The Boston Red Sox are already in the midst of a uniform fiasco a month before the 2026 season even begins.
Fans caught a glimpse of the Red Sox’s intended 2026 home uniforms through photoshoots at the beginning of spring training. Many noticed some weird changes with the new design, particularly with the “Red Sox” lettering overlapping with the red border that runs down the buttons of the jersey.
Compared to last year (left), there’s something off about the lettering on the Red Sox’ home whites this year (right). pic.twitter.com/1whb3Vlyj8
— Brendan Campbell (@brendan_camp) February 17, 2026
The lettering on the Red Sox jerseys this year is SO bad. Went back to the old template with wider spaced piping down the middle, but using last year's lettering template.
— Cory Brinson (@CBrinson47) February 17, 2026
So, so, so bad. pic.twitter.com/dW777QvWaa
The Red Sox released a statement on Wednesday to address the public backlash, indicating that the jerseys looked worse than they expected “once produced and seen in person.” The statement seemed to throw some shade toward MLB’s official uniform manufacturer, Fanatics.
The post was eventually deleted.
Did the Red Sox just post and delete a tweet saying their Fanatics jerseys sucked? 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/VQu0kNItH8
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) February 18, 2026
The Red Sox sent out a revised statement soon after, painting Fanatics in a better light. The new statement noted that Fanatics had produced the uniforms “exactly to our specs,” pinning the blame instead on Boston’s own design team.
Fanatics made the Red Sox delete the original so they’d sound better 💀💀 pic.twitter.com/Cl7yll1btx
— AT (@YankeeWRLD) February 18, 2026
It’s far from the first time Fanatics has faced heat over shoddy uniforms since they took over as MLB’s official manufacturer in 2024. Some of Fanatics’ output so far has been under fire for not reaching the league’s usual standard.
