We’ve reached the “wake me up for the playoffs” portion of the Boston Red Sox season.
The Red Sox have 12 games remaining on their 2026 regular-season schedule. As of Monday, they sit comfortably in the second American League Wild Card spot with a six-game lead. They’re 4.5 games behind the New York Yankees in the Wild Card standings, so barring a shocking development, they’ll visit the New York Yankees in the Wild Card Series for the second consecutive year.
Which 26 players will the Red Sox bring with them to the Bronx? Who’s on the chopping block? Here’s our 26-man playoff roster projection with 15 days until Game 1:
Catcher (2): Adley Rutschman, Connor Wong
Cuts: None
The Red Sox could theoretically cut Wong since he’d barely see the field with Rutschman healthy. If Rutschman went down in that scenario, Mickey Gasper could go behind the plate… but that wouldn’t be pretty.
Here’s the problem with that approach: If Rutschman gets hurt and the Red Sox add a replacement catcher mid-series, Rutschman would be ineligible for the next playoff round. So if he got hurt in the Wild Card Series, he’d be ineligible for the ALDS and eligible to return in the ALCS.
Putting Wong on the playoff roster ensures that if Rutschman goes down, they won’t need to add a mid-series replacement with Wong and Gasper already on board. And while Wong isn’t exactly Pudge Rodriguez defensively, he’s better than Gasper behind the dish.
Infield (7): Willson Contreras, Trevor Story, Caleb Durbin, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Nick Sogard, Mickey Gasper, Andruw Monasterio
Cuts: Curtis Mead (IL), Anthony Seigler (IL)
Even with Wong on the roster, Gasper’s incredible offensive upside shown in August earns him a roster spot as a bench bat. Monasterio is on the bubble, but recent injuries may have cleared his path to a bench role.
It doesn’t look like Mead (wrist) will be healthy in time for the start of the postseason.
Outfield (5): Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, Roman Anthony, Jahmai Jones
Cuts: Eli White (IL), Masataka Yoshida (IL), Nate Eaton
The big question mark here is White’s health, as the speedster was recently placed on the 10-day injured list with a foot ligament injury. He’ll play a key bench role if healthy, but if he isn’t, Jones or Eaton are the top candidates for that fifth outfield spot. We’re leaning Jones because of his ability to mash left-handers.
Yoshida (hamstring) probably isn’t coming back this year.
Starting rotation (3): Sonny Gray, Payton Tolle, Ranger Suarez
Cuts: Patrick Sandoval
Sandoval just hasn’t been reliable, so he draws the short straw. Jake Bennett and the returning Garrett Crochet move to the bullpen — assuming Crochet is healthy enough to give one or two quality innings in relief.
Bullpen (9): Garrett Crochet, Jake Bennett, Brayan Bello, Greg Weissert, Wyatt Olds, Erik Miller, Tyron Guerrero, Garrett Whitlock, Aroldis Chapman
Cuts: Justin Slaten (IL), Tanner Houck (IL), Johan Oviedo (IL), Alec Gamboa, Jovani Moran, Raymond Burgos
If Slaten’s elbow is healthy, he’s in, but it doesn’t currently look like it will be since he was recently shut down from throwing.
Crochet is trending toward being ready just in time for October. So is Houck, but he hasn’t pitched in a big-league game since May 2025, and he hasn’t looked sharp in his rehab outings. While his upside is intriguing, we’d leave him off the initial playoff roster.
Brayan Bello makes the cut as a bulk arm after excelling in that role throughout the second half.
