It has been a roller coaster of a season for the Boston Red Sox, who sit at 7-11 and in last place in the American League East entering play on Thursday. Through the first three weeks of the year, the team has looked like it needs absolutely everything to go right for them to win games; the starter needs to work deep into the game, the offense needs to limit strikeouts and get on base, and the bullpen needs to be completely shut down. Thus far, that has happened just seven times. The most glaring part of the Red Sox' need to be perfect to win is their lack of a power bat, a hole still left unfilled after the trade of Rafael Devers, and a problem that nearly everyone saw coming. 

Entering the 2026 season, the Red Sox were the only team in Major League Baseball not to have a single batter projected to hit 20 or more home runs by ZIPS: a notion that Red Sox manager Alex Cora brushed off numerous times in the lead-up to the season, telling MassLive's Christopher Smith, "I really believe somebody’s going to hit 20 home runs for the Red Sox.” 

Through these 18 games, the Red Sox' 12 home runs have them ranked 29th in baseball.  Ironically, the only team behind them is Devers' San Francisco Giants, who have hit just nine. While their slugging percentage of .355 has them ranked 24th. 

The lack of pop has been a problem for Boston since Devers was traded. Since the deal was made on June 15, 2025, the Red Sox have played 107 regular-season games, hitting just 109 home runs, the fifth-fewest in the span. 

The Red Sox lack of power only decreases the margin for error that the team plays with seemingly every night. Without a true thumper in the heart of the lineup, there is no 'bail-out' home run to save the day on a night where the rest of the offense clearly doesn't have it.

That was something that was on full display in Boston's 3-2 loss to the Reds on March 29. Despite the Reds going just 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position, a two-run blast from Eugenio Suarez was enough to lift Cincinnati to a victory. 

Cora was right in his assessment that the Red Sox have multiple players who are more than capable of hitting more than 20 home runs in a season.

Offseason acquisition Willson Contreras has hit 20 or more home runs in six of his ten seasons at the big league level, a number that should tick up when playing at Fenway Park, thanks to a high percentage of balls hit in the air to the pull side. 

Right fielder Wilyer Abreu has undoubtedly been the Red Sox best offensive player through the first 18 games of the season, and certainly has the power to hit plenty of home runs. For Abreu, health is the main concern; he has yet to play a full season due to injuries. Despite only playing 115 games, thanks to two different injured list stints, Abreu still launched 22 home runs and was on pace to eclipse 30 in a full season of health in 2025.

Along with Contreras and Abreu, Trevor Story, Jarren Duran, and Roman Anthony are all also more than capable of eclipsing the 20 home run plateau. 

The good news for the Red Sox? Plenty of teams can make the playoffs without hitting a ton of home runs in the regular season. In 2025, both the Cleveland Guardians and Milwaukee Brewers were division winners and in the bottom ten in home runs hit. But, teams do need to hit home runs in the playoffs to succeed, something that Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow himself acknowledged, telling MLB.com's Ian Browne, "a disproportionate number of runs in the postseason are scored via the home run, and that’s not something that we can ignore." 

The Red Sox will welcome the Detroit Tigers to Fenway Park for a four-game series that gets underway on Friday night. First pitch set for 7:15 p.m. ET. 

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