Hours after a 17-1 route over the Baltimore Orioles, longtime manager Alex Cora was fired along with many members of his staff. The firing came after a disappointing 10-17 start for a Red Sox team that won 89 games and made the playoffs in 2025.
Chad Tracy is currently the interim manager for Boston after serving as the skipper of the Worcester Red Sox since 2022.
Hopes in Boston are nowhere near as high as this time last year. In the past 365 days, they have traded Rafael Devers and let Alex Bregman walk in free agency after a great season in his lone year in a Red Sox uniform. They made a few offseason moves, acquiring pitchers Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray while trading for Willson Contreras to play first base.
The signings have been decent, but Gray recently landed on the IL with a hamstring injury.
The slow start caused disarray amongst the fans, but was Cora the necessary change? Pitchers and hitters have been underperforming with Contreras being one of the only consistent hitters all season.
Here is what needs to happen this summer for the Red Sox to have a chance at rallying into a playoff spot.
Consistent hitting
Through 28 games, Wilyer Abreu is the only player hitting over .300 on the season. Four of the nine normal starters are batting .218 or lower, and no player has more than 6 home runs on the year. The team has not dealt with injuries either, just slumping hitters to start the year. How does this get fixed? It starts with Trevor Story who finally put together a healthy season for the Red Sox last year. Story hit .263 and smacked 25 home runs last year. If he can get hot, it would really help the struggling Sox. Boston also needs Jarren Duran or Roman Anthony to get going. The pair of outfielders have a combined 2 home runs and 16 RBIs after both being key pieces on the 89-win Red Sox in 2025. Anthony gets some grace coming off a season ending injury, but Duran’s struggles are something that needs to be cleaned up soon if he wants to stay in the lineup. The Sox have plenty of outfielders ready to play, and consistent struggles could find a player out of the lineup for a while. If fellow second-year player Marcelo Mayer could also find his swing, the Red Sox could get some momentum going into the summer.
Better bullpen
A key to the Red Sox success last season was their stellar bullpen. Aroldis Chapman had one of the best seasons of his career at age 37 and has been good this year. Boston has not been able to replicate the success that Justin Wilson, Brennan Bernardino and Steven Matz had last season after all of them departed in free agency. The Sox have instead opted to go with more inexperienced arms, an experiment that has not worked. Regularly trotting out pitchers like Ryan Watson and Danny Coulombe is not working, and it is certainly not sustainable. If the Red Sox want to have a higher chance of winning more games, they have to get a better bullpen, that starts with the trade deadline.
Active trade deadline
It has been years since the Red Sox made a real splash to acquire a player at the deadline. They have opted for depth and getting rid of players instead of being all out buyers like other top market teams. If they are all in on shaking things up, trading players seems like the next step. It is time to trade one of their outfielders and trading Duran would get the best return while not throwing away the future of your franchise at the same time. You could get a reliable starting pitcher or reliver for Duran which is exactly what the Sox need. Acquiring one more infielder would be a big impact after losing Devers and Bregman. Caleb Durbin has struggled at third, and a corner infielder would desperately benefit the Sox. Boston always has plenty of prospects to deal away, so gaining a veteran is completely possible. Unfortunately, making moves is uncertain with this front office as of late.
Sticking together
It may seem like it does not mean a lot, but there is just something different about the team this year compared to last year. The 2025 Red Sox were a team that looked like they were genuinely excited to play with each other every game and that’s what the reports out of the locker room were as well. This year that does not seem to be the case, and that could in large part be due to the departure of the veteran Bregman. If someone like Story or Contreras can assume that Bregman role and rally the young team together, they could go a long way. It starts with the veterans, and it trickles down to the young players of which Boston has so many. If the team does not stick together, it could get even uglier in Boston.