One thing that is fortunate about the 2026 Boston Red Sox is the fact that they have good starting pitching. Because if they didn’t, there would be even more negative noise around the organziation.

Boston’s rotation currently has Connelly Early, Payton Tolle, Sonny Gray, Ranger Suárez and No. 6 prospect Jake Bennett. Boston is missing Garrett Crochet right now and there’s no way to know when he will be able to get back into the mix for the club right now. The only thing that is clear is the fact that Crochet noted that it would be a surprise if he’s back before the All-Star break.

Still, even without Crochet, this is a very good rotation we’re talking about. The Red Sox have taken some heat all season to this point, especially about the club’s struggling offense. If the pitching was bad as well, Red Sox fans would revolt. This is especially the case because two polarizing former Red Sox hurlers are thriving elsewhere: Dustin May with the St. Louis Cardinals and Walker Buehler with the San Diego Padres.

Walker Buehler — San Diego Padres

Buehler was signed as a free agent before the 2025 season to be a finishing touch on what was supposed to be an elite rotation. It was supposed to be Crochet, Buehler, Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito and then one of their in-house options for the last spot.

Injuries derailed the season for the rotation and it didn’t help that Buehler struggled in a Boston uniform. He made 23 appearances with Boston, including 22 starts, and had a 5.45 ERA before the Red Sox opted to cut ties and move on. This past offseason, he landed with the Padres on a minor league deal and has turned his career around. So far this season, he has a 4.14 ERA in 14 starts in a Padres uniform. On top of this, he has a 2.92 ERA over his last seven starts.

Dustin May — St. Louis Cardinals

May was an even more polarizing option for the Red Sox. Boston traded outfield prospect James Tibbs III (Boston’s then-No. 5 prospect) and fellow outfield prospect Zach Ehrhard (Boston’s then-No. 27 prospect) in exchange for May. He had a 4.85 ERA at the time in 19 appearances with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and yet the Red Sox opted to give up that haul. Then, May pitched in just six games in Boston and had a 5.40 ERA.

May signed with the Cardinals in free agency and now has a 3.75 ERA in 14 starts after a pitching a complete game shutout on Monday night against the Padres.

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After 40 years away from the World Cup, Iraqi fans made their voices heard on the Boston Common Monday.

When Iraq faces Norway at Boston Stadium Tuesday, it will be the team’s first World Cup appearance since 1986.

Fans were out in full force on Boston Common on the eve of the match.

Mohammed Al-Falahi, an Iraqi journalist living in the U.S. and covering the team, said he believes it’s a great opportunity to show the world how much we all have in common.

“They play, they dance. That’s the Iraqi people, not what we saw on TV,” Al-Falahi said. “You think Iraqi just love life in war? Iraqi people love soccer.”

While every fan will acknowledge the challenges the world faces, they also look to the World Cup as a reminder of what it means to come together.

“You can forget about the politics. You can forget about all the trauma that’s happening back home,” one woman said.

Harvard Book Store plans to expand beyond its longtime Harvard Square home with the opening of a new bookstore in downtown Boston later this year.

The independent bookseller announced Monday that it will open a 3,500-square-foot store at 33 Union Street (located in the historic Yankee Publishing building) near Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. Construction is already underway, with the new location expected to welcome customers this fall.

The Boston store will offer books, gifts, a dedicated children’s section and space for author events and community programming. A 1,500-square-foot café operated by Lakon Paris Patisserie will adjoin the bookstore.

“We are delighted to bring Harvard Book Store to Boston, while continuing our long tradition of independent bookselling, author talks, and community engagement at our flagship store in Harvard Square,” Lisa Jayne, general manager of Harvard Book Store, said in a news release.

Jayne said the company hopes to build on Boston’s existing literary culture by offering the same programming and customer experience that have made its Cambridge location a destination for readers and writers.

A spokesperson for Lakon Paris Patisserie said the new café will introduce exclusive menu offerings created specifically for the Boston location while maintaining the bakery’s signature approach to pastry-making, according to the release. Lakon Paris Patisserie currently has location in Boston’s Brighton and Seaport neighborhoods, as well as in Brookline and Newton. 

The building sits within Boston’s Blackstone Block, widely recognized as the city’s oldest commercial district, according to the building’s owners, Cypress Realty Group.

The Boston opening marks Harvard Book Store’s second attempt in recent years to establish a major presence outside Cambridge. In 2022, the independent bookseller announced plans for a nearly 30,000-square-foot store in the Prudential Center.

However, the company abandoned those plans in February 2024 after a series of delays and supply-chain disruptions tied to the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time, Harvard Book Store said it would focus instead on improving its flagship Harvard Square location.

Annie Jonas is a Community writer at Boston.com. She was previously a local editor at Patch and a freelancer at the Financial Times.