Article: Red Sox Week in Review: Welcome Back, Baseball!

[Caleb Kohn]

A lot needs to be sorted out before the season starts, but for now, we get to enjoy the fact that baseball is here!

While much of the country has been wracked by winter storms, the weather is sunny down in Fort Myers, Florida, where spring training is now officially underway. The first few days of camp had a major signing, some positional drama, and a few injuries, but who cares? Baseball is BACK, and for at least the next month, that is all that matters. Let’s dive into a recap of the best stories from week 1.

New Additions Make Some Noise
Alex Cora wasted no time getting the fans a taste of the big-time offseason acquisitions, and they wasted no time showing what all the hype was about. Garret Crochet made his first spring start on Sunday and looked dominant from the get-go, striking out the side in the first inning and finishing with four strikeouts over 1 2/3 innings. Crochet is projected to be the ace of the Red Sox this season, and the stuff looks good early. 

The biggest signing of the offseason happened just a week ago, but already Alex Bregman seems to be settling in nicely. Starting at third base in his spring debut, the right-hander showed off his pull power with a towering home run over the replica Green Monster at Jet Blue park. He went 3-for-3 on the day and finished a triple shy of the cycle. Triston Casas and Trevor Story also made their first in-game appearances of the season. Story doubled, and although Casas didn't find grass, he crushed multiple hard-hit line drives.

Too Many Cooks in the Infield? Hardly
The Bregman signing made some waves across the league and suddenly gave the Red Sox a much more compelling case for postseason contention. It also causes a bit of a roster crunch and plenty of drama, even at second base, as there are now more talented players than positions to play them. 

The biggest question going into spring training was whether Kristian Campbell would break camp as the team’s second baseman, or if Vaughn Grissom or David Hamilton would be able to hold down the position. With the addition of Bregman, all three of those players may have a hard time finding at-bats. While it remains to be seen whether Bregman will play at second or Rafael Devers will be pushed off of third to accommodate him (something Devers he stated adamantly that he does not want to do), the Red Sox are a lot deeper than anyone expected. With the struggle for health all around the infield last season, having more quality players waiting in the wings can only be a good thing.

You Can Never Have Too Much Pitching
With some early injuries to Kutter Crawford, Zach Penrod and Brayan Bello, the front office has continued to hedge its bets by signing a few veteran pitchers to minor-league contracts. This week saw the addition of familiar face Adam Ottavino, who pitched with Boston in 2021, and veteran lefty Matt Moore. Ottavino had a solid year with the Mets, running a 4.34 ERA although his 3.67 FIP indicated that he was perhaps a bit unlucky. Moore posted a 5.03 ERA last year before being shut down with an arm injury in August. He had been a dominant reliever in high-leverage situations the two previous seasons, putting up a combined 2.98 ERA over 164 appearances from 2022 to 2024.

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