The Boston Red Sox dismissed manager Alex Cora over the weekend, a move that could have happened to any of three struggling major league franchises.
Despite winning two games out of three against Baltimore, Boston remains at the bottom of their division with an 11-17 record. The New York Mets have performed even more poorly, managing just one run on Sunday while being swept in a doubleheader at home by Colorado. New York has dropped 15 of their last 17 games, falling to 9-19.
The Mets share the National League East basement with Philadelphia, as the Phillies have lost 11 of their past 12 contests to match that 9-19 mark.
As of Sunday evening, both Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza and Philadelphia’s Rob Thomson remained in their positions. These three large-market franchises can find comfort in the fact that it’s difficult to eliminate yourself from playoff contention before April ends — assuming sufficient talent exists for a turnaround.
Currently, FanGraphs projects a 34% playoff probability for Boston, while both Philadelphia and New York sit at 33%. This suggests a reasonable possibility that one of these clubs will reverse course and reach October baseball.
However, the season has been troubling for all three organizations. The Mets and Phillies possess baseball’s two poorest run differentials, and New York will play without shortstop Francisco Lindor for several weeks due to a calf problem. This absence won’t assist an attack that has produced the fewest runs in the majors.
Star pitcher Zack Wheeler finally took the mound for his 2026 season opener on Saturday for Philadelphia, helping end a 10-game losing streak, but Sunday’s defeat left them 10½ games behind division-leading Atlanta.
Boston sits closer to first place, trailing New York’s Yankees by seven games, though their run differential of minus-11 appears reasonable only because of Saturday’s 17-1 victory where Baltimore used a position player to pitch during a 10-run ninth inning.
The coming month will prove crucial for these three organizations. Continued poor performance through Memorial Day could make recovery impossible.
Philadelphia holds both the National League’s lowest batting average and highest ERA among qualifying players. The struggling performers are Alec Bohm, hitting .143, and Jesús Luzardo, carrying a 6.91 ERA.
Milwaukee faced both of last season’s Cy Young Award recipients on consecutive nights Thursday and Friday. Detroit’s Tarik Skubal pitched against the Brewers, with the Tigers ultimately winning 5-4 on Spencer Torkelson’s home run. Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes then carried a perfect game into the seventh inning during the Pirates’ 6-0 victory.
Sunday’s most unexpected pitching battle occurred when Washington and Chicago played nine scoreless frames before the Nationals won 2-1 in extra innings. Washington averages 5.38 runs per contest, fourth-highest in baseball, while allowing 5.9 runs, second-most in the majors. The Nationals actually led in both categories entering Wednesday’s games.
Poor pitching was anticipated, but the offense has made Washington entertaining thanks to James Wood’s 10 home runs, CJ Abrams’ .897 OPS, and Joey Wiemer’s strong .320 batting average.
In 14 of Washington’s 29 games, at least one team has reached eight runs.
Milwaukee’s Kyle Harrison fanned 12 batters across six one-hit innings during Sunday’s 5-0 triumph over Pittsburgh, preventing the Pirates from completing their first series sweep in Milwaukee since 2016.
Kansas City trailed by three runs with two outs and no runners in the ninth inning before mounting a comeback to tie Sunday’s game against Los Angeles. The Royals eventually prevailed 11-9 in 10 innings.
The Angels had commanded a 6-0 lead in the fifth inning and led 8-5 in the ninth before Vinnie Pasquantino’s triple, Salvador Perez’s RBI single, and Jac Caglianone’s two-run homer forced extra innings. Baseball Savant calculated Kansas City’s win probability at just 0.5%.
The Royals faced elimination again in the 10th inning when Lane Thomas delivered a walk-off three-run homer.
