The Boston Red Sox will open up a three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night at Fenway Park. The team should be welcoming Philadelphia into one of the toughest places to play in baseball, yet instead the Red Sox have made Fenway anything but that, acting as one of the worst-performing home teams to start the season. 

The Red Sox enter Tuesday night's game with a 7-12 record at Fenway, trailing only the New York Mets and Washington Nationals for the worst home record in the league  Fenway is notoriously one of the most hitter-friendly parks in baseball, ranking as the sixth most hitter-friendly by Baseball Savant's Park Factor in 2025 and eighth over the last three seasons.  

The Red Sox, however, have not taken advantage of that at all in 2026, as they have been one of the worst-performing offenses at home. In their 19 games played at Fenway, the Red Sox are a bottom-five offense in both batting average (.219) and on-base percentage (.300), in the bottom two in runs scored (56), slugging percentage (.323), OPS (.623), and they find themselves dead last in home runs hit with nine and weighted runs created plus (wRC+) at 69.

While some have pushed the narrative that the Red Sox offense has struggled at home because of the colder weather, the cold hasn't been a problem for opposing teams. 

Boston pitchers have allowed 73 runs at Fenway, tied for the seventh-most runs allowed at home in baseball, while throwing in just 173 innings at home, the ninth- fewest in the sport. 

Playing well at Fenway was one of the main emphases for former manager Alex Cora during his seven-year tenure at the helm of the Red Sox, but it's something his team could not do consistently. 

After posting the second-best home record in franchise history at 57-24 en route to the 2018 World Series title, Boston has a record of 273-263 at Fenway, good for a .509 winning percentage. They have finished above .500 at home in just three of the last seven seasons (2021, 2024, 2025).

Success at home is key to the Red Sox qualifying for the postseason. The Red Sox have made the playoffs just twice since the 2018 World Series run, in 2021 and 2025, both of which were seasons where the team finished well above .500 at home. 

There is still plenty of time to turn things around under interim manager Chad Tracy, but if the Red Sox have any hopes of making their first back-to-back postseason appearances since 2017-2018, it will all have to start with playing better at America's most beloved ballpark. 

Zack Wheeler will get the start for Philadelphia on Tuesday, while Boston has yet to name their starter. First pitch set for 6:45 p.m. ET. 

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