Why Have Red Sox Been So Bad At Fenway Park This Year? originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

After getting swept by the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park over the weekend, the Boston Red Sox are now 8-17 with a minus-23 run differential at home this year. That’s the worst home record in baseball.

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The Red Sox are 4-14 over their last 18 games at Fenway and have only won one series there this season, which seems unthinkable for a team that’s historically dominated at home, including as recently as last year. Boston was one of the best home teams in baseball last season, going 48-33 at Fenway in 2025.

Unfortunately, that success has not carried over into 2026.

Why not? One theory is that the Red Sox’s strategy of run prevention isn’t well-suited to Fenway Park, which is one of the best hitter’s parks in baseball. Winning there typically requires hitting for power and scoring lots of runs, two things the current team isn’t built to do.

After losing Rafael Devers and Alex Bregman in the last calendar year, Boston lacks elite power hitters and right-handed bats. That makes it tough to score runs and win at Fenway, where the Red Sox are averaging just 2.96 runs per game and batting a measly .224/.302/.337 this season.