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MLB 2026: What’s gone right for Yankees and wrong for Red SoxJoe Sullivan/MLB Photos via Getty ImagesJorge CastilloClose
ESPN Staff Writer
SweetSpot blogger
So far in 2026, the most famous rivalry in Major League Baseball has been one-sided.
With a sweep of the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park this week, the New York Yankees improved to 16-9 on the young season, the best record in the American League. The Red Sox, who fell to 9-16, head into the weekend in last place in the AL East.
What has gone right for the Yankees — and wrong for the Red Sox? ESPN MLB experts Jorge Castillo and David Schoenfield break down New York and Boston, respectively.
1. The starting rotation is elite (and it’s going to add two All-Stars soon). The Yankees’ 2.59 starter ERA is the best in the majors by a sizable margin (the Los Angeles Dodgers are second at 2.81). The excellence was on display this week at Fenway. Luis Gil, New York’s fifth starter, yielded two hits over 6⅓ scoreless innings in Monday’s series opener. Max Fried grabbed the baton and was even better, tossing eight scoreless innings with nine strikeouts. For the finale, Cam Schlittler, a revelation in 2025 as a rookie, held the Red Sox to two runs over eight innings to lower his ERA to 1.77 in six starts.
Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón, meanwhile, are progressing from their respective elbow surgeries and nearing returns. Cole, who underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2025, surrendered two runs and threw 42 of his 52 pitches for strikes in 4⅓ innings for High-A Hudson Valley in his second rehab start Thursday. Rodón will take the mound for Hudson Valley on Friday for his first rehab start. He had surgery on his left elbow to remove loose bodies and shave down a bone spur. The Yankees project Rodón will join the club by the end of May. Cole is slated for a slightly later return.
Should the current rotation stay healthy, Cole and Rodón will allow the Yankees to move two starters to the bullpen. That should boost a relative weakness, which the front office can address further at the trade deadline.
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2. Ben Rice is the real deal. The Yankees offered Juan Soto a 16-year, $760 million contract after the 2024 season because of his generational combination of power and patience. Rice took Soto’s No. 22 upon his departure — and his place in the Yankees’ puzzle at a pre-arbitration price. Rice, who is making a league minimum salary, is second in the majors in on-base percentage (.453), slugging percentage (.716), and OPS (1.169). He’s batting .311 with eight home runs. And the metrics support the production. Few players hit the ball hard as consistently as Rice. His average exit velocity, barrel percentage and hard-hit percentage all rank in the 96th percentile or better. His chase rate is in the 88th percentile. Rice, like Soto, is 27, but he’s just in his third major league season. He experienced some bad luck on balls in play last season and still posted an .836 OPS in 530 plate appearances. Nothing suggests his high-level production is a mirage.
3. They’re tearing up the basepaths. The Yankees rank fourth in baseball with 35 home runs. Hitting the ball over the fence remains an essential scoring tool at their disposal. But this Yankees roster doesn’t solely depend on the long ball to score runs. They are second in the majors with 28 steals on 32 attempts and fourth in baserunning value.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. has eight steals in nine attempts. Jose Caballero, acquired at last season’s trade deadline, is a perfect 9-for-9 on steal attempts after leading the majors with 49 steals in 2025. Aaron Judge, who indicated he will run more this season during spring training, has five steals in six attempts. Manager Aaron Boone has been more aggressive calling for hit-and-runs. Having the right personnel, headlined by two speedsters in Chisholm and Caballero, helps.
The bottom of the lineup is the bottom of the lineup for a reason, but the last four spots in the Yankees’ order have been an issue. The Yankees’ Nos. 6-9 hitters rank 29th in the majors in batting average (.197) and OPS (.591). Chisholm, Ryan McMahon and Austin Wells, in particular, have scuffled at the plate.
Chisholm, who is a free agent after the season, hit his first home run of the season Thursday against the Red Sox and sports a .556 OPS in 95 plate appearances. To be fair, he also started the 2025 season slowly — before finishing the year with 31 home runs, 31 steals and a 123 OPS+.
The Yankees will likely address their bullpen at the trade deadline, but they won’t be able to completely overhaul the bottom of their lineup. The Yankees need their internal options to produce.
1. They’re not hitting home runs. The Red Sox are tied with the San Francisco Giants for the fewest home runs in the majors, hitting just 14 in their first 25 games. This was a bit of a concern heading into the season, as Trevor Story had the most home runs last year of anyone on the roster with 25. Still, the Red Sox hit 186 home runs last year, just below the MLB average of 188, and could reasonably expect at least a few more home runs with a full season and growth from Roman Anthony, an improved Wilyer Abreu (Alex Cora predicted a 30 home runs from him in spring training) and the addition of Willson Contreras.
As this series showed, however, it’s not just the lack of power, it’s a complete lack of offense. On Tuesday, the Yankees shut out the Red Sox at Fenway Park for the first time since 2020. The Red Sox barely avoided another shutout on Wednesday, scoring a run in the ninth inning. They managed just two runs in Thursday’s loss. They’ve scored two or fewer runs in six of their past seven games and are hitting just .223 overall while dropping to last in the majors in OPS.
Cora’s frustrations showed after Wednesday’s loss. “Everybody here believes we have a good team,” he told reporters. “Good teams have to find a way to score runs against good pitching.”
Case in point: Trailing 3-0 on Wednesday, the Red Sox put runners on second and third with no outs against Fried in the bottom of the second, a must-score situation against one of the best starters in the league. Caleb Durbin struck out swinging. Connor Wong struck out swinging. Isiah Kiner-Falefa struck out swinging.
The hope: The bats warm up with the weather.
Who is ACTUALLY more valuable?Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are MLB’s unquestioned superstars. We broke down their value to determine which MVP reigns supreme. David Schoenfield »
2. Garrett Crochet’s last two starts … have not been good. On April 13 at Minnesota, the 2025 Cy Young runner-up allowed 11 runs while recording just five outs and just three swing-and-misses in 55 pitches. His final four hits allowed, which included two home runs, were all hit at 102 mph or harder. In his next start, Crochet allowed five runs, including two more home runs, in five innings, recording nine swing-and-misses in 93 pitches, a fairly pedestrian total for him.
While he had a minor velocity dip against the Twins, it was fine in the following outing. Crochet says he’s healthy. The Red Sox say he’s healthy. Maybe it’s just a temporary blip and loss of command. Last year, he pitched ahead in the count on more than 31% of his pitches thrown; this year, it’s down to 25%. And he’s getting absolutely hammered when behind in the count, allowing a line of .364/.632/1.000, compared to .347/.463/.525 in 2025.
Of note: His arm angle has dropped from 35 degrees to 31. It’s hard to know if this is an issue, although you can guarantee the coaching staff for the Red Sox are looking into it. It might be nothing; Crochet has been dropping his arm angle through the years, and went from 43 degrees in 2023 to 38 degrees during his breakout with the Chicago White Sox in 2024.
Obviously, the Red Sox need Crochet to pitch at a high level: They went 23-9 in his starts last year; they’re 2-3 in 2026.
3. Bridging the middle innings has been rough. Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock should be reliable at the back of the Boston bullpen, but getting the ball to them has been an issue at times. See Thursday’s loss. Leading 2-1 in the seventh after Payton Tolle’s impressive six innings, the combo of Danny Coulombe and Greg Weissert coughed up the lead with three runs. Coulombe left with the bases loaded and two outs but Cora inexplicably went to Weissert instead of Whitlock, who was well rested after not pitching the first two games of the series (and throwing just 22 pitches over the past week). Weissert gave up hits to Cody Bellinger and Judge. It’s only April, but this was a big game for Boston and felt like a situation to use Whitlock for four outs.
The rookie left-handers, Tolle and Connelly Early. Tolle, called up to take Sonny Gray’s spot in the rotation, was dominant on Thursday, striking out 11 in his six innings while registering 18 swing-and-misses. Early has been steady in his five starts, with a 2.88 ERA. Besides Crochet, the rest of the Red Sox rotation has underperformed as well. This was supposed to be the strength of the team, but right now this group is relying heavily on the two rookies until Crochet, Brayan Bello, Ranger Suarez and a healthy Gray pitch better.
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