Red Sox' new road jerseys from Nike and Fanatics are so, so bad

BOSTON -- When spring training facilities opened up in Florida and Arizona this year, something looked ... off. But with spring training being spring training, there wasn't exactly a full national focus on the matter. Unfortunately, with the regular season now upon us, the issues are going to be difficult to ignore.

The problem has to do with the look of the new jerseys being worn around Major League Baseball, a result of the league's deal with Nike and Fanatics. And for any Red Sox fans who skipped the spring portion of the schedule and stayed up late to watch Opening Day in Seattle, the downgrade in quality and appearance was immediately noticeable. 

With Brayan Bello standing on the mound in the bottom of the first inning, the meager look of the smaller letters and seemingly lower-quality materials was apparent.

Throughout the night, it never became possible to get used to the new jerseys. The different color, the tiny lettering, the increased arch -- it didn't really fit anybody.

Of course, this is not just a Red Sox issue. The deal with Nike and Fanatics is a league-wide matter, so the smaller, flatter, shersey-looking nameplates are pretty much universal across the board. Somehow, MLB has turned its authentic jerseys into knockoffs. They look like imitation jerseys found on bargain racks at discount retail chains that an aunt buys for a young sports fan, before that sports fan politely says thank you and stashes the new outerwear at the bottom of a closet. And it's noticeable with some teams more than others.

The Red Sox' opponent on Thursday night was certainly sporting a look that will take some getting used to out in Seattle, as well.

The Tigers were another team with jerseys so starkly different that it was distracting to witness.

Fans and media members on social media pointed out the absurdity of the look during the Red Sox-Mariners game. Yet as is the case with most social media posts, that merely amounts to shouting into the void.

And though the new jerseys have been touted as being more breathable, that didn't stop the Yankees from completely sweating through their jerseys in Houston.

To anyone who cares about the aesthetics of professional sports, this situation is not good. No, it's not the most pressing issue in our nation, but it's a seemingly unnecessary shift from high-quality materials to something that looks cheap and unprofessional.

And while Fanatics is often a punching bag on social media (an X account named "@FanaticsSucks" has over 21,000 followers and regularly shares consumers' complaints with the company), this does not appear to be their fault. The story since the spring has been that Fanatics is merely manufacturing the jerseys exactly as Nike designed them. (MLB jerseys were manufactured by Majestic from 2005-23, for the record.)

Anybody who's bothered by the amateurish look of the new jerseys likely doesn't care who's responsible and why. We're mostly just hoping someone -- anyone -- can step in as a savior and restore big league jerseys to their proper look. This current look is just plain ugly.