About three weeks into the 2026 season, the Boston Red Sox still haven't fully found themselves. The offense remains inconsistent, the revamped rotation has underwhelmed and the defense is certainly not improved.
Luckily for Boston, many other teams around the American League have also underperformed in the beginning of the season, and hope isn't lost. There's more than enough time for the Red Sox to turn their season around enough to establish themselves in the AL East and make the playoffs. Things can change quickly — just ask the Red Sox's current opponent, the Detroit Tigers.
After an unlikely playoff berth in 2024, the Tigers came out swinging in 2025. They had the best record in MLB at 59-38 and they had an 11.5 game lead in the AL Central. The offense was led by incredible performances from Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene, who mashed 21 and 24 home runs, respectively, and Javier Báez slashed .300/.336/.500 through May 17.
Of course, their pitching performances were led and dominated by Tarik Skubal, the twice-consecutive AL Cy Young Award winner, who posted a 2.23 ERA and .193 opponent batting average over 121 innings before the All-Star break. Their other starters pitched well, too, to the tune of a 3.43 ERA, the sixth-best in MLB.
Then, the offensive troubles began. Detroit lost eight of its first nine games coming back from the All-Star break, but September is where things really fell apart. The Tigers won seven of their 24 games in September, including a sweep and series loss and the hands of the Cleveland Guardians, who overcame Detroit's insane division lead at the season's halfway mark.
Tigers' 2025 season could be a reverse-blueprint for the Red Sox, who have struggled all-around early on
Red Sox fans might remember that the 2025 Sox clinched their first playoff berth since 2021 against the Tigers on a walk off by Ceddanne Rafaela at Fenway Park. Detroit clinched the following day, just beating out the Houston Astros for the playoff berth and barely avoiding complete collapse.
Báez slashed .223/.230/.318 in the second half, Greene batted .218/.279/.415 and Gleyber Torres batted .223/.320/.339. The offense fell apart when the team needed it most, and prime Skubal just barely saved it.
The 2025 Tigers prove that baseball is a game of halves and a game of momentum. If Detroit can go from the best team in MLB in the first half of 2025 to being within one game from postseason elimination in September, the Red Sox can fix whatever mess they have going on in the early goings of 2026.
The Red Sox's starters have each shown signs of elite capabilities so far, but they haven't been able to keep it together long-term. The third time through the rotation this season, Boston's starters posted a 1.52 ERA, but Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray weren't able to maintain their success in their next outings. Against the Tigers, the Red Sox will see if Ranger Suárez and Brayan Bello are up to the task.
The offense has finally started to wake up in recent games. In four of their last five games, they've posted at least six runs. Caleb Durbin and Jarren Duran are still really struggling at the plate, but Trevor Story and Roman Anthony seem to be breaking out.
In the two series the Red Sox have won, they've won two games consecutively. When Boston has won, it has momentum on its side. When more of the offense wakes up and the bats all around the lineup perform even just a bit more consistently, the Red Sox may finally be able to maintain their positive play with belief.
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