As the first couple of weeks of spring training baseball have concluded, it is a fresh start for players, coaches, and fans alike to blow away the cobwebs of the previous season’s disappointment (unless you’re a Dodger fan, of course!) and have renewed optimism that the new season could generate.
Now, for the last few years, being a Red Sox fan has had its struggles. Of course, being World Champions four times this century, I don’t expect any sympathy from other fanbases. However, with two last-place finishes and fading away from the wildcard race last season since our last playoff season of 2021, the new year optimism of recent times hasn’t been justified.
Alex Cora promised back in September that he does “believe this is the last of our struggles”, and with the business made by the front office, the cause for optimism might be legitimate this time around.
It did appear on the surface that the Red Sox seem genuine contenders for the signature of Juan Soto. I’m not so sure that even if successful in winning this race, it would have been suitable to spend so much on one position player with an average glove (I am still in complete shock he was a gold glove finalist) and the size of the contract would have restricted Boston in forming strengths all over the field.
What it did show, though, was that we might have woken up from our spending slumber and were finally starting to flex our muscles in competing in the market to really go for it again.
There was a fear around this time that it was simply lip service from John Henry (Red Sox owner) to be part of the bidding war just to keep disgruntled fans quiet for a while. Now that ship has sailed, will he invest in key areas?
What key areas did we need to improve on to go from an 81-win season to join the playoff party in October?
We need starting pitching to go deeper so our bullpen can save their bullets. A lack of right-handed hitting and to reduce the 115 defensive errors were the other areas we needed to address.
We did all of the above. We signed the only bright spark of the 2024 Chicago White Sox season in Garrett Crochet, a genuine starter and potential ace of the pack. His era of 3.58 with a strikeout-to-walk rate of 6.3 over 32 starts is something to be really excited about. Especially, for a franchise that has needed a genuine ace since losing Chris Sale, firstly to a plethora of injuries and then to the Atlanta Braves, where he returned to his best!
However, Sale, who was also traded to us from the south side of Chicago, had a 300-strikeout season (2017) and got the final out of the 2018 season by striking out my “ favourite” Manny Machardo (readers of my last article will recognise my tone haha). If we get anything close to that with Crotchet then Sox nation will be delighted.
Another starter with an impressive past and a point to prove is Walker Buehler, who signed a one-year, $21 million deal, who, if he can achieve his old form, will prove to be a bargain fee. A career ERA of 3.21 is a brilliant number, but he is a bigger gamble than Crotchet due to him coming back from his second Tommy John surgery.
On his return last season, his ERA was substantially higher at 5.21 (16 starts), but with a full spring training, we hope he can return to his old self, and I think this is a fair gamble.
What also will feel like a new signing is Lucas Giolito. Injured last year in spring training and missed the whole of the 2024 season. A fourth/fifth starter role could demonstrate the improvement of the rotation.
So, with starting pitching ticked off the to-do list, now it’s the right-handed hitting and reducing the errors.
We achieved this in one key signing, and that is Alex Bregman on a three-year, $ 120 million contract. The deal does have opt-outs every year, which could suit both parties, but short-term, this clearly suits everyone.
For Bregman, a doubles machine throughout his career, I’m hoping to see many a ball bounce off the monster. Add these to Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela, and death by doubles might be more likely our strength than the three-run homer. Also worth noting is that Bregman is a very strong infielder, particularly at third base
The reaction of Rafael Devers in not wanting to give up his third base position is a slight cloud, and in the upcoming weeks, we will see how big a deal this really is, but my gut instinct at the time of writing is that it is not a real issue. The positive side of this is his passion for the role, but to be so public so early in spring wasn’t a good look.
Cora will juggle at times as he favours to do, but there is a gap at second for Bregman to fill, who is more than good enough to adapt. It will be very interesting to see where he plays in spring, as this will paint a clearer picture of what Cora is thinking.
Speaking of Devers, who had shoulder issues restricting his power, he still played 138 games. In a lot of these, it was clear that he wasn’t on full throttle and playing with pain. Despite this, he still hit 28 home runs and a batting average of .272 with his usual high double numbers (add him to the list of double potential in the roster). If we have a fully fit and fully happy Rafi, then watch out American League.
Another player I predict to have a monster year is first baseman Triston Casas. Another who was injury- plagued in 2024 is back, and I think, with the protection of Devers/Bregman/Duran, will benefit the most. I predict him to go past his season-high numbers this time around.
So, there we have it. Without going into dissertation numbers (didn’t really talk about Duran’s all star year in hitting and base running or Ceddanne Rafaela explosive play both sides of the game or Wilyer Abreu’s gold glove finalist at right field) as well as two top 10 prospects in Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell (more hopefully to write about in the near future) there is a lot to be optimistic about for the class of 2025.
Where can they finish in the American League East? I will give my division prediction in the last week of spring training as a lot can go right or wrong for anyone in that time, but for the moment, I’m feeling the most excited as I have done in quite a while.
Featured image of Alex Bregman by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images. Photo of Walker Buehler Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images
Article by Andrew Osborn. Look out for more Red Sox content from Andrew on Bat Flips & Nerds this season.
