After a great spring that included standout World Baseball Classic showings, incredible vibes at spring training and an Opening Day win, the Boston Red Sox fell into old habits.
The Red Sox dropped the second two games of their season-opening series against the Cincinnati Reds — Saturday's contest ended at 6-5 in 11 innings while the Sox lost 3-2 in nine on Sunday. Boston went 1-2 in its opening series last season and still made the playoffs, but its record isn't the main concern this time.
The Red Sox couldn't string hits together against the Reds and failed to capitalize on multiple scoring opportunities. Over their first three games of the season, Boston batted .172 with runners in scoring position and left a staggering 30 men on base.
Wilyer Abreu had no problem in this category, and he was his team's hero throughout the weekend. He escaped the series with four RBI and two home runs, which kept the Red Sox alive when their bats looked dead in the water. Abreu's March 28 home run tied the game at five in the ninth inning to send his team to extras and his March 29 two-run homer plated the only two runs the Sox scored all day. It's still early in the season, but his breakout is certainly on track.
Red Sox's 2025 issues with runners on base continue into 2026 opening series against Reds
The Red Sox were aggressive to a fault at the plate and with their ABS challenges. Trevor Story already has seven strikeouts on the season, four of which came in Saturday's game, a one-run loss. Again, it's still early in the season and things can change in a heartbeat. But if Story's going to stay the No. 2 hitter in the Red Sox's order, he's going to have to fix that expeditiously, especially since Boston is (probably foolishly) relying on him for consistent power.
Caleb Durbin didn't log a hit in his first series as a Red Sox after an excellent spring training (.354/.446/.500 slash line, .946 OPS). Roman Anthony has fanned five times, which is out of character for the top prospect-turned leadoff hitter.
Boston sacrificed its two ABS challenges by the third inning of its March 28 game, and it cost the Red Sox in front of famously inconsistent ump, C. B. Bucknor. Marcelo Mayer also burned a challenge in the third inning of Sunday's game right after the Red Sox took a 2-0 lead, when they should be saving their reviews for late in games unless they're blatantly obvious.
Boston scored a total of 10 runs in its first three games after an offseason spent doubling-down on run prevention. But preventing runs won't save the Red Sox if they can't score any themselves.
The Red Sox showed in spring training and the WBC that they can come through when it counts (Abreu has showed it in the regular season, too). They can't expect to win close games with the left on base and strikeout numbers they had last year and started this season with.