Red Sox's Biggest Weakness Exposed With 12 Games to Go

The Boston Red Sox's offense has been struggling over the last few weeks, to say the least.

Apr 29, 2021; Arlington, Texas, USA; A view of the Boston Red Sox logo and a field bag during batting practice before the game between the Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Red Sox have 12 games to go in the 2026 Major League Baseball regular season and things are certainly heating up.

Boston will begin a three-game series against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night with Patrick Sandoval on the mound. The Red Sox enter the series with an 82-68 record and the No. 2 American League Wild Card spot. Right now, the Red Sox are five games behind the New York Yankees for the top spot with the chances of a comeback getting smaller and smaller by the day.

The next 12 games are going to be integral for the Red Sox, whether or not they close the gap with New York. The reason for this is that Boston needs to get its offense back on track. In fact, it has been a weakness for the Red Sox recently. In the last 30 days, Boston is 18th in the league with 114 runs scored. Over the last 15 days, things have been even worse for Boston. The Red Sox are 27th in the league over the last 15 days with just 45 runs scored. That's just 3.75 runs per game over the Red Sox's last 12 games. In comparison, Boston has scored 4.42 runs per game this season overall across 150 games played.

The Red Sox's Offense Has Been An Issue

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Over the last seven days, Boston is 26th in the league in runs scored with just 15 runs scored in four games.

If Boston can't jumpstart this offense again before the playoffs arrive, it won't be a deep run for the Red Sox. Boston is significantly more likely than not to land the No. 2 Wild Card spot and face the Yankees on the road in a three-game series at Yankee Stadium. There is no wiggle room in a three-game Wild Card series on the road. Boston saw that last season when it faced off against the Yankees and was knocked out in three games.

On the bright side, the Red Sox just got Willson Contreras back on Sep. 13 and Ceddanne Rafaela should follow soon as well. Contreras has played in just one game so far since his return. With him and Rafaela both missing time at the same time, it's not shocking that the Red Sox's offense took a turn for the worse when they hit the Injured List.

Still, this is the biggest things to watch out for when it comes to Boston with the season winding down. The offense has been a legit weakness over the last few weeks. If the Red Sox are unable to turn it around, it's going to be very difficult to actually make a run.