hot but have lost 6 of their last 7 games. Ben Rice and Aaron Judge have been the leaders at the plate for the Yankees with Giancarlo Stanton pulling more than his own weight as well. On the mound, almost all of the Yankees starters have been locked in all year with their relievers more likely to give up the runs in the later innings.

I really can't understate how much the Tigers series mean, but that yankees series in Fenway from the 21st to the 23rd is key.