Red Sox coach talks \u2018breaking point\u2019 in games, hitters to watch in 2026<\/b>
\nThe 2025 Boston Red Sox were, in many ways, an offensive tour de force.
They were a top-10 team in runs, RBI, stolen bases, and both on-base and slugging percentages, and top-five in hits and batting average. They led the majors in doubles for the 17th time in the last 25 seasons. They were the only team with multiple inside-the-park home runs, a niche, though perhaps skewed reminder of their athleticism.
Yet too often, the Red Sox were a frustrating example of wasted opportunities. Literally.
They were a top-10 team in leaving runners on base. They had more Productive Out opportunities than any other American League team, but the fourth-worst rate of Productive Outs success. They led the majors in plate appearances with no outs and a man on second, yet only the Colorado Rockies had a worse rate of runner advancement.
These are the \u2018dualities\u2019 that grate at the man tasked with running the offense.
\u201cYou look at the overarching hitting, for me, the fact that our group led baseball with opportunities to score runs, and we scored the most runs in those situations, is a really good place to begin,\u201d Red Sox hitting coach Pete Fatse told the Herald earlier this month. \u201cI think (it) comes down to understanding the context of the game, and what the game is requiring you to do in specific moments.\u201d
That situational awareness was the missing piece a few too many times last year, he said.
\u201cThere\u2019s times to take your shot, there\u2019s times to emphasize putting the ball in place, there\u2019s times to emphasize contact,\u201d Fatse said. \u201cThe ability to create constant run-scoring states is really important, but I think continuing to emphasize \u2013 and we always do \u2013 runs is what we\u2019re all about.
\u201cContinuing to emphasize the process behind scoring runs, that\u2019s something we talk about a lot. We\u2019ll talk about our Plan A and our Plan B. And you have to have the ability \u2013 Trevor Story was a great example of that \u2013 you have to have the ability when the game calls, to get the guy in. Sometimes that requires you to try and hit a line-drive to right, or it\u2019s a situation where maybe we\u2019re sitting on a pitch, or something that specific.\u201d
No other team lost more one-run games in which they stranded at least 10 men than the Red Sox. They were 23-27 in one-run games overall. Perhaps most mind-boggling is that they were only outscored 181-177 in such contests.
\u201cIt\u2019s like a duality, right?\u201d Fatse said. \u201cTen opportunities, it\u2019s like, \u2018Wow, there\u2019s a lot of opportunity.\u2019 \u2026 I think a lot of it, too, is the value of contact in those situations. And chase is important. If you\u2019re in those positions and you\u2019re expanding before two strikes, you hit with two strikes, that\u2019s not a great way to convert a ton of runs. So how do we tighten up our approach in those situations? If I was going to say there\u2019s one thing that\u2019s a point of emphasis, I would probably target that.\u201d
While the Red Sox made several spectacular comebacks last season, Fatse also pinpointed a pattern in their one-run games.
\u201cI feel like a lot of times there\u2019s usually a breaking point in the game,\u201d he said. \u201cUsually there\u2019s a breaking point where it\u2019s like, second and third, one out, and you hit the homer, you crack the game open, and it goes.
\u201cThose moments, those are the things I look at (with) the end result. It turns into a three-run lead, or it stays neutral, and then you\u2019re talking leverage matchups and it\u2019s really hard to score. \u2026 You\u2019re trying to win like three-inning increments: the early part, the middle part, the late part. I feel like my guess would be that if you look at those games, there were probably points in the middle three (innings) where you\u2019re like, \u2018OK, we had a chance to break this open, we didn\u2019t.\u2019 \u201d
Two Red Sox hitters, in particular, have Fatse excited for a fresh slate of games and break-open opportunities: Willson Contreras and Roman Anthony.
As Boston\u2019s biggest position-player addition this offseason and a homegrown wunderkind whose rapid rise through the farm system was tracked with eagle eyes, respectively, Contreras and Anthony are something of an unexpected pairing.
What intrigues Fatse are the abilities and qualities inverse of each player\u2019s respective station: how a proven veteran like Contreras can transform himself, and how a 21-year-old fresh out of rookie eligibility can carry himself the way Anthony does.
In his ninth big-league season, Contreras suddenly began pulling the ball in the air like never before. He pulled 15 of his 20 home runs, and had a 19.8% Pulled Air Rate last year, a sharp increase from his 13.3% in prior seasons. Wilyer Abreu and Alex Bregman were the only Red Sox players with higher marks last year. Only 33 of the 156 qualified right-handed hitters in the American League out-pulled Contreras.
The change stood out to his new manager, Alex Cora, and his new hitting coach, who know that righties who pull the ball in the air can be quite successful at a certain Boston ballpark.
\u201cHe jumped to (19.8%), which is significant,\u201d Fatse said. \u201cI think Fenway is going to present some opportunities for him to capitalize on that.\u201d
\u201cAlso, too, he hits a lot of balls really hard, rocket line drives, like lasers,\u201d Fatse continued. \u201cBut I think the reality is, it\u2019s not just yes, he can pull the ball, but he can lead to center, he can drive the ball with authority to right. There\u2019s power opportunities on all fields, and at the end of the day, we play 81 games at home, 81 games on the road.\u201d
Anthony, meanwhile, is unlike any young player Fatse has ever known. The offensive profile is formidable, and Anthony is only just beginning to fully actualize his potential.
\u201cHe has power to all fields, he moves about fast and has real damage opportunity to all fields,\u201d Fatse said. \u201cNot only the swing stuff, but a lot of it\u2019s the approach-related stuff, the intent-related stuff. I use the term \u2018gambler,\u2019 like just the gambles you\u2019re willing to place, the bet you\u2019re willing to place within at-bats when you\u2019re looking for one thing, and you know you\u2019re as good as he is, and he gets it, he\u2019s going to finish the at-bat.\u201d
But to Fatse and countless other members of the Red Sox, Anthony\u2019s psyche and mindset are what make him unique.
\u201cThe kid is so mature,\u201d Fatse said. \u201cFor a 21-year-old kid \u2013 I\u2019ve been here for six years, I haven\u2019t been around anybody like him at that age. He carries himself, not just his performance, but also just his demeanor is like a 30-year-old player in the big leagues, a guy who\u2019s been here.
\u201cI think the other thing I\u2019ve really respected about him is, he doesn\u2019t get too high or too low. He maintains an insane level of consistency, equilibrium.\u201d
Fatse\u2019s goal is to be able to say the same thing about this year\u2019s Red Sox offense: consistency and equilibrium.<\/p>\n