After ending the 2024 Season with a record of 81-81, the Boston Red Sox are sick of losing and are ready to start a rebuild. The Red Sox were in a deep need of Left-Handed Pitchers. The Red Sox’s first move was veteran Left-handed Closing Pitcher, Aroldis Chapman. Chapman is going into his 15th season. Chapman has the fastest pitch recorded of all time, coming in at a whopping 105.8 MPH. The thing is, he’s still got it. Last season for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chapman threw a pitch at 104.7 MPH at 36 years old! Next up, The Red Sox ended up trading for Standout LHP Garrett Crochet from the Chicago White Sox. The Red Sox traded 4 prospects for Crochet, Catcher Kyle Teel, Outfielder Braden Montgomery, Infielder Chase Meidroth, and Pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez. The White Sox don’t know how the prospects will perform but the Red Sox already know that Crochet is pretty good.
The Red Sox are in need of a right-handed hitter. Most of the players who bat for the Red Sox are left-handed hitters. The Red Sox only had a whopping 3 right-handed batters in the 2024 season. Alex Bregman is a good candidate for this position. Bregman is a right-handed hitter from the Houston Astros who is a free agent. Bregman has many contract offers but recently signed to the Red Sox on Feb, 15.. Lucky for the Red Sox there are some promising prospects, including right-handed hitter Kristian Campbell. Campbell was an amazing hitter who started the season on the High-A team but managed to climb up to the Triple-A team by the end of the season. Campbell played amazingly in the MiLB with a total of 20 home runs and an average of .330! He also is a great player on defense, making great catches with great speed. Campbell was recently invited to spring training, in late February and March we’ll be able to see how he does against MLB pitchers.
While on the topic of prospects, The Red Sox have 4 prospects in the Top 100 prospects, with a whopping 3 of them in the top 12th. Coming in as the number 2 prospect out of the top 100 is outfielder Roman Anthony. Anthony was a fantastic hitter for the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox. He had 18 home runs and played great in the outfield. Anthony swings with a lot of power, the lefty batter had an average of .291. Like Campbell, Anthony was also invited to spring training. Another good prospect for the Red Sox is Marcelo Mayer, Mayer has a lot of expectations because he was the 4th overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft. Mayer has been doing decent and so far hasn’t been performing to the high expectations he received. This could also be the result of injuries that Mayer has received. He had an alright season with 8 home runs and an average of .307 where he was injured sometime during the season.
Finally, the playmakers from last season will hopefully be great this season. First I want to talk about Ceddane Rafaela, Rafaela was a great outfielder last season for Boston. Rafaela has even said that he grew up as a Red Sox fan. Rafaela made multiple diving catches and made it look easy. He also played shortstop and was good at that, Rafaela has also recreated Derek Jeter’s famous jump throw multiple times. Rafaela also had a good season hitting the baseball, he had 15 home runs, with a .246 average. Next up, Jarren Duran. Duran performed amazingly last season, leading the MLB in triples with 14. Duran also made his first All-Star game where he hit a home run, which gave the American League the lead and what may have won them the game. Duran ended up becoming the MVP of the All-Star game. Duran had a great season, totaling 21 home runs, and a .285 average. Finally, Arguably the Red Sox’s best player, Rafael Devers. Devers, AKA, “The Baby Faced Assassin”, is a great hitter for Boston. Devers was a part of the 2018 Red Sox team that won the World Series. Devers has a lot of experience as a veteran, being he is coming into his 9th season. Devers ended off the season with 28 home runs and an average of .272. Overall, the Red Sox have a lot of potential and they will show why this upcoming season.
