The Red Sox Should Pursue Jorge Soler

The Los Angeles Angels pulled the plug on outfielder and designated hitter Jorge Soler Tuesday after a year and a half.

In 2026, the former World Series MVP is slashing .203/.291/.373 with 12 home runs, 49 runs batted in, and an 85 wRC+. He hasn’t been the same player he blossomed into in the late 2010s and early 2020s. Across 168 games with the Angels, he hit just 24 home runs while posting -0.9 fWAR.

That said, the hottest team in baseball, the Boston Red Sox, should be all over his market if he clears waivers. Though they had a productive trade deadline, one thing they failed to obtain was more power from the right-hand side of the plate.

Entering play on Wednesday, the Red Sox are riding a 24-3 stretch in their last 27 games. As a result, they’ve turned this season from forgettable to memorable. They’ve won six consecutive games after recently winning a franchise record-tying 15 straight. Not only that, they’ve gone from being the worst team in the American League to one of the best teams in all of Major League Baseball.

In spite of all that, they’ve got some work to do in shoring up their offense. A third of what figures to be their postseason lineup is still on the mend, including the recently acquired All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman.

In the meantime, here’s why Soler could help bridge the gap from the present until those hitters return.

All stats are as of start of play on Wednesday, August 5.

Outside of Contreras, the Red Sox Lack Right-Handed Power Bats

The Red Sox rank in a tie for 11th-place in homers from their right-handed hitters with 70. That said, 23 of those belong to first baseman Willson Contreras.

Sure, no team’s overall numbers look as good when you take out their best hitter. But for a team like the Red Sox, with 81 games a year at a safe haven for right-handed hitters like Fenway Park, 47 homers out of the remaining 10 righties with at least 15 plate appearances isn’t good enough.

It’s not all the fault of the active personnel, however. Entering 2026, it seemed shortstop Trevor Story was one of the only sure-fire power producers in the lineup. Not only has he not played since May, but he hit only three homers in 176 plate appearances.

Be that as it may, since 2016, only the 2022 through 2024 seasons saw the Red Sox with a worse OPS from their righties. Moreover, they’ve only won two postseason games entering October with a right-hander OPS under .763. Right now, they’ve got a .739.

Soler isn’t having a great season, but he’s a stable power source from the right side. While Ceddanne Rafaela has seven homers since the All-Star break, and 15 overall in 2026, only Contreras truly fits that mold on the Red Sox roster.

A Swing Tailor-Made for Fenway

Though he strikes out north of 30% of the time, Soler’s swing is made for the Green Monster in left field at Fenway Park. Not a lot of the veteran slugger’s game today mirrors that of his peak, but his 27.7% pull-air rate does.

Actually, that pull-air rate is a career high and his only mark above 25% since it was 25.6% in an abbreviated 2020 campaign. That doesn’t guarantee success in Boston, but it certainly raises his ceiling in spite of increased strikeout numbers.

He’s always had whiff concerns, but he’s historically a good decision maker on his swings. Not only that, he walks a fair amount. Moreover, he’s 82nd percentile for bat speed, 70th percentile for barrel rate, and is pretty good against fastballs.

While secondaries give him trouble, he’s seen an increase in fastballs thrown to him this season. In fact, it’s a 4.1% increase from 2025, when he hit .238 with a .355 expected weighted on-base average (xwOBA) against them.

Bringing in players having very bad seasons and trying to turn them around is not necessarily a great pattern to stay in, but the Red Sox have seen great early returns out of Jahmai Jones. With the Detroit Tigers, the journeyman was having an even worse campaign than Soler. He has two homers in his first 15 plate appearances in Boston.

Soler has a longer track record of success in the heart of an order, especially for postseason clubs. It’s not necessarily a “one or the other” ordeal, but Soler isn’t a bad way to upgrade the 26-man roster.

Postseason Success

There’s risk involved in signing someone uber streaky. However, the plus side of that is those players often have the talent to carry the lineup for prolonged stretches.

We’ve seen both sides of that coin from the 34-year-old. In 30 postseason games, Soler has a .275/.389/.638 slash line with seven home runs and 12 runs batted in. Among 929 non-pitchers with at least 50 career postseason plate appearances, his 173 wRC+ ranks 28th. That’s ahead of the likes of Nelson Cruz, Albert Pujols, and Yordan Alvarez.

Ultimately, playoff stats isolate a very small sample of plate appearances after a long season. But Soler is oftentimes playing his best when his best is most needed. That’s evidenced by his 2021 World Series MVP nod with the Atlanta Braves.

He does also have playoff runs with a 72 and -42 wRC+, but in three of his five postseasons he’s posted a 145 wRC+ or better.

In Boston, it’s all about what you do when the lights are the brightest. A righty batter that gets as white hot as Soler has historically, with a heavy pull-air approach, is designed to set off some fireworks at Fenway Park in October.