The Red Sox’s 8-1 loss against the Astros in the series opener is ringing alarm bells. However, while the Red Sox’s $130 million arm Ranger Suarez failed in the game, giving up seven hits and four runs in his 4.1 innings, ESPN’s Paul Hembekides opines that the issue lies elsewhere. As Alex Cora’s team failed to score more than one run, Hembekides thinks that there is a huge flaw in their offense in 2026.

“FanGraphs projects the Red Sox to score 4.6 runs per game, and I’m taking the under,” Hembekides said. “They have only two hitters I can promise will post an above-average batting line against both sides of the platoon — Roman Anthony and Willson Contreras. And that’s because I see potential land mines.”

Well, the team got a few good names in the offense, such as Roman Anthony, Trevor Story, Willson Contreras, Jarren Duran, and Wilyer Abreu. However, Hembekides sees no hope.

Starting with Trevor Story, the Red Sox shortstop, although he finished last year on a high note, his start was miserable. Through the first 61 games, Story’s performance was statistically among the worst in MLB. He batted at just .143 against four-seam fastballs and failed to hit a single home run against them in his first 61 games.

So, while Story made a comeback with 18 homers from these final 101 games in 2025, Hembekides wonders if he can bring the same form this season. His game against the Astros didn’t go so well as he managed only 1 hit from 4 at-bats. Hembekides is also skeptical about how Duran and Abreu will perform against the lefties.

Last year, Duran batted just .211 with a .600 OPS in 209 plate appearances against lefties. In contrast, Abreu scored .230 against lefties last year, which is an improvement from .180 in 2024. However, 21 of his 22 home runs in 2025 came against right-handers. So, the Red Sox’s offense would heavily depend on how these two go against the lefties this year.

So, the remaining two are Anthony and Contreras, Hembekides’s last two hopes for the Red Sox. Upon debut last year, Anthony went all guns blazing. He scored 8 HRs at .292. On the other hand, Contreras had a successful season in 2025 with the Cardinals, hitting 20 homers at .257.

However, the game against the Astros showed that when Anthony and Contreras falter on the field, the entire Red Sox offense would come to a standstill.

The Red Sox’s pitching seems to be in a worse place

While the Red Sox offense got busted against the Astros, their pitching staff was not far behind. Ranger Suarez started the innings, and Johan Oviedo took over the relief role. And both faltered.

Suarez allowed four runs in his 4.1 innings, Oviedo allowed another four runs in his 3.2 innings. And this looks contradictory to what their pitching staff was predicted to be a few days ago.

“With Crochet leading a new-look rotation that includes Ranger Suarez, Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo, the Red Sox post the top rotation ERA in the AL for the first time in 24 years.” ESPN’s David Schoenfield’s prediction looks nowhere near given how the team performed against the Astros.

Even the Red Sox’s other 2026 addition, Sonny Gray, had a forgettable start to 2026. Against the Reds, he gave up three runs in his four innings.

The only shining area is again Crochet, who started 2026 by striking out eight in six scoreless innings against the Reds. And guess what, it looks exactly like how the Red Sox performed last year.

In 2025, Crochet finished with a 2.59 ERA and a league-leading 255 strikeouts. But beyond him, Tanner Houck went for an 8.04 ERA over nine starts, and Walker Buehler recorded a 5.40 ERA over 22 starts.

So, while Hembekides concluded the Red Sox’s offense might have the biggest loophole, their pitching doesn’t seem to be in a great position as well.