It has been exactly one month since the Boston Red Sox found themselves at 10-17 and in last place in the American League, making the decision to fire longtime manager Alex Cora and five members of his staff. Now, with interim manager Chad Tracy at the helm, the Red Sox find themselves at 22-30 and still in last place in the American League East. So, have the Red Sox actually improved under Tracy? 

Under Cora in 2026, the Red Sox were among the worst teams in baseball, struggling to hit consistently and posting underwhelming performances across the board, with a .380 winning percentage. 

In the 27 games before the firings, the Red Sox offense ranked in the bottom 10 in batting average, on-base percentage, and runs scored. Ranking in the bottom five in slugging percentage, isolated power, and weighted runs created+ (wRC+), while hitting the fewest home runs in baseball. 

The pitching staff, which was meant to be the focal point of Breslow's roster construction, also struggled mightily to start the season, posting the 10th highest ERA in baseball at 4.44 ERA while allowing the 12th most baserunners per inning in the sport. 

While the team greatly underperformed under Cora, the staff's slow start to the season was clearly a result of the pitching development team, headed by Breslow and pitching coach Andrew Bailey. Still, Breslow made the decision to part with the third-winningest manager in franchise history with the hopes of sparking something within the group. 

Under Tracy, Boston has posted a 12-13 record with a .480 winning percentage, improving across the board. The Red Sox offense has hit .247, good for seventh in baseball, jumping into the top half of baseball in on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. 

Despite the improved rate stats, the Boston offense is still struggling mightily in the power department; their .135 isolated power ranks eighth-lowest in baseball, their wRC+ of 94 is the 11th-lowest, and the team has scored the fewest runs in the sport (82) since Tracy took over at the helm. 

The highly-touted pitching staff also turned things on in a big way. Thanks to a fantastic month from free agent signee Ranger Suarez, rookie lefties Payton Tolle and Connelly Early, and a bullpen that has quietly become one of baseball's best, the Boston staff finally started to perform up to their offseason expectations. In the 25 games since Tracy took over, the Boston staff ranks in the top six in ERA (3.03), walks and hits per innings pitched (1.14), and opponent average (.222). 

Despite the improved performance from both the hitting and pitching, the Red Sox still find themselves in last place in the American League East, and a far cry from the playoff team that Breslow reaffirmed his belief in when firing Cora. 

The Red Sox' struggles to string wins together stem from one problem: the inability to hit with runners in scoring position. Under Tracy, the Boston offense is just 42-208 with men in scoring position, good for a .202 batting average. 

The struggles with men on can be traced back to the lack of power within the lineup. In order to score runs, the lineup needs to string multiple hits together in any given inning, something that has become more of a rarity in today's baseball. Without a pure slugger in the heart of the order to deliver a home run to bail out the offense if they can't string enough together, the margin for error for the entire team becomes that much smaller; one wrong pitch from a reliever could prove to be the difference in a one or two-run game. 

Last weekend's series with the Braves is a prime example of the Red Sox' struggles in the highest-pressure situations. In the three games in Atlanta, Boston went just 2-for-25 with runners in scoring position, turning what was a very winnable series, even with Brayan Bello's disastrous outing, into a series marred by what could have been. 

While the Red Sox have improved nearly across the board under Tracy, they still haven't shown enough to be considered true playoff contenders, even in an American League that is the definition of mediocrity through the first two months of the season.

Their problems today under Tracy remain the same as they were on April 25 when they fired Cora. The offense simply doesn't have enough, and firing the manager and a handful of hitting coaches doesn't change that. 

The Red Sox are in desperate need of a boost to the lineup, something that, according to multiple reports, Breslow is already working on.  However, deals this early into the season are a rarity, especially in the era of three wild-card teams. By the time teams are ready to make major moves, the Red Sox could find themselves way out of playoff contention. 

The Red Sox are off Monday before welcoming the Braves to Fenway Park for a three-game series that gets underway on Tuesday night. Suarez (2-2, 2.40 ERA) will get the start for Boston opposite Spencer Strider (2-0, 3.00 ERA) for Atlanta. First pitch from Fenway set for 6:45 p.m. ET. 

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