Red Sox Are 13-21 and the Clubhouse Is Already Turning on Itself

This is how fast a baseball season can spiral. The Red Sox are a dumpster fire at 13-21, tied for the fewest wins in the AL, and now the real damage is starting. Not on the field. In the clubhouse. Veterans and young players are already pointing fingers at each other, and we're not even at Memorial Day yet.

The Vibe Shifted the Moment Cora Left

After getting bounced by the Astros again, catcher Wilson Contreras was brutally honest about what changed once Alex Cora got fired. The tension that was suffocating the team actually lifted. "When Alex wasn't in the dugout, the team was like [exhale noise], like loose," Contreras said. "But it doesn't matter. We have to play better. We have to find consistency."

Here's the thing though: Contreras thinks the young guys aren't handling early struggles well. "It's really hard when you go up to bat, and if you look at the scoreboard, your numbers are not there in May. It's easy to fall in that trap of the numbers."

The Young Guys Aren't Taking the Blame

That excuse landed like a dead fish with young player Marcelo Mayer. "To me, that's kind of an excuse: blame the young guys. But at the end of the day, we're all playing baseball, we're all pros. We all know what we need to do. I don't think we're doing a good job with runners in scoring position. When you don't do that, you don't score runs," Mayer fired back.

This is the death spiral starting in real time. Before Cora even got canned, he was already talking about the roster and the young players. "We've got a bunch of kids that are learning the game," he said the night before his firing. Even worse: this past weekend against Houston, young outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela made a perfect throw that should have been an out. Veteran Trevor Story wasn't in position to make the catch. Story tried to sidestep blame, saying "We'll keep it between us. That's what I think good teams do."

Good teams don't finger-point. Bad teams do. And right now, the Sox are bad and broken.

Next Up: Tarik Skubal and More Pain

The schedule doesn't help. Detroit is sending Tarik Skubal to the mound soon, and this Sox offense couldn't score on a Little League pitcher. This thing is going to get worse before it gets better.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.