The Boston Sunday Sports Section
Three Coming Attractions
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A Substack Live Event — Second Acts — Tuesday, June 2nd, 2 PM ET
A conversation with former Major Leaguers Jason Botts and Braden Bishop.
One of the most difficult periods for many professional athletes is when they decide to or are forced to retire. Their identity, community, daily structure, and paychecks all go the way of “it is high, it is far, it is gone,” to quote the late great John Sterling.
Many athletes struggle with this transition and with reinventing themselves for the second act of their lives. Jason Botts and Braden Bishop, two former Major Leaguers, now have fantastic Substacks where they are both open and vulnerable about this transition, and we will discuss their journeys.
Our goal for the discussion is to help anyone going through a transition or reinvention who is trying to figure out their second (or third, or fourth) act. Even if you are only considering one in the future, we think it will be helpful to you.
You will all receive an invitation to this event, and we very much hope you can join us live. - A New Writer — Please join me in welcoming Tyler Rourke as a new contributor to the Boston Sunday Sports Section beginning in June. Tyler, who recently graduated from Endicott, has written for On SI (Sports Illustrated), The Sporting News, and local newspapers in Gloucester and Salem, and will be writing two articles a week for you starting in June: Friday Morning Lights and This Week in Basketball.
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The Contest — No, not the one from Seinfeld.
▶ Watch the clip
I am going to do a random drawing for two Aura Pavilion seats with Aura Club access for the Red Sox Sunday, August 9th game against the Athletics. Every subscriber you refer to The Boston Sunday Sports Section will get you the equivalent of a ping pong ball in this Draft Lottery.
We will not rig it for the Knicks to get Patrick Ewing.
It’s Time to Call Manny
Hitting, as Billy Joel once sang, has always been a matter of trust.
Hitters need to trust their eyes, their bodies, and their hands. They also need to trust their hitting coaches.
And according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive, key Red Sox hitters have been staying in touch with fired hitting coach Pete Fatse — still seeking his advice more than three weeks after his dismissal.
This tweet is disturbing but not shocking.
It clearly implies these ‘key’ hitters do not fully trust Soteropulos and Hetzler. The former had all of four weeks of experience as a Major League assistant hitting coach when the club promoted him to lead hitting coach, while the latter had zero Major League experience coaching hitters.
The new coaches, John Soteropulos and Collin Hetzler, might be hitting gurus. This might be like Daniel-San initially not trusting Mr. Miyagi’s methods.
Perhaps the team will soon be painting the fence with line drives.
But to paraphrase Johnnie Cochran, ‘if the players don’t trust, you must adjust.’
As you can see from the table below, the Red Sox offense has amazingly been worse under the new regime.
| Fatse as Hitting Coach (27 games, 10–17) |
Soteropulos & Hetzler (24 games, 12–12) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pct | W | L | W% | Pct | W | L | W% | |
| 0–2 runs | 44.4% | 1 | 11 | 8.3% | 41.7% | 1 | 9 | 10.0% |
| 3–4 runs | 14.8% | 2 | 2 | 50.0% | 33.3% | 6 | 2 | 75.0% |
| 5+ runs | 40.7% | 7 | 4 | 63.6% | 25.0% | 5 | 1 | 83.3% |
| Avg runs scored | 4.15 (3.65 w/o 17-run game) | 3.21 | ||||||
| Avg runs allowed | 4.63 | 3.29 | ||||||
If you are going to bypass experience as a Major League hitting coach, there is an unconventional solution. Hire a guy who consistently hit baseballs over the Green Monster, even if he occasionally spent some time inside it as well.
Manny Ramirez has expressed interest in becoming an MLB hitting coach. He shared that with all 30 teams and at one point had a brief conversation with the Red Sox about his interest.
They essentially told him: Don’t call us; we’ll call you.
Well, maybe it is time to call.
His credentials as a hitter are impeccable — a .996 career OPS, 555 home runs (15th all-time), nine Silver Sluggers, and he was the 2004 World Series MVP to help break the curse.
You are probably thinking, sure, but remember all the episodes of Manny Being Manny, including his infamous visit inside the Green Monster.
Manny Ramirez with the Boston Red Sox in 2007
Ironically, I spoke with 26-year veteran Fenway scoreboard operator Christian Elias this fall, and he said Manny did not pee inside the Green Monster “that time.”
For all his escapades, though, Manny is a student of hitting who has a serious hitting philosophy. He preaches not trying to pull the ball in the cage, but instead going up the middle and opposite field, because hitters will naturally swing earlier in games and thus pull the ball rather than hook it.
He focuses on rhythm and tempo, uses drills to help hitters wait on breaking balls rather than rush, and emphasizes video analysis to help hitters see what is really happening rather than what they feel.
Some may question Manny’s ability to communicate hitting. Manny knows how to hit and can teach it, as shown in a video of him teaching his son. Plus, I think hitters will like being told they have the power of a buffalo.
Manny, being Manny, has of course never been a hitting instructor before. But this team needs some goofiness and fun to take some pressure off hitters who are clearly pressing as Jarren Duran shared with The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey.
To counter that pressure, Duran likened it to a scene from an episode of “The Office” in which the boss, Michael Scott, runs around the office screaming, “Nobody panic!” during a fire drill.
“I think of that moment and scream that in the dugout to lighten things up,” Duran said.
Manny would also have street cred with the players who grew up when he was starring in the MLB and, perhaps more importantly for this generation, the MLB The Show video game. While Manny is the only Manny, he would not be the first former star hitter to be tapped mid-season. In 2024, the Mariners hired Edgar Martinez mid-season to be their hitting coach.
And for all the gains they have made organizationally under Breslow in terms of pitching development, they need to try a different approach when it comes to hitting.
Manny certainly qualifies as different.
Their Best Offense Is a Good Defense
For all the Red Sox shortcomings on offense, the pitching and defense have been excellent, especially when you consider Garrett Crochet has not made a start since the day of the Saturday Night Massacre in Baltimore.
They are the baseball version of a butterface — beautiful pitching and defense, with an ugly offense. We have dwelled on the offense; let’s talk more about how exceptional the pitching and defense have been.
Theo Epstein, whom we nominated in Part 2 of Fixing the Red Sox this week to take over at GM, made the astute point that putting together an elite run prevention unit is not easy and is a solid building block.
He also alluded to fixing the offense midstream, and Sam Kennedy noted in an appearance on WEEI that the team was having conversations about adding a bat earlier than ever this year.
The table below shows how good the pitching and defense have been.
| Season Record by Runs Allowed · 51 games, 22–29 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runs Allowed | Games | Pct | W | L |
| 0–2 runs allowed | 16 | 31.4% | 15 | 1 |
| 3 runs allowed | 11 | 21.6% | 4 | 7 |
| 4 runs allowed | 7 | 13.7% | 1 | 6 |
| 5+ runs allowed | 17 | 33.3% | 2 | 15 |
| Avg runs allowed | 4.00 | |||
| Avg runs scored | 3.71 | |||
On average in baseball this season, teams are scoring 4.4 runs per game. The Red Sox have held opponents under that in 2/3 of their games. In almost 1/3 of games, they have held opponents to two runs or less, and they are 15–1 in those games.
The problem is the one-third of games when the pitching has still been better than average, giving up 3 or 4 runs. The Red Sox are a combined 5–13 in those games, including 7 losses when giving up exactly three runs.
Through Friday’s games, the Red Sox were tied for 9th in baseball in runs allowed per game at exactly 4 runs per game. The Rays are just ahead of them at 3.96. Because they have an offense, they are 34–15.
They lead baseball in defensive runs saved with 45, ten more defensive runs saved than the second-ranked Dodgers, and more than twice as many defensive runs saved as every team outside the top four.
This trend has only accelerated in May. Through Friday, the Red Sox were giving up 3.21 runs per game (runs, not earned runs). And those stats include Brayan Bello’s starts.
But they were only 10–9 in May because they were averaging just 3.37 runs scored per game.
Theo, Sam and Craig, go get some bats!
Tolle and Early as the foundation of what could be Boston’s rotation for the next decade. The good-news story this franchise desperately needs right now.
May ERA rankings, Tolle/Early/Suarez/Gray numbers, Theo Epstein’s take, and the central question: can pitching-first work if the offense doesn’t improve?
▶ Section 10 Podcast — Payton Tolle Interview — Tolle is arguably the most fun player on this roster right now. This conversation is a reminder of why.
View on X → — Payton Tolle is elite. 2nd in MLB in xERA at 2.19 — ahead of Ohtani, Glasnow, and Max Fried. Which is exactly why the Section 10 interview above is worth your time.
The 2026 Schedule in Four Acts
Most schedule analysis pieces do the same thing: pick every game, predict a winner, and arrive at some tidy 9–8 or 10–7 prediction that will be completely wrong by Week 4. That’s not what we’re doing here.
Instead, think of the 2026 Patriots schedule in four acts — each with its own personality, its own stakes, and its own story to tell about where this team is headed.
Historically, even during their dynasty years, the Patriots would often start slow and then build momentum as the season went on. Belichick’s teams got better as the weather got colder, a testament to great coaching.
Remember the 41–14 Monday night thrashing in Kansas City when fans were calling for Brady to be benched. Belichick was on to Cincinnati, and the duo won three more Super Bowls together, including that season.
Wed Sep 9 — at Seattle Seahawks, 8:20pm ET, NBC/Peacock
Sun Sep 20 — Pittsburgh Steelers, 1:00pm ET, CBS
Sun Sep 27 — at Jacksonville Jaguars, 1:00pm ET, CBS
Sun Oct 4 — at Buffalo Bills, 1:00pm ET, CBS
Opponents’ 2025 combined W%: 72.1% | 2026 Vegas projected W%: 55.9%
Based on opponents’ prior-season winning percentages, the Patriots have the hardest opening four games since the 1986 Eagles, per CBS Sports Research. They are also the first team since the 2019 Dolphins to open the season facing three straight division winners from the prior year.
I don’t foresee a soft schedule narrative again this season.
That said, it might be easier than it first appears. Pittsburgh is running out the husk of Aaron Rodgers at QB, and Vegas oddsmakers only have Jacksonville for 8.5 wins versus Duuuuval’s 13 from last year.
The Patriots will need to cover their eyes watching the Seahawks unfurl their Super Bowl banner, and the 12th man might be so loud it feels like the 13th.
And in Week 4, they will get a first-hand look at the Bills’ new Highmark Stadium. The ticket prices are apparently so expensive that Bills Mafia might be jumping through tables from Pottery Barn.
A 2–2 record over this stretch would feel like a win, given the difficulty and the fact that three of the four games were on the road. 1–3 and the vultures will be circling, especially given the Vrabel situation. And he might not want to say we are on to Vegas.
Sun Oct 11 — Las Vegas Raiders, 1:00pm ET, CBS
Sun Oct 18 — New York Jets, 1:00pm ET, CBS
Thu Oct 22 — at Chicago Bears, 8:15pm ET, Prime Video
Sun Nov 1 — at Miami Dolphins, 4:25pm ET, CBS
Opponents’ 2025 combined W%: 35.3% | 2026 Vegas projected W%: 38.2%
But indeed, they will be on to Vegas and their best chance to get right if they do stumble out of the gate. The Raiders, Jets, and Dolphins are projected by oddsmakers as the 4th worst, 3rd worst, and worst teams in the NFL. The Thursday nighter in Chicago will be a fascinating duel between Caleb Williams and Drake Maye.
Anything worse than 3–1 would be a major disappointment and a bad sign.
Sun Nov 8 — Green Bay Packers, 4:25pm ET, FOX
Sun Nov 15 — at Detroit Lions (Munich, Germany), 9:30am ET, FOX
Sun Nov 29 — at Los Angeles Chargers, 8:20pm ET, NBC/Peacock
Sun Dec 6 — Buffalo Bills, 4:25pm ET, CBS
Thu Dec 10 — Minnesota Vikings, 8:15pm ET, Prime Video
Opponents’ 2025 combined W%: 60.0% | 2026 Vegas projected W%: 59.4%
In addition to four legitimately tough opponents and one wildcard in Minnesota, the travel during this stretch is brutal, with a trip to Munich followed by one to Los Angeles. Even with their bye week in between to help with the jet lag, think about going to Germany and California over a two-week stretch in your job, which likely is not as demanding as being in the NFL.
I also wish the NFL would have put a stretch like this with no 1 PM games in September or October when the weather is nice in New England as opposed to those months being mostly 1 PM kickoffs.
Oh, well, you can’t always get what you want.
But the Patriots will want to go at least 3–2 during this swing stretch, which might define their season.
Mon Dec 21 — at Kansas City Chiefs, 8:15pm ET, ESPN/ABC
Sat Dec 27 — at New York Jets, 1:00pm ET, CBS
Sun Jan 3 or Sat Jan 2 — Denver Broncos, TBD
Sun Jan 10 or Sat Jan 9 — Miami Dolphins, TBD
Opponents’ 2025 combined W%: 44.1% | 2026 Vegas projected W%: 45.6%
In 2019, Morgan Wallen and Florida Georgia Line collaborated on “Up Down,” where the chorus very creatively is about going “up, down, up, down.” The song is a tribute to simple small-town life and a tailgate-party anthem, but it also describes this stretch of the Patriots’ schedule.
Up — Monday Night in Arrowhead four days before Christmas against a presumably healthy Patrick Mahomes and a presumably blissful newlywed in Travis Kelce. Taylor Swift in a Santa hat, what could be better?
Down — The Meadowlands in December. Need I say more?
Up — Bo Nix and crew come to Foxborough. Denver had almost as easy of a schedule last season as New England, but somehow that flew under the radar. Like the Patriots they are projected for a decline in wins. This ought to be a good one.
Down — The Florida-Georgia line on this one could be Patriots −17.
Last year the Patriots started 1–2, then won ten straight to finish 14–3. The schedule sets up similarly — a brutal Q1, a forgiving Q2, a defining Q3, and a rollercoaster Q4. The blueprint exists. The question is whether Vrabel’s team has the depth, the culture, and the quarterback to execute it.
So that we don’t leave you without a projected record: Q1 – 2–2, Q2 – 4–0, Q3 – 3–2, Q4 – 3–1. Total: 12–5, 1st in AFC East, 3rd Seed in the AFC. Throw your predictions for each quarter into the comments on Substack, and let’s get a discussion going!
ESPN’s Mina Kimes ranks Maye 5th among all 32 NFL QBs. The Athletic’s Chad Graff on why the upgraded supporting cast points to another monster season.
The Patriots have been linked to Brown all offseason, but they may not be the lock many assume. Worth reading before June 1.
Stafford’s new deal sets the market. Here’s what that means for what the Patriots will ultimately need to pay their franchise quarterback.
▶ All 32 Podcast — New England Patriots — The national perspective on where the Patriots stand heading into OTAs and what the 2026 season could look like.
View on X → — Drake Maye ranks in the upper tier of the NFL in both successful play rate and explosive play rate — in the same company as Mahomes and Allen.
That’s a Man, Baby
The last time most Boston sports fans paid close attention to international hockey was probably February, when Jack Hughes scored the overtime winner to give Team USA the gold medal over Canada at the Winter Olympics. That was the tournament that stops the world.
But there is another international hockey event worth knowing about. The IIHF World Championship, held every May after the NHL regular season ends — while playoff teams are still battling for the Stanley Cup — draws national teams from across the hockey world, filled with players whose seasons have concluded. This year’s tournament runs through May 31 in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland.
Several Bruins are playing in it. And while nobody wanted the Bruins’ season to end with a first-round exit to Buffalo, one genuine silver lining is that it happened early enough for their young players to get meaningful international ice time at a critical point in their development.
James Hagens has worn five different sweaters since last September — Boston College, Team USA at the World Juniors, the Providence Bruins, the Boston Bruins, and now Team USA at the World Championships. That is more wardrobe changes than Lady Gaga at the VMAs.
He is 19 years old. He is not a finished product. Nobody expects him to be.
What the Bruins want from Switzerland is not points. They want growth. Don Sweeney called it “a great opportunity to continue his development.” Head coach Marco Sturm was even more direct, drawing on his experience coaching Leon Draisaitl with the German national team at a similar stage.
I am now picturing Austin Powers on the ice at TD Garden in a hockey sweater, punching Hagens and yelling to Sturm, “That’s not your mother, that’s a man, baby!”
But Sturm watched it work firsthand with one of the world’s best players.
The early returns have been humbling — scoreless in his first three games, playing wing on the fourth line. That is the honest reality of competing at this level. The competition is real, the veterans are experienced, and the 19-year-old is learning what it means to play against men every night.
That is exactly the point.
Mason Lohrei is back for his second straight World Championship after winning gold with Team USA in 2025 — one of only two returners on the American roster. He posted a career-high in goals this season and is at a different growth inflection point than Hagens — not a teenager finding his footing, but a 25-year-old sophomore trying to cement himself as a top-four NHL defenseman. Another tournament at this level, this time as one of the experienced guys in the room, is exactly the kind of environment that separates players who plateau from players who keep climbing.
There is recent Bruins history worth noting. Jeremy Swayman played for Team USA at the 2025 World Championship, won gold, and came back to have a huge bounce-back season for the Bruins in 2025–26. The confidence and competition carried over directly into his NHL performance.
The Bruins are hoping for the same ripple effect from Hagens and Lohrei. The calendar says May. The real work starts in October.
Your complete guide to which Bruins are in Switzerland, who they’re playing for, and how to watch.
The Bruins’ biggest offseason priority is the blue line. Here’s who they’re expected to target.
▶ Poke the Bear — The week’s essential Bruins audio. Offseason priorities, Worlds updates, and what the summer needs to accomplish.
Let Others Do the Talking
The Celtics offseason is loud right now — Jaylen Brown trade rumors, Giannis speculation, and enough what-ifs to fill a slow news month in May. In Issue 5 we made the case for why the Celtics should go get Giannis. Nothing has materially changed since then except the volume of takes.
Rather than add to the noise, we’ll let the best writers do the talking. Here is the week’s best Celtics reading, listening, and conversation.
The best counterpoint to the blockbuster. Mannix on injury history, age, and why you don’t mess with a core that won a title two years ago.
The Hawks and Clippers emerge as potential third-team destinations for Brown in a deal centered on Giannis. The trade market is heating up.
▶ A Quiet Summer Might Be Better for the Celtics Long Run — The contrarian case: stay under the tax, preserve flexibility, let Tatum come back healthy. Worth considering before the Giannis drums get any louder.
View on X → — Derrick White earns NBA All-Defensive First Team — the first Celtic with 75+ blocks and 75+ steals in a season since Kevin Garnett’s DPOY year in 2007–08.
One place. Every game. Every network. No hunting.
| Sun 5/25 |
Tue 5/27 |
Wed 5/28 |
Thu 5/29 |
Fri 5/30 |
Sat 5/31 |
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| ⚾ Red Sox | vs. MIN 1:35 PM · NESN Kids Run the Bases |
vs. ATL 6:45 PM · NESN / TBS Disability Pride Celebration |
vs. ATL 6:45 PM · NESN Dunkin’ Iced Coffee Hat |
vs. ATL 4:10 PM · NESN Dunkin’ Iced Coffee Hat |
@ CLE 7:10 PM · NESN |
@ CLE 4:10 PM · NESN |
The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball by John W. Miller
The definitive biography of the Hall of Fame Orioles manager — the last of the old-school skippers before free agency and analytics rewrote the game. Confrontational, brilliant, and unlike anyone before or since. A perfect summer read for the thinking fan.
Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original by Tim Brown
The #1 bestselling biography of Nolan Ryan — arguably the greatest pitcher in baseball history. God, family, fastballs, and Texas. From New York Times bestselling sportswriter Tim Brown, this is the story of a man who became a symbol of the game at its best. Timely reading given what Payton Tolle and Connelly Early are doing in Boston right now.
The Case for Trace: Why Chad Tracy Is Ready to Shed the Interim Tag
NBC Sports Boston’s Justin Leger traveled to Worcester to talk to the people who know Chad Tracy best — the coaches, the players, the staff who watched him work for years before he got his shot. What they found was a manager defined by patience, genuine relationships, and a deep understanding of the young players now filling the Red Sox roster.
Rich Gedman: “He’s a wonderful leader. He leads by example, he’s a straight shooter, there’s no BS with him.”
Kristian Campbell on Tracy helping him through his demotion: “He was just there for me, there to back me up. Anything I needed, I could go to him and talk to him about it.”
This is the most authoritative piece written about Tracy since he took over. If you read one long piece this week, make it this one.
▶ Read: The Case for Trace — NBC Sports Boston →Thanks for reading Issue 6 of The Boston Sunday Sports Section. If you’re not yet a subscriber, we’d love to have you. And if you enjoyed it, please share it with your fellow Boston sports fans.