The Boston Barometer: Volume 8
Another disappointing and lifeless week of baseball in Boston.
I’ve been a 162 guy for more than 20 years and I cannot think of a more boring Red Sox team. A completely lifeless offense has left this team with a faint heartbeat. This Boston team suffered another losing week and are tied for the most games under .500 (8) this season. Despite the dreadful start, they find themselves just 3 games back of the final Wild Card spot. However, it feels like this team is 20 games back right now.
The Good
The Starting Pitching
This week the Red Sox got 5 terrific pitching performances and they only won 2 of those games.
Bello: 6.1 IP / 1 ER
Gray: 6 IP / 1 ER
Suarez: 5.1 IP / 0 ER
Early: 5 IP / 2 ER
Tolle: 8 IP / 2 ER
The Red Sox rotation minus Brayan Bello has really picked things up. After a rough first two weeks, they have been one of the better units in baseball over the last month. They are doing everything in their power to keep the Red Sox in games. However, they have to be nearly perfect throughout their outings because the Boston lineup cannot score.
The big takeaway from what was a dreadful week was the dominance of Payton Tolle and Connelly Early continuing to pitch well. Both of these rookies have gone from fighting for a rotation spot to being firmly in the rotation likely forcing Brayan Bello out once Garrett Crochet returns from the IL.
Photo Credit: Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves / Contributor / Getty Images
Payton Tolle looks like a completely different pitcher from the one that debuted late last season. While he still has an explosive fastball, he has adapted the new pitching philosophy of having multiple fastballs as his 4-Seam fastball, sinker, and cutter accounted for 85% of his arsenal on Saturday night against the Braves. Those three pitches generated a lot of weak contact. While the curveball is an improved pitch this season, Tolle did not need it against the second best offense in baseball.
While 2026 continues to feel like a lost season, the development of Tolle and Early is huge for the future of this core. If the rookies can continue to show that they are capable big league starters, the Red Sox will have an impressive group of 4 starters in Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez, Payton Tolle, and Connelly Early for the next couple of seasons.
The Bad
The Offense
This is the worst Red Sox offense I have ever seen. They failed to score more than 3 runs all week and they haven’t done so since May 7th. There were very few rallies all week. If this team does not hit home runs, which they struggle to do (fewest in the AL), they cannot score.
An account on Twitter called Red Sox Stats found this amazing and shocking statistic of how the Boston bats were unable to work counts and draw walks this week.
When guys are struggling to get hits, working walks is a necessity. Right now it feels like opposing pitchers are just not afraid of anyone in this lineup. Early this week we saw Zack Wheeler throw 16 pitches in 3 innings. With the lack of power, there is no reason for pitchers to pitch carefully to them. And the majority of pitchers have been in full attack mode against this lineup.
While Red Sox fans are finally seeing some small changes, Nick Sogard started Sunday instead of Caleb Durbin, the Red Sox still have 3 of the worst OPS productions in the sport in Jarren Duran, Caleb Durbin, and Trevor Story. There aren’t obvious trade options that could help this group. Unfortunately, this offense either figures it out on its own or we see a historically bad season from the Boston bats.
Could It Be?
Is it possible that we have witnessed the last game in which Trevor Story starts at shortstop for the Boston Red Sox? With Story seeking additional opinions on his sports hernia, if he needs surgery he will likely be out 6-10 weeks. If things are still not going well for this team and Marcelo Mayer has settled in nicely defensively at short, there will be no reason to move Mayer off of short. Story is only under contract for one more season after 2026. With him already showing signs of decreased range and arm strength, there is not a single reason to put him back at short when Mayer is a better option. Marcelo Mayer was drafted as the organization’s future shortstop. Story’s injury opens the door for that to happen. The Red Sox will wait to see what Story ultimately decides to do but Mayer did say on Sunday that he has talked with Chad Tracy about taking reps at short.
Up Next
After what was a really tough stretch of baseball, Boston now has a great opportunity this week to win two series. The Red Sox first travel to Kansas City to take on the 20-27 Royals. They are not a good baseball team and if Boston wants to turn their season around, it has to start in Kansas City. After a 3-game series against the Royals, Boston returns to Fenway Park to take on the Twins. These are two bad teams. Will Boston show that they are worse than two of the worst teams in the AL or will they fight and start to turn things around? My expectations are extremely low but I’m always open to being pleasantly surprised.