How the Red Sox Made the 2026 MLB Postseason

The Red Sox are back in the playoffs, as Boston officially locked up a spot for the 2026 Postseason on September 20. But given how the Red Sox played over the first third of the regular season, this reality was far from a certainty.

Overcoming a slow start

It’s hard to believe that the Red Sox were, in a hyperbolic sense, drowning in May.

Boston entered the month with a 13-19 record, worst in the AL East and just 1.5 games better than the Angels and Astros for avoiding the basement of the American League. One month later, on June 1, the Sox were 25-33.

But like last year, the Red Sox pulled off some midseason magic. Boston went on a 15-game winning streak in July, which catapulted them right into an AL Wild Card spot. The club continued to play well into August, which helped further cement themselves as a playoff team.

A lot has happened, to say the least, since the club fired manager Alex Cora in April.

Fantastic pitching

In a year where the Red Sox saw ace Garrett Crochet make just six starts, the rotation was not a problem whatsoever for the club.

Sonny Gray may not get enough love for how he goes about his business from an analytics perspective. However, Gray posted a sub-3.00 ERA, won 17 games to pace the American League, and was one of the best in terms of controlling the home run ball.

Who was even better in that regard was Ranger Suarez, who entered play with the fifth-lowest HR/9 (.57) in the Majors among starting pitchers with 100+ IP. Suarez was a machine in terms of generating weak contact with the Philadelphia Phillies before he signed with Boston over the winter. He, along with Gray, turned out to be a big hit.

Suarez was one of three Boston starting pitchers to rank in the top 25 in the Majors among opponents’ wOBA. The other two, believe it or not, were rookies. Jake Bennett entered play on the 21st with a .287 opponents’ wOBA, good for 21st in the Majors.

Bennett was acquired in a prospect swap with the Nationals last winter. The left-hander dealt with injury problems as a National prospect — but you wouldn’t know it with how effective he was as a strike-thrower and finesse pitcher.

Payton Tolle, meanwhile, was a force. Tolle induced an exceptional amount of swing-and-miss, particularly on his fastball that was a plus pitch dating back to his college days. Tolle struck out 166 over 143 innings, and over the second half, had the highest Chase% in the Majors.