Article: Boston Red Sox 2025 Position Analysis: Left Field

[Nick John]

The Red Sox upgraded their roster throughout the offseason, but one position they did not need to touch was left field.

With Jarren Duran back in the outfield and sliding over to left field from center field, the Red Sox might have one of the best defensive outfields this season.

Left field was one of the most consistent for the Red Sox last season, as they only used three players: Duran, Rob Refsnyder, and Tyler O’Neill. Of the three, only O’Neill is gone, as Duran is now the starting left fielder again. The explosive player looks to build off a career year and prove that his All-Star season was no fluke. Alongside him is once again Refsnyder and potentially Masataka Yoshida, as the Sox hope to have him play the field more than he did in 2024.

Red Sox Left Fielders At A Glance
Starter: Jarren Duran
Backup: Rob Refsnyder
Depth: Masataka Yoshida, Trayce Thompson (NRI)
Prospects: Roman Anthony (NRI), Will Turner, Corey Rosier
Red Sox fWAR Ranking Last Year: 1st out of 30

The Good
Jarren Duran is coming off of a career year, which is something to look forward to. The left fielder made his first All-Star game and finished eighth in MVP voting this past season. Slashing .285/.342/.492, Duran led the Red Sox offense throughout the season. He also hit 21 home runs, leading the league in doubles and triples with 48 and 14, respectively. It might sound crazy, but Duran has a chance to build off his incredible season as he works to hit left-handed pitchers better.

Last season, Duran began the year as the left fielder, but injuries forced him to move to center field after Ceddanne Rafaela was moved to shortstop. Now, the plan is for him to return to left field, where his weaker arm won’t be taken advantage of as often. Bringing back Refsnyder after he considered retirement is another positive. Refsnyder is a lefty killer, consistently hitting well against left-handed pitchers and providing a veteran voice in the clubhouse. Even with the loss of O’Neill to the Baltimore Orioles, Duran and Refsnyder are as good a duo to handle left field as any team in the major league can boast. The ability to make contact, hit for power, great speed, and good defense makes the Red Sox very comfortable with left field entering the season.

The Bad
There isn’t much depth. After Duran and Refsnyder, the only other player with major league experience playing left field consistently is Yoshida. Last season, he became the team’s designated hitter and hasn’t played in the outfield since 2023. It’s also likely that the team will want to avoid using him in left field to begin the season as he continues to recover from offseason shoulder surgery. After Yoshida, there’s Trayce Thompson, who’s lighting up the Grapefruit League. However, he’s not on the 40-man roster, and it's unlikely they will add him to it. Roman Anthony is more of a right fielder but has played some left field in the minors. However, the Red Sox would most likely prefer that he sticks to his main position if he’s up in the major leagues. Finally, Duran had some issues against left-handed pitchers. In 43 games, he hit .235/.289/.358 and struck out 57 times in 187 at-bats.

The Bottom Line
So long as the Red Sox stay healthy, they’ll be fine in left field. Duran will provide a consistent presence in left field, backed up by arguably one of the most consistent players since arriving in Boston in Refsnyder. Most teams would love to have this combination on their roster, especially as Duran broke out last season. Should the injury bug strike both of them, the Red Sox may be forced to call up top prospect Anthony and have him adjust to playing in front of the Green Monster.

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[moonslav59]

I'd say our LF depth is fine, unless we need Duran in CF and Rafaela in RF. If that is the case, an Anthony call-up makes too much sense not to happen.

BTW, Romy and Wong could play some LF for short spurts.

[Nick John]

4 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I'd say our LF depth is fine, unless we need Duran in CF and Rafaela in RF. If that is the case, an Anthony call-up makes too much sense not to happen.

BTW, Romy and Wong could play some LF for short spurts.

I could trust Romy handling LF for a small stint but I'd rather keep Wong out of LF. I still get flashbacks to Blake Swihart trying to play LF and getting hurt because of it. And with how our catching depth is currently, I'd prefer not to take a risk with Wong or any of the catchers.

[notin]

5 hours ago, Nick John said:

I could trust Romy handling LF for a small stint but I'd rather keep Wong out of LF. I still get flashbacks to Blake Swihart trying to play LF and getting hurt because of it. And with how our catching depth is currently, I'd prefer not to take a risk with Wong or any of the catchers.

Wong was in the Dodger system at the same time as Will Smith, Keibert Ruiz, and Diego Amaya.  The Dodgers used him at 2b, 3b and corner OF, just because of that depth…

[moonslav59]

8 hours ago, Nick John said:

I could trust Romy handling LF for a small stint but I'd rather keep Wong out of LF. I still get flashbacks to Blake Swihart trying to play LF and getting hurt because of it. And with how our catching depth is currently, I'd prefer not to take a risk with Wong or any of the catchers.

If we need a LF'er beyond Duran, Ref and Yoshida, we can just add Anthony or Campbell to the roster.

[Nick John]

12 hours ago, notin said:

Wong was in the Dodger system at the same time as Will Smith, Keibert Ruiz, and Diego Amaya.  The Dodgers used him at 2b, 3b and corner OF, just because of that depth…

Yeah, but when was the last time he played the outfield? If he gets hurt do you really want to rely on Blake Sabol or Seby Zavala? Unlike the Dodgers we don't have the same level of catching depth they had when they put Wong in the outfield

[Nick John]

9 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

If we need a LF'er beyond Duran, Ref and Yoshida, we can just add Anthony or Campbell to the roster.

The Sox wouldn't add them to fill a small stint. They already said that wherever they play they want the Big 3 to be playing regularly. And why waste an option on them to have them up for 2 weeks when Romy or Sogard can handle things for a week or two.

[mvp 78]

Wong playing anywhere but C is a bad idea. It's not worth the risk due to the lack of C options this org has. 

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, Nick John said:

The Sox wouldn't add them to fill a small stint. They already said that wherever they play they want the Big 3 to be playing regularly. And why waste an option on them to have them up for 2 weeks when Romy or Sogard can handle things for a week or two.

I get that, and it looks like Abreu and Yoshi won't be out for long, so I agree, they won't be added as a patch.

I do think Ref, Romy and Sogard can play LF, until Abreu is ready.

If we add Thompso to the 40, we can send him down to AAA, so he may be the choice, as we 60 Day a pitcher.

[mvp 78]

31 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I get that, and it looks like Abreu and Yoshi won't be out for long, so I agree, they won't be added as a patch.

I do think Ref, Romy and Sogard can play LF, until Abreu is ready.

If we add Thompso to the 40, we can send him down to AAA, so he may be the choice, as we 60 Day a pitcher.

Trayce Thompson has no options. He can't be sent to AAA while on the 40 man roster. They would need to DFA him.

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

Trayce Thompson has no options. He can't be sent to AAA while on the 40 man roster. They would need to DFA him.

That makes it a little more interesting. I'm not sure they add him to the 40,as the 60 Day IL a pitcher, but it could happen. They may end up losing him later, but he could end up sucking, and make the choice easier.

We have 2-3 pitchers we could 60 Day, sosome flexibility is there.

Is this journeyman worth it, based on a few hot weeks in ST'ing? Is his batting adjustment something that can carry forward?

[mvp 78]

18 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

That makes it a little more interesting. I'm not sure they add him to the 40,as the 60 Day IL a pitcher, but it could happen. They may end up losing him later, but he could end up sucking, and make the choice easier.

We have 2-3 pitchers we could 60 Day, sosome flexibility is there.

Is this journeyman worth it, based on a few hot weeks in ST'ing? Is his batting adjustment something that can carry forward?

He's worth it to stash in AAA. If he continues to mash in April, then maybe he has changed something and decide if you want to call him up then. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

He's worth it to stash in AAA. If he continues to mash in April, then maybe he has changed something and decide if you want to call him up then. 

Being out of options means he'd have to agree to a AAA assignment, right, or does he have to pass through waivers, first?

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Being out of options means he'd have to agree to a AAA assignment, right, or does he have to pass through waivers, first?

If he has no options, there is no way for him to get to AAA without being put through waivers or being on an IL assignment.

[notin]

7 hours ago, Nick John said:

Yeah, but when was the last time he played the outfield? If he gets hurt do you really want to rely on Blake Sabol or Seby Zavala? Unlike the Dodgers we don't have the same level of catching depth they had when they put Wong in the outfield

Zavala is a good catcher if you focus on defense.  Sabol is DFA material, probably first man off the roster if the Sox keep one of their prospects and don’t have anyone heading to the 60 day IL.

As for Wong in the OF, he’s an emergency candidate only, I assume…

[mvp 78]

28 minutes ago, notin said:

Zavala is a good catcher if you focus on defense.  Sabol is DFA material, probably first man off the roster if the Sox keep one of their prospects and don’t have anyone heading to the 60 day IL.

As for Wong in the OF, he’s an emergency candidate only, I assume…

I don't believe Sabol is even 3rd catcher material. From what I remember at the time of his signing, he's more suited for a 1B/LF role. I hope Zavala sticks around. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

If he has no options, there is no way for him to get to AAA without being put through waivers or being on an IL assignment.

If he is not on a roster, can he just sign a minor league deal?

How to you DFA someone not on the roster?

[moonslav59]

49 minutes ago, notin said:

Zavala is a good catcher if you focus on defense.  Sabol is DFA material, probably first man off the roster if the Sox keep one of their prospects and don’t have anyone heading to the 60 day IL.

As for Wong in the OF, he’s an emergency candidate only, I assume…

One would think, if we DFA Sabol, we'd add Zavala as the 3rd catcher.

[mvp 78]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

If he is not on a roster, can he just sign a minor league deal?

How to you DFA someone not on the roster?

Trayce Thompson has already signed a MiLB deal. YOU wanted to add him to the 40 man and send him to AAA. 

[mvp 78]

14 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

One would think, if we DFA Sabol, we'd add Zavala as the 3rd catcher.

It would not get rid of his opt outs, but maybe it makes it more likely he sticks around? 

[moonslav59]

26 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Trayce Thompson has already signed a MiLB deal. YOU wanted to add him to the 40 man and send him to AAA. 

I was saying "If they add him to the 40" as I thought they needed to add him to keep him in their system. I was wrong.

They'd only add him to the 40, if they want him on the 26 for opening day, assuming Abreo cannot play.

Sorry for sounding confusing.

[Nick John]

6 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I get that, and it looks like Abreu and Yoshi won't be out for long, so I agree, they won't be added as a patch.

I do think Ref, Romy and Sogard can play LF, until Abreu is ready.

If we add Thompso to the 40, we can send him down to AAA, so he may be the choice, as we 60 Day a pitcher.

You can't. Thompson has no options remaining, you would have to DFA him to send him down. Nate Eaton on the other hand has options so they could send him back and forth freely if they needed to. 

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, Nick John said:

You can't. Thompson has no options remaining, you would have to DFA him to send him down. Nate Eaton on the other hand has options so they could send him back and forth freely if they needed to. 

MVP says Thompson signed a minor league deal, do he should not need to be DFA's to play in AAA, unless and until we add him to the 40.

[Nick John]

On 3/17/2025 at 8:50 PM, moonslav59 said:

MVP says Thompson signed a minor league deal, do he should not need to be DFA's to play in AAA, unless and until we add him to the 40.

I know. You had said we could add him to the 40 and then send him to Triple-A. I was saying you can't do that because he has no options remaining.

[moonslav59]

4 minutes ago, Nick John said:

I know. You had said we could add him to the 40 and then send him to Triple-A. I was saying you can't do that because he has no options remaining.

Yes. I was corrected by MVP. The problem is, if we need him on the 26, and or want to delay adding Anthony, instead, then we may be faced with losing him from the system, if we no longer need him on the 26.

I'm not sure we care about losing Thompson, though, but usually a team tries to keep as many options in the system as they can. Eaton does seem like an option that preserves everyone else's roster status, but is he good enough? Also, Eaton may have options, but once you add him to the 40, he has to stay on the 40, over someone else, even if he is sent back to AAA. We may need 3 or more slots on the 40, for the 3 kids and a pitcher or two.

[Hugh2]

Thompson is the type of guy who sign to start the year in AAA, maybe you need him maybe you don't and he's likely DFA'd at some point mid to late season.  

You add guys to the bottom of your roster like that every year. I would not be surprised if he had zero at bats in Boston. 

[Hugh2]

ADD: I think I'm perhaps underselling the odds of a Thompson sighting in Boston this year. 

I can see a future scenario where due to health and/or performance someone like Anthony is already in the outfield and Campbell is in the infield and then when Refsnyder goes down Thompson comes up to be the RHH platoon outfielder. 

That's what he is. The back up platoon corner outfielder. 

[mvp 78]

28 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes. I was corrected by MVP. The problem is, if we need him on the 26, and or want to delay adding Anthony, instead, then we may be faced with losing him from the system, if we no longer need him on the 26.

I'm not sure we care about losing Thompson, though, but usually a team tries to keep as many options in the system as they can. Eaton does seem like an option that preserves everyone else's roster status, but is he good enough? Also, Eaton may have options, but once you add him to the 40, he has to stay on the 40, over someone else, even if he is sent back to AAA. We may need 3 or more slots on the 40, for the 3 kids and a pitcher or two.

If they need a AAA OFer to start the year on the 40 man, it'll be Eaton due to the options he has remaining IMO. I don't think they are at that position yet. They'd more likely just add Sogard to the 26 and use Romy as a backup OFer.

[moonslav59]

24 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

If they need a AAA OFer to start the year on the 40 man, it'll be Eaton due to the options he has remaining IMO. I don't think they are at that position yet. They'd more likely just add Sogard to the 26 and use Romy as a backup OFer.

We are not even sure Abreu starts the season on the 10 Day IL. He may just sit out the first game or two.

We have Duran, Rafaela and Refsnyder. If Yoshida is not on the IL, he could be used in LF, even with the weak arm, but yes, Romy can be the back-up for a few days. I doubt we add Sogard to the 26, even if Yoshida and Abreu are out.

We still have a few guys who could be added to the 60 Day IL to make temporary room on the 40:

Perales, Penrod & Murphy (Crawford, Bello and Gio look like 15 Day IL guys, as of now.)

With the unbalanced 40 man roster favoring pitchers over everyday players, it looks like 2-3 everyday players will be added, at some point- maybe not all by opening day. Everyday players on the 26 and 40:

13 of the 26 for sure, these look like the sure 10-12: Wong, Narvaez, Casas, Devers, DHam, Story, Bregman, Duran, Rafaela, Refsnyder (Abreu & Yoshida on 10 Day IL?)

MLB or AAA: Romy, Grissom, Sogard, Sabol

AA: Jh Garcia

Possible add-ons: Anthony, Campbell & Mayer or Eaton, Thompson, Sykes & Toro (Zavala, if Sabol goes)

The pitching is more complicated as so many guys will start on the 15 & 60 Day IL:

60 Day: Sandoval and maybe Perales, Penrod & Murphy

15 day: Crawford, Giolito, Bello

Sure 10 of the 13:

SP- Crochet, Houck, Buehler and likely Fitts & Priester (Newcomb or Criswell?)

RP- Chapman, Hendriks, Slaten, Whitlock, Wilson

3 more from the Maybes: Criswell, Guerrero, Bernardino, Winckowski, Weissert, Kelly

Not on 40: Newcomb, Ottavino, Fulmer, Mata, I  Campbell, N Davis, Adams, Moore. I'm not sure any of these guys get added, except maybe Newcomb, due to our higher need for everyday players on the 40, but with so many pitchers starting out on the IL, maybe Newcomb gets the call.

 

 

[mvp 78]

From FanGraphs, Sox ranked 13th in LF.

Does this ranking seem too low? Based on what Jarren Duran did last season, the answer almost has to be yes. Playing in all but two games — both were missed while he served a suspension suspension — the 28-year-old finished with 21 home runs, 34 stolen bases, and 6.7 WAR. An asset on both sides of the ball, Durran is an offensive catalyst and a center-field-capable fly chaser stationed in left. ZiPS anticipates a less-impactful season — his WAR projection is a comparably humble 3.9 — but that is arguably far too conservative. Players with Duran’s hard-nosed hustle and power/speed combination don’t grow on trees.

Duran is expected to get more rest this season, which will open up more opportunities for Rob Refsnyder, whose forte is raking against lefties. It could also mean outfield reps for Masataka Yoshida, who was limited to DH duty last year and now finds his positional status in limbo thanks to Rafael Devers’ pending transition to the bat-only role.

And then there’s the game’s top position player prospect. How soon 20-year-old Roman Anthony makes his much-anticipated debut remains to be seen, but whenever it happens, it will be a welcome “problem” for a team that is well-stocked with outfielders. Some of Anthony’s time could come in left once he reaches the majors.