Through the first week of this new season, Alex Cora has already started to shuffle the lineup, swapping both personnel and positioning. It’s not entirely surprising—this team simply hasn’t found its footing and this is the easiest lever for Cora to pull.
But the issue here isn’t just that the Red Sox aren’t hitting. It’s that they’re being trotted out there in an order that doesn’t make much sense. Up and down the lineup, there’s a disconnect between skillset and role that has quietly defined the first
week of the season. It feels like Cora is trying to map this year’s players onto last year’s lineup—and it just doesn’t fit.
The problem isn’t just that the Red Sox aren’t seeing the ball. They also have the wrong lineup for the team they’re actually fielding.
What’s wrong
The current lineup embraces the traditional model of lineup construction: get guys on base early, put your prototypical power hitters in heart of the lineup, then add some protection and shield weaknesses down low. The problem is that the 2026 Boston Red Sox have a glut of one role and a lack of the other.
There’s no David Ortiz, Mookie Betts, Alex Bregman, or even an Adam Duvall or Tyler O’Neill anchoring the cleanup spot. Production isn’t tied to one core bat; it’s been distributed amongst a few key men, and it’s been inconsistent all the way around. What the Red Sox actually have is a collection of contact hitters who are better at creating traffic than clearing it.
This is a team that needs baserunners early, a small ball mindset, and a willingness to be patient, elevating opposing pitch counts and taxing bullpens. Asking this roster to behave like a slugging team that can pile on home run after home run to make up a deficit is how you end up with empty innings and the dreaded LOB numbers that are creeping back into this season from last year.
One through three
Jarren Duran leading off is obvious, not just because of his speed, but because of the way he sets the table. His ability to turn routine ground balls into infield singles and what should be singles into extra base hits puts immediate stress on opposing teams. Instead of being the slugger he was with Mexico in the WBC, he needs ot turn back into The Angry Lizard we all know.
Roman Anthony hitting second then makes complete tense. He lengthens at-bats and his eye for the strike zone is going to absolutely terrorize pitchers, as it already is with his ABS challenges. If Duran is on base already, you’re set up for a potential RBI opportunity with the second batter of the game. If not, Anthony is strong enough in his own right to warrant caution early on.
Trevor Story—when he’s hitting—is a complete hitter. He has enough of both contact and pop that it makes sense to pencil him into the three hole. He’s never completely one or the other, but you can bank on him being at least consistent in that slot.
This trio doesn’t need to rake to be effective. It just needs to keep the line moving.
Four through six
Without a true middle-of-the-order slugger, the Red Sox have to rethink what the core of the lineup is supposed to do.
Wilyer Abreu hitting cleanup might not look normal, with his traditional role being in the five or six hole, but it makes all the sense in the world right now. The cleanup spot should go to a hitter who is actually producing, not one who fits the visuals of a cleanup hitter. Abreu hit the ground running for Venezuela and that pop is still there with Boston too. He’s the closest thing to a traditional slugger this lineup has and he needs to be given opportunities before there are already two down in a frame.
Willson Contreras hitting fifth still puts him in plenty of run-producing situations without making the entire offense dependent on him. It spreads the responsibility out instead of concentrating it. 2026 hasn’t been kind to Contreras so far, but there’s a long way to go and Contreras in the fifth slot gives Abreu more protection than he’s had so far.
Carlos Narváez behind them gives the lineup a chance to stabilize rather than fall off a cliff. He has power and the ability to get on base, just not at the same clip as the guys above him. He’s the transitional piece from top to bottom.
Seven through nine
Durbin hitting sixth early in the season hasn’t worked out in the least bit. His game is built on contact and speed. He’s a guy who swings a bat with the same force as me swatting a fly with a rolled up newspaper, and asking him to drive in runs consistently from the middle of the order puts him in situations that don’t match his profile. He’s not Alex Bregman and Alex Cora needs to remember that. Batting him seventh allows him to set the table himself if the first two innings come up empty, or create pressure at the bottom if there’s a rally to lengthen.
Marcelo Mayer presents a different version of the same problem. He’s being shielded against left handed pitching and platooned so far. It’s understandable for a young player, but with how smooth his start to the season has been, it’s shocking not to see him every day at this point. Hitting him eighth keeps the pressure off him while still giving him consistent at-bats. If the Red Sox believe in Mayer enough to start him, they should believe in him enough to let him play through his development issues.
Ninth has always been the right spot in the lineup for Ceddanne Rafaela. His bat can be so boom-or-bust that he needs the protection the rest of the lineup provides, but when he’s on, he supplies a kind of chaos that can make or break games. If he can keep the line moving for the top of the lineup, it unleashes a never ending wave of pressure on opposing pitchers, and that’s what will drive the Red Sox to more wins. For a team that depends on momentum and pressure, Rafaela’s role is a big one for what you’d think of a nine-hole hitter.
The right lineup for now
There’s no perfect version of this lineup. There’s no hidden star arriving to fix everything overnight. Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer are here to stay, and there are no more magic prospects ready to make an immediate impact. Craig Breslow isn’t making any panic trades this early in the season.
But there is a version of this lineup that actually makes sense:
Duran
Anthony
Story
Abreu
Contreras
Narváez
Mayer
Durbin
Rafaela
The Red Sox don’t need to keep throwing their lineup in a blender. I understand the need to swap players in and out to match strengths, but the more they do this, the less chemistry this team develops and the longer they’re going to be out of sorts. Alex Cora needs to find his optimal batting order and stick to it.
