Red Sox Insider Reveals What Slumping Team Is Sorely Missing This Year

Boston Red Sox players

Red Sox Insider Reveals What Slumping Team Is Sorely Missing This Year originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

It's been a turbulent start to the 2026 season for the Boston Red Sox. Not only are they off to one of their worst starts in franchise history, but they also changed much of their coaching staff in late April when Alex Cora and many of his assistants were fired.

That's a lot for any team to navigate, especially one as young as the Red Sox. As several reporters have pointed out, the team lacks veteran leadership this year after losing Alex Bregman in free agency over the winter.

In the past, Boston has had clear leaders to help guide the team through choppy waters, from David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia to Xander Bogaerts and Bregman.

This year, however, the Red Sox don't have a stabilizing force like that in the clubhouse.

"They don't have anyone in the clubhouse to drag them through this," Boston Globe reporter Tim Healey said on Monday's episode of "Foul Territory."

Some of the team's older players, like Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras, are in their first season with Boston and still getting adjusted. Meanwhile, long-term players like Trevor Story and Jarren Duran aren't on the level of a Pedroia or a Bregman.

Cora could have been a steadying presence, but now he's gone, too. For Chad Tracy and several of his new assistants, this is their first time coaching in the Major Leagues.

Given the pressure of playing in Boston, it's often been veteran teams that have thrived and won championships. That's something the 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018 groups all had in common. They all had strong leadership and a clear identity.

The season is still young, but the Red Sox need to find theirs if they want to turn things around.

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