Red Sox' Offensive Blackout Reaches New Depths During Yankees Sweep

The Red Sox have been playing the Yankees in Boston since 1903. Teddy Roosevelt was in the White House when the two teams began their historic rivalry. In the intervening 123 years, they've battled in 280 three-or-more-game series in Boston. It's hard to do something that has never happened in such a historic rivalry, but the Sox' wretched start to the season managed to reach uncharted territory during this week's humbling sweep at the hands of the Yanks.

Boston's hitters went 13-for-92 against New York this week for a .141 batting average. That's the worst mark in a three-or-more-game home series for Boston during the entire length of the rivalry. The Sox scored three runs in three games and only reached base 20 times. It wasn't an aberration. It was a snapshot of an offense that has been in a complete free fall this season.

The Red Sox enter this weekend in last place in the American League East with a 9–16 record. They're only a game up on the Royals and Phillies for the dubious title of the worst record in baseball. And their offensive blackout is almost entirely to blame for the team's struggles.

The Red Sox rank last in slugging (.331) and are tied for last in home runs (14). They're 29th in OPS (.636), 29th in wRC+ (78), 28th in batting average (.223) and 26th in runs (92).

Pitching hasn't exactly been a strength, either. The team's 4.37 ERA ranks 19th. But the offense has collectively been a far greater disappointment.

The Red Sox are the only team without a single player who owns an OPS above .800. Wilyer Abreu (.794) and Willson Contreras (.793) are the closest, but no others are in the same zip code. Contreras (126) and Abreu (119) are also the team's only qualified hitters with a wRC+ over 100. (Masataka Yoshida is at 117, but he only has 52 at-bats.)

Roman Anthony, who was expected to front Boston's new contending window, has unfortunately exemplified the team's problems. The second-year outfielder who starred for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic has not carried that momentum into the season. The team's regular leadoff hitter is slashing .225/.361/.325 with one home run, four RBIs and a pedestrian 97 wRC+. The blame extends beyond him, though.

Offseason acquisition Caleb Durbin ranks dead last in wRC+ (23) among 181 qualified MLB hitters. He's currently hitting .141, the same batting average the Red Sox had against the Yankees while being swept this week. His .230 on-base percentage and .205 slugging percentage are similarly dreadful, if not worse.

Trevor Story hasn't been much better. He's slashing .186/.220/.294, with a wRC+ of 35 that ranks 176th and a strikeout rate (32.1%) that ranks 168th.

Former AL MVP contender Jarren Duran is supposed to be a bat the Red Sox can count on. Instead, he's hitting .197 with a wRC+ (57) that ranks 168th.

Boston's offense won't be this poor for the rest of the season. But can the lineup recover enough to make up for its early struggles? Anthony is dealing with a back injury, and the hope is that he can return to being the guy who posted a 140 wRC+ in 58 games last season. Duran topped 111 in wRC+ in each of the past three seasons and had 70 extra base hits in 2025. He has six through 20 games this season.

The Red Sox are a young squad with plenty of projected potential. Perhaps some growing pains are in order. Rafael Devers and Alex Bregman, two veteran offensive pillars, are gone, leaving behind a lineup littered with guys who haven't hit their primes yet.

The question isn't whether the Red Sox will grow up. It's whether they'll do it this year.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Red Sox' Offensive Blackout Reaches New Depths During Yankees Sweep.

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This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 3:02 PM.