Calm down — the Red Sox have plenty of time to turn things around

CINCINNATI, OHIO - MARCH 29: First baseman Willson Contreras #40 of the Boston Red Sox looks on during a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on March 29, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Jeff Dean/Getty Images) | Getty Images A number of Red Sox players were hot in the World Baseball Classic. A number did well in Spring Training.

But it hasn’t really carried over into the first week of the season. The Boston Red Sox are 1-4 after a full turn of the rotation and are once again looking for Garrett Crochet to play the part of the stopper. This is the same team that made upgrades over the winter — even if those upgrades didn’t come off the wish list of players we would have come up with.

This is the rotation projected by analysts around the industry to be the best in baseball. But Garrett Crochet was good. Connelly Early looked really good for his sophomore season debut and only a handful of starts last season .

Sonny Gray wasn’t impressive. Ranger Suárez looked like he was still trying to catch up after missing time pitching this spring due to WBC rotation issues. And Brayan Bello had good and bad innings.