Uncustomed Heroes of 2025: Red Sox

 

At long last, the Boston Red Sox, in Alex Cora's second tenure as manager, finally found a winning formula. All it took was trading away Rafael Devers.

Trevor Story finally had a healthy year, and gave the Sox what they'd been waiting for. The rookies, including Roman Anthony and Connelly Early, sought to eventually inherit the team by flashing cool MLB moments. Masataka Yoshida cemented his status as the ultimate Yankee-killer. Alex Bregman had a year so good it might land him a contract away from Boston. And it all led to a playoff berth, culminating in a suitably-strong Yanks-Sox series, one that ultimately resulted in a New York win.

The biggest triumph of all was getting a Cy Young caliber season out of Garrett Crochet. I initially questioned the Sox's choice to trade so much of their future to Chicago on the basis of one strong season from Crochet, itself marred by limited innings down the stretch. I was worried that the second Garrett Crochet got to Boston, he'd get hurt and render the deal pointless. Even in making a custom in March, I was very skeptical of how long the Sox would be able to savor this deal. Therefore, I apologize for doubting both parties. I whipped up a much better Crochet custom, one definitely befitting of his terrific 2025 season. 

Because there were so many ripe targets to customize this year, and because I was out of commission for a lot of the summer, I didn't even get to doing one of Brayan Bello, who had another really nice year as a Sox starter. It's weird to say this but Bello finally got a season ERA below 4, and went 11-9 with a 3.35 ERA over 28 starts. He'll be 27 next year, and the future's looking pretty bright.

2026 Prediction: Sub-3 ERA, Cy Young votes, ASG nod.

There were two ex-White Sox heroes who signed 2-year deals with the Sox before the 2024 season only to sit the season out entirely, both finally pitching for them this year. One of them was former White Sox hero Lucas Giolito, who blew his arm out midway through the 2023 season [as the Angels found out the hard way], and recovered all last year. His stuff in 2025 was pretty good, he went 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA and 121 Ks over 26 starts. Slightly limited due to making sure his arm didn't fall apart, but a much nicer showing.

2026 Prediction: Tigers sign him to a 1-year deal, he misses two months but ekes out a crucial postseason win for them.

The other ex-Chicago pitcher to finally play a healthy[-ish] season for the Sox this year was Liam Hendriks, the beloved Australian closer. Hendriks has still been recovering from both arm injuries and cancer treatments, and his 14-game run this year seemed to indicate the majority of his strong stuff wasn't there, with a 6.59 ERA and 2 losses. At the very least, he fulfilled his end of the bargain as best he could.

2026 Prediction: Retires.

At the very least, perennial Boston bullpen piece Garrett Whitlock had a healthier year this year, mostly because he wasn't being relied upon to start games. He was the top reliever in the 'pen this year, with a 2.25 ERA and 91 Ks, plus 7 wins, in 72 innings. His best year since the breakout for sure.

2026 Prediction: Knowing Whitlock this year will be a major step down.

In a long line of excellent Red Sox bench guys, Rob Refsnyder has been everything this team has needed him to be and more since joining the team in 2022. All he needs to do is show up, occasionally start, and be relied upon for the odd clutch hit. This year in 70 games he hit .269 with 9 homers, 30 RBIs and an .838 OPS. 

2026 Prediction: When I wrote this post, I did not see anyone other than the Red Sox signing him, as I did not think Refsnyder wanted to play anywhere else. But to be perfectly honest, the Mariners NEED a bench guy like Refsnyder, since Dylan Moore and Mitch Garver didn't work. I think Refsnyder will ultimately work in Seattle, but I want to stress that they got him as a depth option. Hopefully he doesn't end up stuck as a starting option.

One of the big developments of the Red Sox' 2025 season was the emphasis on bringing in the rookies and giving them chances to be the star. Kristian Campbell got his chance out of camp, and he was just the beginning. Hunter Dobbins got to start some games after the Red Sox realized that Sean Newcomb starting games wasn't a good idea, and in 13 starts he had a 4.13 ERA with 45 Ks and a 4-1 record. The most infamous detail of Dobbins' season was that he went 2-0 against the Yankees, including going 6 innings against them only allowing 2 hits. Dobbins eventually made a comment that he'd sooner retire than play for the Yankees. After this, he got beaten up by the Giants, missed a month, then had to miss the rest of the season due to a torn ACL. Karmic retribution, perhaps.

2026 Prediction: Even before the Contreras deal I figured he’d be traded, just from how much rotation overhead the Sox currently possess. St. Louis has much more room, and though I’m not sure if he’ll be opening day ready, he’s got a good chance of being a stretch savior even if the Cardinals miss again.

Marcelo Mayer was the second of the three big Sox rookies to come up this year, easing in at third a tad as Alex Bregman missed time. Mayer's 44 games in the bigs were very okay- he hit .228 with 4 homers and 10 RBIs. Eventually he was brought back down to make room for Bregman again.

2026 Prediction: So, uh...Bregman's not coming back. Everybody knows it, except maybe Bregman himself. There will be an opening at third, and Mayer will be ready. I think he's gonna have a huge season next year, though maybe not as huge as another Sox rookie:

Of the three call-ups in the lineup, Roman Anthony was the one who got fans the most excited. Biggest prospect, biggest offensive perk, highest ceiling. At a certain point this season, Anthony was looking like so much of a sure thing that the Sox were trying to shop Jarren Duran. Anthony, in 71 games, hit .292 with an .859 OPS, with 8 homers and 32 RBIs. It was a very confident MLB audition, one that would have garnered more ROY votes had Anthony not gotten hurt mid-August.

2026 Prediction: Get those posters up on Yawkey Way. Crochet. Story. Anthony right in the middle. This guy's the future, and the future's gonna kick in big time next year.

The Sox made some minor moves at the deadline, mostly supplanting the pitching staff. In a move that still confuses me, the Sox got Dustin May from LA, looking to...LIGHTEN their starting load. Yes, they still won it all, but I think May could have helped. He got 6 games in Boston before getting hurt, and went 1-4 with a 5.40 ERA. 

2026 Prediction: Rebounds slightly with St. Louis but unless he plans on figuring out how to stay healthy for all 7 months, it's not gonna really matter.

Meanwhile, after having a tremendous season as a swingman and reliever with the Cardinals, Steven Matz landed on the Sox for a similar reason for the stretch. In 21 games, Matz had a 2.08 ERA, with a 0.877 WHIP. Nobody was getting past this guy this year. He went scoreless against the Yanks in the playoffs as well.

2026 Prediction: Well, now the Rays are gonna figure out how to work with him. My guess is they start him, he's great, they trade him for prospects and then he gets hurt again.

Coming Tomorrow- The Reds, similarly, broke through and made it to the playoffs after years of trying. It didn't end well for them.