Are the Red Sox Contenders?

Zak Drapeau
May 6
4 min read

Updated: May 12

by Zak Drapeau 5/2/25 FansOnlySportz

With an 18-18 record on the season, the Red Sox have both surprised and disappointed this season and have a long way to go to be contenders. The roster as a whole is the best we've seen since 2019, the year after one of the greatest Red Sox rosters in the club's history. The coaching is definitely good enough to make the playoffs and then some, so why is the team struggling?

The team's struggles and it's strong points are all based on 3 elements, Youth, pitching and Defense. The batting has been outstanding this season and rank amongst the Top-10 in every category.

For the purpose of this article, we're not going to base much of their woes on injuries. As in every season, injuries are always a big factor and the Red Sox are no exception with Walker Buehler, Kutter Crawford, Masataka Yoshida and Richard Fitts and some other relievers all out for at least another month. Tristan Casas suffered a ruptured patellar tendon last week and will miss the rest of the season as well. Every MLB team has injuries but the amount of injuries on the Red Sox actually isn't alarming. The injury bug seems to be doling out mostly to the Pitching though which is already a concern...

Youth

This team is full of potential with the new crop of Red Sox firmly in the spotlight. Players like Kristian Campbell, Garrett Crochet, Carlos Narvaez, Cedanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu are all 26 years old or younger. Prospects like Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer are future stars waiting in the wings of Worcester to make their impact.

The full extent of the Sox' youth won't be fully visible until Anthony and Mayer debut and with the extreme depth the Red Sox currently have, they're not rushing into anything. Roman Anthony especially should be called up soon, slashing .305/.419/.514 at only 20 years of age. Kristian Campbell is the favorite to win ALROY as of May 6 with a .290/.394/.477 slashline and starting his career with a 17-game on-base streak. Currently 7th in the AL in OBP, Campbell is already a Top-5 hitter on the Red Sox at 22 years old.

Another pro of having such youth is improvements in stats like Steals and Double Plays, which the Red Sox rank 3rd and 5th respectively. Jarren Duran has a great start to the season and has nabbed 11 bags already in 14 attempts. Players like Trevor Story and Cedanne Rafaela have 7 steals in as many attempts. A common theme for the team who rank 4th with 86% in stolen bases.

Pitching

One of the biggest focal points in Free Agency this season was pitching. The Red Sox spent last offseason getting the likes of Kyle Hendricks and Lucas Giolito with the intention of having them ready for this season after healing from injuries. They would then round out the group with Garret Crochet, Walker Buehler and Aroldis Chapman last winter.

Crochet was signed to be their Ace and has lived up to the billing so far, 2nd in Cy Young odds with a 2.02 ERA and 56 Ks in 49 innings pitched. Buehler landed on the IL a week ago but has had a decent season so far with a 4.28 ERA in 33 innings pitched with a 4-1 record. Chapman has been a delightful surprise with 4 Saves in 13 outings and 0 Blown Saves.

Several players that have had trouble are Tanner Houck, Sean Newcomb and Justin Slaten. Houck had a few rough starts in a row in April including a 12-run, 2.1 inning pitched game against the Rays but bounced back nicely with a 1-run 7-inning start in his last outing. Sean Newcomb hasn't had much action since Brayan Bello returned to the lineup and Justin Slaten has had some terrible relief innings over the last three weeks.

The group has it's leaders and has it's under performers but the big picture is that this group can not be carried by 2 or 3 individuals and there will need to be guys in the middle of each group to step up and help carry the burden. The talent is definitely there.

Defense

After making several moves this offseason to improve on their defense from last season, the Red Sox are once again last in the league in fielding percentage. With 30 errors in 36 games, the Red Sox already have 4 players with 3 or more Errors. The biggest signing of the offseason Alex Bregman, was brought in as another great bat but to improve on Rafael Devers' poor fielding and Bregman LEADS the team in Errors with 5. One of the biggest sagas of the Red Sox beginning to the season was the decision to play Bregman over Devers at Third and so far Bregman is proving the Red Sox decision wrong.

The decisions to bring in Bregman and focus on building around their youth was one to progressively improve their defense and yes... Rome wasn't built in a day... but so far their process is not working.

Again though, the pieces are in place. Bregman is likely to clean up his play and already has made some acrobatic outs at Third. Kristian Campbell, (who himself has 4 errors) has been a Double-Play machine and has a very bright future at Second. 4 errors at First Base will be cleaned up with Romy Gonzalez taking the role moving forward. The Sox defense has a bright future, but how far away is that future?