The Boston Red Sox are heading to the Bronx for a three-game weekend series with the rival New York Yankees. Safe to say, Sox fans would love for the vibes to be higher. This is a team nine game below .500 on the season, that just demoted Brayan Bello to Triple-A and generally has the feel of a group that would rather do anything than play baseball on a day-to-day basis. Anything can happen in Red Sox-Yankees, though, and it's also a moment in which several people involved with Boston are now coming into the series with their backs against the wall and with a ton on the line.
Whether we're talking about a roster spot, a role in the everyday lineup, or even their job on the whole, these Red Sox players are coming into the series with the Yankees with a lot to lose. And if things don't break Boston's way, they'll end up losing far more than just a handful of games.
Caleb Durbin
The lack of offense from Caleb Durbin has been maddening throughout the season, so much so that we've seen him on the field a whole lot less than we did earlier in the year as of late. And with the rumors that the Red Sox are shopping for a right-handed bat on the trade market, it feels like Durbin is one of the likeliest candidates to be replaced if the right deal lines up for Breslow and this organization.
At the same time, it's worth noting that Durbin has been showing signs of life entering the series against New York. Over the past seven days entering the set in the Bronx, Durbin has slashed .333/.320/.583/.903 with four doubles, a triple and six RBI over that span while also only striking out three times. That's above even what we were expecting when the Red Sox traded for him this offseason and could be a sign that he's figured that out.
However, if he were to go up against the Yankees and revert back to the guy who just pounds routine grounders into the dirt in front of the plate, then it's going to be a problem and he's going to end up right back on the chopping block as an easy candidate to replace. The recent signs have been good for Durbin, but he needs to be sure to keep that up in such a pivotal rivalry series.
Carlos Narvaez
After such a promising 2025 season, it's hard to not be at least a little disappointed with Carlos Narvaez at this current juncture. Not only does he have a sub-mediocre .603 OPS on the season, but we've started to see both Mickey Gasper and Connor Wong get more run behind the dish in recent weeks as they've been the hotter hand at the plate. And that's before you even get to the weird benching under Cora that seems to be something indicative of the shadow covering this team.
The unfortunate part, though, is that the Red Sox haven't seen him turn anything around, specifically offensively. Make no mistake, he's still a plus defensive asset, so he's probably not going anywhere anytime soon. But while that's true, Boston's biggest issue has been creating runs, and having two other catcher options who have been better offensively puts Narvaez in a tricky position.
In his young career in Boston, though, Narvaez has crushed his former team in the Yankees, posting a 1.007 OPS with four home runs in 13 games. For him to earn back more playing time over his catching cohorts, though, he needs that trend to continue and, thus, for this to be the series where Narvaez jumpstarts his season at the plate.
Marcelo Mayer
Speaking of guys who need a jumpstart at the plate, Marcelo Mayer needs a huge one at this point. Whether at second base or his natural shortstop, he's been a plus defender (a few "what the hell was that" moments not withstanding) and his strength is with the glove. The hope has always been that he would simply be a league-average bat and hope for better beyond that offensively. To this point, though, he hasn't been able to manage that.
It's been ugly at the dish for the 23-year-old, slashing .222/.283/.296/.579 on the season, and that's even while platooning at various points in the season. He's struggled mightily with off-speed pitches this season, and there have been few signs of him putting it together in that department. It's not been awful at-bats, necessarily, but they simply haven't ended productively nearly often enough as this offense needs.
Again, this is another instance where Mayer could be in danger of seeing his role reduced if he doesn't start to turn this around. Romy Gonzalez is starting to get healthy after surgery has delayed his start to the season, and there's the aforementioned potential of a trade. Making a statement against the Yankees would be a terrific way to flip the narrative, however, and he may need it in order to keep his role secure.
Greg Weissert
The only pitcher who will make an appearance on this list because, well, the Red Sox pitching aside from Brayan Bello really hasn't been the issue for this club. But the usage of Greg Weissert undeniably has been a problem for this bullpen. Whether you're talking about Tracy or even Alex Cora before him, they've consistently put the veteran righty into high-leverage situations with runners on and he's consistently not delivered.
Weissert has allowed the second-most inherited runners to score in baseball this season (12 of 21) and his 57% inherited runners scored rate is fifth-worst among relievers who have been called upon with at least 10 inherited runners this season. And to make it worse, it hasn't stopped there as his own ERA has now climbed north of 4.00 on the year now as well.
Since his last blowup in that type of situation, Weissert has pitched 2.2 innings in lower leverage outings and has been dominant, allowing just one baserunner with a 0.38 WHIP and 0.00 ERA. But with injuries in the bullpen and the margins so thing for this team, Weissert is a huge part of what the Red Sox need out of the 'pen, and if he can't figure it out against New York, it could lead to Boston looking in the organization or outside it for other right-handed options they can trust.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa
After giving Boston next to nothing in the first month of the season in a limited utility role, Isiah Kiner-Falefa caught fire in May. Specifically from May 17 to May 30, IKF was one of the hottest hitters in the sport, slashing a ridiculous .500/.576/.679/1.254 with two doubles, a homer and six RBI. But the unfortunate part is that it now seems like he's crashing back to earth over the past week.
In his last six games over the past week, Kiner-Falefa is just slashing .240/.240/.280/.520 with four strikeouts, no walks and just seven total bases. It's a far cry from what he was delivering when the offense seemed to be turning at least some sort of a corner. And with the injuries on this roster, most recently to Nick Sogard, they need him to be in the lineup and be a productive veteran hitter, even if that's well below a 1.200 OPS.
Not long ago, Kiner-Falefa talked about feeling like he was fighting for his life in the big leagues every time he was in the lineup. That might well be the case with the state of the Red Sox and the way that the trade winds are currently blowing. And if he doesn't show up and produce against the Yankees in this series, that's going to create a question about his future.
Craig Breslow
No one involved with the Red Sox is under more pressure and has more to lose than Craig Breslow. And that's how it should be. This is a mess of his creation. Firing Alex Cora didn't solve it, and as much as he wants to say that he can see things turning around, they absolutely haven't done that. That then leads us to being in early June and already shopping hard for offensive upgrades that the team needs to make.
But if the Red Sox come out and fall flat (again) against the Yankees in this series, that puts Breslow in an even hotter pressure cooker. All signs point to the idea that his job is on the line now in this season, which means that he's not going to wave the white flag. Imagine a world where the Red Sox get swept by the Yankees in this series and are 12 games below .500. And then consider that Breslow still might be buying at the trade deadline. That would be asinine, but it's the position that the Chief Baseball Officer put this roster in.
More so than any of the players, Breslow needs the team he constructed to show up in the rivalry and, frankly, win the series. If not, his steadfast approach of both trying to fix his self-created issues with this team while simultaneously trying to keep his job will be at odds with the results that this team has put on the field. That will only make things worse for him and ultimately increase the likelihood that the Red Sox have a new top decision-maker in the front office sooner rather than later.
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