The Red Sox won't turn around until these 5 players finally wake up

Even throughout a tumultuous offseason, the hopes for the 2026 Boston Red Sox were high coming into the year. But less than a month into the season, it feels like Alex Cora's team is just trying to keep their heads above water. After a lifeless loss to the Tigers and Tarik Skubal on Saturday, the Red Sox are a dismal 8-12 on the season, which puts them in fourth place in the AL East only thanks to the reeling Blue Jays. What's worse, it feels like Boston is still searching for answers.

At the same time, we're still only 20 games into the season. Improving the circumstances is the fact that the American League as a whole would best be described as tepid. That is to say, the Red Sox still have ample time and opportunities to make up ground. That won't happen, however, if these five players for Boston don't start to show more signs of life.

5. OF Jarren Duran

Red Sox fans tried endlessly to get Jarren Duran traded this offseason to try and clear out the outfield logjam. However, reports indicated that Craig Breslow and the Red Sox simply overvalued Duran on the trade market, which ultimately led to the logjam remaining. And now, Duran's role in the outfield rotation for Boston is becoming an eyesore.

Let's be clear, this has nothing to do with Duran as a polarizing figure, but everything to do with the fact that he's been a sub-average baseball player, particularly at the plate. In 16 games this season, the speedster has an abysmal .172/.254/.266/.519 slash line and has managed just 17 total bases on the season.

His approach at the plate has been downright awful and, though he's hit the ball hard, he's not hitting the ball nearly enough. Alex Cora and this Red Sox offense don't even need him to be the 2024 breakout version that we saw, they simply need him to be a playable major league bat. And to this point in the season, he hasn't been that — not even close.

Duran has been called the straw that stirs the drink in Boston, and that beverage is currently unmixed with how he's performing. We know the caliber of player he's capable of being, but the Red Sox won't start to go if he doesn't get out of this early-season slump.

4. SP Sonny Gray

Through all the pivots and machinations of the Red Sox offseason, the endpoint for Breslow and the front office was an emphasis on pitching and defense. And to that point, we've seen that strategy work when the pitching has come to play. Boston is 0-12 when their starter doesn't give them six innings of work, but 8-0 when that has been the case. And that's where Sonny Gray simply has to be better.

Suffice it to say that it's been a mixed bag for Gray across four starts with the Red Sox after the club traded for him from the Cardinals this offseason. His first outing lasted just four innings as he gave up four runs in a loss, and his latest start was completely out of character with no command or control as he gave up five runs in four innings. But he's gone six or more innings in his other two starts, allowing just seven hits and two runs across 12.1 innings in those outings.

The importance of Gray in this rotation can't be overstated. He's supposed to be the proverbial No. 2 or 3 guy in the mix for the Red Sox. At worst, you hope that he can eat innings and limit damage, but we're at 50 percent of his outings so far this season where he's been unable to manage that.

While the offense certainly needs to do its part, the Red Sox' success this season is still predicated upon the strength of their pitching. And Gray needs to get sorted out and be more consistent if he's going to be the linchpin fans hoped he'd be after the trade with St. Louis this offseason.

3. 3B Caleb Durbin

It feels important to note that, despite playing third base, Caleb Durbin isn't the 1-for-1 replacement for Alex Bregman, particularly offensively. Willson Contreras' bat is ostensibly the one taking up that mantle this season, while Durbin is supposed to be a solid addition at third base. While that's true, though, he's been anything but solid through the start of his time in Boston.

Frankly, calling Durbin's start to the season nightmarish might be an insult to bad dreams. The 26-year-old is slashing a measly .133/.235/.183/.419 on the season across 18 games with only three extra-base hits to his credit. Furthermore, his defense hasn't been an outright problem, but it's been far more shaky than people expected coming into the year.

For a player who had a .721 OPS last year, finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting, and was awesome for the Brewers in the playoffs last year (.777 OPS, including a .973 OPS against the Dodgers), you have to believe that his offensive output is going to turn around eventually. At the same time, the Red Sox aren't in a position where they can wait too long in that capacity.

Durbin is supposed to be another young piece for this team's future, but right now, he's actively been a detriment for the Red Sox offense. They desperately need him to find some footing to give this lineup more life.

2. SP Brayan Bello

Admittedly, I've been consistently frustrated with Brayan Bello throughout his time in Boston. The stuff and raw tools have always been there, but the performance hasn't always lived up to those things on the field. His starts too often have been marred by a plethora of traffic, meltdowns, and just generally sloppy pitching from at-bat to at-bat.

That theme has annoyingly continued into this season. While there's less pressure on Bello as the No. 5 starter in the rotation, he's not delivering or really giving the Red Sox the best chance to win ball games. He's not made it through the fifth inning in three of his four starts this year, and has given up four runs in those three games as well. His 6.2-inning outing against St. Louis on April 12 was a good sign, but he followed it up with a frustrating outing in a loss to the Tigers on Saturday.

With guys like Payton Tolle sitting in Triple-A, there should be limited patience when it comes to Bello. That's not to say he should be outright replaced because, well, that's not entirely realistic. However, getting a mixed bag every fifth day when he takes the bump is not something this particular team can afford given the emphasis on pitching.

Now, it's worth noting that Bello has been a notoriously slow starter in his career with the Red Sox, posting a 4.72 ERA in March/April, the worst of any month(s) for the right-hander. But he needs to get out of this funk quickly, because a 6.75 ERA and WHIP just shy of 2.00 isn't going to cut it.

1. SS Trevor Story

I remain thoroughly baffled why Trevor Story is treated like some untouchable force for the Red Sox. He's the only player to appear in all 20 games for Boston this season, and despite having an elite defensive shortstop in Marcelo Mayer playing second base, Story continues to be the starter at arguably the most important infield position. And the results of that have been appalling.

We can start with the slash line, because it's not pretty at .188/.202/.306/.508 for the year. But it's actually worse than even that. His 29 strikeouts this season are tied for the 10th most in all of baseball by qualified hitters, the chase rate is the worst of his career and his walk rate is also a career low at this point. Oh, for good measure, his four errors at shortstop are tied for the second-most in baseball at any position.

While the veteran presence of Story is obviously valuable for a young Red Sox team, it becomes less valuable when he's performing so poorly. I'm not going to start overreacting like at the beginning of last season when there were calls to designate him for assignment, but Cora and this team also can't keep pretending that he's some infallible piece of this lineup. In fact, he's been downright bad in 2026.

Credit to Cora for finally moving him out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup after the start of the year, but I'd love to see more changes. More than that, though, Story just has to have better approach and discipline at the plate. His lack of on-base ability and strikeout rates aren't feasible for an offense that's crying out for any sort of jolt.

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