A season that began with promise has turned into an ugly slog for the Boston Red Sox. With the team starting 0–36 when trailing after eight innings, a lineup built around younger hitters, a rotation shaped by standout veteran arms but a shattered performance f
By early June, the Red Sox felt like they were already playing from behind—again and again—just in different ways.
The numbers are blunt. The team is on pace for its 2nd-worst 162-game record ever: 1965 went 62-100, and the Red Sox are currently pacing to finish 66-96 in 2026. Another recent comparison looms too: in 2012 they went 69-93 and in 2014 they went 71-91.
On top of that, Boston has managed a record-starting kind of futility once games tilt late. The Red Sox are starting a season 0-36 when trailing after eight innings—hard to do. the article notes. because it hasn’t happened even a single time. And when the game is decided one inning earlier, the pattern holds: they are 1-33 when trailing after seven. There was a brief flicker Wednesday against the Rays. when Boston scored four runs in the eighth inning. but it wasn’t enough.
As the losing has piled up, Sam Kennedy, the Red Sox president, has moved from corporate confidence to raw accountability.
He told WEEI that the product isn’t acceptable and called it “embarrassing.” Speaking more directly. Kennedy said. “Nobody is free and clear of blame. ” adding that after 25 years with the organization he doesn’t remember a stretch feeling “as viscerally as we feel it right now. It’s been awful.” Kennedy also said the Red Sox have to be “honest” about where they were and may need to pivot from their original plan at the trade deadline and beyond.
Even that admission carries weight because the club’s on-field flaws have been everywhere—especially in how the roster is built and how it performs against the American League East.
The article argues the lineup had holes from the start. saying the Red Sox placed “an awful lot of faith” in young hitters who haven’t built sustained success in their major-league careers. It points to Caleb Durbin. in his second season; Andruw Monasterio. a fourth-year player still learning; and Marcelo Mayer. who has shown flashes but is still figuring it out. It describes Willson Contreras as a bright spot but says it’s “unfair to expect him to shoulder so much of the load from a power standpoint.” The piece also describes Wilyer Abreu as having taken the next step. while noting the team may be relying on him too much. and it characterizes Jarren Duran as an All-Star at times but “extremely streaky.”.
Then there’s the broader roster question the article ties to ownership—John Henry and company—suggesting the team has leaned on talk of World Series titles while putting together three of the worst teams in franchise history. A comment attributed in the source to Steve Perrault says the Red Sox have “had 3 of the worst teams in franchise history.”.
The Red Sox’s problems haven’t been only about bats. Injuries are described as a clear factor, even as the article stresses that injuries happen. It names Garrett Crochet. Roman Anthony. and Trevor Story as players expected to be key contributors this season—then notes each struggled to start the year after strong performances last season.
And the piece frames Roman Anthony’s situation with the kind of expectation that can turn a spring optimism into a midseason reckoning. It says Anthony still has a chance to be “the face of the franchise. ” but that expecting him to do so as a second-year player was a risk that didn’t pay off in the short term.
Pitching has been uneven too, with one name at the center of the sharpest contrast: Brayan Bello.
In 2024, Bello’s ERA is listed as 4.49; in 2025, it dropped to 3.35. But the article says this year he took a major step backward. with his ERA ballooning to 6.34 and his walks and hits per innings pitched rising to 1.67. The Red Sox are described as telling him in the Minors to “fall in love with baseball all over again.” The article repeats that line as an uncomfortable question—if he wasn’t in love. why was he told; if he was not. why would they have said it. It still says there’s hope for Bello, but that something has to change both mentally and physically.
At the same time, the rotation hasn’t been entirely a disaster. Outside of Bello and Crochet. the article says the rotation has. “for the most part. ” produced and given the team a chance. It lists Payton Tolle with a 2.70 ERA and Connelly Early with a 3.30. It names veterans Ranger Suárez at 3.18 ERA and Sonny Gray at 3.20, describing them as largely in command.
The next steps are laid out in practical terms: Early’s next step, the article says, is limiting home runs—12 on the season. For Tolle, the emphasis is on avoiding letting innings unravel occasionally.
Relief pitching has carried its own bright spots, and the article says Aroldis Chapman deserves to be celebrated. It lists 1. 357 relief strikeouts. “just six behind Hoyt Wilhelm for the most all-time.” It also says Chapman is 10 saves away from tying Dennis Eckersley for most all time with 390. With a 0.46 ERA and allowing just one earned run all year. the piece describes him converting his last 28 save opportunities dating back to last season. It adds that this is the franchise’s third-longest streak since saves became official in 1969. behind Tom Gordon (54) and Koji Uehara (31).
Even with Chapman’s consistency, the article says the Red Sox are outmatched everywhere—“especially” within the American League East. It lists the Rays sweeping the Red Sox and then provides Boston’s record against division rivals: the Red Sox are 1-5 against the Rays. 1-4 against the Yankees. 1-2 against the Blue Jays. and 3-3 against the Orioles. Combined, it says that’s 6-14.
It also questions whether there’s any case to make Boston buyers at 27-39. and it points to a lack of sustained offense—“little evidence this offense can turn it on for a sustained period.” The article notes the Red Sox are still only 5 games back of WC3. but says that with no ability to sustain winning. a run doesn’t appear likely.
As the record and the matchup problems pile up, the organizational decisions begin to look just as urgent as the games.
Dustin Pedroia’s absence is part of that story. The article says Pedroia doesn’t want to join this mess. Red Sox President Sam Kennedy said he reached out to Pedroia about a possible front-office position. but Kennedy got a no in response. It also connects that decision to the situation around Jason Varitek. suggesting Pedroia is wise to stay away at the moment.
Kennedy’s own posture is a central thread of the piece: it gives credit to him for taking ownership and for calling the state of the team “embarrassing,” while arguing it “doesn’t take a genius” to see the situation requires more than slogans.
One detail ties the emotional temperature back to the on-field results. The article frames Boston’s brutal late-inning outcomes—0-36 when trailing after eight innings and 1-33 when trailing after seven—as a pattern that no mere stretch of good luck can cover up. Even when the Red Sox showed signs of life against the Rays with a four-run eighth. the comeback wasn’t enough.
The pattern is hard to ignore: if the lineup holes are real. if injuries disrupt expected contributions from players like Garrett Crochet. Roman Anthony. and Trevor Story. and if a pitcher like Brayan Bello’s performance swings hard in the wrong direction. then every close game becomes a test the Red Sox don’t pass. At the same time. Kennedy’s language suggests the team already knows what it looks like when a plan stops working.
Boston Red Sox Sam Kennedy WEEI Dustin Pedroia Brayan Bello Aroldis Chapman American League East Rays Yankees Blue Jays Orioles