Red Sox's Glaring Red Flag With 3 Games to Go Before Playoffs

The Boston Red Sox have not finished off the 2026 Major League Baseball regular season as they likely hoped they would.

It's been a wild season for Boston, to say the least. Boston was among the worst teams in baseball for the first few months of the season — even dropping to 14 games below .500 at 32-46 in late June. Then, everything changed and it seemed like Boston simply couldn't lose for a few months. Boston went on a wild 30-5 run and flipped its season around. Now, Boston currently sits at 85-74 with three games left to be played against the Chicago Cubs. Still, the Red Sox are limping into the postseason and have gone 4-6 in their last 10 games and 10-11 in September overall.

At this point, the biggest red flag heading into the postseason is Boston's struggling offense.

It's not hard to see that Boston's offense hasn't been quite the same throughout the month of September. Early on in the season, the offense was the biggest weakness. Then, the club turned things around, started getting guys back and also went out and added pieces, including Adley Rutschman. The offense conversation went away for a while. In mid-September, we touched upon Boston's offense being its biggest weakness and things have gone even further downhill since.

The Red Sox's Offense Needs A Boost

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

Overall, Boston's pitchers have done their job. In September, Boston has the second-best team ERA in baseball at 3.20. But the offense hasn't done its part. Boston is 29th in baseball in team batting average in September (.221), 27th in on-base percentage (.294), 28th in slugging percentage (.362), 29th in OPS (.656), 28th in base hits (154), 30th in runs scored (63), 22nd in walks (60) and eighth in strikeouts (194).

Boston's 63 runs in 21 games is an average of three runs per game. In comparison, the Red Sox scored the second-most runs in baseball in August with 155 runs in 29 games (5.3 runs per game). If the Red Sox don't get back to that point — or at least closer to it — then they will not make a deep run in the playoffs.

Now, of course, the Red Sox haven't been at full strength in September. Ceddanne Rafaela missed 17 games in September but is back now. He's a significant lift himself. Masataka Yoshida and Eli White are both on the Injured List. That doesn't help. The biggest variable right now, though, is Willson Contreras. The All-Star first baseman has played in four games in the month of September. Unsurprisingly, the month of September has also been among the worst for Boston's offense. It's not a coincidence. Boston needs Contreras in the middle of the order to reach its full potential. The slugger hasn't played since Sep. 17 after getting hit on the hand. On Thursday, he gave an update on himself and noted he's uncertain if he'll be ready to go for the wild-card series next week.

Contreras is the biggest game-changer to watch, but another way for the Red Sox to boost their offense would be with patience and walks. In August, the Red Sox drew the fourth-most walks in baseball with 115. In September, the Red Sox have the 22nd-most walks in baseball with just 60. In a perfect world, Contreras will return and then all of a sudden the offense will be flying high again. There's no way to know right now if that is possible. What is possible is getting back to the basics, being patient at the plate and moving guys along. That's what will help this offense, even if Contreras can't return.

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