Article: Three Red Sox Players Shouldering the Most Pressure in the Wild Card Round

[Alex Mayes]

The Boston Red Sox will square off against the New York Yankees in the first round of the Wild Card round on Tuesday, September 30. The rivalry has been tilted in the Red Sox’s favor for much of the 2025 season, and undoubtedly, the team hopes for that to continue in the first two games in Yankee Stadium. To make that dream become a reality, though, there are going to have to be a number of players who will step up into the pressure of the biggest games of their careers. Let’s take a look at three names that will carry the biggest burdens as the Red Sox fight for their playoff lives.

#3: Garrett Crochet

Let’s get the most obvious name out of the way first. Crochet was brought in and extended to be the guy in the rotation. He’s the person that is trusted to take the ball and hurl near perfection on Tuesday night. It will be the biggest start of his young career, and one he hopes will further define who he is as a starter. On the season, Crochet ran an incredible 2.59 ERA with a 31.3% strikeout rate. He’s a hoss, plain and simple. For the Red Sox to be put in the best position to win on Tuesday night, Crochet has to be the very best version of himself. Ideally, he needs to go six-plus innings with double-digit strikeouts. Walking hitters hasn’t been much of an issue for Crochet—he was good for a 5.7% walk rate on the season. His biggest weakness, especially in September, has been the long ball. Crochet is going to have to limit the hard contact as the Yankees are sure to take aim at the short porch in right field to try and chase him off the mound early in the game.

#2: Justin Slaten

It may seem odd to heap so much pressure onto a reliever that returned from injury just a few weeks ago, but Justin Slaten is behind Garrett Whitlock in terms of right-handed relievers who should be trusted in a best-of-three series. Sure, Greg Weissert is on the roster and has a track record of success earlier in the season, but he’s been out of gas since the All-Star break. Slaten will be handed the ball when the heart of the Yankees’ batting order is stepping up to the plate in the middle innings, and he has to be the guy to get them out. He’s going to have to tap into the velocity on his fastball to get it to touch 97+ mph, then let it play off of a devastating curveball that should be used as his strikeout pitch for the next two games. When his curveball is on, it’s one of the filthiest pitches in baseball. He’s going to need to execute and hit his spots with each pitch as he stares down Aaron Judge and company as he bridges from the starter to Whitlock, setting up Aroldis Chapman to come in and shut the door against his former team.

#1: Jarren Duran

The 2025 Red Sox seem to go as Jarren Duran goes. When he’s hot, the team is clicking on all cylinders. When he’s cold, they struggle to put runs on the board. Duran had seen an uptick in his performance once Roman Anthony secured the leadoff spot in the lineup, but Anthony’s quad injury necessitated Duran being moved back into that spot. Since then, it’s been a mixed bag for the speedy lefty. Hitting Duran leadoff serves a major purpose though, seeing as he’s dangerous on the basepaths. We’ve seen him regularly turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples. He’s putting himself in scoring position whenever he gets on base, even if he didn’t swipe the same number of bags that he did last season.

Now, it is worth noting that there have been times where he’s been as close to an automatic out as you can get with runners on because he’s hunting for the big swing. Putting bat to ball and focusing on contact is going to be his best bet to be a hero in the postseason. The big swings will come, but chasing unhittable pitches while swinging out of his shoes isn’t going to put the team in a position to win. He needs to get on base and use his speed to make sure he’s constantly in position to score.

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None of this is to say that there are people on the roster without pressure. Outside of Trevor Story and Alex Bregman, this team is full of young guns with absolutely zero playoff experience. Sure, Duran was on the roster in '21, but he wasn’t a regular contributor. There is a ton of pressure on everyone to keep this season alive, but these three names can carry the team to success. If Crochet continues being the War Pig and shutting down opposing lineups, Slaten bridges the starter to the back end of the bullpen without a hiccup, and Duran wreaks havoc on the basepaths, the Red Sox will likely be looking at a date with the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Division Series.

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[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

I like this concept, just ambivalent about the guys. Crochet, of course, is #1.

Slaten, too, will be one of the main righties -- along with Whitlock -- tasked with trying to get Judge and Stanton out.

Duran? He's just not a good leadoff man this year, with a .214 batting average and 34% K-rate leading off games, and .202, 30% leading off any inning. 

Duran is also a .211 batter with a .600 OPS vs. left-handers -- which the Yanks will start in Gm 1 and 2.

However, Duran has had a good year coming through with guys on base, batting .313 with .878 OPS with runners in scoring position (171 PA), and .308/.906 with men on (269 PA). Bat him somewhere in the middle of the order, after Romy, Story, Bregman, Yoshi and Ceddanne... 

 

[Nick John]

3 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

I like this concept, just ambivalent about the guys. Crochet, of course, is #1.

Slaten, too, will be one of the main righties -- along with Whitlock -- tasked with trying to get Judge and Stanton out.

Duran? He's just not a good leadoff man this year, with a .214 batting average and 34% K-rate leading off games, and .202, 30% leading off any inning. 

Duran is also a .211 batter with a .600 OPS vs. left-handers -- which the Yanks will start in Gm 1 and 2.

However, Duran has had a good year coming through with guys on base, batting .313 with .878 OPS with runners in scoring position (171 PA), and .308/.906 with men on (269 PA). Bat him somewhere in the middle of the order, after Romy, Story, Bregman, Yoshi and Ceddanne... 

 

I think you'll see Cora load the top of the lineup with righties. Probably lead off with Romy in games 1 and 2

[moonslav59]

One good thing about our top RHP set up guys is that the get lefties out.

Career OPS AGainst splits:

Slaten: .542 v L/ .606 v R

Whitlock: .648 v L/ .668 v R

Having 3 LH's RP'ers is nice, too: Chapman, Matz & Wilson (Early, Murphy & Tolle, too)

 

[moonslav59]

I think the pressure is on Bregman, and he will come through.