It genuinely feels like just last week that we were making our season predictions and gearing up for an…interesting 2025 baseball season.
Two weeks ago I wrote that we’d be holding out our butts for the
rest of September; we’re now at the terminus of gravity’s rainbow. We as fans could only sit back in anticipation to watch not just the last few weeks, but all 159 games and see where this Red Sox team would end up. While the Red Sox aren’t a projectile determined by natural law, they certainly are determined by the baseball gods, the tinkering of Alex Cora in-game, Craig Breslow intra-roster, and a whole lot of luck. We merely just observe—with a lot of bias of head and heart hoping for wins—while analyzing the season’s path, and when it’s all said and done, we stroll leisurely to its terminus and we can see the absolute truth about what this team is made of.
So what is this team made of?
Pigs
There are two very clear pigs on this roster. Guys who eat up innings or the limelight just about every single time they hit the field. Let’s start with the obvious: Garrett Crochet. This has to be the best acquisition of the 2025 season. Jeff Passan and ESPN even agree with that. Crochet—who hadn’t thrown even 150 innings prior to this season—finishes his 2025 with over 200 innings pitched, over 250 strikeouts, and over 800 batters faced; those are all MLB leaders. His ERA of 2.59 and ERA+ of 159 are both career bests, even with a little home run issue creeping in the last few months. He has been an unequivocal PIG eating innings. He hasn’t just become an ace, he’s become THE ace. I’ll say it, Tarik Skubal should look uncomfortable thinking the Cy Young is locked up in his favor.
There’s another pig who’s been as dominant a force as can be, to just about all of our surprises. Aroldis Chapman—yes, The Cuban Missile—is a pig. Who knew it would take Connor Wong and PitchCom in Spring Training to turn a guy who was such a loose cannon into one of the most unfathomably dominant closers in baseball at age 37? A no-hit streak of 50 batters, an ERA of 1.19 and an ERA+ of 345. I know it’s not going to get Cy Young votes, but this has to go down as one of the best closing seasons of all time. Even throughout the season, whatever adjustments Andrew Bailey and the Run Prevention Unit had him make never changed the fact that when he came in, games were 99% done for.
Kids
The kids played so much more of a role in 2025 than many of us expected, and not just with the personnel we thought it would be in March. The Big 3—Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kristian Campbell—did each come up for chunks of the season. Campbell made the Opening Day roster and while he hasn’t been back since June 18th, we’ve seen enough at the big league level to know the potential is there. Mayer—while suffering another season ending injury, this time to his wrist—showcased exactly what he needed to be in the majors: a strong defender with the potential to hit both for contact and power. If he can stay healthy in his career, this kid has a bright future. Anthony—as people expected—is a true star. A slugger with natural power. Patient at the plate, taking not just every opportunity to swing, but the right ones. A competent enough outfielder and versatile enough to flip between fielding and DHing without skipping a beat. He is 100% a bedrock of this club already.
Then there were the surprise call-ups that left at least myself very pleasantly surprised. Payton Tolle climbed the ladder all the way from High-A to make it to the Red Sox and he could turn into a dominant pitcher While he’s not completely ready to start at the Major League level yet, having his live arm in the bullpen is going to be a plus going forward—whether it’s three games or more. Connelly Early certainly came up earlier than many thought and he’s showcasing that you don’t need a flamethrower of a fastball to be a strong starter. His mix, combined with a funky delivery angle, have shown up and shown out a few lineups in September.
I certainly don’t mind Kyle Harrison as a back-of-the-rotation starter for now. He’s earned his call-up to the big club and could be a really effective starter as well. He takes the bump tonight against the Tigers.
Jhostynxon Garcia made a little cameo, Nate Eaton and Nick Sogard have been effective depth call-ups as well. The future of this team is clearly bright with homegrown talent.
Redemption
This is a story about a Story—Trevor, to be precise. With most likely the lowest of low expectations on the roster, he’s become the compass of this team. As Trevor Story goes, so go the Red Sox.
Ceddanne Rafaela was pegged to be late-career Jackie Bradley Jr. all over again. But while it’s not consistent yet, his power is something to behold when it’s alive—and his frankly platinum glove defense is the best in the league.
Carlos Narvaez—a Yankees prospect shipped across the rivalry—has proven time and again he’s one of the best young backstops in baseball. His bat’s been quiet for a while, but defensively, there aren’t much better.
Alex Bregman—not so much a skill set redemption but a character redemption. He left his career team in the Houston Astros, maybe trying to leave behind the trash can legacy. He’s become a mentor to the kids, and another voice—almost like another coach—to keep everyone at their best. A true baller, who eats, sleeps, and breathes the game.
Chapman even fits down here too with how much his game got fixed. Lucas Giolito hadn’t been able to put together a consistent season since he left the White Sox, and now he forms a very strong front three with Crochet and Brayan Bello. So many guys on this roster redeemed themselves in my eyes to showcase that this team actually does have talent and isn’t just an island of misfit toys.
Missed Opportunity
For all that’s been good, there has been some bad. Seventeen one-run losses through the first two months of the season alone represented a missed opportunity to fight for the division title. Lost series to such random teams—like the Athletics at home earlier in the month—continue to frustrate; these are games competent teams should have in hand.
Triston Casas missed yet another season due to a devastating injury and it left quite the conundrum at first base. Tanner Houck started out the season incredibly funky and turns out he had an injury to worry about too; he’ll miss much, of not all of next season. Liam Hendriks didn’t do much, either. Kutter Crawford didn’t throw a pitch the entire season. Trade deadline acquisition Dustin May? Maybe a return for the postseason but he’s proven to be a poor member of the roster as a rental. Walker Buehler? Walked right on out of Boston with how terrible he was this season.
Direction
Amidst all of this mishegas, there’s one big defining word: direction. We now know how this team is going to play and operate, even if it means making head-scratching decisions sometimes. We’re going to talk about the Rafael Devers trade ad nauseum in analyzing this season so I may as well kick it off: it gave this team balance. It was the spark that clearly needed to be ignited under this roster to bring about its true potential.
We’ve seen patience and room to grow given to the kids. And now there’s confidence that the decisions being made are the right ones, namely those in-game calls by Alex Cora this season. He’s had a few masterclasses of managing that deserve praise and will garner more in the playoffs.
With three games to go and the magic number at one, this team has the chance to do something special. If they do, I don’t care how far they go. It’s all just the cherry on top of what’s been sorely needed: an illuminating season that finally showed us this team is MORE than some of us thought they were.
