As the regular season winds down and October starts to take shape, the Red Sox have every reason to feel good about where they ended up. ESPN’s David Schoenfield didn’t seem to agree all that much, though, handing Boston a “B” for its regular-season work.
That grade feels light considering everything the Red Sox had to climb over to get here. Boston didn’t cruise into the postseason.
It staggered out of the gate at 10-17 under Alex Cora, then sat at 32-46 on June 24 and 15.5 games back. At that point, the season looked like it was slipping fast, and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow appeared to be the next target if things kept going sideways.
Instead, the Red Sox flipped the script. The turnaround came with then-interim manager Chad Tracy helping steady the ship and veteran voices in the clubhouse like Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray setting the tone.
From there, Boston ripped off a 21-4 July and tied a club record with a 15-game winning streak. Even more striking, the Red Sox went 27-3 from July 3 to August 7, the best 30-game stretch in franchise history.
They did it without star players Roman Anthony and Garrett Crochet, too.
That’s what makes the “B” feel so hard to square. A team that was buried early, written off in the middle, and then roared back to life in a span of weeks didn’t just survive - it turned itself into a postseason threat. Context matters when you’re grading a season, and Boston’s context is impossible to ignore.
None of that earns the Red Sox anything when Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series begins at Yankee Stadium against their most bitter rival. But it does say something about how they got there. The real test now is whether that same fight can carry them through another run.
In Other News...
Red Sox Have 3 Under The Radar October Roster Decisions
As the Red Sox sort through the last layer of their postseason puzzle, a few names that have not always sat at the center of the conversation are suddenly carrying real weight. Romy Gonzalez, Alec Gamboa and Jahmai Jones all bring different kinds of utility to a roster that has to account for injuries, matchup issues and the squeeze of October roster construction, and each has a path to becoming more than just a depth option if Boston needs the right specialist at the right time.
Gonzalez can help against left-handed pitching and give the club some cover at first base, while Gamboa has shown the kind of groundball-heavy relief work that can fit in a short series. Jones has also looked strong versus lefties since joining the Red Sox, which makes him another potentially useful piece if Boston wants to lean into matchups. The catch, of course, is that postseason benches are rarely roomy enough for everyone, and the Red Sox still have to decide which of these under-the-radar fits best into the October plan. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Suddenly Have Another Injury Concern Before Yankees Series
The Red Sox finally get a day off before opening their wild-card series against the Yankees, but the pause has come with more injury uncertainty attached to it. Garrett Crochet, Tyron Guerrero and Johan Oviedo are among the players dealing with issues, and the timing matters with the postseason about to begin and every available arm and bat carrying extra weight.
Mickey Gasper is also in the mix, though his status appears especially shaky heading into the series. He has been one of the more interesting small-payroll stories on the roster, with a 2026 season that compares favorably in some ways to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., including a higher home run total and more wins above replacement despite earning the minimum salary. For a Red Sox club trying to line up the right pieces for New York, the concern is not just who is hurt, but who is actually able to help. [Read more 🡒]
Tanner Houcks Red Sox Playoff Spot Suddenly Looks Far Less Safe
The Red Soxs pitching picture tightened over the weekend, and not necessarily in the way they wanted. With Boston needing to trim its staff to 12 pitchers by Tuesday, the club shuffled arms around again, placing Tyron Guerrero on the injured list, recalling Wyatt Olds and activating Tanner Houck from the 60-day injured list. Houcks return was a notable development on its own, but his first game back did little to settle anything as the Red Sox continue sorting out who belongs in October.
The bigger question now is whether Houck has run out of time to make his case. Boston is expected to carry a postseason pitching group built around 12 other arms, and recent performance plus health concerns have put Houck on the outside of that projection for the moment. For a club trying to line up its best possible staff for a short October run, every outing and every roster decision carries extra weight, and Houcks path back into the picture suddenly looks much less secure. [Read more 🡒]