MLB panic meter: How worried should we be about the Red Sox, Cubs, Giants and more?

Two weeks. 12 games. Four series.

Roughly 8% of the marathon that is the 162-game, 52-series regular season is in the books. It ain’t much, but for a selection of playoff hopefuls, the start to the 2026 campaign has not been nearly as smooth as hoped. Here’s a look at six teams off to inconsistent — or downright disappointing — starts to the season, with what has gone wrong so far and reasons for optimism amid the malaise.

Boston Red Sox Record entering play Friday: 4-8 (fifth in AL East) What’s gone wrong: The Red Sox enter most seasons with sizable expectations, considering the intense nature of the Boston fan base. And after another offseason of overhauling the roster in unexpected and in some respects uninspiring ways, it was important for the Red Sox to start strong and quiet the skepticism surrounding president of baseball operations Craig Breslow’s team building. Instead, the Sox flopped out of the gate , earning baseball’s worst record through 10 games and falling quickly into the basement of MLB’s least forgiving division.

Several holdovers, such as Trevor Story, Jarren Duran and even Roman Anthony, have underperformed, but the optics of some of the newcomers struggling (Ranger Suarez, Caleb Durbin) or immediately getting injured (Johan Oviedo) add fuel to the distrust of the current regime’s strategy, even after the team qualified for the postseason last year. And speaking of optics, owner John Henry seemingly being caught on camera in his suite at Fenway this week flippantly dismissing the “Sell the team” chants from the crowd didn’t exactly help matters. Reasons for optimism: After a 2-8 start, the Red Sox responded with a much-needed series victory over the Brewers, holding Milwaukee to two runs over the final 18 innings after a sloppy 8-6 defeat in the opener.