Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras had a cryptic answer when asked why the Red Sox struggled down the stretch. The Red Sox had their hottest stretch of the season coming gout of the All-Star break, winning 12 of 15 to close the month of July before continuing to dominate in August. They completed a three-game sweep of the Dodgers to kick off that month, followed by another three-game sweep against the White Sox, but things fell apart afterwards.
They lost a series at home to the Athletics, then lost a four-game set to the Toronto Blue Jays before dropping yet another series to the Pittsburgh Pirates. They played average baseball in September, posting a .500 record over the course of the month, but still qualified for the postseason with an 87-75 record in a fairly weak American League. They lost in just two games to the New York Yankees in the Wild Card round, though, ending their season.
When asked for some insight on the Red Sox's shortcomings, Contreras gave an answer which only raised more questions. "That's a good question, but I'm not gonna answer it," Contreras said. "I don't want to give my honest answer.
We got eliminated, that's the bottom line." Contreras continued to speak about analytics in the interview, clearly in disagreement with an analytics-based decision during the Red Sox's two-game series against the Yankees. "This is baseball and the data is here to help us. But at the end of the day, you’re going to need experience and veteran guys to win games.
There’s a lot of stuff that I would love to say but I’ll stay [with] that.” When asked whether or not the Red Sox rely too heavily on data, Contreras responded, “If you watch the game." Contreras could be alluding to several issues throughout the series, but the one which sticks out is the decision to remove Sonny Gray in the fifth inning, which the right-hander also took exception with. Despite their Wild Card loss, the Red Sox still have plenty of talent on their team, and will look to return to the postseason in 2027 to get revenge on the Yankees, who have bounced them two years in a row.
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