Chad Tracy Thinks Red Sox Can Still Make Playoffs

Chad Tracy is drinking from a firehose when it comes to leading the Boston Red Sox back into playoff contention, but that's a challenge he won't shy away from.

At 23-32 entering Friday's action, the Red Sox are high on everyone's lists of "biggest disappointments" in Major League Baseball so far. But the American League is weak and jobs are on the line (chief baseball officer Craig Breslow on top of Tracy), so going for the playoffs is going to be the messaging from the organization until all hope is lost.

To that end, Tracy expressed confidence this week that the Red Sox can still right the ship and make it to October. Let's examine what he actually said and assess the merits of the argument from an outside perspective.

Tracy puts faith in Red Sox to compete for October

May 2, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy (17) stands in the dugout before a game against the Houston Astros at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

"If we get fully healthy and get everybody back to where we need them to be, and at least the way the bats have trended over the last 10 days, with the way I know that our starting rotation can pitch, and, when we're fully healthy, what the back of our bullpen can look like -- then you start to pair that with runs, there's better in there than what we showed. There's no question about that," Tracy told Ian Browne of MLB.com

And with the American League [struggling as a whole], which I've not seen in a long time, you consider yourself fortunate that we're not very far out of it. A stretch where you win 12 out of 15 or 16, you'd probably look up and go, ‘Hey, man, we're the third Wild Card.’ It’s there. We have to put it all together, though.

We'll be generous to Tracy and shorten the sample to nine games, dating back to the Red Sox's series in Kansas City. They've gone just 4-5 in that time despite starting 3-0, but they've scored 43 runs for an average of just under five per game. It's pretty embarrassing that such an average is an achievement compared to what the offense was doing before.

But Tracy was also referencing the eventual returns of Roman Anthony and Garrett Crochet when he talked about the progress he thought the team could make. Quite obviously, this Red Sox team has more talent than we see on the field while those two are on the injured list, and you can add star reliever Garrett Whitlock to the walking wounded as of Thursday.

Tracy's optimism clearly isn't shared by a significant portion of the fan base. And if the American League were better, the Red Sox might already be in a hole that's too big to escape. But because they're not dead and buried, there's merit to the argument that all hope is not lost.

Still, watching this team play every day will make just about anyone pessimistic.

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