It's Not Too Early for Red Sox to Start Panicking

A 1-5 start is not the end of the world. Unless it is.

The Boston Red Sox have stumbled to a 1-5 start in 2026. | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The first six games of Major League Baseball's regular season are no more important than the following 156 for teams keen on making the playoffs. They are no less important either. As a gum-chewing coach that has run out of interesting things to say might tell you: They all count the same. But coming off a long winter and immediately stubbing toes can be especially frustrating to a dugout, clubhouse and fan base.

That's exactly what the Red Sox have done out of the gates in 2026. Ace Garrett Crochet could not stop the bleeding Wednesday afternoon vs. the Astros as Alex Cora's team stumbled to a fifth consecutive defeat. They will take a much-needed break today before hosting the Padres on Friday in the home opener.

A season-opening road trip through Cincinnati and Houston was entirely forgettable after Boston captured a win on Opening Day. Perhaps home cooking will do the lineup and pitching staff good. Perhaps it's premature to be counting wins and losses in April but the upcoming slate does not offer many doormats for the 1-5 Red Sox to beat up on.

After San Diego, the Brewers come in for a three-game series. Then it's another road trek against the surprising Cardinals and Twins followed by a six-game home stand against the Tigers and Yankees before another six-game jaunt to Baltimore and Toronto. If the Red Sox cannot get right before that 12-game gauntlet against teams already above them in the American League East standings, then they will take on unusual importance. At the very least in shaping the narrative of a team with high expectations.

The Red Sox hoped to have—and still hope to have—a fearsome offense this year. Yet that has not really gotten off the ground as they flounder down in 27th in baseball with 2.83 runs scored per game. Last season saw them come in seventh at 4.80. They are striking out 10.7 times per contest and hitting .208 as a team. Outside of Wilyer Abreu no one is showing much consistency at the dish or sports a higher-than-league-average OPS at this point. Jarren Duran is 3-for-18. Willson Contreras is 3-for-20. Trevor Story limps in at 4-for-29 and Caleb Durban is still hitless after 18 at-bats.

Boston arms have combined for a 4.91 ERA, 26th across MLB. Their starters are 1-3 with a 5.22 ERA and the bullpen isn't offering anything much better. Only three teams have committed more errors in the field and there's precious little action on the bases with only two successful stolen bases.

None of these numbers are particularly surprising because it's a tiny sample size. And talk radio is probably rife with people wildly overreacting to an early-season slump. Yet a lot of what they say through the ranting and raving during morning drive could end up having validity. The AL East has a solid chance to be the best division in baseball with no let-up for six months. Falling too far behind is a dangerous game.

Cooler heads should probably prevail. It's probably not time to panic just yet. But the Red Sox are walking a very, very fine line with a lot of fingers hovering over that big red button. Not a great place to be before even playing a home game.

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