The Boston Red Sox have lost many games due to sloppy defense this season. Boston owned one of the worst fielding percentages in MLB last season, and little has changed for the club.
The Red Sox's defensive issues began after Trevor Story's shoulder injury on April 5. The shortstop was projected to have a resurgent year in Boston after his first healthy offseason in years. He was a defensive anchor and mentor, of sorts, throughout the offseason and spring training.
Story's injury clearly shook his teammates. The Red Sox's defense took a sudden, aggressive downturn after the shortstop left the lineup. The middle infield needed the most help, and after Ceddanne Rafaela's move to shortstop and Vaughn Grissom's debut, the defense cleaned up there.
But Boston's error count is still recovering from their early season struggles. Luckily for the Sox, a few other teams are also struggling on defense this season, which takes a little heat off them.
MLB Standings Ordered By Errors: Red Sox top the list, but have shown improvement
Team | Number of errors committed (through May 24) |
|---|---|
Boston Red Sox | 37 |
Oakland Athletics | 37 |
Miami Marlins | 36 |
Chicago Cubs | 32 |
Seattle Mariners | 32 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 31 |
San Francisco Giants | 31 |
Chicago White Sox | 30 |
Cleveland Guardians | 30 |
Detroit Tigers | 30 |
New York Mets | 30 |
New York Yankees | 30 |
Philadelphia Phillies | 30 |
Texas Rangers | 30 |
Toronto Blue Jays | 30 |
Washington Nationals | 30 |
San Diego Padres | 29 |
Tampa Bay Rays | 29 |
Cincinnati Reds | 26 |
Los Angeles Angels | 26 |
Milwaukee Brewers | 24 |
St. Louis Cardinals | 24 |
Arizona Diamondbacks | 23 |
Colorado Rockies | 22 |
Houston Astros | 22 |
Los Angeles Dodgers | 22 |
Baltimore Orioles | 19 |
Kansas City Royals | 19 |
Minnesota Twins | 18 |
Atlanta Braves | 16 |
The Red Sox and A's top the list of sloppy defenders just over a quarter of the way through the season. Boston's 37 errors have created 37 unearned runs, which is far and away the biggest disparity in the league. Oakland's 37 errors have only led to 27 unearned runs, which suggests the Red Sox's mistakes come at critical moments.
The Yankees and Blue Jays follow the Red Sox as the American League East's middle-of-the-road defenders. Both have posted 30 errors this season — Gleyber Torres leads the Yankees with six errors and Ernie Clement leads the Jays with five. The Rays have collected 29 errors this season, and their leader is José Caballero with seven.
The Orioles are one of the cleanest teams in the league and they're tied with Kansas City with just 19 errors in 2024. Baltimore's error leader is Gunnar Henderson, who's hit 17 home runs already, so his four errors cancel out nicely.
The Red Sox have been MLB's errors leader for quite some time, but they used to be alone at the top. Recently, the rate at which they commit errors has slowed. Boston made 23 errors from March 28 through April 25, which is the date Alex Cora named Ceddanne Rafaela as the Sox's everyday shortstop. Since Rafaela's move to the infield, the Red Sox have made 14 errors over the last month.
The Sox logged eight multi-error games from the start of the season through April 25, and just two multi-error games between April 26 and May 24.
Despite Rafaela's high error total — he leads the Sox with eight — his move to shortstop has helped Boston's defense significantly. Jarren Duran's impact can't be ignored, as his excellent command of center field enabled the Red Sox to shuffle Rafaela.
Boston's errors from the beginning of the season can't be erased, but the improvement in its defense could slowly begin to see them move away from the basement of this category.