Good morning my friends. I am back in Maine after a trip this past week to New Jersey to see my granddaughter perform in a national dance competition. It was a joy to watch her perform with her team. She and the team did very well this past week!
The All Star Game has passed. The break is over and the Red Sox kept winning. Gotta love that. So my friends, head to the kitchen and open those cabinets wide. Somewhere in the back grab that Robby Scott mug and dust if off. Next, fill it to the top with the caffeinated beverage you love the most. Sit in the most comfortable seat available to you and enjoy my latest missive.
Red Sox
The streak is now at 12! I was a bit nervous that the team might lose some momentum with the ASG break, but sweeping Friday’s doubleheader 10-0 and 5-3, then a 7-6 come from behind victory yesterday to the first place Rays pretty much got rid of any doubts I had. This team is winning games it would have lost a couple of months ago. The streak has been so much fun to watch!
The big thing now is that they need to continue to win at home. The “friendly confines of Fenway” have been more horror show than haven in 2026. If this team is truly a playoff team as they appear to be now, they need to show that Fenway is truly “their house”!
And now for an apology!
There is a saying that “it takes a big man to admit that he is wrong”. Well given my girth I qualify for the first part and now I openly admit I was wrong about the 2026 Boston Red Sox. A few weeks ago I raised the white flag for this team and I am officially informing you that I am in the process of turning that flag into embers as shown below.
It is a bit ironic that my 180 on the 2026 Red Sox comes with the 180th edition of my weekly missive. That said, I have some explaining to do with respect to my turn around:
The installation of Chad Tracy as “interim manager”. I thought in the back of my head they were doing him a great disservice. Instead, he proved to be the right man, at the right time for the job. He is the perfect manager for a young team that is trying to find itself. He has been a calming influence on this group and established a meritocracy with respect to playing time. Alex Cora is a great manager with a veteran team, Tracy is a better teacher. He is a calming influence and his team has responded well. In an era where young players are rushed into big league service, there are still holes in their game and they learn on the job. That’s where Tracy shines. Sometimes it’s painful but it is a necessary evil in MLB baseball of the 21st century. Despite all of this, it’s worked and then some! It’s time to take “interim” out of his title. He has earned that.
The Willson Contreras effect. This team has lacked a true “outward personality” since David Ortiz hung them up. Willson Contreras is that guy! He plays with passion, grit and has motivated his teammates to grind through it and get it done. The younger players on this squad are following his lead and in particular Ceddanne Rafaela who has taken a step forward in leadership. Contreras is on record as telling the organization he wants to stay. Enough said!
Caleb Durbin. I felt like I was out on an island with my support of the guy. He started the season with a brutal slump. However, he never let that hurt his efforts playing defense. The man is a stud defensively! He brought in his own hitting coach and got himself squared away. He went from hitting in the .150 - .160 range to now approaching .240. He drives in runs and can go deep. He has a bit of Petey in him and most of all he is the leader of the next generation of “dirt dogs”! How can you not love a guy like this!
Pitching. I have been very tough on Craig Breslow this season on a lot of issues, but pitching is not one of them. Imagine going into a season where the ace of your staff (Crochet) is shelved for an extended period of time. For most teams that would spell disaster. Instead, Breslow built a rotation and bullpen that has stood up and kept the team afloat while the offense was still trying to find itself. He did it this way:
Trading for Sonny Gray. I noted when he arrived he was a perfect #2 as he had been a number one in his career. He is 11-1 and has had an influence on the younger pitchers (Tolle, Early and Bennett) in the clubhouse.
Signing Ranger Suarez. He’s been hurt on and off but when he is on the mound he has provided the team with a solid starter. They will lean on him down the stretch.
Trading for Jake Bennett. This kid just goes out and pitches. He does it quietly, efficiently and with a total business like mentality. I did not expect this from him and I suspect a lot of fans feel the same.
Tolle and Early. While Early is on the IL after some elbow discomfort, he appears to be close to returning after he got a good medical report. Tolle has demonstrated that he can use and control his secondary pitches as well as being a bulldog on the mound. While both of these players are young and developing, the moment has not been too big and they are each delivering when called upon.
The bullpen.
With Chapman and Whitlock at the end of the line, you are generally in good shape.
Slaten has had his ups and downs but appears to be back on track. The same can be said of Greg Weissert.
Guerrero has come out of nowhere and given you a power arm.
Moran has settled into the lefty long arm role and Rivera has been adequate in opener situations. Ryan Watson is being nursed along after being abused by Cora at the start of the season.
Bello is back with the club in relief trying to resurrect his career.
There have been busts…. (Kahnle and Coulombe) but for now things have leveled out a bit.
The offense. It was brutally slow in developing at the start of the season. Then the injury train pulled into the station
Story, Mayer, Kiner-Falefa, Romy and in particular Roman Anthony have missed a significant part of the season.
The mindset of the the team changed after Cora’s departure and it took a while for the new coaching staff to mold things into a workable and effective unit. This team can play small ball now and do it effectively. Tracy plays to the strength of his players and placed them into a position to succeed rather than a single mindset based on being stubborn.
There is power, but other than Contreras and to some extent Abreu (especially of late) there is a need for another power bat. No surprise here and Breslow knows it.
The offense is based on who is contributing. It’s worked. Seigler, Wong and Yoshida have flourished lately. Playing the hot hand is working! It is truly a team effort!
Defense. Two gold glover’s in center and right in the persons of Rafaela and Abreu, along with a fairly decent left fielder in Duran. Durbin and Contreras are rock solid at the corners of the infield. While the Sox have had to rotate a cast of characters at second and short, the infield defense has been relatively decent. Wong and Narvaez are holding down the fort behind the dish. The team is 4th in DRS with 50 according to the Fielding Bible. Defense is a strong suit of this team and has supported the pitching all season long.
Craig Breslow. I saved him for last because despite the good of late, there is still some bad. He knows pitching and his knowledge of such allowed this team to mark time until the offense could contribute consistently. He is trying to keep his job! The deadline is two weeks away and he is now in the position of having to buy and win rather than sell and keep rebuilding. He needs a right handed power bat! His personality and reputation with other GM’s and CBO’s is a cautionary tale of lessons we all should have learned as young children in the sandbox. The Red Sox would be well served to let someone else do the talking and Breslow supply the obligatory group nod when needed to complete any deal.
So my friends, there are my reasons for the torching of the white flag I raised a little over a month ago. Frustration and impatience have be replaced by appreciation and success. It took awhile to get here, but my overall mood is better and the summer of 2026 is looking a lot better for the Boston Red Sox.
THE “OG’S” IDLE THOUGHTS OF THE WEEK
Glad to see Junior Caminero was not seriously hurt in the All Star Game on the pitch the clipped his hand. Nobody wants to see an exciting player like Caminero hurt in an exhibition game. Tampa Bay dodged one here!
Every All Star Game tries to be different. This one was just that when the starting roster were signed by the manager and players in homage to the fact the they were playing in Philadelphia where the Declaration of Independence was signed 250 years ago.
The A’s are the latest team to go on a double-digit losing streak!
Brace yourselves! The annual rumor mill and trade value talk has already started online for the deadline. I’ve seen some crazy stuff his past week and even crazier responses.
The problem with this year’s trade deadline is that the AL has a bunch of teams that are one or two good runs from making the Wild Card and there a only a couple of teams that are going to be holding fire sales. That means the cost of any move will be high!
Despite all of the above, two weeks from tomorrow is the MLB trade deadline. I’d like someone to do something big this week. It gives us something real to talk about…. Just Saying!
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