Through the first 10 games of the 2026 MLB season, no team has been worse than the Boston Red Sox.
That's not hyperbole; the team's 2-8 record was literally the worst in the league, below even the likes of the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies, whose four wins apiece doubled what the Red Sox produced in the first days of the season.
It's early, of course, with more than 150 games left to go before the beginning of postseason play. Boston is also beginning to turn its luck around after a series win against the Milwaukee Brewers, its first of the season. Still, it's hard not to feel a little doom and gloom with how this season has began, especially since the team will wrap up April with a divisional gauntlet.
Luckily, the vaunted American League East hasn't quite lived up to the billing yet this year, putting the Red Sox in some notable company among the league's slower starters.
The Red Sox and Orioles' sluggish starts have raised concern, but a reminder that it's April 6th.
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) April 6, 2026
"It's WAY too early for fans to panic," says @Ken_Rosenthal. pic.twitter.com/WD8MxgnGYi
Orioles, Blue Jays keeping Red Sox alive in AL East cellar with slow starts
The Baltimore Orioles are off to their own 6-6 start, which featured a series sweep at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Most of their roster is grossly underperforming (sound familiar?), including offseason acquisitions Pete Alonso (73 wRC+), Blaze Alexander (.604 OPS), and Chris Bassitt (14.21 ERA).
They figure to benefit from a soft schedule stretch that includes the White Sox, Giants, and, eventually, the Red Sox, but the O's have the most to prove in the division after a calamitous 2025 season.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays are in an even worse spot, despite sporting a 5-7 record. They're mired in a five-game losing streak that somehow featured two losses in three games to the Rockies and a sweep against the Chicago White Sox, and their run differential (-23) is actually worse than the Red Sox's figure (-16).
It doesn't help that they're missing a ridiculous amount of talent; practically the entire Blue Jays starting rotation is on the injured list right now, and lineup stalwarts Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger just joined them there. It's been tough break after tough break for the reigning AL pennant winners, who may pull off the incredibly rare worst-to-first-to-worst three-year stretch if their injury luck doesn't turn for the better.
Now, does any of this help the Red Sox? Not exactly. The New York Yankees are off to a 8-3 start and running away with the division, insofar as that's possible a few weeks into April.
But for everyone freaking out that 2026 is a lost cause, it's nice to be reminded that other talented teams are struggling too. If the Red Sox can turn this ship around before it sinks (which they've done in the past), this 4-8 start will be nothing more than a long-forgotten nightmare.