Boston Red Sox
“Everybody here believes that we have a good team.”
COMMENTARY
As if the dreary 40-degree weather enveloping Fenway Park on Wednesday wasn’t miserable enough, the cheers emitting from Boston’s ballpark said it all amid the Red Sox’s latest setback against their archrival.
With each hack and unbalanced whiff that Boston’s hitters uncorked at the plate against Yankees ace Max Fried, the expected din of groans and jeers echoed across Fenway.
Even worse, those gloomy musings were only undercut by the cheers of “Let’s Go Yan-kees!” doled out by a vocal minority of fans relishing in the futility of its nemesis.
Such has been the scene at Fenway Park so far this spring for a Red Sox squad seemingly primed to build off last year’s abbreviated playoff appearance.
So much for all of the optimism rooted in the thawing of a new baseball season.
Instead, the fans who have braved the chilly conditions at Fenway so far in 2026 have been subjected to a regular exercise in pain and punishment. Based on what we’ve seen thus far, there’s been little optimism rooted in Boston’s bats thawing out of this current freeze.
Through two games against the Yankees this season, Alex Cora’s club has only had one baserunner cross home plate.
That lone run came on Wednesday with two outs in the ninth inning, only marginally lessening the blow of an eventual 4-1 loss to New York.
In total, Boston has only collected nine total hits across 18 innings of offensive ineptitude.
“He’s really good at what he does,” Cora said postgame of Max Fried. “But we still have to be better. … It’s been tough, the whole homestand. … We’ve got to be better. Everybody here believes that we have a good team. Good teams have to find a way to score runs against a good pitcher.”
All of the fears regarding Boston’s offseason roster reshuffle — rooted in concerns over the lack of right-handed pop at the plate and the drain of established veteran mettle — have come to fruition.
Wednesday marked the sixth time this season that Boston has been held to one run or fewer, including five times in its past eight games.
After whiffing on free-agent targets like Pete Alonso and Alex Bregman, the Red Sox pivoted to run prevention this winter — banking on elite starting pitching and improved defense as an assured avenue to account for some expected growing pains at the plate.
Instead, the dearth of any sort of power at the plate — coupled with poor roster construction that often relegates a key bat to the bench each night — has Boston saddled with an often sputtering offense that is unable to claw back from any sort of deficit.
Aaron Boone and the Yankees might as well have started blaring Sinatra in the visiting dugout after Amed Rosario golfed a pitch from Sox starter Ranger Suarez over the Green Monster for a three-run shot in the first inning.
The lefty — who the Red Sox reportedly targeted in free agency in December 2024 before he signed with New York — pitched eight shutout innings against Boston, giving up three hits and striking out nine.
Since joining New York, Fried is sporting a 1.10 ERA against Boston in five starts (including one outing in the postseason).
Beyond Fried’s plus stuff on the mound, even a three-run hole is daunting for this Red Sox lineup to drag itself out of — especially given their lack of home-run power.
In total, Boston has only slugged five home runs in its last 17 games. The last time Boston was limited to five or fewer dingers over a 17-game stretch was all the way back in May 1993.
Jarren Duran — one of the few bright spots on Wednesday with a three-hit game — preached patience for a young club that is still trying to find its footing.
“I’d say we’re putting pressure on ourselves,” Duran said. “I think that we’re just trying to do too much. We’re trying to dig ourselves out of a hole. But at the end of the day, we’re not really in a hole. It’s still early. We still have so much time to just play baseball.”
Duran is right as far as the extended runway the Red Sox have in front of them. Boston still has 138 games left on its regular-season docket.
For fans who have had little to cheer for through nearly four weeks of baseball, it’s a sign of optimism that their favorite ballclub’s fortunes are destined to shift.
On the other hand, 138 more games of this offense might be enough to drive even the most steadfast of Sox supporters batty.
“We’re in Boston. It’s a big market,” Duran said. “We want to produce for the fans and produce for ourselves and for the team. The Red Sox have a big legacy that, obviously, even if you try not to put that pressure on [yourself], it’s there. It’s just part of it. But we have a hard-working team.
“I mean, it sucks you guys don’t get to see what we do behind these walls every single day. But I know everybody’s working, and I know people are going to say, ‘Oh, well, you should work harder.’ Well, we are. We’re working hard, as much as we can, to make everybody proud.”
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