2026 Boston Red Sox

2026 Boston Red Sox / Franchise: Boston Red Sox / BR Team Page

Record: , Finished in AL Eastern Division (2026 AL)

Managed by Alex Cora (10-17) and Chad Tracy

Coaches: Andrew Bailey, Pablo Cabrera, Joe Cronin, Chad Epperson, Peter Fatse, Jose David Flores, Collin Hetzler, Chris Holt, Kyle Hudson, Dillon Lawson, Nelson Paulino, John Soteropulos, Jason Varitek and Ramon Vazquez

Ballpark: Fenway Park

History, Comments, Contributions

The 2026 Boston Red Sox had high ambitions coming into the season after making a postseason appearance as a wild card team in 2025. They had suffered a major loss in the off-season, when 3B Alex Bregman decided to opt out after the first season of a free agent contract and signed with the Chicago Cubs, but they also made two big additions to their starting rotation with Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray. To offset the loss of Bregman they acquired 3B Chad Durbin from the Milwaukee Brewers, a move that cost them IF David Hamilton, who was surplus to the team's needs anyway.

Indeed, if anything, the Red Sox had too many good players for the number of roster spots they had to fill: for example, they had four outfielders who were all qualified to be major league regulars to fill the three outfield spots, with one of Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, Jarren Duran and Roman Anthony having to take a seat every game, ensuring an enduring source of controversy. They also sent 2B Kristian Campbell, considered the top prospect in baseball only a year earlier, to AAA to start the season as they had no spot for him and were concerned that he did not have the chops to be a major league infielder in the long run. He was moved to the outfield in Worcester, which did not make his path to a major league job any clearer, while SS Trevor Story and 2B Marcelo Mayer handled the two keystone positions, with Durbin at third base and another off-season acquisition, Willson Contreras at first base.

The season did not start off as expected for Boston, as on April 25th they were just 10-17 following a 17-1 drubbing of the Baltimore Orioles for their biggest win of the year. That could not hide the underlying problems, however: they had just been swept at home by their arch-enemies, the New York Yankees, their starting rotation was in shambles with putative Cy Young Award contender Garrett Crochet sporting an ERA of 6.00, Brayan Bello being at 9.00, and Gray having just moved to the injured list. Suarez had not been as good as advertised, with just 1 win and an ERA of 4.00 in 5 starts, but was a veritable stud in comparison to Durbin who was batting an anemic .165 and slugging .271.

The players may have been the ones not performing up to expectations, but it was management that paid the price. Following that afternoon's win, the axe fell on manager Joey Cora and no fewer than five of his coaches: hitting coach Peter Fatse, third-base coach Kyle Hudson, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson and Major League hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin. This was the sort of wholesale shake-up that was rarely seen in the middle of a season, but upper management clearly felt that something dramatic had to take place to right the ship. Chad Tracy, manager of the AAA Worcester Red Sox, was brought in to replace Cora on an interim basis. Another coach, Jason Varitek, long rumored to be Cora's eventual successor, was reassigned to another role within the organization. While it seems that the hitting coaches were the main targets of the shake-down, the team had also been criticized for poor fundamentals and erratic defense. In addition to Tracy, AA manager Chad Epperson was promoted to third base coach and Collin Hetzler, Tracy's hitting coach at Worcester, took over that position in Boston. It was the first time since 2001 that the Red Sox had fired a manager in mid-season. They won the first game they played under Tracy, defeating the Orioles, 5-3, on April 26th.

Awards and Honors

• All-Stars: Aroldis Chapman, Willson Contreras and Ranger Suarez

Further Reading

• Ian Browne: "Red Sox part ways with Cora and 5 members of staff amid rough start to '26", mlb.com, April 25, 2026. [1]
• Ian Browne: "Why now? 3 factors in Red Sox's decision to dismiss Cora", mlb.com, April 25, 2026. [2]
• Ian Browne: "Breslow, Kennedy explain staff shakeup, emphasize 'belief in the players'", mlb.com, April 26, 2026. [3]
• Andrew Simon: "Best rotation in baseball? Projections are high on Boston’s group", mlb.com, January 16, 2026. [4]

2026 MLB season by team