A Realistic View of the 2025 Red Sox: Part II

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

These next nine games the Red Sox will face Texas, Kansas City and Detroit: three of the AL's top four pitching staffs in ERA. 

This front office may be waiting to see how the inconsistent offense performs against consistently good arms. If Sox' batters get consistently exposed, Brez and Co. could make significant changes and call-ups on May 15, the off-day before the next 10-day homestand.

But if the front office stands pat, fans should understand that management doesn't feel the current roster is good enough to spend any more resources on bolstering in another bridge year.

They'll put the bolster in the holster until next winter...

[Randy Red Sox]

On 5/4/2025 at 9:08 AM, notin said:

I suppose it is possible that Devers was asked and expressed no interest in moving to 1b.  So Cora decided to publicly take the blame.  That’s one thing. 
 

But if Cora himself is making this call, it’s beyond highly questionable…

well if Devers is refusing a shot at 1B then he better start hitting his weight as a DH

[Randy Red Sox]

21 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

These next nine games the Red Sox will face Texas, Kansas City and Detroit: three of the AL's top four pitching staffs in ERA. 

This front office may be waiting to see how the inconsistent offense performs against consistently good arms. If Sox' batters get consistently exposed, Brez and Co. could make significant changes and call-ups on May 15, the off-day before the next 10-day homestand.

But if the front office stands pat, fans should understand that management doesn't feel the current roster is good enough to spend any more resources on bolstering in another bridge year.

They'll put the bolster in the holster until next winter...

We've never heard that last line have we???  And when Bregman opts out ??

[moonslav59]

Maybe the importance of keeping Devers healthy and playing 155+ games is Cora's top priority in the "Who plays 1B" dilema. I can understand the reasoning, and playing 1B is not as easy as some may think it is, and the injury risk is elevated over being a FT DH.

That being said, I agree with Kimi. It makes the most sense for Devers to play 1B, feel like he is again part of the whole game, and open up the DH slot for a rotation, of sorts or to give Yoshida one last long look. (I'd prefer calling up the kids and using the DH slot as a way to make room for them in the field, enough to warrant their call-ups.

Letting, Bregman, Story, Abreu, Duran, Campbell, Mayer, Anthony and Refsnyder share the DH slot could keep others fresh and less likely to get hurt, instead of Devers. (No Yoshida involved, in this case.)

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, Randy Red Sox said:

well if Devers is refusing a shot at 1B then he better start hitting his weight as a DH

He has started.

1.241 last 9 games (44 PAs)

.959 last 17 games (80 PAs)

.914 last 31 games (142 PAs)

How much you think he weighs?

OK, his BA is .291 over 31 games, and he must weigh 300 pounds.

[Nick]

Cubs put up 9 on SF.

See u don't have to worry about Whitlock when Anthony is pounding at the plate. He has more barrel than any other player.

[moonslav59]

D Williams got racked, again, as the Yanks lost to SDP.

[Nick]

MassLive Headline Today.

"The best Minor League Hitter I've Ever Seen." says a vetern that played with him at AAA.

Apparently everyone else is stupid.

[notin]

13 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Maybe the importance of keeping Devers healthy and playing 155+ games is Cora's top priority in the "Who plays 1B" dilema. I can understand the reasoning, and playing 1B is not as easy as some may think it is, and the injury risk is elevated over being a FT DH.

That being said, I agree with Kimi. It makes the most sense for Devers to play 1B, feel like he is again part of the whole game, and open up the DH slot for a rotation, of sorts or to give Yoshida one last long look. (I'd prefer calling up the kids and using the DH slot as a way to make room for them in the field, enough to warrant their call-ups.

Letting, Bregman, Story, Abreu, Duran, Campbell, Mayer, Anthony and Refsnyder share the DH slot could keep others fresh and less likely to get hurt, instead of Devers. (No Yoshida involved, in this case.)

Is the injury risk greater at 1b than 3b?  I have no idea.

The biggest risk at both is runners.  At 1b, they step on your foot or run into you.  At third they often slide into you with spikes up, albeit less often.

Sure DH is less.  But in 2-3 weeks, there’s a good chance a Toro/Gonzalez platoon fails to dazzle, to put it mildly.

Having all those players rotate in and out of DH to stay fresh is no different than platooning utility players at 1b.  Plus it ignores the real reason Cora “rests” players - to give the bench players occasional action instead of letting them atrophy on the pine.

DH is a position.  Fill it properly.  It’s not for days off for starters any more than the closer role should be for resting starting pitchers…

[notin]

13 hours ago, Nick said:

Cubs put up 9 on SF.

See u don't have to worry about Whitlock when Anthony is pounding at the plate. He has more barrel than any other player.

That game was made by PCA, whose speed and base running  induced multiple Giant infielders into committing errors…

[Nick]

10 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

D Williams got racked, again, as the Yanks lost to SDP.

He's been rocked for 3 runs in 4 out of 14 appearances. Meet Whitlock's cousin.

[moonslav59]

45 minutes ago, notin said:

IDH is a position.  Fill it properly.  It’s not for days off for starters any more than the closer role should be for resting starting pitchers…

I see this as a one season option, and I agree on your premise.

 

[moonslav59]

46 minutes ago, notin said:

Is the injury risk greater at 1b than 3b?  I have no idea.

Maybe, slightly.

This need not be permanent. It's a one year fix to the Casas injury and lack of 1B depth issue, at hand, now. The significant advantage, IMO, is that it also addresses the blocked prospect conundrum. I think there is a really good chance that either Anthony or Mayer can give this team an enormous shot in the arm- maybe both.

Calling up Anthony can be done without moving Devers to 1B, but the DH slot does make batting Refsnyder vs LHPs easier with Rafaela platooning with Abreu- not Ref. The Mayer blockage is more problematic, and this could solve it by playing a current infielder at 1B, a lot.

[moonslav59]

24 minutes ago, Nick said:

He's been rocked for 3 runs in 4 out of 14 appearances. Meet Whitlock's cousin.

He's also allowed 1 run, twice. That 1+ runs in 6 of 14 games.

[Maxbialystock]

14 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Maybe the importance of keeping Devers healthy and playing 155+ games is Cora's top priority in the "Who plays 1B" dilema. I can understand the reasoning, and playing 1B is not as easy as some may think it is, and the injury risk is elevated over being a FT DH.

That being said, I agree with Kimi. It makes the most sense for Devers to play 1B, feel like he is again part of the whole game, and open up the DH slot for a rotation, of sorts or to give Yoshida one last long look. (I'd prefer calling up the kids and using the DH slot as a way to make room for them in the field, enough to warrant their call-ups.

Letting, Bregman, Story, Abreu, Duran, Campbell, Mayer, Anthony and Refsnyder share the DH slot could keep others fresh and less likely to get hurt, instead of Devers. (No Yoshida involved, in this case.)

Thoughtful, as always. 

I love the title of the latest Alex Mayes offering--"The Red Sox are as good as they are bad"--because it's hard for me to give up on them.  

The hitting is above average and the pitching below average.  Mayes points out that the Sox are tied for the most quality starts (6 or more innings, 3 or fewer ER's) in MLB with 16, but have won just 18 games.  

I see Casas' injury as an opportunity, and I think Rafaela needs to become a handy-dandy backup CF/SS. 

I see little value in moving Devers to 1b.  He won't do it well, and he will have greater risk of injury than as DH.  Campbell or even Grissom would be a better choice.  If Campbell goes to 1b, Story goes to 2b, and Mayer takes over at SS.  And Mark Anthony replaces Rafaela in the outfield.  

However, I am absolutely clueless on how to fix the bullpen, which is far and away the biggest problem.  If the bullpen is deemed unfixable, I can understand management's reluctance to make bold changes/bring-ups to the lineup.  

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Maxbialystock said:

I see little value in moving Devers to 1b.  He won't do it well, and he will have greater risk of injury than as DH.  Campbell or even Grissom would be a better choice.  If Campbell goes to 1b, Story goes to 2b, and Mayer takes over at SS.  And Mark Anthony replaces Rafaela in the outfield.   

I do see "value" in moving Devers to 1B, as it may help him feel like he is more part of the whole game, but more importantly, to help find ways to rotate the DH slot in ways that make calling up Mayer and/or Anthony more feasible.

I am leaning towards the idea of just using a current infielder at 1B, after some practice, and then calling up Mayer to play FT infield. We can get Anthony playing FT without the DH slot being opened for OF rotations- just make Rafaela the uber-utility guy or platoon him- not REF with Abreu.

I think calling up one or both kids could be a big boost.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Maxbialystock said:

 I am absolutely clueless on how to fix the bullpen, which is far and away the biggest problem.  If the bullpen is deemed unfixable, I can understand management's reluctance to make bold changes/bring-ups to the lineup.  

There is no easy in house solution, except to trial and error it, until we hopefully find a guy who is about to have a good year. I hope we don't cycle through 6-7 bad arms to find a good one. It might be too late, by then.

Our best bet, IMO, is to convert SP'ers to the pen, as some come off the IL and put the squeeze on the 5 man rotation. We keep moving them to AAA to keep their arms stretched out as starters, but maybe we need to just pick 1 or 2 and just make them pen arms for the rest of 2025.

One difficult aspect is that Criswell seems to only do well as a starter, although the sample sizes may be too small to be a predictor of the future. He is not our 5th best SP'er, even with 2-3 guys on the IL. I also like Fitts as a SP'er- not a long man. I'm not sure Dobbins would thrive in the pen. Would Gio get pissed, if we "demoted" him to the pen. (He hasn't looked that bad in his starts, so far.) I think we need to see Crawford as a pen arm, if he ever returns.

The must starters are Crochet, Buehler and Bello, IMO. Houck gets a longer leash as a starter. That's 4. Gio looks like the 5, unless we go with Fitts, when healthy. That leaves these guys as possible pen additions, at some point:

Crawford

Fitts or Gio

Dobbins

Sandoval (AUG or SEP?)

Drohan (not on 40)

Stock?

AAA pen arms:

Guerrero, Wink & Kelly

Burdi, I Campbell, Mata & Cellucci (not on 40)

Sandlin, Early, Y Cruz, Mullins, J Adames, W MIlls, A Adams (long shots)

[Nick]

12 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

1 hour ago, Maxbialystock said:

I see little value in moving Devers to 1b.  He won't do it well, and he will have greater risk of injury than as DH.  Campbell or even Grissom would be a better choice.  If Campbell goes to 1b, Story goes to 2b, and Mayer takes over at SS.  And Mark Anthony replaces Rafaela in the outfield.   

I do see "value" in moving Devers to 1B, as it may help him feel like he is more part of the whole game, but more importantly, to help find ways to rotate the DH slot in ways that make calling up Mayer and/or Anthony more feasible.

I am leaning towards the idea of just using a current infielder at 1B, after some practice, and then calling up Mayer to play FT infield. We can get Anthony playing FT without the DH slot being opened for OF rotations- just make Rafaela the uber-utility guy or platoon him- not REF with Abreu.

I think calling up one or both kids could be a big boost.

What do we lose by moving both players up? Let's not go through this mental midget progression. No, neighter Anthony nor Mayer will go into a deep funk if they failed first time out. (Replying to Moon)

[Bellhorn04]

1 minute ago, Nick said:

What do we lose by moving both players up? Let's not go through this mental midget progression. No, neighter Anthony nor Mayer will go into a deep funk if they failed first time out. (Replying to Moon)

If they fail, it might not hurt the players long-term - OTOH it doesn't help the team short-term.

The front office might be leery of putting pressure on these guys by bringing them into a situation where the team is scuffling and fans are clamoring for a fix.

That said I'm sure the front office is giving it a lot of consideration to it.     

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, Nick said:

What do we lose by moving both players up? Let's not go through this mental midget progression. No, neighter Anthony nor Mayer will go into a deep funk if they failed first time out. (Replying to Moon)

I'm fully in favor of calling up both Mayer and Anthony. Anthony should be up, yesterday.

I'm not pissed and Brez-Cora for it not happening the second I want it to, but I full believe the chances one or both give us a big boost are too high to wait much longer.

I do see a loss on D by benching or platooning him, so Anthony can play FT, but Anthony is not a bad LF'er, and I think Duran is a plus in CF, even if not in Rafaela's class of greatness on D. The possible significant boos on offense is just too great to wait.

The Mayer call-up is more complex and problematic, unless a current infielder moves to 1B or Devers plays 1B, and the DH slot could be used to rotate all infielders plus Refsnyder at DH, thereby allowing Mayer, Story, Bregman and Campbell a FT or near FT slot.

These two seem ML ready, to me, so they are due their chance- now or later, so why not now?

If the idea is to move a current infielder to 1B, we can wait to call up Mayer, until that player is ready to play 1B. Call up Anthony, today.

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

If they fail, it might not hurt the players long-term - OTOH it doesn't help the team short-term.

The front office might be leery of putting pressure on these guys by bringing them into a situation where the team is scuffling and fans are clamoring for a fix.

That said I'm sure the front office is giving it a lot of consideration to it.     

If Anthony bats .650, we lose nothing on O, but could lose on D. We don't need to bench Refsnyder v LHPs, when we call-up Roman, so that O may not be lost, unless Cora plays Raf over Ref.

Mayer's role would be more complex. I doubt we call him up to replace Story, Bregman or Campbell, so who is he he replacing in the line-up? If it's the 1B combo of Romy, Wong and ____, then I see a chance for improved offense, except maybe vs LHPs, where Romy seems to have become the next Refsnyder.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Nine days. 

Beginning today, the Red Sox play nine games vs. the toughest pitching in the league, including three against the best team in the AL.

If Boston limps through a say, 3-6 road trip, the Sox line-up in their May homecoming will look unlike anything fans have speculated (except, of course, talksox whackjobs).

And we'll all be excited...

[moonslav59]

I often think I get a good feel for the team by May, although surprises have often occurred, later in the seasons. I can't really get a reading on this club. I wonder if it's because I just don't want to let go of my preseason optimism or I've been more distracted this past few months, than ever before.

I don't want to bring anyone down or unleash anyone's need to express sympathy to me, but I lost both my parents in the last 6 months. I'm in Maine, now, for my 97 year old father's funeral and memorial service. When people say, you never know what it's like until it happens to you, they were right. Nobody does or can prepare you for this.

[moonslav59]

MLBTR had this on a some Sox pitcher club options coming up this winter:

 

Buehler: An ace-caliber pitcher early in his career, Buehler hasn’t looked the same since undergoing the second Tommy John surgery of his career in August 2022. His stint in Boston has gotten out to a shaky start. While his 4.28 ERA through 33 2/3 innings is serviceable, he’s striking out just 20.7% of opponents while averaging a personal-low 93.5 MPH on his fastball. Shoulder inflammation sent him to the injured list last week. The mutual option was always an accounting measure designed to push the $3MM buyout to the end of the year rather than disbursing it throughout the season as salary. The team seems likelier to decline its end than the pitcher does.

 

Giolito: By exercising his player option, Giolito unlocked a 2026 option for the team. It’s valued at $14MM and comes with a $1.5MM buyout. If Giolito pitches 140 innings this year, it’d convert to a $19MM mutual option (still with the $1.5MM buyout). That’d give him a chance to test free agency if he wants. Giolito has an uphill battle to 140 frames. A hamstring strain cost him the first month of the season. He finally made his team debut last week, working six innings of three-run ball with seven strikeouts in a no-decision against Toronto. The Rangers tagged him for six runs on 10 hits in just 3 2/3 frames tonight.

 

Hendriks: The Red Sox added Hendriks on a two-year, $10MM deal over the 2023-24 offseason. They knew they wouldn’t get much in year one, as Hendriks had undergone Tommy John surgery the prior August. He attempted to make a late-season return last year but was shut down after a minor flare-up of elbow discomfort. Elbow inflammation shelved him for a couple weeks to begin this season, though he made his team debut in mid-April. Hendriks allowed two runs on three hits in one inning during his first appearance. He has rattled off five straight scoreless outings since then, albeit with four walks in five frames. His 95 MPH average fastball is solid but below the 97-98 range at which he sat during his elite seasons with the White Sox.

Also, Duran's arbitration deal contains a ’26 club option with an $8MM base salary. He’d remain eligible for arbitration if the Sox decline the option.

[Hitch]

19 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

 

I don't want to bring anyone down or unleash anyone's need to express sympathy to me, but I lost both my parents in the last 6 months. I'm in Maine, now, for my 97 year old father's funeral and memorial service. When people say, you never know what it's like until it happens to you, they were right. Nobody does or can prepare you for this.

Sorry to hear about this Moon, that's terrible. I hope you and the family are doing okay, all things considered. 

[moonslav59]

Just now, Hitch said:

Sorry to hear about this Moon, that's terrible. I hope you and the family are doing okay, all things considered. 

Thanks, my whole family, all 5 sisters and I, made to his side in time.

[moonslav59]

We are about 3 games short of the quarter mark of the season. Being under .500 is a big bummer, especially when you consider we have yet to play the 3 best AL teams by record: NYY, DET & SEA.

There is still a lot of time left, but we can't afford to keep falling backwards.

Fangraphs has us ranked...

9th in Pitching (6th RP while 18th in relief IP/16th SP)

9th in Offense

4th in Defense, although 16th and 15th in DRS & OAA

3rd in baserunning (3rd in SB with less CS than #1 and #2)

With numbers like these, we should be at least 20-17.

[vegasbob]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

I often think I get a good feel for the team by May, although surprises have often occurred, later in the seasons. I can't really get a reading on this club. I wonder if it's because I just don't want to let go of my preseason optimism or I've been more distracted this past few months, than ever before.

I don't want to bring anyone down or unleash anyone's need to express sympathy to me, but I lost both my parents in the last 6 months. I'm in Maine, now, for my 97 year old father's funeral and memorial service. When people say, you never know what it's like until it happens to you, they were right. Nobody does or can prepare you for this.

Sorry for you and family that the trip to Maine marks the end of an era for you.   Death is a shame when it happens to others but a tragedy when it happens  within your own family .

Happy for you that you arrived timely.  Always try to see people when they are still living, not after they are gone.  

[harmony]

42 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

We are about 3 games short of the quarter mark of the season. Being under .500 is a big bummer, especially when you consider we have yet to play the 3 best AL teams by record: NYY, DET & SEA.

This year the Red Sox have played the Seattle Mariners three times, going 1-2 at Fenway Park in April.

This poster looks forward to seeing the Red Sox in Seattle on June 18 and in San Francisco on June 22.

[moonslav59]

55 minutes ago, harmony said:

This year the Red Sox have played the Seattle Mariners three times, going 1-2 at Fenway Park in April.

This poster looks forward to seeing the Red Sox in Seattle on June 18 and in San Francisco on June 22.

When I wrote that, it didn't feel right.

Thanks for the correction.

So, SEA is one reason we are one game under.