The trouble with basing a team around a youth movement is that after a certain point it becomes akin to wrangling cats. And that's kinda where we're at in Boston. Obviously the veterans are gonna be taken care of. Willson Contreras, Wilyer Abreu, Sonny Gray, Aroldis Chapman, Ranger Suarez and IKF- no issues. They know the drill, and even the newcomers can take to Boston pretty easily. Suarez had a rough first few starts, he's mellowed out, he's now got a 3.18 ERA. Gray's even settled in, he's 7-1. IKF's been a really valuable utility guy, proving he can excel anywhere in the AL East except New York.
But the kids...the kids that are supposed to be leading the team...it's just not entirely happening.
Roman Anthony in 2025 was hilariously inconsistent. He took a month to get going, then got hotter than hell to the point where, once he got injured, he became the 'magic hat' piece for this team. And so he starts the year healthy, and now he's hurt again. Marcelo Mayer has stayed healthy, but like last year he hasn't really gotten going yet. He's hitting .224 with a .600 OPS. This is not what was promised. Caleb Durbin cost this team Kyle Harrison, something that's gonna really haunt them going forward, and he's barely done anything this year, hitting .193. At least Isaac Collins has turned his season around. Durbin's just stalling in place. And Carlos Narvaez, after a breakout 2025, has regressed to a .200 hitter and has given the catching job back to Connor Wong essentially.
The most confounding detail of this Sox team is Jarren Duran, who's supposed to be the centerpiece of the whole thing. He's got 10 homers, 34 RBIs and 11 steals right now, which is not bad. But he is currently hitting .209, with a .655 OPS. That is heartbreakingly average. Duran is constantly put in position to be the hero, and while sometimes it does pay off, this should not be the central guy. Not when he's hitting .209. In 2024 he had a 9 WAR, and was one of the most impressive hitters in baseball. Now he's just as forgettable as he was back in 2021 when he was starting out.
What's nice is that the young players that ARE pulling their weight are mostly pitchers. Connelly Early and Payton Tolle, after debuting last August, have essentially taken over the rotation, and are in the midst of very strong breakout years. Early has made all his starts and has a 3.30 ERA with a team-leading 69 Ks. He's an impressive, consistent starter without being too flashy. Tolle is even sharper, with a 2.70 ERA and 54 Ks in 9 starts. In a year where Brayan Bello and Garrett Crochet have let this team down, these two springing into action is exactly the right remedy, and is a surer sign of future value than Mayer and Durbin's antics. Also, lest we forget Ceddanne Rafaela, who's having a great contact year so far. There's even a chance Jake Bennett could make a further impact if he shakes off starts like today's, which wasn't even that bad but isn't to the standard of his compatriots. So it's not all horror stories from this youth movement, but the fact that it's a lot of that does not bode well.
The Sox have Texas and Toronto up next. I can't say with certainty that they're better than either. We'll see how the young guys continue to fare in a team very much made for them.
Coming Tomorrow- He hasn't pitched since 2024, and he's suddenly extremely valuable, which says less about him and more about the state of his team.
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