Red Sox Offense Off to Historic Cold Start Not Seen Since 1998

The Boston Red Sox's offense has certainly not gotten off to the start that they hoped for.

Feb 22, 2026; Fort Myers, Florida, USA; Boston Red Sox infielder Caleb Durbin (17) hits an RBI single during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at JetBlue Park at Fenway South. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox's offense entered the 2026 Major League Baseball season with negative question marks and unfortunately, the team has lived up to them so far.

Boston is 2-6 on the season so far in eight games. That's obviously not great. In fact, the Red Sox are in last place in the American League East and already are five games behind the New York Yankees for the top spot in the division. Now, there's most of the season to go. But Boston has been digging itself a hole and it doesn't help that the Yankees are on a historic run from a pitching perspective in first place.

The Red Sox have a great rotation on paper as well, but the offense isn't doing the team any favors right now. For example, Boston gave up just three runs on Saturday, but scored only two and lost. Right now, Boston is tied for 14th in the league in homers (8) and is 17th in the league with a .223 team batting average. On a more negative note, the Red Sox are tied for the fewest runs in baseball with just 24. That's not going to cut it. The Colorado Rockies have even scored more runs. If the Red Sox had even an average offense right now, they'd be much closer to .500.

The Red Sox's offense needs a boost

Mar 26, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Caleb Durbin (5) throws to first to get Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sal Stewart (not pictured) out in the fourth inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Boston's offense has been historically bad to kick off the season. USA Today's Bob Nightengale shared that this is the first time since 1998 that Boston has scored two or fewer runs in four of the team's first eight games in a season.

"This is the first time since 1998 the Boston Red Sox have scored 2 or fewer runs in 4 of their first 8 games of a season," Nightengale wrote.

That's certainly not a stat that you want to see if you're a Red Sox fan. Boston has the talent, but things haven't clicked. The Red Sox have guys like Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Willson Contreras and the list goes on, but things just haven't gone Boston's way so far this season.

Now, it's only an eight-game sample size, so don't give up hope yet, obviously. But stats like this show just how tough it has been for Boston to score runs so far this season. Boston will face off against old friend Walker Buehler on Sunday looking to break out of this clear slump.