Are the Red Sox bats turning the corner? Anthony, Duran swap spots in lineup, Yoshida role stays same

It’s no secret Roman Anthony has struggled out of the gate to begin the 2026 season. But on Friday night in the series opener against the Astros, he looked much more like the hitter he was before landing on the injured list last year.

Anthony went 3-for-4 in the Red Sox’s 3-1 win, his first three-hit game since Opening Day in Cincinnati. He also showed hustle in the fifth inning, turning a single into his fourth double of the season.

Entering Friday, Anthony was hitting .208/.339/.292 and had largely underperformed offensively. Since Chad Tracy took over as interim manager, Anthony has been moved down in the lineup from the leadoff spot to No. 3, in hopes of sparking the young star’s bat.

“I’m not hitting,” said Anthony. “It’s early, but it’s obvious, right? It’s no secret. I’m just not where I want to be. But I’m feeling better every day, so....New month, time to just reset.”

Anthony has endured early struggles before. After his promotion last June, he posted a .637 OPS over his first 21 games in Boston.

“(This is) similar,” said Anthony, comparing the two slow starts. “I’ve always started slow, everywhere I’ve been. I’m not worried about it. It’s not something that keeps me up at night. I know I’ve put in the work, I’m doing what I need to do and I’m going to be alright.”

Tracy likes the idea of Anthony coming off the leadoff spot, a place that Alex Cora liked for Anthony to hit out of, declaring him the leadoff man in the spring. The new Sox skipper isn’t considering moving Anthony any further down the lineup. 

“Not at the moment, and I’ll tell you why: because it’s not a Roman thing,” Tracy said. “As a group, we have guys going through it. I look at that and I’m optimistic because I look at it and think, ‘I don’t think five guys are going to OPS .500 by September. Law of averages says these guys are going to get going because they can hit.

“If it were a Roman (only) thing, maybe we’d talk about it. But I think as a group, we’re all collectively trying to get going together.”

Anthony isn’t the only Red Sox hitter who has struggled through the first month of the season. Friday night’s offensive hero, Jarren Duran, entered the game scuffling, hitting .170 with five doubles, one home run, 28 strikeouts, and a .481 OPS in 108 plate appearances.

The 29-year-old broke through in a big way, launching a three-run homer in the third inning off Astros starter Mike Burrows, a swing that gave Boston a 3-1 lead and ultimately proved to be the difference.

The blast was just the third three-run homer for the Red Sox this season, joining Willson Contreras and Trevor Story.

“It’s always nice to put a good swing on the ball,” Duran said. “I was just looking to get the job done there, bringing the runner from third to tie the game and get us going a little bit. I just happened to run into the homer.”

As Duran works to break out of his offensive funk, he’s reintroduced an exaggerated leg kick, a timing mechanism he’s toggled throughout his career. For now, it’s working, and it showed on Friday night.

“A lot goes into it,” Duran said. “The toe-tap has always been something that keeps me in my legs and when I was first originally went from the toe-tap to the leg-kick, it keeps me in my legs. I’m just mixing that into the routine every day to make sure I’m staying consistent.

With the Red Sox lineup searching for answers entering May, one player’s role doesn’t appear to be changing.

Masataka Yoshida’s usage will remain similar to what it was under Cora prior to his dismissal. Yoshida started 12 of Boston’s first 27 games under his former manager, twice in left field and 10 times at designated hitter, but has started just once under Tracy, on Tuesday in Toronto.

The left-handed hitter is batting .265 with three doubles, five RBIs, and a .716 OPS in 59 plate appearances.

“It’s not a whole lot different, the role,” Tracy said. “If I was going to use somebody drastically differently than how they were being used before I got here, I’d probably have that (conversation). It’s similar to how it was.

“It’s not an easy situation,” Tracy added. “He’s a good hitter, but we’re in the same spot we were. He can hit, but then you look at the other four guys, too, with the speed and versatility and what they bring to the table. They’ve got to play, so it’s not an easy situation.”

Yoshida has been used sparingly as a pinch-hitter, appearing just five times in that role this season, but the Red Sox value him as a bat off the bench. He was called upon in that spot during one of Boston’s earlier extra-inning walk-off wins.

“I do think one thing is clear: You’re not always gonna use him, but when Masa’s sitting there on the bench and available, if there’s a lane with a righty where they can’t make a move, that’s a good thing for us,” Tracy said. “Not ideal, but we’ve just got to manage what we have.”

Working against Yoshida is the Red Sox’ outfield depth, with four starting-caliber options in Anthony, Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu. Despite that, Yoshida has handled his role like a true professional.

“I’m turning around in the fifth inning and Masa is standing right there with his batting gloves on, ready to go, ready to hit and ready to be used if needed. He’s right there, every time,” Tracy said. “We have to find ways to get him in there, if a guy is going to hit off the bench and he goes eight days and never plays, and you want him to take an at bat in the seventh inning, that’s not idea. So you’ve got to find ways to get him in there.”