Rivals question Red Sox lineup built around Triple-A infield depth
Boston's 32-45 start has turned Triple-A infield depth into the lineup plan, and rival evaluators say too many utility bats are covering real holes.
Boston’s offense had scored 301 runs and allowed 306 while the club sat 32-45 and fourth in the American League East, and rival evaluators saw the same problem in the lineup every night: too many Worcester-level utility infielders filling the bottom of it. The criticism is not about abstract depth. It is about whether the Red Sox can cover major-league holes without sacrificing any real punch.
The complaints landed because Boston entered the season without adding a right-handed power bat, then spent the winter rebuilding the infield after losing Alex Bregman. That left the club trying to piece together a new mix around Willson Contreras, Caleb Durbin and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, while one evaluator summed up the group as “punchless.” Another said the Red Sox were relying on too many Triple-A players, utility infielders in particular, at the bottom of the lineup.
That profile shows up in the current roster and depth chart. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Nick Sogard, Andruw Monasterio, Anthony Seigler, Caleb Durbin and Mickey Gasper all fit the same broad bucket: versatile infield coverage, not middle-order damage. That matters in Boston because the roster has already been built with margin for error, and the margin is thin when the offense is hanging near the bottom of the league in production. Trevor Story and the rest of the regular lineup have not been supported by enough impact to mask those spots.
The front office had already signaled the setup was fluid. On Opening Day, Alex Cora said the Red Sox expected changes during the season and that there were “some guys in Triple-A” who would be called when needed. That turned Worcester into the safety valve from day one, but the standings have made the question sharper: is that a depth chart, or the actual plan?
Boston also declined to tender 2026 contracts to Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Winckowski on Nov. 21, 2025, another move that narrowed the pool of established options before the season even settled in. With the Red Sox still searching for offense and still stuck in fourth place, the Triple-A infield answer is no longer theoretical. It is the roster.
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