The Boston Red Sox have a wealth of young talent, a Cy Young-caliber pitcher atop their rotation and an All-Star caliber closer.
They also have an unfortunate habit of playing like Little Leaguers.
The latest example of Boston’s defensive ineptitude came in the eighth inning of their series finale against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night. With the bases loaded and one out, TJ Friedl hit a chopper to Trevor Story, who couldn’t field the ball cleanly. Second baseman Marcelo Mayer tracked down the misplayed ball and threw to third base — where Christian Encarnacion-Strand had already rounded and was headed for home.
Third baseman Abraham Toro received Mayer’s throw and tried to tag a runner who wasn’t there, then threw home too late to nab Encarnacion-Strand — which allowed Santiago Espinal to advance to third base after Connor Wong’s throw didn’t arrive in time.
Watch the play below (at the 10:55 mark) if you’d like your blood pressure to rise:
The botched play was the final nail in the coffin of Boston’s 8-4 loss, which also featured Romy Gonzalez getting thrown out at third base trying to stretch a double to a triple with zero outs in a one-run game. The Red Sox allowed four unearned runs on two errors Wednesday night and currently have nine more errors (72) than the next-closest American League team.
Unfortunately, sloppy fielding isn’t just a 2025 issue for Boston. The Red Sox led the AL in errors in both 2023 and 2024, and their 289 errors since the start of the 2023 campaign are the most in baseball by a wide margin. (The Miami Marlins are second with 257.)
When asked about about Boston’s poor fundamentals Thursday morning on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show, Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy got right to the point.
“It’s been a systemic thing for a long time,” Kennedy replied. “And that’s on us. That’s on everybody in the organization.
“It’s not acceptable to be out there at the Major League level and making fundamental mistakes. If you do that in the big leagues, if you give away outs, you’re going to be in trouble. So yes, we need to improve. Full stop.”
The Red Sox appeared to be turning the corner in mid-June after sweeping the New York Yankees to earn their seventh win in eight games. But after their stunning decision to trade Rafael Devers on June 15, they’ve gone just 5-9, including a six-game losing streak highlighted by several costly miscues in the field.
Add it all up, and you have a team that ranks third in the AL in runs scored and eighth in team ERA but enters Thursday three games out of a Wild Card spot at 43-45.
“If you look back at the season, there’s been a lot of those that have slipped through our hands,” manager Alex Cora said after Wednesday’s game. “Honestly, we’re in the position we are because of that.”
Some of Boston’s struggles with “the basics” can be attributed to throwing rookies like Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony into the fire. But the Red Sox’ mistakes aren’t limited to their young players; Story, Alex Bregman, Abraham Toro and Jarren Duran have all been thrown out trying to advance on the bases this season, while 13 different players have committed three errors or more.
How the Red Sox go about solving their “systemic” issue with fundamentals remains to be seen. But if this team misses the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, don’t be surprised if changes are made on both the minor-league and major-league level this winter.