The Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays will kick off the World Series at American Family Field in Milwaukee on Friday night. As the two sides prepare to compete for their first World Series titles in franchise history, the Boston Red Sox can take three key lessons from the matchup. 

While the two sides represent an unconventional World Series matchup, they prove that analytics can help win games at the highest level. As the Red Sox come under fire for their supposed over-reliance on the numbers, the Brewers and Rays clearly show they are on the right track. As MLB Network's Anthony Castrovince noted, the Brewers (46 employees) and Rays (39) both rank in the top seven in MLB for the largest analytics departments.

In the wake of the Red Sox being swept out of the Wild Card round by the New York Yankees, plenty was made of manager Chad Tracy's decisions to lift both his Game 1 and Game 2 starters, Payton Tolle and Sonny Gray, after 4.2 innings, with many questioning whether or not the first-year manager was following a script set forth by the front office. However, Tracy and Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow pushed back on that narrative at the team's end-of-season press conference, saying that while the team, like every team in baseball, uses the numbers as a resource, the manager makes the decisions.

The idea that the Red Sox are too reliant on analytics isn't just a media-driven narrative, either, as All-Star first baseman Willson Contreras referenced it during his final media availability of the year after the Game 2 loss. 

That said, how you use the numbers matters; managers still need a feel for how the game is playing out. Both Brewers manager Pat Murphy and Rays manager Kevin Cash have perfected that over their careers. 

The World Series matchup can also be a lesson for Red Sox ownership, which has reportedly issued a front-office hiring freeze after heavily expanding its analytics department under Breslow. While the freeze could save money with a lockout looming, it could also prevent Breslow from replacing former assistant general manager Taylor Smith, and dry up quality candidates. 

The Red Sox still have a lot of work to do blending analytics with the human element of the game. However, this World Series matchup shows they are on the right track. 

Like the Red Sox, the Brewers and Rays ranked among the bottom 10 in home runs during the regular season. However, both Milwaukee and Tampa were among the best at getting on base, finishing tied for the league lead in batting average at .258 and in the top five in on-base percentage, reaching base at .341 and .326, respectively. 

While neither side has a penchant for hitting the ball out of the ballpark, they both excel at capitalizing on their opportunities. Tampa led baseball with a .284 batting average with runners in scoring position, while Milwaukee ranked second at .276. 

The Red Sox still have strides to make in batting average and on-base percentage, where they ranked just outside the top 10. However, the team still has a long way to go to capitalize on opportunities unless it adds major power to its lineup. The Red Sox finished the 2026 season hitting just .241 with runners in scoring position, the sixth-lowest mark in the sport. 

Thanks to heavy roster turnover in recent years and a massive overhaul of the team's coaching staff in April, the Red Sox have lost many leadership pieces over the last several seasons. After the trade that sent Rafael Devers to San Francisco and the firing of Alex Cora, no players or coaches remain from the 2018 World Series-winning team. Additionally, no players remain who played alongside culture-building members of winning teams in Boston, such as David Ortiz or Dustin Pedroia.  

For the 2025 season, the team appeared to have that next key leadership voice in third baseman Alex Bregman, whom Roman Anthony credited as a key part of his development. However, that leadership voice departed in free agency for the Chicago Cubs. 

Contreras and Gray did a good job filling that void, especially after Cora's firing. However, Gray is set to hit the free-agent market after likely declining his mutual option, and plenty of questions remain about whether Contreras is the right leadership voice for this young group of players. 

There is no better example of having an established standard than Milwaukee. Whether you’re a rookie or a star, the standard is the standard, and if you don’t meet that, then you’ll be benched. Murphy proved that in the regular season by benching rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt and star catcher William Contreras for not hustling on ground balls. While Tampa and Cash don’t have as many examples of players being benched for not living up to the standard, they have a clear culture of clean baseball that emphasizes strong defense, base running, and situational hitting. 

The Red Sox established a “next-man up” culture during their 32-5 stretch through July and August. They felt rudderless for much of the season otherwise. If the Red Sox want to return to the heights of the last 22 years, they’ll have to build both a strong clubhouse leadership group and a standard they hold each other to. A full season with Tracy at the helm should help; however, the team needs players to step into leadership roles. Whether that's from the roster, like Adley Rutschman, Roman Anthony, or Garrett Crochet, or through outside additions.  

The Rays and Brewers will kick off the 2026 World Series on Friday night. First pitch from American Family Field is set for 8:00 p.m. ET.