{"id":653279,"date":"2026-03-30T21:59:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T21:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/653279\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T21:59:15","slug":"what-we-learned-from-the-red-sox-opening-series-in-cincinnati-nbc-sports-boston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/653279\/","title":{"rendered":"What we learned from the Red Sox\u2019 opening series in Cincinnati \u2013 NBC Sports Boston"},"content":{"rendered":"

After their shutout win on Opening Day<\/a>, the Boston Red Sox didn’t give fans much to cheer about in their three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds.<\/p>\n

Boston dropped Games 2 and 3 on Saturday and Sunday, falling to 1-2 on the season. Reliever Greg Weissert played a role in both losses, allowing a solo homer in Saturday’s 6-5 defeat and a three-run homer that decided Sunday’s 3-2 loss.<\/p>\n

Weissert was far from the only player worthy of blame. Sonny Gray made a costly fielding error in his Sox debut, Jarren Duran was picked off at first in a critical situation, and offseason addition Caleb Durbin went 0-for-12 with three strikeouts, including a brutal K on a 3-0 count in the series finale.<\/p>\n

Fortunately for the Red Sox, there are still 159 games left on the schedule. Here are five takeaways from the opening series in Cincinnati as Boston turns its attention to Houston:<\/p>\n

1. Situational hitting still an issue<\/p>\n

The Red Sox totaled only 10 runs in the three-game series despite having plenty of opportunities to score.<\/p>\n

They went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position in Saturday\u2019s 6-5 loss, then 0-for-7 with RISP on Sunday. They left 30 runners on base in total: 11 in Game 1, 10 in Game 2, and nine in Game 3.<\/p>\n

Boston’s lineup against lefties was considered one of its biggest weaknesses heading into the season, and it didn’t do much to dispel that narrative in Cincinnati. It mustered only one extra-base hit and one run in 35 at-bats against southpaws.<\/p>\n

The pitching staff mostly held up its end of the bargain in the series, but the Red Sox’ offense couldn’t come through when it mattered most.<\/p>\n

2. Wilyer Abreu can hit 30-plus homers<\/p>\n

Boston didn’t add a huge power threat to the middle of its lineup during the offseason. That could come back to bite Craig Breslow & Co., but their big bat could come in the form of Wilyer Abreu.<\/p>\n

Abreu mashed homers on Saturday and Sunday. He has started the season 6-for-13 with two doubles, two homers, four RBI, and only one strikeout.<\/p>\n

Abreu is blossoming into the middle-of-the-order threat the Red Sox desperately need, though he still has to prove he can hit left-handed pitching consistently.<\/p>\n

3. Connelly Early should stay in the rotation<\/p>\n

Red Sox rookie southpaw Connelly Early looked sharp in his season debut, allowing just one earned run with six strikeouts over 5.1 innings. His spot on the Opening Day roster was a bit of a surprise, but he showed why he belongs on the big-league roster and shouldn’t be sent back down to the minors.<\/p>\n

It’ll be interesting to see how Boston approaches its starting rotation going forward. Johan Oviedo appeared to be the frontrunner for a rotation spot after being acquired from Pittsburgh in the offseason, but Early added to his case for a permanent role after impressing during his brief MLB stint last year.<\/p>\n

4. Solid start for Marcelo Mayer<\/p>\n

Mayer was a question mark entering the season due to his injury history and inconsistency at the plate. So far, so good as he went 2-for-2 on Opening Day with a pinch-hit double and two of the club\u2019s three runs. He hit another double in Game 2 and looked smooth defensively throughout the series.<\/p>\n

Mayer’s talent is undeniable, and his performance in the opening series was a reminder of that. He’ll look to keep it going in Houston and earn an opportunity to play more against left-handers, whom he has struggled against throughout his pro career.<\/p>\n

5. Too many mental miscues<\/p>\n

The Red Sox could have swept the series had it not been for a few mental mistakes, but the fundamentals were an issue just as they were for much of last year.<\/p>\n

In Game 2, veteran right-hander Sonny Gray allowed a run to score on a bizarre fielding blunder in which he dropped the ball while attempting to tag the runner at home plate. In the eighth inning of Game 3, Jarren Duran was picked off at first base to spoil a potential rally in the one-run loss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After their shutout win on Opening Day, the Boston Red Sox didn’t give fans much to cheer about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2375],"tags":[5,141,48,2542,4,89,2543],"class_list":{"0":"post-653279","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-red-sox","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-red-sox","11":"tag-bostonredsox","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-red-sox","14":"tag-redsox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116320374846453244","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}