It began as a move that was supposed to stop the bleeding. Defensive miscues were piling up, routine plays weren’t getting made, and the corner of the field had become a revolving door of mistakes. So, when the Boston Red Sox made a vital decision in April, it felt like a necessary approach—not a panic button. Only, the fix may have backfired. Swapping one fighting third baseman for another hasn’t exactly eased the chaos. In fact, it has made it worse. What began as a Rafael Devers dilemma has become a full-blown Alex Bregman breakdown.

The team thought they were managing an issue. Devers had been a defensive liability early in the season, with mounting errors forcing the team’s hand. After an ugly 0-for-4 night with three strikeouts against the Rays on April 14 and a 0-for-16 with 12 Ks over five games, it wasn’t just Devers’ bat under the microscope. His glove couldn’t save him either. The team removed him from third base duties and gave him a break. Enter Bregman. At first, it looked like a savvy move. He brought an elite defensive reputation from his days in Houston. He even made headlines with a monster 5-for-5 game against Tampa Bay and crushed two homers before leaving for paternity leave. The vibes were high, and the plan looked like it had legs. Until it wasn’t, and then came the unraveling.

MLB Insider Mike Rodriguez drew a clear picture of the collapsing picture of Boston: “Rafael Devers has been moved from third base because of his poor defensive performance, according to the Red Sox. Now, Alex Bregman is leading the team in errors and is tied for first place in errors at MLB.”

The star brought in to plug the leak became the one flooding the boat. Bregman’s defensive collapse has turned the focus right back on the team’s defensive identity crisis. The expectation was that Bregman, a recent Gold Glove winner and a proven veteran, would help end the defensive miscues that had plagued Boston. Instead, Bregman’s own defensive performance has quickly become a liability.

The numbers are brutal. As of mid-April, Bregman leads all of MLB in errors. He is clocking in with an uncharacteristic .870 fielding percentage at third. And, it’s not just the physical errors either—missed tags, late throws, and misreads have made third base into a hazard zone. Devers had time to recover, but Bregman was signed to manage the gap. That makes his fall sting more.

So now the question isn’t who is the best option at third base. It’s: how did it get this bad… again?

Red Sox’s defensive dilemma runs deeper than just one position

What is happening with the Red Sox at third base could be the loudest alarm. However, it is not the only one blaring across the team’s field. The Red Sox have now gone through 20 errors through the team’s first 16 games. And they are ranked dead last in MLB. Five of those came in an 11-1 drubbing by the White Sox, a team that entered the season as one of the worst teams in the league. It was not just Bregman’s miscues that sank the Red Sox—Blake Sabol was tagged for two catcher’s interferences in the same game. That is the kind of rare chaos a fan cannot game plan for.

Manager Alex Cora did not sugarcoat it after the loss and said, “We did not have a good defensive week at home…bad night defensively, bad night overall.” It is not just errors—it is poor positioning. Through April 16, the team’s .968 fielding percentage is the worst in MLB. In addition, the infield has been tagged for 15 of those 20 errors. When a defense loses more than 27 outs, as the GM said, “They are gonna make you pay”.

One cannot forget the bigger concern: there is no quick fix in sight. Nick Sogard could get a cameo at the period of Bregman’s paternity leave. However, he is not going to clean up a mess this size. There is no gold glove savior waiting in the wings. This is the defense the team chose—and so far, it is playing like it forgot what position it is supposed to cover.

The harsh truth? Benching Devers did not fix the team’s defensive issues. It only highlighted how deep and widespread those issues are. When five distinctive players combine for five errors in a single night, it is not just a slump—it is a system failure. Now with Bregman out briefly and Devers trying to fill an early-season gap, the team has some real soul-searching to do. Can they clean things up in time? Is this just who they are in 2025?