Red Sox Get Mixed Review In The Ringer’s 2026 MLB Preseason Power Rankings originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

After getting shelled by the Minnesota Twins in their final spring training game on Tuesday, the Boston Red Sox‘s 2026 preseason is officially in the books. Now it’s on to Cincinnati, where they’ll face the Reds on Thursday for Opening Day.

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With the 2026 MLB season getting underway this week, The Ringer released its preseason MLB power rankings on Tuesday. Fortunately for the Red Sox, they fared pretty well, clocking in at eighth between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs.

Interestingly, The Athleticalso had Boston eighth in its preseason power rankings.

In his analysis for The Ringer, Anthony Dabbundo praised the team’s new-look starting rotation, young talent and budding superstar in Roman Anthony. Dabbundo is skeptical that the Red Sox have enough offensive talent around Anthony, however, especially compared to their competition in the AL East.

“Boston will have three new starters in its opening rotation, with Sonny Gray, Ranger Suárez, and Johan Oviedo joining Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello. It’s a good mix of pitching profiles, which should help solve the pitching depth issues the Red Sox struggled with for portions of last year,” Dabbundo wrote, presumably referencing how Boston essentially ran out of proven starting pitchers by the playoffs and had to start Connelly Early in an elimination game.

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“On the offensive side, they lost Bregman to Chicago and replaced him with Caleb Durbin. What they lost at third, however, they certainly made up for at first by adding Willson Contreras to the heart of the order,” Dabbundo continued. “After all of the musical chairs in this roster, Boston is still less talented than Toronto and New York, but there’s a lot of youth with upside that could change the AL East hierarchy in a flash.”

While the Red Sox have plenty of “good” hitters like Contreras, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Trevor Story, Dabbundo argued that Anthony might be their only “great” one.

“Roman Anthony has elite potential, and he’s probably the only hitter in this lineup with the upside to develop into a truly feared superstar. If he doesn’t make a jump, their offense will be similar to Chicago’s and Detroit’s: good, but lacking the required difference makers to be elite,” Dabbundo concluded.

He finished by predicting fewer than 87.5 regular-season wins for Boston. That might still be good enough for a Wild Card spot, but he doesn’t sound super confident in the team’s chances this year.

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