BOSTON — Tuesday marked one month since Chad Tracy took over as interim manager of the Boston Red Sox following the mass firings of Alex Cora and six of his coaches.The shocking early-season moves rocked the organization, but after a disappointing 10-17 start, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said the shakeup was necessary to give the team enough runway to turn the season around in a wide-open American League.In the 26 games since the firings, the Red Sox are 12-14. They rallied late on Tuesday night against the Atlanta Braves, but stalled in the ninth inning of a 7-6 loss, pushing them a season-high nine games below .500.So far, not much has changed.“I certainly wouldn’t look back at our win-loss record over the last month and say it was this incredible success,” Breslow told The Athletic. “But I think we’re starting to more consistently put together good at-bats. Definitely going into the series with Minnesota, we had pitched consistently well and played good defense. We have to put all aspects of the game together to make sure we’re winning more games.”Even before the season began, Breslow was aware his job was on the line, knowing his three predecessors each had limited time to turn the organization around. That mindset offered a backdrop to the firings, particularly of a hitting staff that Breslow felt, according to sources, was not making enough impact.Through April 25, the team was hitting .233 with a .667 OPS, 49 doubles, 18 homers and 112 runs scored (4.14 per game).In 26 games since April 26, they’ve hit .247 with a .702 OPS, 42 doubles, 23 homers and 88 runs scored (3.38 per game).The MLB average this season is .239 with a .705 OPS and 4.37 runs per game. That’s on pace to be the league’s lowest since 1968 (.237).Under a new hitting staff led by John Soteropulos, Breslow has seen signs of incremental progress during a time when the offense has been without outfielder Roman Anthony. Anthony took dry swings without pain on Tuesday for the first time since injuring his hand/wrist on May 4.“I think the quality of the at-bats, particularly against fastballs, has really improved over the last month and that’s been a focal point,” Breslow said. “Also making sure we’re swinging at pitches over the heart of the plate, we’re not chasing, so some of those things are trending in the right direction, certainly still work to be done.”Before the firings, the Red Sox were hitting .244 against fastballs, 28th in the league. Since the changes, they’re hitting .256 against the pitch, 19th in the majors.But are those slight improvements a result of coaching changes or would the offense have continued to progress slowly under the previous staff? Were the sweeping coaching changes actually worth the impact on the organization?“The reality is we have a hole to dig out of,” Breslow said. “I think the thing we can do is focus day to day on doing everything possible to go out and win a game. We’re not going to make up eight games under .500 overnight, we’re not going to become the best offense in baseball overnight.”In that sense, Breslow wants to give this more time. While he wasn’t willing to give that time to the original coaching staff, this new staff has a longer runway, if only to serve as justification for the firings. Even still, Breslow has already begun preliminary trade conversations with other teams on ways to add to the offense, despite the trade deadline being more than two months away. Breslow thinks this offense will continue to make improvements, but recognizes a need to add — something he failed to do much of this offseason, outside of Willson Contreras, who was named AL Player of the Week on Tuesday.“Another way (to improve) is additions from outside the organization, and we’re having conversations every day about those,” Breslow said. “At the same time, I think there are a bunch of other teams that see themselves in a similar position, where they’re probably underperforming relative to where they thought they would be in a league that is pretty compressed and not looking to give up on 2026 just yet, which makes it a lot harder to line up on trades.”With just five AL teams at or above the .500 mark, more teams feel they have a chance to contend, meaning more teams view themselves as buyers versus sellers at this point in the season.Like the offense, the pitching has improved as well. Through the first 27 games, the rotation posted a 5.08 ERA and 4.77 FIP, but over the past 26 games, which have included stretches without Ranger Suarez, Sonny Gray and Garrett Crochet, the rotation has excelled with a 3.31 ERA and 3.76 FIP. Rookies Connelly Early (3.33 ERA in 10 starts) and Payton Tolle (2.45 ERA in six starts) have been keys for the improvement.Adding to the team may require Breslow to give up more than he’d like. Not adding to the team puts pressure on an already underperforming offense and even more pressure on Breslow’s job status.That pressure has trickled down to Tracy, who has handled a difficult situation about as well as possible. That doesn’t mean his interim tag will be removed anytime soon, though, a subtle reminder of a tenuous situation.Breslow said Tracy’s interim manager tag is not something they’ve discussed over the past month, but that he values the job Tracy has done so far.“That’s something I appreciate about Chad is his focus on creating the best environment possible around our players, and I want to support him in any way I can,” Breslow said.Though the players were infuriated by last month’s firings, they have been supportive of Tracy in the aftermath, recognizing the difficult situation he inherited.“He’s a great person, he’s a great manager,” said Jarren Duran. “I think guys like him a lot, and he has a lot of good information for us. So, I think he’s doing a great job and and we love him.”“It feels like he’s been here the whole time, the way he’s kind of came in,” Marcelo Mayer added. “I’m sure it’s been a lot for him and he’s been super busy, but he’s been super pro and I think the players like him.”While Breslow interacted with Tracy on numerous trips to Triple-A Worcester in 2024 and 2025, there was otherwise no preexisting relationship when he made the move to replace Cora with Tracy.In that sense, the pair started with a clean slate. When Breslow was hired at the end of 2023, ownership made clear Cora would remain manager. While Cora and Breslow largely worked well over the past two years, Cora’s staunch support of the original hitting staff, one that Breslow wanted to change before the season, created tension.Tracy has only been on the job one month and has no previous big-league experience, and while he’s brought his own opinions to the table, he naturally does not have the same influence.Nevertheless, Tracy has felt his decisions have carried weight and that ultimately, despite the interim tag, he’s in charge of the rhythms on the field. Breslow offers suggestions and insight, Tracy seeks opinions from bench coach Jose David Flores and pitching coach Andrew Bailey, but in the end, Tracy has the final say when it comes to who plays and when.“There’s conversations daily,” Tracy said. “But at the end of the day, I’m armed with information and it’s my decision to do what we want to do.”Breslow has appreciated how Tracy has navigated the role in what’s been a difficult month.“He’s a really stabilizing voice and inspires a lot of confidence from our player group,” Breslow said. “He’s always willing to have a conversation and engage on how he’s seeing the game or thinking about things and seeing roles and playing time. He’s also very willing to have conversations with players that may not be the most comfortable but (he) feels like is (an) important part of building trust and relationships.”The changes are in the past. There’s no telling where the Red Sox would have been at this point if the firings hadn’t happened. The one truth is that the changes did not spark the team to a dramatic turnaround. One month later, they remain stuck in neutral.