Your 2026 Red Sox season primer
Plus: ☕ Boston has DRAMA
It’s Thursday, Boston.
🍟 We have a nugget-related announcement: Every Thursday at The 88 Club, the first 50 guests can heal their inner child with a martini glass full of dino nuggs for just $1.
🎉 And happy birthday to B-Side Member Tina Howard! We hope you like nuggs.
👀 What’s on tap today:
- “No Kings” runs it back
- A women’s sports pop-up
- Boston has the DRAMA
Up first…
SPORTS
Three strikes? We’re IN.
Image: Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe. Illustration: Gia Orsino,
The ultimate sign of spring is here: Baseball, baby! The Red Sox kick off their 2026 season against the Reds in Cincinnati on March 26 at 4:10 p.m.
Here’s what to know before the first pitch:
⚾ TL;DR: Expectations are (relatively) high. Though last season ended with a thud after a frankly embarrassing loss to the Yankees in the Wild Card round, it also marked the Sox’ first postseason appearance since 2021, elevating the team safely out of its recent flop era. And this season, we can expect that they’ll run it back. Globe and Boston.com reporter Chad Finn said he’s optimistic about this season “much to [his] own surprise.” We’ll take it!
😅 Buuuut we wouldn’t rev up the duck boats. The good news: Most power rankings have the Sox in the league’s top 10 teams, and six out of seven Globe writers have them making the postseason (two even penciled them in for the ALCS). The bad news: That’ll likely be the ceiling, especially since the AL East is set to be one of the toughest divisions in MLB.
💥 The big question: Can they hit the ball? While Red Sox pitching is looking strong, with star slugger Alex Bregman gone to the Cubs, the team’s offensive firepower is the biggest TBD. Much of the team’s success this year will hinge on whether the rest of the lineup can pick up the slack.
👬 This year’s squad will have lots of familiar faces. Minus Bregman, most of last year’s key players will be back, including ace pitcher Garrett Crochet and sophomore bestie duo Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony — who’s already generating MVP buzz.
👋 Plus a few notable newbies. Thanks to some offseason moves, they’ll be joined by vets Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray, plus a few younger players like short king Caleb Durbin and left-handed pitcher Connelly Early. All in all, this lineup is “built to be a playoff team,” as Finn said.
🌭 Mostly in it for the Fenway Franks? After a few games on the road, the Sox will have their home opener at Fenway on April 3. Peep the full schedule. As for the rest of the season, there will be plenty of new eats (see: lobster poutine) and theme nights (see: Bravo night) on deck. Tickets to the opener are still available … if a smidge pricey.
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CITY
Quick & dirty headlines
Image: John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe
💸 Local casinos are targeting Asian communities. The Globe’s newest investigative series, “A Losing Bet,” uncovers how New England’s largest casinos exploit people of Asian descent. The results are shocking: Local spots like Encore and Bally’s use ads, free shuttle bus services, trained loan sharks, and more to convince often isolated older Asian folks to gamble, driving them toward addiction and sucking wealth out of their communities. Even worse: Most law enforcement agencies turn a blind eye. Here’s a peek at part one, and check out the full series here.
🪧The “No Kings” protest is running it back. On March 28, “No Kings” will put on over 3,000 protests across the country against President Trump’s immigration crackdown, threats to democracy, and war in Iran. Organizers say it could be the biggest protests in U.S. history, with over 160(!) planned events in Mass. Here in Boston, a protest is planned on the Common at 2 p.m., featuring speakers like Gov. Maura Healey and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, plus music and art installations. Here are the deets.
⚽ Meet Boston’s new women’s sports bar! While we wait patiently for a permanent spot, women’s sports fans can tide themselves over at 261 at Para Maria, a new women’s sports bar pop-up at the Seaport’s Envoy Hotel. The pop-up is decked out with pictures of iconic local sports moments, a themed menu, and of course, tons of games on tap. We can expect watch parties and programming around March Madness, plus fan nights and themed discussions. It’ll be open until April 30. You can make a res here.
🤤 Don’t know where to eat? Pick a letter! The Globe just dropped an A-to-Z guide to quintessential Boston restaurants, featuring a mix of high and lowbrow options that “reflects the breadth and charm of our local dining scene.” Think: “P” is for Pagu, the Michelin-recommended tapas spot, while “N” is for 99 Restaurants, where a turkey dinner costs $14.99; and “Z” is for Zaz, the acclaimed Caribbean-fusion restaurant, while “C” is for Center Deli, a sub shop in a Chelmsford strip mall. So what you’re saying is … we have range?
ONE LAST THING
Boston is giving DRAMA
A24’s “The Drama” opens with a meet-cute at a bright, airy cafe … Which any Bostonian will immediately recognize as the Tatte near Copley square.
The buzzy new movie starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson is set and filmed in Boston, which, according to the filmmakers, was a very intentional pick. (See: them filming downtown back in 2024, or their “wedding announcement” in the Globe).
“[Boston] feels intimate, historic, academic, and human in scale,” said director Kristoffer Borgli. “The area becomes … an extension of their genuine interest in the humanities, art, and literature.”
To achieve that vibe, the film meticulously scouted the area to figure out how the couple would live, landing on Andy’s Diner in Cambridge, the Turner Hill estate in Ipswich, and an apartment decorated with items from Reside and Machine Age.
You can watch the film’s trailer here.
— Written by Gia Orsino
💍 Thanks for reading! Gia’s getting flashbacks to when “Challengers” was shot in her college dining hall.
📝 Note: We updated the newsletter to reflect that the official “No Kings” rally starts at 2 p.m., but related programming will kick off at 1 p.m.
💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, William James College, for supporting local journalism and creating meaningful pathways into careers that truly matter.
🐱 The results are in: 83% of readers say they’re firmly against buying pets from a pet shop. One reader said: “If you’re shopping, you better be picking the pup up at a farm, not the square one mall.” Not the Square One Mall!
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