Rafael Devers Is Gone, But The Red Sox Have A Bright Present And Future

While the Rafael Devers trade has dominated the headlines, lost in all the noise is that the Boston Red Sox have been playing fantastic baseball. This team has clawed their way back from below mediocrity to take five of six games from the AL East-leading Yankees, took the series against the Tampa Bay Rays, are experiencing a stellar run of starting pitching, and have a bullpen that looks settled and is anchored by a closer having a career resurgence, all while Carlos Narvaez is making us forget about Kyle Teel andthe entire Big Three plays together in the majors. There’s a lot to be happy about as a fan of the Red Sox right now if you take a breath to pause from the media chaos. Let’s take a look at each aspect and break down why it paints a crystal-clear picture for the future of the franchise.

Big Series Wins Against Good Teams

It seemed most fans and analysts had penciled in the Red Sox to lose the first series against the Yankees in New York. After a loss in the first game, it seemed like that could come to fruition. Then, Garrett Crochet turned in his worst outing of the season, but the offense picked him up and the bullpen limited the damage. The Red Sox looked like they were hungry for a win. Then, on Sunday Night Baseball, the Sox got after Carlos Rodon in a way that hadn’t really happened all season and took the series. They turned their attention to the Rays and the momentum continued to build as they took two of three from a team leading them in the standings. The Yankees came to Fenway Park on Friday, June 13 hoping to overpower the Red Sox in their home ballpark. The Red Sox responded by sweeping the Yankees with contributions from all over the roster. Carlos Narvaez walked the game off on Friday night, Trevor Story and Romy Gonzalez knocked in RBIs to extend the lead early in the Saturday game, and the team proved Sunday they could win a game with less than three runs scored. 

The Starting Pitching Has Been Lights Out, literally

Just looking at the Yankees home series, the Red Sox starters threw 21 1/3 innings, giving up seven hits, one earned run, five walks, and 20 strikeouts. Going back further to the last full turn through the rotation, Lucas Giolito went six innings pitched with zero earned runs, Walker Buehler went seven innings pitched with three earned runs, Garrett Crochet went eight and-a-third innings pitched with one earned run, Hunter Dobbins went six innings pitchers with zero earned runs, and Brayan Bello went seven shutout innings! Most recently, Giolito went six shutout innings against the Mariners. That's four earned runs in six starts. What more could you want from your rotation?

I’d like to focus on Bello for just a second though, as he’s been cited as the most disappointing starter in the rotation. He faced a Yankees team trying to avoid a sweep that included a visibly frustrated Aaron Judge, who just had back-to-back down series against the Red Sox. Bello tossed seven innings, allowed three hits, three walks, and eight strikeouts. When Judge came up to the plate, Bello threw him pitches that didn’t sniff the zone and Judge chased each of them for swinging strikes. The moment never got too big for him, even when he was only clinging onto a one-run lead for five innings. 

The Bullpen Looks Good and Aroldis Chapman Seems Reinvented

During the losing skid, the bullpen was overworked and tired. They looked listless each time they jogged from the pen to the mound. Now, though? They look rejuvenated and have been playing like a brand new group. Garrett Whitlock has been nails, Greg Weissert has worked himself into some jams and then pitched his way out, and Justin Wilson has been better than advertised. The shining star, though, is quite obviously Aroldis Chapman. He’s having a career year right now with the Red Sox, as hard as that may be to believe. He’s thrown 30 innings, sports a 1.50 ERA and 0.833 WHIP with 13 saves, a 36.5% strikeout rate, and a 7.8% walk rate. When he was brought in during the offseason, many fans, myself included, rolled their eyes and assumed he was just going to be the same pitcher he had been throughout the last few seasons as he bounced around from team to team. Coming to Boston seems to have allowed him to shift into a new gear and become the elite closer we knew him to be during his tenure with the Reds and Yankees. 

Carlos Narvaez Is An Absolute Stud On Offense and Defense

The trade for Carlos Narvaez barely caused a blip on most people’s radars, but it proves that Craig Breslow has his good days too. He swapped a prospect in Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz that had upside for a catcher that I’d wager most Yankees fans had barely heard about. We assumed he could function as a backup catcher behind Connor Wong, potentially serving as a bridge to the team's next great catcher after losing Kyle Teel in the Crochet trade. Well, Wong’s season never got going — he got hurt, and has been a shell of himself since returning. All Narvaez has done is step into the spotlight and shine. He’s currently slashing .282/.366/.457 with six home runs, including walking off his former team to secure the victory on Friday, June 13. On defense, he's been just as brilliant. Just look at the catching stats from his Baseball Savant page. If Cal Raleigh wasn’t having the incredible season he’s having in Seattle, Narvaez is likely the starting catcher for the AL All-Star team come July.

The Big Three Is Here and They Shouldn’t Be Going Anywhere

It’s been a bit of a slow start for Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kristian Campbell. That’s okay, though. They are rookies, and we should be celebrating that The Big Three are together once again. Is it just a coincidence that once Roman Anthony joined the club, Marcelo Mayer found his power stroke? Or that Kristian Campbell’s swings started to look like they did when he was lighting the world on fire to start the season? I don’t think so. Having the band back together gives each guy a valuable support group to lean on. These guys are friends on and off the field, and having them together with the big league club, along with Narvaez, really helps showcase just how bright the future is in Boston. Give the kids some time to learn and contribute when they can, because they’ll reward you with outstanding production as they get their feet under them as the season carries on. 

I know it’s tough for some people to be a fan right now and that’s okay. What should help is that this team, your team, is playing fantastic baseball and seems primed to continue to make a run at a playoff spot. As hard as it may be to see, there’s a plan in place, and it’s going to be interesting to see what happens between right now and the trade deadline, but this team still deserve praise for the run its gone on in recent weeks. There's 26 men on this roster, and they all want to win. It’s always darkest before the dawn, and I think I can see the sun starting to break the horizon off in the distance.