As of Tuesday afternoon, the Boston Red Sox are sitting with a 2-8 record, fresh off their series-opening loss to the Milwaukee Brewers the night before.
Nothing is clicking for them. The pitching has been all over the place to start the season, with a team ERA of 4.84, which is the sixth-highest in the MLB. But the Red Sox's offense is even worse. They are in the lower half of the Majors regarding strikeouts (97), batting average in late/close games (.204), batting average with RISP (.208), and strikeouts with RISP (25).
This team has been the epitome of "anti-clutch" in their first 10 games of the season.
The key to their offensive woes is simple: They're missing a key bat in their lineup. They need an Alex Bregman, someone who opted out of his contract in the offseason to seek a long-term situation, eventually signing a five-year contract with the Chicago Cubs.
Red Sox Are Feeling Alex Bregman's Void
No matter what happens, the lineup is incomplete without Bregman.
Too many young players are trying to force the situation instead of letting the game come to them. For reference, think about Mookie Betts in 2017. His 2026 season was MVP-caliber, finishing second in the voting. With the power coming from David Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez, and even Jackie Bradley Jr. at the time, Betts was able to develop in his second full season. It convinced the Red Sox organization to believe he was going to break out and carry the 2017 team after Ortiz's retirement.
However, he didn't perform as well as everyone expected.
Without the locker room presence of "Big Papi," or even his presence in their lineup, both Ramirez and Betts underperformed by their standards. Both men had hit under 25 home runs that season, showing that their lack of power was a sight to behold. Betts was trying too much, alternating between different spots in the lineup to get himself going, and had a batting average of only .264, after hitting .318 in 2016.
The same thing is happening in real time with the young guys like Roman Anthony, Carlos Narvaez, and Marcelo Mayer.
With Bregman in the lineup in 2025, it kept pressure off those young prospects to perform right away. For example, Anthony had only played 71 games, yet still finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year Voting. Now, with the presence barely being filled by Caleb Durbin, who's off to a horrendous start, batting .125 with only four hits in 10 games, it's not the same.
While Bregman isn't doing well with the Chicago Cubs either, batting .150 with two home runs and only six hits in 10 games, his presence with the Red Sox would've been better given his influence in the locker room. When a player's on a new team, it's notable that they don't adjust right away, but with the Red Sox, he defied those odds. In his first 10 games last year, he was batting .341 with one home run and six RBIs, with 15 hits and five doubles.
Coincidence? I don't think so...