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Where Red Sox land in ESPN MLB power rankings after first week of season
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- Where Red Sox land in ESPN MLB power rankings after first week of season
The Red Sox 1-5 start to the 2026 season has put them outside of the top 10 of ESPN’s power rankings .
Boston earned a win over the Cincinnati Reds in its first game of the new campaign, but struggled mightily for the remaining two games before the Red Sox got swept by the Houston Astros .
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They were ranked No. 12 by ESPN after the first week of 2026.
“Boston manager Alex Cora has said he will handle the glut of outfielders/DHs he has, but it won’t be easy. Masataka Yoshida started at DH on Tuesday but has just eight at-bats and is still hitless through five games,” Buster Olney wrote . “When Yoshida was in the starting lineup, Jarren Duran did not play. Roman Anthony , who might be Boston’s best offensive player, has appeared in every game, as has Wilyer Abreu — a star in this year’s World Baseball Classic — and Ceddanne Rafaela , regarded as perhaps the best defensive center fielder in the game. So long as this group stays healthy, hard choices will have to be made by Cora."
Through the first six games of the season, the Red Sox are slashing .208/.295/.347 with 17 runs scored.
The pitching, meanwhile, has amassed a 4.91 ERA. A lot of emphasis was put on the pitching after bringing in Sonny Gray , Ranger Suárez and Johan Oviedo , but has yet to find much of a groove early on.
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The Red Sox have plenty of season left to turn things around. Some players like Caleb Durbin have been in a slump to begin 2026, but it’s just six games into a 162-game season.
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