Red Sox (87-75):

1 Roman Anthony, DH (L) - Making postseason debut, 63 wRC+ vs RHP on the road.

2 Adley Rutschman, C (S) - First playoff with Red Sox. No HR’s at Yankee Stadium in career

3 Willson Contreras, 1B (R) - Dealing with lingering injuries

4 Wilyer Abreu, RF (L) - Lacks a postseason moment in Boston

5 Ceddanne Rafaela, CF (R) - .364 career vs Schlittler, injured hamstring is worth watching

6 Nick Sogard, 2B (S) - Went 2-6 with a run scored in ‘25 ALWC

7 Jarren Duran, LF (L) - Went 1-11 with single, four K’s in ‘25 ALWC.

8 Trevor Story, SS (R) - Lone Red Sox with a HR in ‘25 ALWC

9 Caleb Durbin, 3B (R) - 2-22, 0 HR in six games at Yankee Stadium, only BOS hitter with HR off Schlittler.

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Head to heads:

Roman Anthony leads off in Postseason debut

Roman Anthony will DH and bat leadoff for the Red Sox in his postseason debut. He hit .245 with five home runs in 55 games, missing the majority of the season with a finger injury.

Anthony’s absence loomed large in last year’s matchup with the Yankees, as the Sox were dominated and seemed lifeless in the clincher when Cam Schlittler went eight shutout with 12 strikeouts.

This year they get Schlittler in game one, with a lineup that looks different from a year ago. It will be interesting to see what Anthony, the former top overall prospect in baseball, does in his first taste of the playoffs.

After all that transpired during a historic 2026 season, the Boston Red Sox (87-75) find themselves in the same position they were in one year ago at the onset of the playoffs - matched up with bitter rival the New York Yankees (93-68) for a best of three Wild Card Series.

This Red Sox / Yankees rivalry has had no shortage of postseason moments across its extensive history, and that goes for recent years as well. It’s the third time in the last six seasons that Boston and New York have faced off in a Wild Card setting to kick off the postseason.

In 2021, they battled at Fenway Park in the last ever one game Wild Card. Boston won 6-2, ending the Yankees’ season. Almost exactly one year ago today, they were outclassed by the Yankees in games two and three of the 2025 AL Wild Card series, as the Bombers avenged their 2021 defeat in a three game set at Yankee Stadium.

Game three of last year’s series was the day a new villian was born in the rivalry’s lore, as Yankee rookie starter Cam Schlittler shoved eight shutout innings and 12 strikeouts, most by a rookie pitcher ever in a postseason debut, down the Sox throats and sent them packing.

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After a dominant season that almost certainly will result in him taking home the American League Cy Young award, Schlittler is prepared to embrace his evilness once again, this time not as an up-and-comer, but rather as the ace of the best pitching staff in baseball. His 239 strikeouts tied with Dylan Cease for 2nd most in the American League, and he was second in innings behind Michael Wacha of the Royals. No American League starting pitcher had more bWAR than him, and he led all qualified starters in Major League Baseball in adjusted pitching wins.

Schlittler’s series clinching performance was the ultimate masterpiece. He allowed five hits, none of them for extra bases, started 22 of 29 batters faced with a first pitch strike, and hit 100 MPH or higher on his fastball eleven times.

Six of those triple digit heaters came in the first inning, where Schlittler established himself with a 1-2-3 opening frame ending with a strikeout looking on Alex Bregman. A dropped foul pop up during the at bat did not deter Schlittler, who seemed as calm and collected as a 15 year veteran with 60+ postseason innings. It appeared to be his desnity to etch his name into the lore on that chilly New York night.

It was a brutal night for the Red Sox, and one that started with an old reminder of the heartbreak that has colored this rivalry on either side - Bucky Dent threw out the first pitch, adding insult to the ensuing injury to come.

Whether its Bucky Dent, Cam Schlittler, or Alex Rodriguez, the villains are what make this series riveting. Will Schlittler, fresh off posting the third best regular season ERA of any qualified Yankee starting pitcher ever, be able to dominate again like he did last year? Before answering, Payton Tolle would like a word.

Yesterday, the Sox announced the hulking left handed rookie would be their game one starter. With the way Tolle has pitched against the Yankees in 2026, New York better hope Schlittler brings his A game.

The future is now as these two young aces face off in a goliath pitching matchup. You’d be hard pressed to pick a better parining of under-25 aged starters to face off in a huge postseason game. Both of these pitchers have their opposing lineup’s number, big time.

In 2026, Yankee hitters against Tolle are slashing .093/.152/.163 (4 for 43) with 18 strikeouts and only three walks (46 plate appearances). That amounts to a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings. He has made two starts against them and is 1-0.

On July 26th, Tolle put together one of the best starts of his career, taking a perfect game into the sixth inning before Spencer Jones’s one out single ended the bid. Tolle retired the first 16 batters he faced and barely allowed any hard contact.

While Schlittler has had the better season and is further established than Tolle, Payton still enjoyed a magnificent season in a boatload of ways. First of all he was dominant, pitching to a 3.03 ERA in 148.1 IP, striking out 171 batters. His intruiging skillset of large frame, low release point, premium lefty velocity and 98th percentile extension came together in a near full season’s work load, as his secondary weapons improved considerably and allowed him to become a well rounded pitcher as opposed to a thrower.

Tolle also ran away with the unofficial fan favorite award with his lovable personality and sense of humor. Another layer of depth presents itself as a result - it’s an incredible human element matchup from a Red Sox fan’s perspective. A cold hearted, outspoken villian in Schlitter, against a lovable gentle giant ready to stand up for his offense against their vicious bully.

Schlittler has become just as hated as Tolle has become loved, and the Walpole native Schlittler has added fuel to the fire at every possible chance, engaging with Red Sox Twitter and giving the media good copy as well. “I wouldn’t say I’m always on my phone looking for that stuff,” Schlittler said. “At the same time, I don’t really live under a rock as well. I’ve found ways to use that to my advantage. I think I’m good at keeping receipts.”

As usual, the internet took it more than a step too far, as Schlittler reported that he and his family received death threats leading up to last year’s game three start. “I’m not gonna get into it, but there’s a line and I think they crossed it a little bit,” Schlitter told reporters “I’m a competitor, and I’m gonna go out there and make sure I shut ’em down.”

This year, the Red Sox lineup is improved from the one Schlittler dominated to end Boston’s season last year. It starts with a big time lefty addition in Roman Anthony, who missed the playoffs with an injury. He’s back and ready to insert himself into Boston postseason history for his career postseason debut. Willson Contreras has almost 100 postseason plate appearances, and despite injuries slowing him down late in the season, he’s a bat you love to have in a big game setting. There’s also Adley Rutschman and Caleb Durbin, both looking for their first Yankee Stadium home run.

Tonight is not an elimination game, but definitely classifies as a must win game, as the winner of game one has gone on to win the series in 15 of the 16 Wild Card Series’ since the format changed in 2022. The only exception? Last year, when the Red Sox won the opener only to lose games two and three and consequently the series.

Schlittler is due for a bad start against Boston. If tonight were the night for it, Boston would be in a prime position to close the series out with Sonny Gray and Ranger Suarez lined up behind Tolle. That looks much better than the Brayan Bello / Connelly Early postseason debut starts from last year.

It’s time to find out which version of this Boston Red Sox team shows up. Will it be the one that swept the Yankees four straight at Fenway in late June, then went on to go on a 32-5 stretch that saw them sweep the Dodgers, White Sox, and Rays as well? Or will it be the version that lost 3/4 to the Bombers in their most recent series and played around .500 baseball for most of August and September? Those are questions that will only have answers when it’s all said and done.

Strap in ladies and gentlemen, the postseason is here. It’s time for the next chapter of this historic and memorable Boston Red Sox season.

This is the third time in 2026 a major league team has gone a whole game without striking out, a feat that has become increasingly more rare with the evolution of the modern game. And then here’s the Red Sox, mired in an untimely slump, coming out of nowhere to achieve one of the great historical offensive team accomplishments in the history of the game. It’s the combination of the strikeout and full RBI contribution that makes this so special. The last time the Red Sox went a full game without a K was a long time ago too, April 23rd, 2010

It was also simply a massive win in the standings. With the Yankees and Orioles playing better ball lately, and Arizona coming into Fenway with an almost identical record to Boston’s, every win counts as we approach September. Winning a game where you don’t have a traditional starter going but the offense carries you anyway is a great thing. Six players recorded multi hit games for the Sox, including the first multi hit performance as a Red Sox for Adley Rutschman. The offense needed a game like this.

The Red Sox remain in third place with the American League’s fifth best record at 67-58. That puts them 1.5 games behind the Yankees (69-55) and 8.5 games behind the division leading Tampa Bay Rays (75-49).

Pitching: Olds debuts, more Bello Dominance

Yesterday the Sox rolled out an opener, but this time with success! Alec Gamboa retired all four hitters he faced and showed a plus slider. Then Brayan Bello took over and once again flourished in a relief role. Bello pitched 4.2 innings and held the D-Backs down for just one run allowed. Three hits given up, with a walk and three strikeouts. He lowered his season ERA to 4.69, which when considering his ERA as a starter shows how much he’s turned the page as a reliever. The splits get more absurd every time he takes the mound. After posting a 10.35 ERA in 35.2 innings in games he started, Bello has a 0.85 ERA as a reliever. That’s 11 relief appearances, mostly in bulk, totaling 52.2 IP and surrounding just five earned runs. 45:7 K:BB to match.

Another noteworthy relief outing came in the form of Wyatt Olds major league debut. The 27 year old right hander pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts and four whiffs. He showed a three pitch mix: four seam, slider, and cutter, all three offerings of which graded out as above average. His four seamer averaged 97.5 MPH with great shape metrics including around 17 inches of induced vertical break. His slider showed drop and sweep, and his cutter was tight in the low 90s. With the injuries Boston has had, it’s nice to see another depth piece emerge. Olds did pitch to an ERA over 5 this season in Triple A, but on a more granular level his stuff and skills look encouraging.

Big Day in Portland

Hadlock Field in Portland Maine is the place to be tonight. Two exciting players will be making their 2026 Sea Dogs debut. Roman Anthony, who injured his ring finger in May with the Red Sox in Houston and hasn’t played since, will see game action for the first time in three months. Anthony alone makes tonight a hot ticket for a Double A game, but there’s more. Red Sox number two overall prospect Justin Gonzalez was called up to Double A from High A Greenville on Sunday. Gonzalez is a 6-5, 210 lb 19 year old. He has incredible raw power and a cannon arm in the outfield, but will play some first base as well. On the day he got the call, he had two home runs in a send off for the Greenville Drive. Anthony will likely only play two games, but Gonzalez is there to stay as he works his way up the minor league ladder. The two of them both joining the lineup at the same time gives tonight the makings of an exciting night in Portland.

Prospect Report: Top Three

1: Franklin Arias, SS, Worcester Red Sox (AAA) - 20 years old: Arias is holding husband own in Triple A since his late July call up. He started the season with Double A Portland and in 75 games hit. 318 with 19 home runs. Rising up prospect ranking boards quickly, he also ascended to Triple A, and since then hasn’t missed a beat. With the Woo Sox since his promotion, Arias is hitting .297 with four homers and four doubles to go along with 19 RBI in 18 games. The only nitpicky thing to point out as far as works in progress is his swing decisions, as he’s chasing a little and has been slightly passive on balls in the zone. When he does swing, it’s beautiful. Zone contact rate is 89% which is 88th percentile, and he’s ranked above average in average exit velocity, barrel rate, and wOBA. An all fields contact and power hitter who just needs a little more Triple A seasoning.

2: Justin Gonzalez, OF/1B, Portland Sea Dogs (AA) - 19 year old: Gonzalez will most likely make his debut tonight alongside a rehabbing Roman Anthony as he the 18 year old was called up to Double A Portland to make his debut for the Sea Dogs. With High A Greenville, the affiliate of which he has spent the entirety of 2026 with until this point, Gonzalez slashed .271/.391/.463 with 17 homers in just over 400 plate appearances. Two of them came on the day he was called up. Gonzalez has gotten right to work following being signed in 2026, adding more muscle to his frame and tearing up each level he plays at. He was named Latin program player of the year by the Red Sox in 2024 with his prod debut season performance in the Dominican Summer League (Rookie Ball). He followed that by winning the Carolina League batting title as the second-youngest qualifying player in the league. He hit .298 there. We’ll see how he handles Double A pitching.

3: Juan Valera: RHP, Greeneville Drive (High A) - 20 year old (Currently Injured). Valera hasn’t pitched since April but posted a 1.93 ERA in three starts after starting the season with High A.

The Red Sox got some good and bad news yesterday. The good news is that Roman Anthony, who hasn’t played in a game since May, will start a rehab assignment with Double A Portland starting on Tuesday. The stadium will likely be packed at Hadlock Field, as Anthony’s return is long anticipated. When healthy there aren’t many players on this team more talented than Anthony.

Health has been the only question. Anthony was named the number one prospect in all of baseball last year before getting called up to the majors. Immediately relied on to be a big contributor that year with little help around him, he slashed .292/.396./463 while still getting his feet wet. He posted a 140 wRC+ and 2.7 war in 71 games, homered off Paul Skenes, and hit his first major league walk off in an extra innings win against the Astros.

It was a special rookie year that he then parlayed with some big moments in the WBC. Many people put him into the AL MVP conversation for his sophomore MLB campaign. When the 2026 regular season began, he got off to a slow start before injuring his ring finger on a swing in Houston. By the time of injury, Anthony was hitting just .229 with one single home run. He has spent about the last month in Florida to focus on his recovery. That was odd, but at least maybe it helped because he’s back on track to be in a game finally.

It will likely be a two stop rehab but the timetable for return to major league club is still unknown. Obviously a rehab is a great step for progress to a return, but he hasn’t played in three months, so plenty of reps will likely be necessary.

Yoshida hits IL, along with Slaten

The bad news is Masataka Yoshida injured his left hamstring running the bases last night and has been placed on the 10 Day IL.

It’s another brutal injury for a Red Sox player. The list goes on. Yoshida had been hitting well lately, owning a .301 batting average and .859 OPS in his last 29 games with three home runs and more walks (11) than strikeouts. He has become a valuable bat on this roster and his injury further increases the team’s struggles.

On the pitching side Justin Slaten has been placed on the 15 Day IL, retroactive to August 13th, with right elbow inflammation. In his last 15 games, Slaten was pitching to a 2.77 ERA with 16 strikeouts to three walks and found his stride and role in the bullpen, becoming a good mid to late inning righty arm. The injuries just keep on coming though.

Corresponding moves included calling up LHP Raymond Burgos and C/1B Mickey Gasper from Triple A Worcester. Burgos has been relied on recently to grab some innings in a pinch, and has a 3.00 major league ERA over six innings pitched. Gasper, a Nashua, New Hampshire native, has also been on the major league roster in 2026, but has done most of his work in Triple A, where he’s been dominant. If there’s a positive about the Yoshida injury, it’s for Gasper, who finally gets a chance to be rewarded for the production he’s delivered for Worcester. He has an OPS over 1 in over 240 plate appearances.

Yoshida going down makes it even more important for Anthony to come back healthy and push this team into the playoffs. Today’s lineup for the rubber match of a three game series in Pittsburgh looks like this:

1 Nick Sogard 1B

2 Ceddanne Rafaela CF

3 Wilyer Abreu RF

4 Adley Rutschman DH

5 Caleb Durbin 3B

6 Andruw Monasterio SS

7 Jarren Duran LF

8 Anthony Seigler 2B

9 Connor Wong C

Adley stays in the lineup at DH while Wong handles the catching duties. Patrick Sandoval gets the start and Brayan Bello should be available out of the bullpen as he hasn’t pitched since August 9th.

Game two of this late season Red Sox versus Blue Jays series at Rogers Center is tonight, and the visiting Red Sox team is looking to avenge themselves in more ways than one. Boston has dropped their last three games including the first of this four game set.

Dylan Cease will get the start on the mound for Toronto. He tossed a complete game shutout at Fenway Park last time he faced the Sox. Boston will look to even series at a game apiece.

Cease has had Boston’s number all year, and gets to face them at home this time. The complete game shutout was the first in 2026 for the 30 year old 2022 Cy Young runner up, who now has four in his eight year career. It took 120 pitches and he finished with 12 strikeouts. Only one hit was allowed and he walked three.

In his last three starts, including the one against Boston, Cease has a 0.41 ERA in 22 innings. He has been utterly dominant all year, and has really ticked up lately. Two starts before he shut out Boston, he pitched eight shutout innings with 11 strikeouts against the Giants. What a tear this man has been on.

Now the Red Sox come into his territory on a frustrating losing streak. Concerns about offensive regression were always lingering, and may have been finally bestowed on the Sox. The last three games have seen only seven Red Sox runs. Last night in a game against a starter with an ERA of almost six and a depleted bullpen behind him, they put up just one run and fell 2-1, wasting a quality Sonny Gray start. It was only Gray’s third loss of the year, two of which were delivered by Toronto in the last 20 games.

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The Sox only run last night came via help from an obscure rule after a lengthy delay and a totally chaotic moment. As a fly ball was hit into center by Ceddanne Rafaela, the scoreboard displayed the wrong number of outs, showing two when there was only one as the Sox had runners on the corners. This fooled the Red Sox into thinking there was two outs, and neither runner tagged up. Instead they behaved as if the third out of the inning had been made. Even the Blue Jays had begun to jog off the field thinking the same thing.

Since they doubled off the runner from first base instead of the one on third who touched home plate before, the run counts. It was one of the most confusing rule implementations in a while. The scoreboard element is frustrating, but you have to air on the side of thinking the players should have known the outs anyway. It was an obvious sac fly situation watching from home. The ruling allowed them to score their only run of the game in another offensive no show for the Red Sox.

Toronto has been arguably the Sox most difficult opponent the last three years. Since 2025 Boston is 8-15 against the Jays. Last night’s loss gave Boston its longest losing streak since June 18th, when coincidentally Toronto swept them three straight on the road at Fenway.

The Blue Jays always seem to gear up against the George Springer has hit well against them and seemingly nobody else. A below average .230s hitter this season, he has hit .345 with a .980 OPS, is four for four on stolen bases and has driven in seven in eight games against Boston. Last night he singled, stole a base, and scored the decisive run.

While the Red Sox have had trouble beating this team lately, they do look a little bit different starting today. Adley Rutschman will reportedly make his team debut, and should be penciled into the starting lineup for the first time as a Red Sox after being acquired from Baltimore at the 2026 trade deadline. Rutschman will bring leadership, defense that’s been missing behind the plate, and a steady offensive contribution with professional at bats. He will play a big factor in picking this team up after three straight defeats.

The Sox will start left-hander Patrick Sandoval, who has been solid this season in a small sample. After missing about two years on the IL, he debuted on July 9th and has since made five starts, going 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in 24 innings. He hasn’t gone deep into a game yet, but has been ramping up over time and has now thrown over 80 pitches in three straight starts. The Blue Jays matchup is always scary, but Sandoval being a lefty is an advantage for the Sox. The Blue Jays are the worst offense in baseball against left handed pitching. Against southpaws they rank dead last in wRC+, AVG, and OPS. They’re 29th in runs and 27th in home runs against them as well.

A strong start from Sandoval and revenge with Adley’s help on Dylan Cease is the key today. As we roll into mid August, the Sox are hoping there’s still some magic left in the bottle from their torrid July stretch and beyond stretch.

Despite concerns surrounding his health when he was acquired on the final day of the trade deadline, Rutschman got healthy quick. He completed a two game rehab assignment in Worcester, lacing a 2 RBI double, drawing two walks, and hosing away a potential base stealer. By then it was obvious he was feeling good.

Rutschman joined the team for the trip to Toronto to begin a road trip, and from there it was only a matter of when he would debut, seeing as his rehab assignment was over.

The Sox finally will feel the benefits of their work at the trade deadline. Curtis Mead took the opposite course of Rutschman after the Sox traded for him early in the deadline period. In just his second plate appearance in a Sox uniform, Mead broke his wrist on a hit by pitch in Sacramento against the Athletics. His timetable for return isn’t certain right now.

Rutschman is here though, and presumably fully healthy. The impact Rutschman will have on both sides of the ball should be felt immediately. He is one of the best defensive catchers in the game, leading the majors in caught stealing%. His high baseball IQ and leadership qualities could take this team to the next level.

Offensively there have been some struggles this year for the three time All Star. He hitting .251 with a .764 OPS and eight home runs in only 67 games. Despite his lack of power and run producing results he has maintained his low strikeout rate and still draws a lot of walks as well. It will be a professional at bat every time he’s in the box - on either side. As a talented switch hitter he should thrive in a new, more competitive environment with a chip on his shoulder.

Adley is immediately a leadership and defensive upgrade. He is likely to provide protection for whoever he’s behind in the order, and can be a top/ middle of the order bat in a lineup that could use it despite the recent offensive success.

The Boston Era of Adley Rutschman has begun.

Adley Rutschman in 2026:

~~Be nice to people. (Haven’t said that in a while)

Adley Rutschman began a rehab assignment with the Worcester Red Sox on Saturday and went 1-2 with two walks and a two run double. He also threw out a player trying to steal second. It’s great to see Adley making tangible progress towards his Red Sox debut. The 28 year old three time all star catcher was traded to the Red Sox on August 3rd, hours before the trade deadline for prospects Anthony Eyanson, Kyson Witherspoon, and Enddy Azocar along with catcher Carlos Narvaez.

Ziehl Makes Statement in Triple A Debut

Yesterday the Worcester Red Sox trounced the Iron Pigs of Lehigh Valley 19-0 behind a dominant Triple A debut for Gage Ziehl. The number 17 ranked Red Sox prospect pitched five and two thirds innings, striking out eight, walking none and allowing just two hits.

Ziehl showcased a really strong sweeper as the gem of a seven pitch mix. The sweeper is his best offering and garners lots of whiff late in counts. Threw it more 2nd time through the order. His sinker is good at inducing weak contact and plays with the sweeper well in tandem.

Here’s the arsenal data, powered by TJStats:

Ziehl, a former fourth round pick of the Yankees in 2024 out of the University of Miami, was acquired in a trade that sent Jordan Hicks to the Chicago White Sox. He was previously traded from the Yankees to the White Sox for Austin Slater in July 2025.

He pitched most of the 2026 season in Double A with Portland after climbing four levels from low A to Double A last year, pitching 107 innings across 21 starts and going 7-6 with a 4.12 ERA. Lately he’s found a bit of a groove: Including his Triple A debut, he is 6-1 with a 2.87 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and 69 strikeouts to 11 walks in his last ten starts. Overall he racked up a 96 to 18 K:BB in 81 innings in Portland before getting promoted to Worcester.

Arias Cooking Already

Red Sox top overall prospect has been playing quite well since his promotion last month. The 20 year old got a day off yesterday and DH’d the day before. So far in Triple A he’s played in eleven games and is slashing .319/.389/.574 with three home runs and three doubles. He’s registered a 10.3% barrel rate which lands in the 84th percentile, and has consistently hit the ball hard, his average exit velocity landing in the 90th percentile at 91.5.

The reason he began hitting a lot of home runs in double A was due to a swing path tweak that helped him turn hard groundball contact into damage in the air. It’s one of the biggest keys to his development that he keeps lifting the ball and raising his launch angle without sacrificing his hit tool. While his ability to lift has been inconsistent (27th percentile LA Sweet Spot - which tracks how often a player hits a ball between the optimal range of 8-30 degrees in the air), he’s still found three homers already while keeping his K% under 20.

There’s still a chance that Arias will be called up in September to make his major league debut. He has his footing after the promotion and just needs to keep getting reps.

Mikey Romero’s Huge Day

Red Sox #9 ranked prospect Mikey Romero went 6-6 yesterday including a double and his eleventh home run on the season. He’s played the entire season with Triple A Worcester. Boston drafted Romero 24th overall in the 2022 draft. Romero has changed from being more of a gap to gap hitter while he was considered one of the best prep hitters in the ‘22 class to being a more pull oriented left handed power hitter. He has gained about 20 pounds of muscle to his frame after being drafted. His overall 2026 showing hasn’t been spectacular, as he still has to develop a bit before he can start thinking about a call up. In 131 games at Triple A across the last two seasons, Romero has clubbed 20 homers and posted a .713 OPS.

Campbell Heating Up

Kristian Campbell homered yesterday, scored two runs and collected 3 RBI. He entered Sunday on a nine game hitting streak. He has a hit in 15 of his last 18 games, and during that span he’s hitting .356 with three homers, 15 RBI, and 14 runs scored. So far this season he is ninth in the league in walks with 59. He still needs to reign in the strikeouts before he can rejoin the big league club, where there’s no guarantee he’ll keep a role. He’s been playing all over the field as a pro, every position except catcher. Most of 2026 has seen him play right field, where he’s had some highlight reel plays.

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Then the reinforcements arrived at Fenway ahead of Tuesday’s homestand, and if there was any shadow of a doubt that the changes would redact the momentum of this team, it was quickly vanquished. Boston greeted the AL Central leading White Sox with a knockout blow and kept on punching all night en route to a 14-2 win.

It was the first of a series opener following a sweep of the Dodgers in Los Angeles over the weekend. Boston has won six straight, and is 15-3 in since the All Star Break.

It took almost no time at all for Boston to seize control of the game. In the top half of the first, Patrick Sandoval came out looking as sharp as he has all season, striking out a pair in a scoreless inning. He struck out Chase Meidroth on three pitches, the third getting him to flail on a nasty fading changeup, and then he froze Munetaka Murakami for a pair of shoes (strikeout looking in the Dennis Eckersley urban dictionary) with a dotted outer half breaking ball.

Then in the bottom half the steaming hot Sox put up a six spot on White Sox starter Davis Martin.

Nick Sogard led off with a wall ball double and scored when Willson Conteras flicked a two strike RBI into left, opening the scoring. A few baserunners later Caleb Durbin delivered a first round KO on Martin, crushing a grand slam into the monster seats to make it 5-0 in the blink of an eye. Jarren Duran then made it back to back home runs as he crushed one 414 feet into right field. 6-0 Boston before you could find your seat.

This was only the first of two six run innings the Sox offense would deliver. They did it in the sixth as well. They batted around the order in a frame that saw four players record RBI hits. Andruw Monasterio hit a two run single, Rafaela a two run double, and Contreras and Yoshida both notched RBI singles.

Wilyer Abreu homered twice, both solo shots. He hit one in the fifth 430 feet off Martin, and again in the eighth, 419 feet over the big centerfield wall.

Sandoval Ramps up Further

Sandoval not only pitched well enough but fielded his position brilliantly. A leadoff bloop single put Colson Montgomery on in the top of inning number two, but he was erased via the double play when Sandoval leaped off the mound to snare a infield flare then tossed to first to get Montgomery, who was nearly at second base by this time.

Sandoval went on to pitch five innings of two run ball, earning his first win with the Red Sox. He did walk four and allow six hits, but mitigated the damage nicely, striking out five. He showcased a nasty changeup that returned six whiffs on ten swings, relying on that pitch primarily in the outing.

Chicago threatened in the third when the score was only 6-0. With two on and one out, Sandoval whiffed Murakami again with a slider, then dotted Miguel Vargas with a sinker low and in, which was challenged by the hitter and confirmed by ABS as a perfectly dotted strike. Damage averted with grace.

Sandoval was removed after a leadoff walk in the sixth. Despite not pitching deep into the game, he did throw a season high 92 pitches as he continues to ramp up to a full workload following his return from injury. His pitch counts from his first five starts has incrementally increased from 65, 76, 84, 89, and finally 92 last night. He now has recorded double digit swinging strikes in his last two outings.

Miller Impresses in Brief Sox Debut

While Boston hasn’t got a chance to enjoy Curtis Mead or Adley Rutschman in the lineup yet, the top pitcher they acquired at the deadline, big lefty Erik Miller, was able to make his Red Sox debut on Tuesday.

After being traded from the San Francisco Giants to Boston for Marcelo Mayer, Miller came in with two outs in the sixth to face lefty Tristan Peters and struck him out on four pitches. His stuff was nasty, the ball jumping out of his hand and featuring lots of movement.

He got a pretty big hand as he trotted to the mound, which he later noted his appreciation for. He arrived at 11:30 AM Tuesday, making the flight across time zones after figuring out he was traded from a clubhouse TV showing MLB news before he went out to throw on Sunday.

This year Miller has been dominant, continuing on what’s been a solid relief career overall. He owns a strikeout rate over 30% and a 116 Fangraphs Stuff+ across his arsenal. His career ERA across 130 innings is 3.04.

Another Flawless outing from Bello

Bryan Bello added to what has been a remarkable season in relief last night, tossing three perfect innings and achieving the rare three inning save. It’s the first save of Bello’s career, a feat the illustrates how different things have been for him out of the bullpen. His final line was 3IP/0H/0BB/0R/0ER/2K. He threw 19 strikes on 28 pitches. While he mostly relied on his sinker/ changeup tandem, his four seam, cutter, and sweeper returned a whiff every time they were swung at, going 5/5 for a 100% whiff rate on the trio of offerings. In total, he went 8/16 on whiffs, a gaudy 50% mark in a small sample.

Bello has gone from being the worst starter in the major leagues to the best reliever. It’s been a difficult season for Bello between his struggles in the rotation, his demotion to Triple A, and the move to the bullpen. Despite the adversity he has determinedly found his role on the pitching staff. His splits are eye popping:

As a starter: 1-6, 10.38 ERA, 2.22 WHIP, 21:22 K:BB in 35.2 IP

As a reliever: 2-0, 0.64 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 37:5 K:BB in 42 IP. One save.

Duran Getting Hot

Jarren Duran has now homered in back to back games. On Sunday, he snapped a 22 game homerless streak against, his longest of the season, then on Tuesday he knocked his second jack in as many games. It’s actually the fifth time this season Duran has homered in consecutive games. He has 15 home runs overall and has been improving on an overall horrendous season at the plate lately.

In his last 14 games Duran is hitting .292 with a triple, 9 RBI, and the two homers. He’s raised his season average above the Mendoza line and has knocked in 58 runs in 2026. Hitting with runners in scoring position has been a bright spot in an otherwise dark season for the 29 year old. He owns a .284 batting average and .895 OPS with RISP. It could be a matter of his situational hitting skills. He’s also 8/18 with a runner on third and less than two outs.

If Duran can heat up at the plate it would be a massive boost, because he has already been a fantastic fielder and baserunner this season, landing in the 87th percentile in fielding run value and 90th percentile in baserunning run value, per Statcast.

Down on the Farm:

-Red Sox top prospect Franklin Arias was named the number two overall prospect in baseball via the Baseball America Top 100 that came out today. Last night he continued his success in Triple A following his July 24th promotion. Arias went 3-5, raising his average as a Worcester Red Sox to .286. He has 9 RBI and two homers already. There is a scenario that involves him being called up to the majors this season, although it is unlikely. He has continued to lift the ball in the air and avoid the high ground ball rates from previous seasons that hindered his power impact. The 20 year old Venezuelan is one of the fastest rising prospects in the sport, and is certainly a player to watch from here on out.

-Blake Wehunt took the loss on the mound as the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Phillies) defeated the Worcester Red Sox 10-5. Wehunt pitched three innings and allowed three runs, all earned, giving up seven hits as well. He both walked and struck out one each. The 6-7 righty is the 16th ranked prospect in the Boston system and has become more important as a Sox starting pitching prospect following the trade that sent Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon to Baltimore for Adley Rutschman. He has 3.86 ERA and 1.89 WHIP in 11 innings across three starts at Triple A.

-High A outfielder Owen Hull, Boston’s 67th overall selection in the 2026 draft hit his first professional home run last night for Greenville. He’s off to a hot start as a pro, owning a .467 batting average with seven RBI and three total extra base hits in his first 16 plate appearances. The player picked before him, his teammate at the University of North Carolina Jake Schaffner, went 2-3 with two walks in his pro debut last week. He had a bases clearing triple on Sunday, showing his hit tool/ speed combination. Both seem to have potentially been underrated by most draft boards. Schaffner was a generous underslot pick.

Reports broke around noon that Boston and Baltimore were close to finalizing a deal, although it wouldn’t be until hours later that the deal was official, likely due to Boston scoping out any medical concerns that Rutschman may bring. It wasn’t until after the trade was reported officially that a single prospect or return for Baltimore was named.

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It’s the first major trade Boston has made for a playoff push in years. Rutschman, just 28 years old, was the first overall pick in 2019 first year player draft and was considered a cornerstone piece for the Orioles. He debuted in 2022 and came second in rookie of the year to the Mariners’ Julio Rodriguez. It’s shocking to see the Orioles trade him so soon after he became a huge part of their organization’s future.

His track record is very impressive to this point in his career, beginning with his collegiate accolades. In 2018, he led the Oregon State Beavers to a national championship and earned College World Series MVP honors in Omaha. The next year in 2019, Rustchman won the Golden Spikes Award, which is given to the best Division 1 player in the nation each year. By posting a 1.327 OPS and 19 home runs, while also hitting over .400 across his final two collegiate seasons, he became the consensus top prospect and eventual first overall pick in the 2019 draft.

Baltimore once saw him as a franchise player, and he was a huge part of their massive turnaround from 52-110 in 2021 to 101-61 two years later. In 2022, Rutschman led all American League catchers in WAR. In 2023, he won his first Silver Slugger Award by slashing .277/.374/.435 with 20 home runs, 80 RBI, and a 128 OPS+. He is a three time MLB All Star, earning honors in 2023, 2024, and 2026.

Rutschman is a big name player, easily a top five catcher in baseball. He’s a switch hitter and elite defensive backstop with a cannon arm. In 2026, he’s thrown out 41% of potential base stealers, tops in the league in Caught Stealing %. He is also elite at framing, ranking fifth this season in catcher framing runs. Overall, he is ranked third in the majors in fielding run value for 2026. This is a massive upgrade from Connor Wong, the current Sox starting catcher:

There is some concern about Rutschman’s health. He is currently on the 10 Day IL with left wrist inflammation. His timeline for return is sometime later this month. Regardless, Craig Breslow and the Sox finally reeled in a big fish, stealing the best catcher on the market from the mouth of the rival New York Yankees, who were reportedly very in on Rutschman as well.

The winds of change have blown into Boston. The Red Sox were having a disastrous season in the early months, sitting in last place almost all season until they flipped a switch in July. They made history in two big ways, going on a franchise record tying 15 game win streak, then putting up the best record over a calendar month in franchise history. They became buyers during this stretch, and dominated a handful of elite opponents. Since June 25th, the Red Sox have gone:

4-0 against the New York Yankees

3-0 against the Chicago White Sox (who they play tomorrow at Fenway)

4-0 against the division leading Tampa Bay Rays

and 3-0 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the definitive best team in baseball.

Along with the four game sweep of the Yankees, they outbid them for a top trade target as well, something that hasn't happened much at all in recent years at the Deadline or with free agency during the off-season.

The July streak has saved the season and maybe the future of the Red Sox as well, and it appears Rutschman is primed to be a big part of it. The Boston Red Sox are all in on 2026.

Except for one individual.

Jarren Duran came up to bat in the top of the sixth and lifted a shallow fly ball to left field, Willson Contereas on third. Contreras stayed put at third, the ball too shallow to run on. Duran didn’t think so, and began one of the strangest outbursts we’ve seen in a vast collection of his this season.

This time it wasn’t an out of line fan he got into it with, rather it was Duran who was out of line. On his way back to the dugout, he could be seen yelling angrily at Contreras. The cameras picked it up and showed the instance in its ugliness.

Duran can be seen motioning frustratedly four separate times as he made his way back and into the dugout. A later angle showed him clearly yelling “run” at Contreras. There’s two issues here. One issue is that the ball wasn’t deep enough to run, so who knows what Duran saw on that play. Athletics left fielder Tyler Soderstrom was in perfect position to catch and quickly throw, and if Contereas, by no means a speedy runner, would have ran he’d have been out by a few steps at least.

The bigger issue is the fact that Duran blasted him like that in front of everybody. He showed him up, and has very little ground to do such a thing to any teammate, let alone one who has made a name for himself as a leader and producer on this roster. It didn’t stop there though, unfortunately. For whatever reason, Duran continued to rag on Contereas as they went to take the field for the bottom half.

Contreras, being the leader that he is, ignored his continued outbursts and later hit the game winning home run. Despite the win, this left an ugly mark. After the game, Duran and interim manager Chad Tracy seemed to deny what happened entirely, which can be interpreted in a number of ways but none of which are of any use. We saw what we saw.

Clearly, it’s something the team would be embarrassed to acknowledge. It was clear in the video replay that Duran did in fact yell run, but Tracy’s role isn’t to be team gossip informant, so his response was probably what you’d expect.

Duran went on to say that he was just frustrated with himself, and that “nobody needs to know” what was really going on. “It doesn’t matter,” he said postgame. Later it was reported that he slammed his helmet and broke a pipe in the dugout, causing water to spill.

Duran’s batting average of .196 is the lowest in the major leagues among qualified hitters. He is having one of, if not the all time worst hitting season by a Red Sox hitter to this point in the season statistically. This is a guy who lead the American League in bWAR just two years ago, in a season of which he also won the All Star Game MVP award, and the Sox keeping him in the lineup almost daily has to be a matter of holding out hope that 2024 Duran will somehow return.

It has been a nightmare in 2026 for Duran, on the field and off. Perhaps the Red Sox are planning on trading him in the next few days and are trying to mitigate the issue to keep any interested team at bay on the matter. It was obvious what went down though. Might be time for a change of scenery, one way or another.

Buster Olney was the first to report that Miami and Boston had talked about a trade for Lopez, a right handed batter having a career year. The Marlins initially seemed to be in a position to buy at the deadline, but after a franchise record losing streak of 12 put them virtually out of contention, trade talks began to open up. The Atheltic reported that they are now ready to sell.

Lopez, who leads the major league in batting average at a .328 clip, is under team control for three more seasons. While this is good for Boston and their plan to acquire a long term option, it also gives the Marlins more leverage in trade discussions. No Red Sox prospects have been officially linked to the discussions, but it seems likely top overall prospect Franklin Arias, who belted his first Triple A home run last night for Worcester, is in the picture somewhere.

It feels like the only way you can overpay here is if you include Arias. He could be a month away from proving he’s capable of playing in the big leagues, but where as his call up was so recent he hasn’t had enough time to prove that he’s ready for the highest minor league level. If he has a torrid month to start his Triple A career, it would become apparent that the long term shortstop the Sox are looking to buy has been in house the whole time.

The timing is uncomfortable in this case. Arias’s development has been lightning fast as he displays maturity beyond his age of just 20. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe mentioned on the broadcast of Monday night’s game against the Athletics that there’s a possibility of Arias getting the call in September as a glove first defensive replacement/ part time player, indicating he’s closer than most people think to bring major league ready. The Marlins would likely love to bring him in because they aren’t in a full rebuild and still have enough to be competitive next year and beyond. Boston should value the commodity it has in Arias, who’s on the doorstep of becoming Fenway Frank

Nonetheless, Lopez sure does fit the team’s needs for 2026. He has put together a fantastic all around season, ranking 94th percentile in batting run value, 96th percentile in baserunning run value, and 87th in fielding run value. Outside of Pete Crow Armstrong and the unfathomable year he’s having, Lopez may be the best all around ball player in the National League. Not many other players put the three major components together like that anymore. He’s swiped 22 bases, and has been consistent as ever: Lopez has hit at least .300 in every calendar Month except March, where only five games were played.

Mead was acquired on Saturday by the Red Sox in a trade that sent bright young starting pitcher Connelly Early to the Washington Nationals. He lasted one full at bat, a strikeout, before the hit by pitch. Red Sox fans breathed two sighs of relief, one when he stayed in the game, and another after X rays apparently came back as negative. As it turns out, the Boston doctors got it wrong again.

In the early evening it was reported that Nick Sogard was being scratched from the Triple A Worcester lineup and his call up was imminent. He will join the team hopefully in time for tonight’s game. The call up was connected to the Mead injury, which was once again worse than the Red Sox initially thought.

It’s yet another misdiagnosis from the Boston Red Sox medical staff, which has whiffed three times now on initial reports. First it was Garrett Crochet, who was diagnosed with shoulder inflammation, which then turned into a very low grade lat strain before news broke that it was much worse than expected. He hasn’t pitched since April 25th. Even Crochet seemed to have been convinced that he wouldn’t miss much time, stating “It feels like a very minor setback. It doesn’t even feel fair to call it a setback because I don’t think it deserves that title.”

Then it was Roman Anthony, who injured his finger swinging a bat during a May 5th game. The report included an encouraging note of a negative X Ray and the hope was that Anthony would rejoin the team after a few days. Then he left the road trip the team was currently on, which led to news that despite the initial report, Anthony tore a ligament in his ring finger. He hasn’t played since, and is currently in the Fort Myers facility to focus on his recovery.

Boston has been struck by horrible injury luck and the fans have grown increasingly frustrated about the constantly shifting evaluation and progress report updates. All three of these injuries were basically brushed off and minimized only to grow like a festering mold one by one.

And now it’s Mead, days after being brought in as somebody who would be counted on to bolster the offense greatly, who is likely to miss significant time. The second MRI must’ve been a surprise to the Red Sox and manager Chad Tracy. After the game last night, he seemed fairly optimistic when questioned about Mead. The skipper said “He’s sore. We’re just going to take it day to day and see how he feels coming in (Tuesday),” sounding a similar tune Sox fans have come to dread. “A little sore but at least right now it looks like we dodged a bullet maybe.” (Chris Cotillo Mass Live).

The bullet connected. Mead spoke earlier today about the injury and circumstance.

Now it’s only a matter of how much time Mead will miss. If you’re wishing to remain optimistic, requirement of surgery could play a significant role in the timeframe of his return. Otherwise, we’ll see if Craig Breslow prepares reinforcements ahead of the trade deadline in case of a long term absence.

Catcher is a hole for the Red Sox. After Carlos Narvaez had a mini breakout in 2025, he has since regressed, and Connor Wong doesn’t seem to identify as catcher of the future on a serious team. It was reported that Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow and company were particularly interested in the prospect of trading for Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers, but that died when his meniscus tore. He will have season ending surgery and is all but officially off the market. So forget that, and let us focus on Goodman.

Good Man for the Job

Goodman’s breakout has been emphatic in 2026, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been a quality backstop for more than just this season. He is young and controllable, and features great power. The caveat that often applies to a Rockies hitter’s success, the inflated offense churned out by playing half the games at lofty Coors Field, does not apply here. Goodman has actually been better on the road than at home. Boston has also expressed interest in acquiring a left fielder as well, and we know how much they want right handed power hitting. Goodman checks about every box, and if this were MLB the Show Franchise Mode on the PlayStation 5, I would have made this move in February.

While your pops probably hasn’t heard of Hunter Goodman, he will likely still come at a high price. He is one of the handful of players to reach 30 home runs already, is a two time All Star, and also won the Silver Slugger last year. 2025 was his first full season and he posted a .860 OPS. His value is driven by his offense, and as a so-so defensive catcher, I think it would make the most sense to let him get some time in left field. This is especially significant because I think it’d be the perfect time to use a Goodman trade to move on from Jarren Duran.

It’s not a guarantee Goodman would be traded, and experts are beginning to lead toward the outcome of him receiving a contract extension and staying in Colorado instead. The Red Sox came up as potential suitors, but it’s more likely that stemmed from the fact that he would be a great fit rather than leaked trade talk conversations between the two teams. There could be nothing there, and if he were to be trade it would probably be more likely the Yankees that land him. Boy does it feel like he’s exactly what this team needs in Beantown though. The Red Sox could serve up a few players they were looking to trade anyway in order to get him, potentially opening up an avenue where you could find a landing spot in a trade involving Duran. Here’s a trade package I would offer for him:

It doesn’t feel likely Colorado would be interested in the high level pitching prospects Boston would have to offer such as Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon, because they never know what to do with pitching at that altitude and pitchers don’t stick around there anyway. It could ultimately be a slight overpay for Boston. Still, I would do this in a heartbeat.

Jeff Passan reported earlier this week that Jarren Duran’s trade value is low on most teams models (in other news water is wet), and who knows how much teams value the disappointing yet once highly regarded Mayer, but if there would be an environment where the pair would excel, it would be Coors Field. That makes me think they’d be more willing to trade for them than other teams. Justin Gonzalez is absolutely sick and murdering high A ball, but he’s one of those extreme risk raw power prospects that bode well in a trade. You also toss in Narvaez which they could be interested in as well, maybe he would blossom there too.

The Red Sox are not done either. They will almost certainly continue to improve the major league club while they can. While the players available as major upgrades aren’t the sort of elite level players from years prior, they will still come at a high bargain. This has left Sox fans anxious about losing their top overall prospect in a lopsided deal. Myself included.

Franklin Arias is the number seven overall prospect in baseball, and #1 in the Sox system by MLB Pipeline. He was called up to Triple A last week and seems more than likely to be Boston’s shortstop of the future, with Trevor Story under contract for just one more season. As Arias gets closer and closer to becoming a cornerstone piece in Boston, trade rumors involving his name have ramped up in parallel. Even with Arias’s major upside knocking on the door at Fenway, Boston has expressed interest in dealing for a high end, under 30 year-old shortstop.

The main names circulating as likely to be sold at this deadline include CJ Abrams of the Nationals and Zach Neto of the Angels. Both are solid home runs hitters and run producers. Abrams, a lefty, leads the major leagues in RBI with 82 and has been scorching hot in the second half, batting .487 with seven homers in nine games. On Sunday he went 3-5 with two home runs, becoming the Nats’ franchise record holder for home runs by a shortstop with 26, then 27 later in the game. He is seventh in the major leagues in Weighted Runs Created+.

Although the Sox would prefer a right handed batter like Neto, Abrams has proven to be the better hitter, and Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow has a strong relationship with Nationals President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni. Deals between the two involve not only the Early for Mead deal but the trade that landed Jake Bennett in Boston as well.

Abrams is leading the league in slugging percentage while totaling 17 steals. He is a 30 steal per season threat perennially, and is eligible for arbitration next off-season with Free Agency eligibility coming in 2029. Neto has the sort of power and speed combination that could help this lineup as well, with 19 home runs this year after back to back 20+ homer seasons in ‘25 and ‘24. He owns a career 110 wRC+, and will be able to test Free Agency for the first time in 2027.

Both players feature glaring weaknesses though. They are God awful defenders, both landing in the bottom 2nd percentile in outs above average, and the bottom 20th percentile in fielding run value. Neto’s arm gives him a slight edge over Abrams. Neto is severely strikeout prone with around a 30% mark, and Abrams whiffs at a high rate against left handed pitching. While both good fits for Boston, they are far from perfect players. Have a look at this Statcast comparison.

The cost of these players is too steep. Red Sox top minor league correspondent Alex Speier believes that Arias would be a “necessary piece” for a deal involving a major target such as Neto, and that would almost certainly be the case for Abrams as well.

It isn’t the first time Boston has used Arias name in trade talks, as they shopped him around for high end deadline targets last year but ultimately didn’t get anything done. Tyler Miliken tweeted this quote from Speier on Twitter this morning:

“The Sox were willing to discuss Arias last year in deals for Twin hurler Joe Ryan or Arizona slugger Ketel Marte. His value has gone up since those conversations, but if the Sox want one of the potential jewels of the trade market such as Angels shortstop Zach Neto, Arias would be a necessary price.” -Alex Speier (Boston Globe, Baseball America)

At that price, the Red Sox should stay patient and allow Arias to follow the rest of his path to the majors. Trading him would be a huge mistake.

Arias has the sort of potential that only comes around once in a long while. Trading him is a pretty polarizing topic of conversation among Red Sox fans currently.

Those arguing in favor of it will cite the current failures of once highly touted prospects Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer, even rather unfairly throwing Roman Anthony’s name in there as well. The difference is that Mayer never did what Arias did to double A. He has made all the right adjustments, proving capable of adaptation at an incredibly young age. Already owning a solid defensive foundation at a premium position paired with an all fields, hit first approach, he tweaked his swing last off-season to increase his fly ball and line drive tilt. That has done wonders for his power, which has a ceiling that keeps on rising.

He hit 19 home runs in 77 Double A games before being promoted, which is more than he had in his entire career at all minor league levels coming in. He’s been more selective this season, laying off pitches he can’t drive early in counts and crushing wheelhouse offerings. That has allowed him to develop a remarkably mature approach to go along with an already advanced skillset for his age. His rapid ascension up the minors has come with very little setbacks; he reached double A as a teenager and posted a swinging strike rate around 5% in 2025, which ranked him top 15 in all of the minor leagues.

Then he developed his power, turning himself into a true five tool player with projection remaining. He is a compact, strike zone-managing monster at the plate who is at times seemingly impossible to get out. If they are considering moving him anywhere, it should be from Worcester to Boston before anything else.

Boston proved convincingly that they are buyers and are willing to move prospects to benefit them right now. Thanks to a historic turnaround in July, they’re back in the playoff picture and have set their focus on the immediate short term. That being said, prospects are no longer untouchable as they were the last few years while Breslow worked to bolster a depleted farm system. This farm system is pretty bare as far as position players go now, so it would make very little sense to trade Arias in its current state.

Like all prospects, there is no guarantee. Generally treating them as long shots isn’t a fair approach though, because there is nuance to evaluation that takes a keen eye to identify standout players. When player owns a high floor with a foundation of defensive excellence and contact tools, then shows his adjustment making ability to start mashing home runs with regularity, you must hold on tightly to that commodity.

A future with Ceddanne Rafaela’s elite defense in centerfield and Arias complimenting him up the middle by commanding the infield defense is one to look forward to with massive excitement. If you trade for a player like Neto or Abrams and lose Arias, then watch them walk in Free Agency (something Boston has done quite a bit in recent years) you are once again left looking for answers at one of the most important positions in the sport.

The way Arias has developed so swiftly, it makes the most sense to use patience at shortstop, maybe hoping Story comes back sometime in August or September and looks something like himself again in time for October. If this team isn’t going to build a World Series caliber roster ahead of the August 3rd deadline, the pros of upgrading shortstop at the cost of a talent like Arias would in no way be worth it.

It remains to be seen what will happen, and more surprises are likely in store. Hopefully it doesn’t involve throwing away the future of this organization.

Langeliers broke out in a big way the last couple of seasons and was becoming regarded as one of the best catchers in the sport. With the Athletics disastrous season, plummeting from potentially winning the AL West to becoming more likely to land last, he became a trade deadline target around the league.

This was especially true for the Red Sox, who have been looking to improve production from the catcher position in the form of a power hitting right handed bat.

Langeliers, with his 23 home runs and .829 OPS in 93 games, seemed like the perfect fit until the bad news came.

It’s terrible news for the Athletics and their prospective trade partners, as his value in the short term is obviously compromised and he will almost certainly not be dealt ahead of the trade deadline. Had they traded him earlier, they may have landed a big return.

It was rumored that Boston was enthusiastic about dealing for the 28 year old, and trade talks online saw the names Payton Tolle (SP) and SS prospect Franklin Arias packaged together in what the Athletics would demand for him. Tolle is coming into form with front of the rotation potential, and Arias has a franchise altering toolset as the top overall prospect in the organization and third ranked prospect in all of baseball. It’s unclear how much weight there was to this rumor.

The Red Sox might have dodged a bullet by avoiding prematurely trading Tolle and Arias for Langeliers. Arias was recently promoted to Triple A after decimating Double A competition all season long. The 20 year old Venezuelan shortstop was slashing .318/.407/.587 with 19 homers and 17 doubles before the promotion. Only two Eastern League players had more long balls than him. With Trevor Story’s contract expiring soon, he is poised to be the shortstop of the future and should be valued as such. He is the crown jewel of a Sox farm system that lacks impact position player prospects. His elite all around tools indicate the potential for him to be a superstar, potential perennial All Star kind of player for years to come.

Tolle also seems to be more valuable as a member of the future long term rotation than as a trade chip, now that he’s developed an elite handful of secondaries to pair with his dominant fastball. The big left hander has been racking up the strikeouts and has showed unhittable stuff at times this season. Over 89.2 innings this year, the rookie has a 3.31 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. He’s had four games this season of at least 8 strikeouts or more. He also gad a start against the Yankees in June where he took a perfect game into the 6th inning and got the win.

With Langeliers going down, it appears both are now less likely to be dealt, which is a good thing, but on the other hand nobody will get Langeliers in 2026, not even the Athletics.

It remains to be seen if the Red Sox will deal for a catcher or stay with the Connor Wong/ Carlos Narvaez tandem which has been underwhelming this season. Boston ranks 19th in catcher WAR this season at 0.6 accumulated. Narvaez has taken a big step back after showing signs of promise in 2025, and Wong doesn’t seem to be the kind of catcher you want in a dynasty despite being solid this year.

Hoping for a full and speedy recovery for Langeliers, who as far as I’m concerned is off the trade market.

Part I: Before the Streak

Boston had just swept the Yanks over four games at Fenway, the high point of the season capped by a comeback walk-off win on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. The Nationals series followed as the low point of the season. The Red Sox made it five straight wins in the opener but proceeded to let Washington take 2/3, along with two of their position players.

Willson Contreras was playing with a heavy heart due to the tragic earthquake in Venezuela, and pimped a monster home run in the previous game, which Washington likely didn’t take too kindly to. Maybe that was the start of it, maybe not. When he ran into Nats starter Cade Cavalli while running from third base to the dugout at the end of the first inning, the tensions heightened further.

He struck out Contreras next time up and yelled “sit down boy,” which Contreras took exception to, and thus a benches clearing brawl ensued. The ever passionate, and furious Red Sox first baseman chucked his helmet towards Cavalli and struck Andres Chapparo inadvertently. It was ugly.

Contereas and Eaton were ejected, and Cavalli stayed in the game and stifled the Sox for the best start of his career, including 13 strikeouts, no earned runs, and just one hit allowed on the third pitch of the game.

It was the first time in Red Sox history the same player had been ejected in consecutive games. They lost the next one as well, and a viral debate over racial connotations behind what Cavalli said ensued. Whether what he said was racist or not, it made him an enemy of Boston forever. Boston lost the fight and the series. Outscored 18-3 the final two games in the series, it was the low point in a year full of them. Then something flipped.

Series one: at Los Angeles Angels - The Halos came into this one having already lost three straight in Seattle. Contreras and Eaton had pending suspensions at this time so could still play, and the vibes were down. What we didn’t know was that this team was getting ready to teach us a lesson about drawing conclusions before the halfway point.

Part II: The Streak

Game 1: Sox win 5-2 behind stellar Jake Bennett performance.

This is the game where the streak began. With Boston leading early in the third, Romy Gonzalez hit a two run single to make it 3-0 Sox. Jake Bennett backed the early run support with the best start of his career, flirting with a complete game. Caleb Durbin homered, and whilst completing the save to secure the win, Aroldis Chapman recorded his 1,364th strikeout as a reliever, breaking the All time record previously held by Hoyt Wilhelm. Jarren Duran recorded two sacrifice RBIs.

Game 2: Sox blast Fourth of July fireworks in 8-1 blowout win as Gray flourishes

Boston took the series in this dominant win, starting the scoring early once again with a three run bomb from Contreras that traveled 421 feet. Romy Gonzalez, recently back from injury, also set one off, a two run bomb 368 feet to left. Sonny Gray went six strong with seven strikeouts and one earned run allowed, improving his MLB best record to 10-1.

Game 3: Home Runs continue as Sox sweep with come from behind win

Boston overcame a 2-0 and 3-2 deficit with monster home runs, something they didn’t do at all before this series. Down 2-0 in the 2nd, Jarren Duran got into one for a 422 foot blast, his 13th. Los Angeles took the lead back in the bottom half when Zach Neto’s RBI double scored Josh Lowe. Then Conteras, putting the team on his back while awaiting timeout from the MLB, hit his second MONSTER three run home run, this one traveling 446 feet, to give Boston the 5-3 lead.

Masataka Yoshida and Wilyer Abreu both notched an RBI to make it 7-3, and Boston would hold on for a 7-5 win. Make it three with a sweep. Ranger Suarez left the game with injury in the third inning, so manager Chad Tracy brilliantly managed six relievers out of the pen to keep everything together. Chapman nailed down his 18th save of the season.

Boston boards a plane to Chicago to face the first place White Sox, who came into the series 28-14 at home and had one their last six series’ there, including a convincing series win hosting the Dodgers.

Game 4: Tolle dominates as Sox take the Southside opener 8-1

The home runs came with them on the plane from Anaheim. Andruw Monasterio and Ceddanne Rafaela got in on the fun, tagging erratic White Sox rookie Noah Schultz for a big fly apiece. A two run double by Contreras, now turning into a Sox folk hero as he dominates with the suspension still pending, put the game on ice with a score 6-1. Gonzalez and Duran tacked on with RBI hits and Boston rode Payton Tolle’s six shutout innings to the 8-1 victory.

Game 5: Bennett outduels Martin for series clinching win

The rookie Bennett came up huge again, earning his second win in the ongoing streak. He followed up fellow rookie Tolle’s six shutout innings with seven of his own, allowing just four hits and a walk. Tsung-Che Cheng got the scoring started with an RBI single in the third, and Ceddanne Rafaela followed with an RBI double in the frame. Chicago starter Davis Martin then threw a wild pitch to make it 3-0. After a Carlos Narvaez RBI single and another Cheng RBI single in the fourth, Boston had the 5-0 that Bennett would hold. 5-0 win, five wins in a row.

Game 6: Sandoval’s Boston Debut leads to win for second consecutive road sweep

The Road Kill Red Sox kept on chugging into game three, where Patrick Sandoval made his first start on a big league mound in 749 days. Caleb Durbin socked his ninth homer of the season, a two run shot to give the Sox the only runs they would need to close out the sweep with a win. Sandoval pitched good not great, unable to complete the fifth inning but striking out five and only allowing one earned run. Tayron Guerrero took over for him in the fifth with two on and allowed the only run of the game on an infield single to old friend Andrew Benintendi. Tracy was able to utilize a fairly well rested bullpen to his advantage, deploying five relievers to hold down the potent White Sox offense. Garrett Whitlock recorded a scoreless inning with a pair of Ks and extended a streak of innings without issuing a walk to 16. Good news for Boston: infielder Anthony Seigler returned to the lineup after a collision at home plate caused him to leave yesterday’s game early.

The Sox look to board a flight to New York ahead of Friday nights series opener, yet this time it doesn’t go as smoothly. Flight delays cause them to stay overnight again in Chicago, checking into a Southside hotel at two in the morning. More significantly, they would have to travel on the day of tomorrow’s game, forced to squeeze in a same day flight. On Friday afternoon, the sleepy eyed Sox hit the airport, only to have more airplane issues. Several mechanical issues delayed their flight until about four hours before 7:15 first pitch in New York. The Mets awaited their troubled opponent comfortably, and Boston finally landed at Laguardia Airport right outside of Citi Field at 4:40 PM. Food was barren, travel seemed impossible. Tolle told reporters he devoured available donuts during the delay in a fruitless search for protein. Surely this would slow down the now hot Sox. It was like the universe tried to stop them in their tracks. They would not be dettered.

Game 7: The Flight Delay Game

The Mets watched in shock as Boston rushed into Citi Field and punched them in the mouth. Masa Yoshida got the scoring started in the first with a two run double scoring Anthony Seigler and Wilyer Abreu all the way from first. Then Seigler kept the home run theme going by cracking his second of the season, a two run shot that brought in Cheng, the latter becoming an on base machine.

Abreu decided one wasn't enough and that he had to make a statement of his own, so he launched a two run bomb in the ninth to put the Mets to bed.

Sonny Gray again pitched brilliantly around five hits and a walk for six innings of one run ball, striking out three. On July 10th, 2013, he made his major league debut with Athletics in Pittsburgh. Exactly thirteen years and five teams later on July 10 of 2026, he secured his eleventh victory of the season with the Boston club. 6-2 the final, seven wins in a row.

Game 8: Boston secures yet another road series with shutout win (The Monasterio Game)

If the travel disaster wasn’t going to stop this team in the opener, it surely wouldn’t after a good night’s sleep before game two. Andruw Monasterio made his presence felt and showed hitting is contagious, especially extra base hits. It was his turn for the two run homer this time, tagging Freddy Peralta to crack open the scoring in the fourth inning. He also tripled. Then Yoshida hit a two run bomb of his own off Tobias Myers. That’s it. Two two-run bombs, and a dominant bullpen game performance from five Sox relievers, inclduing a 3 and 2/3 inning short start by trusty Eduardo Rivera. Five pitchers, eight strikeouts, zero runs allowed, and two more long balls. Sox win 4-0 and take the series on Saturday afternoon.

Game 9: The Miracle

On Sunday, it seemed the Red Sox had run out of gas. With just one more game to play before the All Star Break, they came in with a chance to make it nine consecutive wins on three road sweeps. The home run stayed at the hotel this time though, and so did the entire offense through Eight innings. The energy shifted in the ninth. With only two hits in the entire game coming into the final frame and facing a 2-0 deficit, they were in danger of losing pre- All Star Break streak that would be sweet as candy. That’s when the most improbable of rallies began with a Ceddanne Rafaela single, the third Boston hit of the day. Abreu popped out, and the game ending, streak ending double play was in order if the Mets’ Devin Williams could serve up a grounder.

Romy Gonzalez let him do just that, hitting a tailor made twin killer to All Star and two time Gold Glove shortstop Francisco Lindor - but Lindor bobbled the ball. Everybody safe, only one out.

Caleb Durbin came up next and walked on the seventh pitch of his at bat, the ball missing the strike zone by 1.2 inches and thus being upheld after a Mets challenge.

Boston still has life, but trails 2-0 with the game ending double play still in order. Next, Monasterio takes ball four for a bases loaded, full count RBI walk to get the Sox on the board.

Now, up steps Jarren Duran, owning at the time one of the lowest batting averages in the major leagues. In a perfect world, I’d say Duran came up and blasted a second deck no doubter to put Boston in front. It didn’t have to be perfect for it to be marvelous though, as Duran hit a dinky pop up to right field no man’s land, just underneath the glove of diving Mets outfielder AJ Ewing. When the ball dropped, Cheng scored and the game was tied. What. A. Rally.

Chapman delivered a scoreless tenth to send it to extra innings. Boston was 0-2 in extra innings games on the road coming in, but the momentum swung aggressively in their favor. Ghost runner on second, Connor Wong dropped down a sac bunt and Seigler hit a sac fly to left to put the Red Sox in front 3-2, and they would hold on.

Nine wins in a row, headed to the All Star Break.

Games 10 and 11: No All Star Break hangover here, Sox sweep doubleheader to start second half

The Rays came into town looking to put a stop to the madness ensuing below them on the standings. Boston took two games from them in one day. The first was a 10-0 win, backed by explosive offense and six more brilliant shutout innings from Bennett. While the lineup tee’d off on Rays starter Griffin Jax, Bennett coasted, only allowing two base runners: a hit and a walk. All nine hitters reached base for the Sox, and everyone except Romy Gonzalez, who walked and scored, had at least one hit. Three players had three; Yoshida, Durbin, and Carlos Narvaez. The homers came back as well, as Yoshida and Narvaez cracked their third and fourth of their respective seasons, and the Sox made a statement in game one of the second half against first place Tampa Bay.

Game two was just gravy, although it was much closer than the matinee. The Sox trailed only for part of the first inning, falling behind 2-0 before the bottom half, where Abreu and Contreras hit back to back homers to jump in front by a run. Junior Caminero evened things up with a solo shot of his own in the third, but Abreu put Boston back in front with his second home run of the game off Mason Englert. An RBI double from Anthony Seigler provided insurance to make it 5-3. Whitlock forced dangerous Yandy Diaz into a double play after Taylor Walls singled, and then struck out Jonathan Aranda on a foul tip to electrify a crowd hungry for consecutive win number 11. And that’s what they would get, as Justin Slaten and Aroldis Chapman pitched 1-2-3 innings in the eighth and ninth. Sox take the first two and run the streak into “what’s the club record” territory.

Game 12 THIS IS MADNESS

Jahmai Jones started for his Red Sox debut and socked a two run homer to even what was a 2-0 deficit at the time, giving himself a warm welcoming to Boston and fitting the bill as a lefty killer. Abreu homered again, but wouldn’t be stop there. The Sox went down in the middle innings, as the Rays tacked onto the lead and were threatening to bring an end to the streak. When Rays’ Johnny Deluca homered off Ryan Watson, it was 6-3 in favor of Tampa Bay, and MLB.com put Tampa Bay’s win probability at 87.7% following the big blow.

But this wasn’t the old Red Sox. When they went down in this game, it felt as though they still had a chance. That feeling hadn’t been present before lately.

The seventh inning was where the script flipped. Monsaterio doubled to lead things off, and the Rays turned to Casey Legumina out of the bullpen. The Red Sox caught a break on a Ryan Vilade throwing error which allowed Duran’s wheels to get on. Yoshida grounded out and Monasterio came around to score to make it 6-4. Seigler’s strikeout then made it two outs, bringing up two of the most clutch hitters, Rafaela and Abreu.

On a three two count, Rafaela doubled to put Boston within one. Tmpa Bay made another call to the bullpen, going to the lefty Garrett Cleavinger for a left on left at bat to get the final out. What they may not have considered is that Wilyer Abreu is no average left handed hitter against southpaws. Coming into this game, Abreu owned a .345 average and .948 OPS on lefty pitchers. It was his focus in the off-season to improve in that department, often being exempt from the lineup during his career when a righty wasn’t starting.

Cleavinger timidly fired three straight balls to Abreu to fall behind heavily in this massive spot. Abreu never lost his focus, despite the at bat turning in his favor considerably. He took a pair of strikes, seemingly letting the count get full to maximize the stakes of the moment.

“After he threw three balls in a row, I didn’t want to get too excited. After that, I just tried to stay humble and get on my approach… He gave me a really good pitch to my strengths, and I took advantage of it.”

-Wilyer Abreu following Saturday’s game.

He took advantage of it alright. In one of the most electric moments in recent regular season memory, Abreu uncorked his “A swing” on a ball right down the middle, and there was no doubt about it off the bat - Abreu knew it, the Rays knew it, the fans knew it.

The Venezuelan superstar turned to the dugout with emotion, and delivered a bat spike - not a bat flip, a Gronk like spike- of his bat and yelled “Are you crazy!?” into the exploding Red Sox dugout. Sox jump in front 7-6, and that would be your final score. The streak, which had a number of great moments already, had landed its signature moment, and one of the great moments of Abreu’s career. The ball traveled 412 feet and was rocketed 103.7 MPH off his bat.

Abreu, despite early in his career, is already no stranger to the big moment. Back in March, playing for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic Quarterfinal, Abreu had a moment that is strikingly similar to this one. His team down 5-4 with runners on the corners and nobody out, he blasted a game breaking no doubter and sent a Venezuela heavy crowd into a frenzy.

He launched his bat some 30 feet into the air after the go ahead bomb. It was like foreshadowing for the kind of clutch player he was becoming. Watching as a Sox fan, I remember getting goosebumps and feeling a strong sense of pride knowing he’d be donning a Boston jersey in the upcoming season. On July 18th against the Rays, down to the final strike of what was likely the Sox chance to come back, he showed that his WBC moment was no fluke. That dude is made for the clutch home run.

Chapman worked around some trouble to get the save, and the dream was still alive. A dozen straight wins!!!

Game 13: Sox topple McLanahan for four game sweep, 13th win in a row

We’ve now reached the point where nothing seems capable of derailing this team. The high of Saturday night’s game had not yet left Red Sox nation, and the players proved it to be the case for themselves as well. Now with the current ace, Sonny Gray, taking his major league leading win percentage into a potential baker’s dozen consecutive victories, the team left little doubt on Sunday afternoon. It’s not normal to beat a first place team in four straight games, but nothing about this run has resembled anything close to normality. Not even an inside the park home run by Victor Mesa Jr. that put the Rays ahead 1-0 in frustrating fashion could dampen the vibes. The Red Sox, matching their increased recent home run output with satisfying, run producing small ball, scored in a variety of ways and overcame another early deficit.

Monasterio continued his hot streak by doubling in Durbin to even the score and erase the only lead Tampa Bay would enjoy. In the third inning, the Red Sox went on one of the best rallies without a hit you’ll see for a while. Jones led off with a walk, Rafaela flied out. Abreu got plunked, and Contreras loaded the bases with another walk. Rays catcher Huter Feduccia allowed a pass ball that allowed Jones to score. Then, on another 3-2 count, Durbin grounded to third and Junior Caminero drilled Abreu in the back trying to nab him at home, so he scored. Yesterday, Abreu hit two balls out, today, he got hit twice by throws in the same inning. Talk about taking one for the team, that should count as a sacrifice. The score now 3-1, Gonzalez kept things moving with a one out groundout to score another run and make it 4-1. Monasterio, then made an out as well, ending the inning with a three run rally without recording a hit. The power of avoiding the strikeout an putting pressure on the defense was apparent. This team hardly strikes out anymore, and that’s all they did at bat earlier in the year.

Embracing small ball has pay dividends. Of course homers are still welcome, and Contreras did just that by launching a two run shot, his 22nd of the year, in the fifth inning to put the game out of reach. Four game sweep over the division leading Rays, incredible weekend complete, streak alive at a baker’s dozen, 13 straight.

Game 14: Orioles come into town with a mean streak of their own

Now it felt like if there were a time for this streak to fall short of history, it seemed appropriate for the Orioles to be the perpetrators. Baltimore, struggling for much of the season had began to play much better lately and had rattled off a seven game streak of their own. History was made on this night before the game started, as it the first time in ONE HUNDRED-FORTY TWO YEARS that two teams faced off with respective win streak of at least seven games faced off where the streaks added up to at least 20 games. The stage was set, and you couldn’t have two hotter teams in baseball facing off.

Like usual, Boston found themselves facing an early deficit. With Payton Tolle on the mound, who finished with nine strikeouts, things seemed to be rolling regardless early on. Tolle was using all of his improved secondaries brilliantly in tandem with his fastball.

Duran continued his streak of productivity with an RBI sac fly to even things up in the second, and Boston jumped ahead with RBI hits by none other than Contreras and Abreu in the bottom of the third.

Tolle ended up getting hit around a bit, and was visibly frustrated coming off the mound when Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who homered off him earlier, knocked in Leody Tavares and surrendered the lead to make it 4-3 Baltimore. Boston, of course, wouldn’t let that be the end of it.

“The Wils” (think the J’s; Brown and Tatum of yesteryear) came through again when Abreu singled and Contreras smacked a double off the monster to even the score yet again. On second base and fired up, Contreras, who said during the All Star break that he won’t waive his no trade clause and wants to finish his career in Boston, was seen yelling “This is MY HOUSE.” He is the heartbeat of this team, and came through again in a big spot.

The Orioles wouldn’t go away that easily, not wanting their streak to die either. Taylor Ward led off the seventh with a double and scored on a Tyler O'Neill groundout and suddenly Boston was behind again, this time 5-4. Baltimore’s win probability jumped to 67.6%, but what’s win probability when you’ve been overcoming the odds for the entire month of July. The score again was tied after a clutch two out hit from Rafaela scored Cheng. Boston was setting up another signature moment it seemed, and it was only a matter of who it would be. Anyone wondering who would deliver the winning RBI should look no further than those three letters in the lineup, because you can’t spell Caleb DuRBIn without RBI.

Durbin came up with two outs in the eighth, and came up with his Kodak Moment home run of the season, sending a Tyler Wells 1-0 cutter high and deep into the Boston night, onto the Green Monster seats and sending Fenway into an absolute frenzy.

In the ninth, Boston deployed Chapman. Lately though, Chapman had been rocky. He hasn’t look exactly like the Chapman of last year, who seemed to blast the side on strikeouts in 10 or 11 pitches on a nightly basis. He allowed a leadoff walk, then a double to Gunnar Henderson to put runners on the corners with two outs. Tyler O’Neill came up again, no stranger to late inning heroics for his team in this stadium. He appeared to have came through, drilling a line drive to the pull side, when Tsung Che Cheng leaped made a full vertical extension snow cone snare for the final out. 6-5 final, 14 straight wins. One away from tying the club record.

Game 15: Making History

With Ranger Suarez slated to start this one in return from the 15 Day IL, rain got in the way and caused an untimely postponement. There would instead be a double header tomorrow, delaying the Sox chance at history by one more day. Jake Bennett got the start instead, as the Sox looked to tie an 80 year old franchise record for consecutive wins.

Any sign that they were thrown off by the sudden change of plans was erased in the bottom of the first, when Boston put up a four spot fueled by a bases loaded two run single by DuRBIn, and a two run triple by Duran. Maybe we can call them the Durs. Maybe not. Any nerves about this great thing not happening were settled then and there, and Boston didn’t look back. Another Duran sac fly and a Rafaela shot put the score at 6-1, and it would become 6-3 save opportunity territory, when the Red Sox bottom of the eighth ended and fans got ready for three more outs until history.

Chapman allowed a leadoff single but induced a double play the next batter. One more out. With a man on second base following a walk and advancement, Pete Alonso grounded to Cheng, who made another fantastic play on a back hand snag, spin, and one hop throw to first base. With that, the Red Sox made history.

Move over Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky, and the 1946 Red Sox, because 80 years later the 2026 joined you in company with the most improbable season turnaround leading to a win streak for the ages, and the record books.

Part III: Reflecting on this Historic Run

The Boston Red Sox went on a 15 game winning streak, digging themselves out of the basement of the AL East and the bottom of the Wild Card standings to save the summer and return the prospect of postseason baseball to Boston. They would ultimately drop the second game of the double header when Eduardo Rivera created a first inning deficit of 4-0, ending the game before Boston came to bat.

It was an anticlimactic and somewhat disappointing finish, but only because what they were doing changed the expectations brought on by fans going into these games. It hurt worse than it should have, because they were so close to standing alone in Red Sox history. Nonetheless, it takes nothing away from what this team accomplished in less than one calendar month. The summer has been saved, and fans have a reinvigorated interest in the daily game that had been fading into black during the dreadful parts of the season that came before it.

We seem miles away from the “Sell the Team” chants, but not because ownership made amends with fans, all the credit goes to the players on the roster. The chants are a forgotten distant echo because this team showed grit, stayed determined no matter what, and gave us magical moment after magical moment. Against all odds, when everyone wrote them off.

Part IV: Sharing a Record

The 1946 Red Sox 15 game winning streak began with a win over the New York Yankees. While both streaks are equal in win total, the 2026 Sox did something their 80 year old predecessors didn’t. This year’s 15 gamer started with nine straight wins on the road. The streak of 1946 only featured four games on the road. Boston also went 3-0 in double header games before losing the night cap against Baltimore. The ‘46 team’s streak began in April, and they were in first place for the entire duration of it after the first win. That means they didn’t win four in a row against the team with the league’s best record, but this year’s team did, including twice in one day.

In ‘46 they beat the Yankees in game one of the streak, then beat the Philadelphia Athletics, who came in at 2-7 and lost 105 games that year, before Boston took three in a row to make it four.

The next three wins were at home against the Detroit Tigers, who finished right behind them at second in the American League that season as the defending 1945 World Series Champions, and since the ‘26 Sox didn’t beat the Dodgers in this streak, ‘46 has the edge for that note. They beat Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser in the opener, followed by defeating a couple more all time Tigers’ greats, a pair of two time All Stars Al Benton and Virgil Trucks in games two and three.

During the following Cleveland series, they took down one of the greatest pitchers the game has ever seen, Hall of Fame legend Bob Feller, who was right back into the square of his prime after serving three years of ‘42-’44 in World War II. Later they defeated White Sox pitcher and 5x World Series champion with the Yankees Eddie Lopat, long considered one of the trickiest and most difficult pitchers of his era. In the final game of the streak, the ‘46 Sox won another game with against a Hall of Fame starting pitcher, this time Red Ruffing of the Yankees.

So the 2026 Red Sox won nine straight games on the road to begin their 15 game winning streak, something the ‘46 Sox didn’t do at any point in the season. The ‘46 Red Sox won three games against Hall of Fame Starting pitchers in an era where starting pitching dominated the game. Comparing the amount of Hall of Famers the 2026 Sox faced would be impossible to this point because they’re all current players, but you can see that both of these streaks are equally impressive in unique ways, with different elements to both 80 years apart. It’s likely the ‘46 Sox will have the edge on quality of starting pitching faced, because no matter what happens to the starters faced by Boston during their win streak in 2026, its unlikely it will compare to the Newhouser, Feller, Ruffing trio defeated by the 46ers.

80 years apart, equal in magnitude, but coming from stories of completely different seasons. There’s one thing pending that could really put these two teams on the same pedestal. The 1946 Red Sox went on to win the American League Pennant. The current Red Sox roster this year doesn’t quite seem World Series worthy, but with some additions at the trade deadline, and maybe a little more magic, maybe the comeback Red Sox of 2026 can take one more step following in the footsteps of the 1946 team they now share the franchise all time winning streak record with.

Because the way this season has been going, who knows. Nobody expected them to be in this position now, what’s one more surprise?

But on this historic day, all of that is forgotten.

Today the Red Sox defeated the Orioles 6-3 ; victorious in their 15th straight game, which ties the all time record for consecutive wins in franchise history. It is one of the great mid season turnarounds in recent memory, and will be remembered as one of the all time most memorable Boston sports moments of all time.

1946 was the last time the Boston club won 15 in a row. That was during the days of Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr, and Dom DiMaggio. The ‘46 team was one of the most long beloved groups in the storied history of the Red Sox. Their streak began on April 25th with a 12-5 win over the Yankees, and ended in a 2-0 defeat to the Bombers as well.

The 2026 Red Sox had the fans dejected and furious for much of the season. They are one that was relentlessly booed, criticized, and even hated by their own fans at times. The Sell the Team chants of spring rang loudly despite being muffled by NESN broadcasts. There was no hiding the hurt that inferiority was causing the ever faithful Sox fans. Beloved World Series winning manager Alex Cora was fired mercilessly, leaving almost nothing remaining from the better times he was a huge part of before.

Now 80 years later, history repeats itself at Fenway in most improbable fashion. Who would have ever thought this team would create such unforgettable magic and dig themselves out of the dirt to deliver a baseball summer for the ages? Who would have thought perpetual boos would turn into roars on every pitch. How did it go from a dreadful daily routine of losing to electric pitch to pitch energy, with Sox fans hanging on the edge of their seat, clinging to this team with their lives. Fenway has been electric and the fans are living and dying by baseball like old times. That speaks to how special this team and what they’re accomplishing truly is.

But wait… there’s more. With yesterday’s postponement, today brings the chance to somehow get even more special. The 15th win tied the record, but tonight Boston will play the second game of the double header with a chance to make it 16. With that, they would stand alone in a special place of Red Sox history. They have the chance to become immortal in the hearts of fans and in the history books by going on the longest winning streak any Red Sox fan has ever seen.

No matter what happens in the night cap, this team will forever be remembered. 80 years ago, Williams, Doerr, and Pesky captivated the hearts of Sox fans with a run they would remember forever. Fast forward to 2026, with retired numbers “1,” “6”, and “9” memorialized in right field in the shadow of the Pesky Pole, this year’s Red Sox went from zero to heroes and showed fans once again the power of believing. It is one of the greatest season revivals I have ever witnessed. They were an embarrassment not long ago, and now they are history.

Red Sox television broadcaster Dave O’Brien put it best after the game when he said “On behalf of all of us in Red Sox Nation, thank you to these guys, for bringing summer back.”

And that they absolutely did.

The Red Sox signed their 185th overall pick, a left handed pitcher from Lovejoy Texas and Abilene Christian University by the name Brett Lanman. He inked a deal for $237,500, with the slot value at that pick is being $352,900. It ends up being an underslot deal by about little over $115K. His profile features data points that are enticing for scouts in modern day pitching evaluation.This is likely where the Red Sox found interest in Lanman, who posted a 1-6 record and 5.35 ERA this past season.

Track Record

Lanman was a late recruit in college making him more of a sleeper selection in the draft. He broke out as one of the WAC’s best pitchers as a freshman, going 7-2 with a 3.48 ERA. He was second in the conference in wins, and third in strikeouts with 79. He allowed a .218 opposing batting average and led the league in strikeouts looking. After the season he was named WAC Pitcher of the Year and WAC Freshman of the Year. NCBWA named him to first team All Freshman honors and Perfect Game named him to their second team Freshman All America team.

As a sophomore in 2025 he regressed to a 6.25 ERA despite a 7-2 record again, leading the staff in wins and placing second in the WAC. He struck out 84 batters in 72 innings of work. In the summer he joined the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the prestigious Cape Cod League, logging 10 innings and striking out 11 batters while walking four, also allowing 11 hits.

The inflated ERA from his sophomore season carried into his junior season and the wins didn’t follow like before. He went 1-6 with a 5.35 ERA, but showed enough for the Red Sox to grab him with their sixth round pick. The big problem with him in the sophomore and junior campaigns was the home run ball, which went from 0.7 HR/9 in his freshman season to 1.5 and 1.3 HR/9 respectively in the next two seasons.

Scouting Report:

Lanman is a 6-5, 228 pound left hand hander with a solid build and large frame. He gets elite extension down the mound and throws from a low release point. He pitches from the right side of the rubber primarily and works well from the windup and the stretch. His delivery features a high leg kick and he hides the ball pretty well giving him a nice extension / deception profile.

Lanman is a solid athlete that moves well off the mound when he needs to field his position. He could even hit a little bit in high school, and has slimmed down his lower half in college. He is still a big man on the mound. His sheer size alone indicates the potential for velocity gains in the near future, much like Payton Tolle did (we’ll dive into that comparison later on).

Four Seam (Primary Pitch)

His primary pitch is a low 90s four seam with high induced vertical break. As Lanman himself will tell you, the four seamer is his carrying trait, and he posted usage rates in the 70s with it in college. His unique release characteristics as a 6-5 lefty with great extension and a low slot give his fastball the potential to be strong foundation

He said he thinks he was probably 95% fastball in high school, and when he arrived at Abeline Christian he thought it would be time to focus on developing secondaries, but the coaches told him to trust his heater and attack hitters that way. Learning about the favorable shape metrics behind his fastball on campus allowed him to see why it would still play at such high usage rate. He developed command and feel on it during catch play, where he worked on locating it chest to head level while generating pure backspin to keep the ball on the same plane. That he is aware of how to use analytics to his advantage will serve him well in the pros.

Going away from such high fastball usage is something Lanman will likely undergo as he develops in the Boston system. As one of the best secondary developing organizations in the major leagues, they have recently gone after guys with foundations of a strong fastball and/or unique release characteristics with the intent of making them more well rounded. That’s what they did with Payton Tolle, who threw 75% four seamers in college but now features five pitches with a Fangraphs stuff+ score of at least 100 (league average).

Tolle is also a guy that threw his four seam in the low 90s in college but saw breathtaking velocity gains as he rocketed his way up the minor league system in 2025. This Fangraph’s scouting report hints at potential similarities identified by the Boston between Lanman and Tolle’s profile.

“Tolle is an XL southpaw whose fastball had the 2024 draft’s most deceptive secondary traits, enough that he was generating plus-plus miss at TCU even though he was only sitting 91. Now Tolle is pumping 95-96 mph as a starter, and his fastball has developed into one of the most dominant pitches in pro baseball.”

-Fangraphs

Tolle’s fastball was far more overpowering in college than Lanman’s is. Nonetheless their profiles have a similar foundation; a large build featuring a high usage fastball with good ride and a low slot, most importantly featuring great extension. More often than not he commands well enough to get by without big velocity. His misses with the it are often away from slug zones, which is something he says he worked on at ACU.

“Having such a heavy fastball (usage), that obviously makes me vulnerable to slug, so a lot of home runs and stuff. So if I do not locate it where I want it, or in the area I want it, and I miss a little bit over the middle, a little bit down, somewhere in there, that ball, you’re not going to see it. So just being able to command it and kind of get it in the general location. Doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s not 100% pinpoint accuracy, but it’s more of you have to know where to miss when to miss, and know where to stay away from most hitters.”

-Brett Lanman on Ross Hawley’s “Baseball Forward” Podcast

Cutter / Slider

The key to his development is improving his secondaries. He throws a cutter/slider “hybrid” pitch that works more like a cutter. The pitch is effective against left handers, especially when he pairs it with dotted outer half four seamers. He also jams righties with it. It has a sharp downward drop and some glove side break while sitting in the mid to high 80’s. An intergral ingredient in his mix, the offering bridges the shape gap between his four seam and curveball.

Curveball

His high 70s curveball is solid although he needs to improve its consistency. It sits around the high 70s with big downward action and some horizontal break. He’s had trouble putting left handed hitters away with it because it’s often spiked or otherwise uncompetitive. While it has showed potential of being a passable offering, but his feel for fastball spin is better than his feel for breaking balls. That makes the cutter his best secondary as it stands right now. He also throws a changeup but has very little feel for it and throws it rarely. As a lefty who will face a ton of right handed hitting, his future as a potential back of the rotation starter hinges on whether or not he gets the changeup to an average level. As of now it’s not a big part of his approach.

Developing secondaries on a good four seam foundation type of arm like Lanman is something the Red Sox have done with Tolle and likely think they can do here as well. It will take pressure off his four seam and cause it to be more effective.

Film Analysis

Mechanically, I noticed his leading foot have some landing point inconsistency, something that was very noticeable in high school film as you can see from this screenshot:

During a Cape Cod league start he made, I noticed him not doing a great job at times using his plant foot to square himself to the plate, which seemed to lead to trouble with locating. This is actually something I think improved as the start went on, which impressed me due to it being an in game adjustment. It’s hard to tell how much thought is behind it, but it could also be something that was fixed subconsciously.

Watching some of his 2026 film at ACU, I noticed it was much less of an issue and he seemed to better command his arsenal across the board. In the Cape there were a lot of uncompetitive breaking balls that were easy takes for lefties. His four seam and cutter made up the majority of his strikeouts and is currently his best one two punch. Getting him up the minor league ladder will be a matter of getting his changeup and curveball up to speed to limit some of the homer issues, and trying to see if they can squeeze some a few more ticks of velocity out of his fastball.

***This is part of an ongoing series which will provide full scouting reports on draft picks of the Boston Red Sox. The comprehensiveness of these reports are a culmination of research from virtually all the information that can be found. It consists of personal video analysis, statistical analysis, and information gathered from interviews and other clippings.

Eduardo Rivera started the second game and allowed three earned runs. Then five Red Sox pitchers came in after and allowed no runs. Greg Weissert finished the third for Rivera, allowing 2 hits in 0.2 IP, and behind him Jovani Moran, Justin Slaten, Tyron Guerrero, Garret Whitlock, and Aroldis chapman all contributed at least one inning each of scoreless work.

Boston fell behind 2-0 but back to back home runs from Wilyer Abreu (2 run) and Willson Contreras (solo) put the Sox in front. Junior Caminero, appearing just fine after being hit by a pitch in the All Star Game and leaving early, tied it up with a third inning solo shot. Abreu quickly answered in the bottom half with his second homer for a 4-3 lead, and Anthony Seigler scored Tsung-Che Cheng who walked to make it 5-3. Chapman recorded a two strikeout save.