BIB on the Radio: Red Sox 2026 Season Predictions
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What are the latest predictions for the Red Sox 2026 season?
Our Red Sox coverage on WEI is presented by McFarlane Energy, the heating, cooling, and bioheat delivery pros that Eastern Mass and all of Cape Cod depend on. McFarlaneEnergy.com. Rob Bradford, how we doing on what is truly the opening day in Major League Baseball?
Oh, McFarlane from the Fort Myers of Ohio, Cincinnati. It's fantastic. There's going to be a parade here in about a half an hour, which I think that nobody else has, so a parade is always a good thing. Like Little League? Yeah.
Oh.
Exactly. Exactly like Little League. Are they going to throw candy? I don't know. Who knows? Do you even do that anymore, or is that like banned as well?
No, I think Chuck and Candy may not be allowed. The Little League parade still happened, though, for sure. We just went through, Bradfo, our Red Sox season superlatives. So we handed out Manager of the Year, Gold Glove winner, Silver Slugger, things like that. Who do you think the team MVP will be at the end of the year?
It's going to be an easy answer. I think Roman Anthony is going to be the team MVP. I think he's going to be in the MVP conversation. I think he's going to be a top-ten guy in MVP voting. I would say a pitcher. You can obviously go with Cochet, but I want to see how this pans out with Cochet. To match what Cochet did is going to ask a lot, particularly considering he's coming off the workload that he did last year. But, yeah, I mean, it's almost a cliche, right, with the Roman Anthe stuff. But I will say this. It's being around him and then seeing the WBC stuff and then just seeing how people interact with him and what they say about him and him hitting lefties, all of it. Like, that's the guy for me.
What's the power ceiling, you think, for Roman Anthony? There's a lot of discussion this offseason about how many guys will even hit 20 home runs on the Red Sox, let alone 30. Whether it's this year or beyond, where do you think Roman Anthony kind of settles in? I think he's a 30 home run guy. When you look back at that, what was it? Oh, it was Zips. Zips rating, right? I love a good Zips projection. Delicious. But when they said that, when they said, oh, you're not going to have 20 home runs, I mean, that's kind of silly. I mean, you did it last year with a guy who is still on the team in Trevor Story, and these guys are going to get better. I'm not saying that they're going to get as many home runs as they want, but they will have guys over 20 home runs.
So, yeah, I mean, I think that 30 home runs for Roman Anthony is reasonable. I think you're going to have probably over 20 from Abreu. You're going to have over 20 from Story. And then, you know, I think that a guy like Contreras could get close to it.
How does the Red Sox lineup address left-handed pitching challenges?
But to me, that's not the biggest issue with this lineup. It's not hitting home runs. It's hitting left-handed pitches where they face today. And Saturday. So what does that mean for Marcelo Meyer? We know it sounds like a platoon situation to start, but considering what the other options are, it's not like Romy Gonzalez or Rob Refsnyder from a year ago where those guys crushed lefties. What kind of chance do you give Meyer of eventually turning into an everyday player? It's going to be a work in progress. This isn't
Who is expected to be the team MVP for the Red Sox this season?
I don't think you can just say, hey, go get him against lefties. I think you can't do it with Roman Anthony. I think he proved himself. He's shown enough. Completely different kind of hitter. But it is going to be a platoon. And your senses are keen, Rich, man. Like, the fact is that what people don't talk about or what they don't want to talk about is that because of the Ushida stop spot is taken up on the roster, you don't have a guy like Rob Refsnyder sitting there as a legit weapon. These guys, Romy Gonzalez and Rob Resniders, weren't just guys who hit lefty pitching. Those guys were among the best in the major leagues at hitting lefty pitching. And you don't have those. And now you have Monasterio, which, you know, he's okay, fine.
You have Conor Falefa, our guy Izzy, Wizard of Iz, okay, fine. But still, you know, nowhere near close to the weapons that you had before.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What are the latest predictions for the Red Sox 2026 season?
0:00–2:46
2
How does the Red Sox lineup address left-handed pitching challenges?
2:46–3:18
3
Who is expected to be the team MVP for the Red Sox this season?
3:18–6:36
4
What is Roman Anthony's power potential for the upcoming season?
6:36–11:16
5
What role will Marcelo Meyer play in the Red Sox lineup?
11:16–14:25
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Baseball Isn’t Boring
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Pitch and Moan: We've Got Terry Collins On The Podcast
BIB on the Go: Lucas Giolito On His Underlying Numbers & ABS
Lucas Giolito Opens Up
BIB on the Radio: Is Roman Anthony's Arm A Concern?
BIB Notes: Home Run Robberies And Bench-Clearing Brawls Aren't Boring