Red Sox Week in Review: Vibing Toward The All-Star Break

Weekly Snapshot:
Record Last Week: 5-2 (Overall 46-45)
Runs Scored last Week: 43
Runs Surrendered Last Week: 22

Standings:
4th in the AL East
6.5 GB 1st Place
2 WCGB

Scores:
Game 86 (6/30) BOS 13, CIN 6
Game 87 (7/1) BOS 5, CIN 3
Game 88 (7/2) BOS 4, CIN 8
Game 89 (7/4) BOS 11, WSH 2
Game 90 (7/5) BOS 10, WSH 3
Game 91 (7/6) BOS 6, WSH 4

Transactions:

• 6/30/25: Red Sox optioned 1B Nick Sogard to Worcester Red Sox:
• 6/30/25: Red Sox activated RHP Jordan Hicks from the 15-day injured list.
• 6/30/25: Red Sox activated 3B Marcelo Mayer from the bereavement list.
• 7/01/25: Red Sox sent LF Masataka Yoshida on a rehab assignment to Worcester Red Sox.
• 7/02/25: Red Sox recalled RHP Cooper Criswell from Worcester Red Sox.
• 7/03/25: Red Sox optioned RHP Cooper Criswell to Worcester Red Sox.
• 7/04/25: Red Sox sent RHP Tanner Houck on a rehab assignment to Portland Sea Dogs.
• 7/04/25: Red Sox LF Masataka Yoshida on a rehab assignment to Portland Sea Dogs.
• 07/05/25: Red Sox sent RHP Hunter Dobbins on a rehab assignment to Portland Sea Dogs.

TL;DR Breakdown/Highlights

Reds Series:
Wilyer Abreu mashes, even if they don’t leave the park. He hit three home runs, including one grand slam and one inside-the-park homer in the series against the Reds. Abreu is really coming into his own this season, and this Red series may serve as his coming-out party. If he can keep his power constant throughout the rest of the season, the team may not miss Rafael Devers nearly as much as initially thought.

Errors ultimately gave away the final game of the series, as the Red Sox struggled with communication and throwing issues, allowing the Reds to stave off a sweep. What the Red Sox did incredibly well during this series, though, is keep Elly De La Cruz from making any sort of impact. He had 14 plate appearances during the series with only two singles, one run, one RBI, one walk, and three strikeouts. He hit .154 for the series, the lowest average on the Reds for those three games.

If the Red Sox can limit impactful at-bats from big-name superstars, it should bode well for them moving forward. Offensive outbursts seem to be the trend of late for the Sox, pushing them to win games even when errors and bullpen meltdowns make the margin of victory much thinner.

Nationals Series: 
Trevor Story continues his hot hitting in the Washington series, contributing four RBIs. He’s been the hottest hitter in baseball over the past week and doesn’t appear to be cooling off anytime soon. Those four are tied for second on the team with Ceddanne Rafaela, both behind Jarren Duran’s five. Speaking of Duran, he bailed out Walker Buehler with a fantastic catch in left field that should have tied the game. If Duran can turn in defensive performances like this consistently, the Red Sox would likely have to think a bit harder about potentially moving him as the trade deadline approaches. Or at least get a larger return than they could have last week.

The second big story of the series, though, is Rafaela. He took a bit of a tumble in the second game and was pulled as a precaution, but he was fantastic over the weekend. He seemed to come up in big situations and put the ball in play each time. He has seemed a lot more confident at the plate, and he confirmed that in his postgame comments on Sunday. He understandably didn’t make the All-Star team this year, but if he can keep this up, then we’re looking at a perennial All-Star on a steal of a contract.

Random Stats:

• 6/30-7/6 Slash Lines: 
  • Good weeks:
    • Trevor Story: .524/.545/.952
    • Wilyer Abreu: .313/.389/.875
    • Ceddanne Rafaela: .316/.350/.737
    • Jarren Duran: .300/.364/.650
  • Bad weeks:
    • David Hamilton: .182/.250/.182
    • Nate Eaton: .167/.167/.333
    • Rob Refsnyder: .200/.200/.400
    • Connor Wong: .250/.250/.250
• Connor Wong had a 32 wRC+ on the week and was still somehow surpassed by David Hamilton’s 20 wRC+. 
• Trevor Story posted a 318 wRC+, almost a full 100 points higher than Wilyer Abreu’s second-place 239.
• Abraham Toro’s walk rate led the team this week with 13%, while Story was once again the lowest at 4.5%.
• Roman Anthony had the second-hardest hit balls on the team with 10. He was behind, you guessed it, Trevor Story.

Website Highlights:
The Red Sox Are Trying To Build A Super-Defense. How Close Are They? By Finley Rogan

3 Underrated Draft Prospects the Red Sox Should Consider With Their First Round Pick by Billy Mock

FanGraphs’ Top 45 Red Sox Prospects List Makes Multiple Interesting Calls by Nick John

Looking Ahead:
July 7 - Rockies at Red Sox - 7:10 pm EDT
July 8 - Rockies at Red Sox - 7:10 pm EDT
July 9 - Rockies at Red Sox - 7:10 pm EDT
July 10 - Rays at Red Sox - 7:10 pm EDT
July 11 - Rays at Red Sox - 7:10 pm EDT
July 12 - Rays at Red Sox - 4:10 pm EDT