Despite their offseason urgency, the Boston Red Sox's struggles from their 2024 season persist. They still strike out in excess, play sloppy defense, make base running mistakes, and starters (besides Garrett Crochet) have posted mostly short outings, causing strain on the bullpen.
The pervasiveness of Boston's issues has made most of its matchups a toss-up this season — it will sweep the Cardinals one series and lose the next to the White Sox. The Red Sox had a similar issue last season, but their first series against the New York Yankees marked a turning point.
The perpetually-.500 Red Sox were fresh off series splits with the then-underwhelming Tigers, Braves, and the eventual worst team of all time, the White Sox, before the Phillies and Yankees came to town for series at Fenway Park. Surprisingly, Boston won both of them.
Philadelphia and New York were both playoff teams with top-tier rotations and offense to go around. The Sox's speed and aggression on the base paths were among their best weapons in the series. Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and David Hamilton were the architects of a massive five-run inning against the Phillies on June 12 and a single-game stolen base record against the Yankees on June 13. Both series featured offensive production up and down the roster, including contributions from notable names such as Jamie Westbrook, Bobby Dalbec and Enmanuel Valdez.
Boston's series wins against two playoff teams set it on a torrid streak through the rest of the first half. The Sox's record sank to 33-34 after a series-opening loss to Philadelphia, but they were 53-43 by the All-Star break a month later.
Can the Red Sox hit their stride against the Yankees this year like they did in 2024?
From June 6-8, the Red Sox will get a golden chance to rise to the occasion against the Yankees, just as they did last year. They're fresh off a much-needed and borderline miraculous walk-off homer by Ceddanne Rafaela, and carrying that momentum to the Bronx would be a big step in the right direction for a team that has been unable to get a winning streak going to this point in the season.
And Boston is getting desperate for a few wins. It's lost seven of its 10 games since Alex Bregman strained his quad and hit the injured list on May 24. It doesn't help that the last-place Orioles have suddenly gotten hot and are encroaching on the Sox's fourth-place standing — they've won eight of their last 10 games, a streak that began with a series split with Boston in the final week of May.
The Yankees would be an unlikely opponent for the Sox to (hopefully) start a winning streak against. Aaron Judge is quietly having the season of his life — he's batting .389/.485/.752 with a staggering 1.237 OPS in 60 games. Luckily, the Red Sox will miss Max Fried's spot in the rotation, New York's undisputed ace while Gerrit Cole is out for the season. Fried has posted a 1.92 ERA with 70 strikeouts over 75 innings.
The Yankees have improved since last year, but so have the Red Sox. Alex Bregman's absence is a big blow before the upcoming series, but Duran and Rafaela have started heating up at the plate, and Rafael Devers crushes the Yankees. If Boston can beat New York, its unexpected underperformance thus far may not be the end of its season.