Alex Mayes

Designated hitter is arguably the most convoluted position in the Boston Red Sox’s lineup as we head into the 2026 season. That spot seems like it is primed to help the team kick the can down the road even further while they try to figure out how to knock loose the outfield logjam. Now, having too many major-league-caliber offensive players on one roster is hardly a negative thing, but Alex Cora is going to have to get creative very early on this season if the goal is to get regular at-bats for everyone currently labeled as an outfielder on the 26-man roster. Let’s dive into the position that may make or break the lineup this season. Red Sox Designated Hitter At A Glance Starter: Jarren Duran Backup: Masataka Yoshida Depth: Roman Anthony, Willson Contreras, Triston Casas Red Sox fWAR Ranking Last Year: 7th out of 30 Red Sox fWAR Projection This Year: 13th out of 30 The Good That’s a lot of potential power across the board for the designated hitter position. Both Duran and Yoshida have had standout performances during the World Baseball Classic, and Duran was on fire early in spring training, even against left-handed pitchers like Chris Sale. If Duran has found his power stroke again, and early returns indicate that he has, he should serve as the primary DH for the Red Sox moving forward. Anthony will see some time there on occasion because Duran needs to play the field from time to time as well, but those breathers should be few and far between as Anthony should be seeing regular time in left field as long as he’s healthy. Contreras will get the lion’s share of reps at first base but will need the occasional day off from the field as well, so look for him to rotate into the DH role too. What does that mean for Yoshida, though? Your guess is as good as mine. There has been at least rumored interest in him during the offseason and his strong showing at the WBC may give some teams the confidence to take on part of his salary to add him to their lineup, but that’s not a given. If healthy, and he clearly seems to be, he’s going to be an incredibly expensive bench piece. That’s a waste of his talent and team resources. The smart play here is to cut bait and eat the bulk of the rest of Yoshida's contract to send him somewhere he can get regular reps. The unknown here is Casas. We’re likely not going to see him until mid-to-late April at the earliest since he’s not going to get into any Grapefruit League games. Casas has 30-home run potential, but we’ve yet to see a fully healthy season out of him. If he bounces back from his knee injury as expected, he’s going to be pushing for a spot on the major-league roster sooner or later. While that’s an exciting thought for this season, it creates far more questions surrounding the current construction of the lineup. The Bad Essentially, take every good outcome listed above and reverse it. That’s the potential downside of having an open-door DH policy. Duran could struggle against left-handed pitching again while failing to provide much of a spark against righties. Anthony could hit his sophomore slump early in the season and take time to recover as the league adjusts to him. Contreras may not live up to the hype as a dominant pull-side hitter at Fenway. Yoshida could continue to struggle during the regular season. Casas might be slapped with the injury-prone label as he fails to return to form after two devastating injuries the past two years. It would be a catastrophe for the Red Sox, but let’s not pretend like the team is immune from those. Expecting all of that to happen during the same season, at the same time, feels farfetched right now. Should one or two of them come to pass, though? Then the front office will be on the ropes. The Bottom Line The Red Sox are in a very good place when it comes to the talent that will be cycling through the designated hitter position in 2026. Is there a true big-bat thumper in the group? That’s unlikely, but with how players have been performing in spring training and the WBC, it looks like there could be 20+ home run potential from each of the names listed above. That’s huge, especially for a team that lacks power on paper. The Red Sox have spent the offseason building, potentially, the best starting rotation in baseball. Alex Cora and Craig Breslow have even made comments about having to win low-scoring games with their defense. While that’s certainly on the table, it'd be nice if the offense can slug its way to a few wins as well. View full article

Andruw Monasterio may have been a relatively unknown quantity that came over in the trade that brought Caleb Durbin to Boston, but his spring training performance has thrust him into the Opening Day roster conversation. He has quickly established himself as a go-to option for Alex Cora and that should bode well for him as we get closer and closer to the start of the regular season. Offensively, Monasterio has been better than anyone imagined. Through his first eight games, he’s slashing .389/.522/.611 with one home run and two steals. Dive a bit deeper, and you'll come across a 194 wRC+ and a walk rate (17.4%) that's quadruple his strikeout rate (4.3%). He’s been incredibly dependable at the plate when he’s in games and has handled left-handed pitchers with ease. It’s that last fact that makes his presence on the Opening Day roster likelier right now, as Romy Gonzalez is still dealing with a shoulder injury that may require surgery. If Gonzalez misses significant time, and that is looking more and more likely as time goes on, the team will need someone to platoon across the infield who can handle multiple roles in the infield. Monasterio is making his case on the defensive side of the ball as well. He has made multiple appearances at first, short, and third. He’s widely been believed to pencil in as Marcelo Mayer’s platoon partner at second base this season, but he’s yet to see time there during Grapefruit League. We’re hedging our bets here a bit, but his work at first base is what makes him far more likely to make the Opening Day roster than anything else right now. Alex Cora is giving him some runway to prove himself across the infield, but being able to slot in behind Willson Contreras as a capable defender at first while providing speed on the base paths late in games is going to be crucial for the success of this team. It’s looking like the team will be without Triston Casas through at least part of April, so there needs to be someone on the roster who can cover first base. Gonzalez was a passable, if unimpressive, first baseman last season, but Monasterio has the potential to be better than that. He’s only logged 36 1/3 regular season innings at the cold corner, but the early returns are promising. He’s committed no errors and turned five double plays at the position. He’s spent the bulk of his professional career at third (671 innings), second (398 1/3 innings), and shortstop (236 innings). Adding regular playing time at first will make him even more valuable as Cora puts daily lineups together. If and when Gonzalez gets healthy this season, there will be some difficult conversations that will have to be had in regards to playing time. Monasterio has minor league options remaining, as does Gonzalez, but Isiah Kiner-Falefa was signed for $6 million this season, which all but guarantees he’s going to stick on the roster as long as he’s healthy too. Having too many capable infield platoon options isn’t a bad problem at all, but it’s going to be tough to choose between a returning Gonzalez and a potentially even more adaptable Monasterio at some point this season. Craig Breslow has proven to be a shrewd president of baseball operations when it comes to swinging trades that improve the organization as a whole. If Andruw Monasterio continues to be impactful on both sides of the baseball, he could go down as the best sleeper addition that Breslow has made during his tenure in Boston. View full article

It wouldn’t be a Red Sox spring training without a competition for second base. Last year, Kristian Campbell ultimately won out and made the Opening Day roster but failed to make a lasting impact during the 2025 season. This year though, it’s different. We have a general idea of who will be in the infield, just not where they will play. Obviously, Trevor Story will man shortstop, and Willson Contreras will be the starting first baseman on Opening Day, but that leaves two other positions with question marks as to who will be playing them in just about three weeks from now. Marcelo Mayer and Caleb Durbin both feature the positional versatility to swap between second and third base but, as we saw with Campbell last season, shuffling young players between positions constantly will likely have a far more negative impact on their seasons than having them stick at one position. Expect to see the team lean into this mentality when it comes to both Mayer and Durbin as spring training continues. Which player needs to be at which position though? Let’s see if we can figure out the path Craig Breslow and Alex Cora may take for Opening Day. After the team traded for Durbin, the initial belief was that he would slot into the lineup as the second baseman. The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey also reported that the team preferred for Mayer to remain at third after he showed he would be able to play better than good defense at the hot corner after he was called up to the big-league roster in 2025 in the wake of Alex Bregman’s quad injury. Now though? Durbin hasn’t sniffed an inning at second while Mayer has been at the keystone during both spring training starts. On the surface, this positioning makes a lot of sense. Durbin took over the starting third base job for the Brewers after only 10 games at second in 2025. He played second for the majority of his minor league career, but the team was confident that he’d be able to shift to his right and continue to play high level defense at the hot corner. They ended up being correct, but things started off pretty rocky for Durbin after the switch. He settled down after a time though and became a good enough defender to go alongside his solid offensive production that he came in third in the National League Rookie of the Year voting. Keeping him in the position that he’s most recently played at the big-league level makes sense, especially during spring training. He’s spent the majority of the offseason preparing as a third baseman with the Brewers, remember he was only traded to Boston on February 9, so shifting him back to second could stall or delay his ramp up to full time playing this spring. Shifting our attention to Mayer, we see a young former top-prospect who is looking to prove to the organization that drafted him so high that he was worth the investment. Playing regularly at second base will give him that opportunity. Mayer has oft been injured since being drafted in 2021, but he’s added weight that the team believes will help keep him healthy moving forward. In addition to the added weight, moving him from third to second should also help to keep him on the field for much of 2026. Mayer is a capable third basemen, he proved as much last season, but moving him to second helps in a number of ways. First, his arm strength leaves a bit to be desired. In 2025, it graded out in the 26th percentile. That’s iffy from across the diamond at third, but more than passable for second and eventually shortstop where he is expected to end up once Story departs the organization. Second, Mayer will likely be used in a platoon role for much of the 2026 season as Cora looks to protect the young, potential superstar, from overpowering left-handed pitchers. He was expected to platoon with Romy Gonzalez, but a shoulder injury has put Romy on the shelf for the foreseeable future. Now, expect to see Mayer work in a platoon with Andruw Monasterio, another piece of the trade that brought Durbin to Boston, at second. Letting Mayer get time at second will help him once he shifts to shortstop as well, because he will better understand the angles he will need to take to make whoever is manning the keystone more successful in double play opportunities. There could certainly be a position switch between Caleb Durbin and Marcelo Mayer as spring training continues to unwind, but it seems that Alex Cora is leaning in the direction of having Durbin at third and Mayer at second. This likely presents the best possible combination of players to make Boston’s infield defense the strongest it can be but having two players who can flip flop positions when necessary isn’t a bad thing either. If Mayer and Durbin can keep upping their defensive game, expect this infield to be one of the best defensive infields in the league in 2026. View full article

Spring training is going to look quite a bit different for the Boston Red Sox for the next two weeks, as multiple players have departed to participate for their respective countries in the World Baseball Classic. What that does, though, is give us fans an opportunity to watch some of the less heralded players in the organization. Once teams have been eliminated from the WBC, we’ll see more familiar names start to pop up here. but it will be interesting to see which players are making a case for themselves to be in the Opening Day roster conversation based on these next two weeks. Who’s Hot for Red Sox? Braiden Ward: Ward has been not so quietly making a case for himself to be the utility man off the bench come Opening Day. Offensively, he’s been absolutely on fire. He’s slashing .389/.450/.444 with a .894 OPS. He’s notched seven hits in 10 games with three RBIs and no home runs. Where he has absolutely shined is on the basepaths. In those ten games, he’s swiped eight bags while only being thrown out once. He’s lao scored six runs so far in Grapefruit League action. If Ward continues to be an absolute menace on the basepaths while playing solid defense in the outfield, it will be tough deny him a spot on the Opening Day, or at least have him cooking in Worcester, ready to be called up at a moment’s notice. Trevor Story: Story is looking to build on his first healthy season with the Red Sox in 2025 and through the first portion of spring training, he’s doing just that. He’s slashing .400/.400/.667 with six hits, two RBIs, and one triple over five Grapefruit League games. He’s showing that he’s still comfortable at shortstop on defense and is already rounding into form on offense. There’s a lot riding on Story being healthy again in 2026, which is always a huge question mark. As of right now though, Story looks strong and ready for the season to start. If his bat can avoid the early season cold snap he went through last season, he will force his way into the All-Star conversations for the first time since 2019. Noah Song: Song is making a case to be a part of the major-league bullpen sooner than later with his early performances in spring training. He’s appeared in two games, tossing 2 1/3 innings with a flat zero ERA and three strikeouts. He’s topping out at 96.7 mph on his four-seam fastball and getting whiffs with it up in the zone. He’s been a name that diehard fans have been tracking since he was drafted in 2019 due to his military service commitment and then subsequently being taken by the Phillies in the Rule 5 Draft in 2022. Song has all of the tools to be a major-league contributor this season, but he’s going to have to keep this up for the remainder of the month to shoo away the remaining doubters. Who’s Not? Nick Sogard: Sogard has logged 22 at bats over nine games so far this spring, but he’s failed to make much of an impact. He’s slashing .091/.167/.091 with two hits and two runs. He was believed to be in contention for a bench spot entering camp, but he may be quickly playing his way into a role with the WooSox instead. He could be one of the people most impacted by playing time changes over these next two weeks, so he has a chance to turn things around, but the spring has not been kind to Sogard so far. He will be one of the first names called up in the event of injury, but if this level of play keeps up then he’s going to be jumped in the pecking order pretty quickly. Wilyer Abreu: Abreu has taken some great swing against left-handed pitchers during spring training but his stats leave a lot to be desired. He’s slashing .143/.294/.143 through six games of Grapefruit League action. He’s been playing out of position, left field, as he prepares to join Team Venezuela in the WBC, but that shouldn’t make such a drastic impact on his offensive numbers. He’s likely going to start every game for Venezuela while they are in the tournament; hopefully, he shows back up to camp ready to go and is able to prove that he deserves more than just being part of a platoon in right field in 2026. Connor Wong: This feels like low-hanging fruit after the season Wong had in 2025, but he’s not performing well in camp so far. He’s slashing just .111/.200/.111 over nine at bats in four games. He’s registered one hit, zero runs, two strikeouts, and one walk. Wong entered camp hoping to reestablish himself as a viable option as the backup catcher, but we could be seeing the beginning of the end of Wong. He would have benefited from Carlos Narvaez playing in the WBC, but Narvy was denied insurance to compete, so he’s sticking around camp for all of spring training. He was scratched from the lineup on March 3 with back spasms, but it’s unlikely that sidelines him for very long. Wong likely has a short leash this year and his lack of production is making it shorter and shorter by the day. View full article

We’re back with our second installment of the 2026 Top Prospects Rankings. If you missed the first round, catch up on them right here and then come back to be up to date before we crack open the top 10. As a reminder, these were voted on by the Talk Sox writers. No. 15: Yoeilin Cespedes (Greenville Drive) Cespedes was signed as an international free agent in 2023 to the largest bonus of the entire IFA class. He was technically promoted to Salem last year but failed to see any game action as he was scratched from his debut with hand soreness; eventually, he would be placed on the injured list with a broken hamate bone that ended his season. Cespedes is a bat-first shortstop who may not stick there as he climbs up the system, as his defense isn’t up to par with guys ahead of him at the higher levels. He may end up sliding over to second base, which would help extend his time in Boston’s system, but he’s eligible for the Rule 5 draft in 2027. Thus, it wouldn’t come as a shock to see him included in a trade package at some point over the next year unless he has a breakout year in Salem, where he should begin the season. No. 14: Henry Godbout (Greenville Drive) Godbout was selected by the Red Sox in the second competitive balance round in 2025 out of Virginia. He is technically a second baseman in the system but has spent time at third previously and was announced as a shortstop, even though it remains to be seen if he will see any time there as a pro. He slashed .341/.473/.477 over 13 games with the Drive last year. His right-handed bat will help satisfy lineups that lean lefty heavy up and down the system, but he needs to find a bit more power in his swing to be considered anything more than a future backup. He’s a contact-first bat that should play well at second base, but if he were to move off second for another position, then an uptick in offensive impact will be necessary. He passes the eye test at the keystone but leaves a bit to be desired in terms of flashy defensive plays. No. 13: Johanfran Garcia (Greenville Drive) The last remaining Garcia brother in the Red Sox’s system, Johanfran is a catcher who projects to have a ton of power as he climbs prospects rankings. On top of that, he’s proven to be a capable defender who isn’t afraid to get in the dirt to block balls and make plays. He’s a decent framer, for what that’s worth with the league-wide adoption of the ABS system, and could possibly be making noise as a backup to Carlos Narvaez as quickly as next season if everything clicks. Garcia features a great arm behind the plate and will likely lean on Narvaez as he grows in the system to best utilize that strength to throw out would be base stealers. He slashed .249/.327/.428 with nine home runs over 46 games last season. No. 12: Jake Bennett (Worcester Red Sox) Bennett came over from the Washington Nationals in a rare, one-for-one, prospect-for-prospect trade during the offseason. Headed back to the Nats was highly touted RHP Luis Perales, so Bennett has some big shoes to fill. So far, he’s doing just that. As of this writing, he’s appeared in one spring training game for the Red Sox and he looked absolutely dominant during that outing. His fastball was up to 98 mph, faster than he’s previously thrown. He has the size, extension, and control that Andrew Bailey loves in a starter and should be a contributor in Worcester from Opening Day. Expect him to remain in the rotation there, but you could see him as a late season call-up to add depth to the bullpen too. No. 11: Miguel Bleis (Greenville Drive/Portland Sea Dogs) Bleis has been a mainstay on top prospect rankings for the Red Sox since he was acquired as an IFA in 2021, but his time to make good on that distinction is quickly ticking away. He has the potential of a standout outfielder but, so far, has failed to put it all together to make much of an impression. He’s dealt with injuries in every season of his pro career and is flirting with carrying the dreaded ‘chronically injured’ designation that every player hopes to avoid. Putting together a healthy and productive 2026 would go a long way toward establishing him as a player to watch moving forward, but his hit tool is so streaky that it’s incredibly hard to project how impactful he’s going to be moving forward. He’s eligible to be taken in the Rule 5 draft this coming December, so if there’s any indication he’s progressing, the team is either going to have to trade him away or protect him on the 40-man roster if they don’t want to risk him being selected with no compensation in return. What stands out in the 11-15 ranked prospects to you? Let us know in the comments below! View full article

We’re back with our second installment of the spring training temperature check here at Talk Sox. If you missed the first one, you can check it out here. The team has played four games since the last installment, so there’s been some change in both lists, but the team, as a whole, has performed fairly well considering backing up their five and three start to Grapefruit League play. Without further ado, let’s take a look at this installment’s list of players. Who’s Hot? 🔥 Jarren Duran: Duran has been absolutely on fire as he prepares to join Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic next month. The Red Sox have been giving him consistent work in right field, the position he’s going to play in the WBC, and he has been running with the opportunity. He won’t see right field for the Red Sox during the season, unless things go horribly wrong at some point, but he’s flashing defensive versatility that will serve him well during his career. He’s slashing .556/.636/1.111 with one home run through the first eight games. That home run? An absolute moon shot off old friend Chris Sale. That’s significant for two reasons: Sale is one of the best left-handed pitchers in the game, and Duran struggled against southpaws last season. Duran may be tapping back into a power stroke this season. Maybe the front office was onto something by not trading Duran during the offseason. Willson Contreras: The new first baseman for the Red Sox has made an immediate impact both on and off the field. He’s been great for a soundbite while he’s working on the backfields, but he also has been a spark when he’s in the lineup. Like Duran above, he’s gearing up for work on Team Venezuela during the WBC, but his contributions to the Red Sox so far can’t be understated. He’s slashing .375/.545/.750 so far with one home run, three RBIs, three walks, and two strikeouts. Contreras has stepped into a leadership role already with the club as he looks to make his mark in Boston after being traded this offseason. His homerun was an opposite-field shot that landed in the bullpen at JetBlue Park, something that has been incredibly rare since JD Martinez left the team. Ceddanne Rafaela: We’re all familiar with Rafaela’s Gold Glove-winning defense, but he’s looking to improve at the plate as we head into the 2026 regular season. So far in spring training, he’s slashing .333/.3885/1.000 with four hits, two home runs, one stolen base, and five RBIs. Now, he has zero walks so far in Grapefruit League play, but he’s also not swinging wildly at everything thrown at him, so we’ll take small victories where we can get them. He was involved in a scary collision early in the Braves game on Thursday, February 2,7 that originally looked like both he and Roman Anthony were injured, but both came through without much more than general soreness, as of this writing. While he may need to work on his communication, his defense will keep him around even if the offensive numbers aren’t sustainable right now. Who’s Not? 🧊 Johan Oviedo: Oviedo tossed 1 2/3 innings in his lone start of spring training so far, and those innings were less than stellar. He lacked command, walking three and hitting one, while only striking out one. He gave up one hit and one strikeout on 33 pitches, with 15 of those being strikes. It’s early, so we don’t need to read too much into these early numbers as he’s likely still knocking the rust off, and he should settle in as spring training continues, but that lack of command is worth keeping an eye on for the time being. Oviedo has all the tools to be an incredibly effective back-of-the-rotation arm, but he’s yet to put it all together during his big-league career. The trade that brought him to Boston can be looked at positively if he improves on this outing, but expect the media to continually bring up the trade if Oviedo falters again. Brayan Bello: We have our first member of the two-time ‘not’ club already this spring training. Brayan Bello looks rough so far after two starts during Grapefruit League play. In his second start, he tossed two innings, allowing four hits, five earned runs, one walk, and one strikeout. His spring training ERA has ballooned to 24.30, and he’s still struggling to find a footing with his changeup, a pitch that was highlighted as improved and under more control just a week ago. He’s getting whiffs, posting six in this last start, but when the opposing team is making contact, which is frequent, they are making hard contact. On top of that, he’s walking 5.4 batters per nine innings, so he’s getting himself into trouble by handing out free passes unnecessarily. He’s leaving to join Team Dominican Republic in the WBC soon, and the hope is that he can find his footing there while they make a deep run over the two-week tournament. If not, there will be more people questioning why Bello wasn’t traded prior to the start of spring training. After just over a week’s worth of games, who do you have on your hot and not list? Let us know in the comments! View full article

As the Red Sox get established in spring training, at least as established as they can be with 14 guys headed to the World Baseball Classic next month, they are looking to assemble the best 26-man roster they can come Opening Day. As fans, we’re on the lookout for the next breakout candidate who shows that he’s ready to take the next step and be a big-league contributor, but this early in the process we need to remember to pump the breaks just a bit and remember that with so many guys about to miss potentially significant portions of camp to represent their countries, that we may not get a full picture of the team until right before spring training ends. Thinking around those parameters, we’re going to take a twice-a-week look at spring training stats to see who is doing well and who isn’t. There’s certainly going to be room for debate with many of the names on here, but try not to get too worked up about where guys may fall over the next four weeks or so. We’re just in spring training, and as we all know, the back half of those games often features guys who won’t even sniff the major league roster this season. Who’s Hot? 🔥 Nate Eaton: The utility man, who is ramping up to represent Great Britain in the WBC, has been arguably the best hitter for the team so far in camp. Through the first three games in Grapefruit League play, he’s slashing .667/.667/1.000. Talk about MVP numbers. I kid, but he’s certainly making a case for himself to be the first guy off the bench come the regular season. Great Britain isn’t expected to make a deep WBC run, but Eaton could prove to be a valuable piece to that team, getting him live game reps on a much bigger stage than he would be getting with the Red Sox in camp. Those reps could translate to an even better spring than he’s currently having, solidifying him for a spot on the 26-man roster come Opening Day. Connelly Early: Early may be the most recent starter to throw a game as of this writing, but he looked really good in that short outing. He tossed two scoreless innings with one walk and one strikeout without allowing a hit or a run. What has placed him on this part of the list, though, was that his four-seam fastball averaged 94.8 MPH, up almost a full tick from 2025. If Early can continue to show that kind of dominance with his fastball, he’s going to be pushing for that fifth starter spot quicker than most people assumed. He got a cup of coffee with the big-league club last season and was trusted enough to start game three of the Wild Card round, so he’s obviously on the short list for the rotation, but a continued strong showing this spring could cause some difficult decisions in Alex Cora’s office as Opening Day approaches. Andruw Monasterio: Acquired as part of the trade package that brought Caleb Durbin to Boston, Monasterio is making a case for himself to be considered for the same bench role that Nate Eaton above is competing for. So far, Monasterio is slashing .500/.600/1.250 with two hits, including a home run, one walk, and no strikeouts. He’s been caught stealing once, but that shouldn’t worry anyone. He’s quick and will swipe bases at whatever level he begins the season at. Alex Cora had this to say about the newly acquired infielder, “…you see him here, it’s like, ‘Oh, shoot. He can move. He’s versatile. He can hit lefties.’” Being on Cora’s radar this early in camp is a great thing, and Monasterio said that those words gave him more energy to come to the field on a daily basis and make himself a better player. Monasterio is working with the team’s hitting coaches to improve his swing path and unlock a new level for him offensively. While he was a name that not many people may have known coming over from the Brewers, so far Monasterio looks like someone who can compete on a major league level this season if given the chance. Who’s Not? 🧊 Brendan Rodgers: It pains me a bit to say this, but Rodgers hasn’t been good at all so far this spring training. He’s had four at-bats that have resulted in zeros across the board. He was brought in as a non-roster invitee to try and compete for the backup second base job, and brings the pedigree of a former Gold Glove winner with him, but so far he’s looked overmatched at the plate and more like someone who could either be cut loose at the end of camp or assigned to minor league camp to try and work on his mechanics as he comes back from a couple of injury plagued seasons previously. With Eaton and Monasterio already looking primed to leapfrog over Rodgers in the pecking order, he’s going to have to turn things around quickly to be able to prove he’s worth a spot on the team as it moves forward. Brayan Bello: I know, it’s one start and 1 1/3 innings pitched, but Bello looked awful in that lone appearance. He faced nine batters, giving up four hits, four earned runs, two strikeouts, and one walk. The main reason not worry too much about Bello, though, is that he reintroduced his changeup to his arsenal this offseason and is working to get it moving like an actual changeup, around 87 or 88 mph, instead of behaving more like his sinker and sitting around 91 or 92 mph. He’s also added a curveball to his pitch mix that should help all of his off-speed offerings play a bit more. He was pulled during the first inning, and those four earned runs, but returned in the second thanks to some funky spring training rules that everyone forgets about, where he looked much more like his 2025 self. He’s one of the many guys headed to the WBC, where he hopes that the live game reps will help set him up for success for the season ahead. These lists are designed to change from the beginning of the week to the end, but a trend to watch for is whether the names at the top continue to stick there throughout the entirety of camp. If that happens, we may get a bit of an early look at who will break camp with the big league club versus the names who remain on the bottom list, who could be on the outside looking in as we get closer and closer to Opening Day. View full article

The Boston Red Sox certainly didn't sit on their laurels this offseason. As of this writing, they’ve completed over 20 different transactions in an effort to solidify and improve the big-league roster. There have been questionable moves, no doubt, but all in all. the team is stronger on paper than they were when they were eliminated from the postseason in October 2025. What has remained consistent during each offseason that Craig Breslow has been the president of baseball operations is that he’s going to work hard to both make trades and sign free agents to improve the organization as a whole. Since spring training is here and the deals are far less likely to happen between now and the trade deadline, let’s look at both the best and worst deal the Red Sox did, or didn’t, make this offseason. Best Red Sox Offseason Move: Trading Jordan Hicks Sometimes the low-hanging fruit is the best on the tree. Jordan Hicks was both a roster roadblock and a money pit for the Red Sox as they looked to improve ahead of 2026. His career in Boston was fairly short lived, only just over half a season after he was traded on Father’s Day, but it was memorable for all the wrong reasons. He sported an ERA of 8.20 with the Sox, working a 7.23 K/9 to go along with a 5.79 BB/9 and a -0.4 fWAR. He’s a flamethrower that has no idea where the ball is going once it leaves his hand and his blowups in Boston cost the team more games than they helped. He was loudly critical of both the pitching program and the signals the catchers were giving him, so it was fairly clear that he wasn’t long for Boston as the season drug on. He was placed on the injured list in September with right shoulder tendinitis and wasn’t seen again throughout the remainder of the season or the postseason run. Sure, the team had to attach David Sandlin just to eat $8 million of Hicks’ remaining salary to move him, but it was worth it. Sandlin was, at best, the tenth-ranked pitcher in the starting rotation and wasn't likely to factor into the team's plans this year. Sometimes you have to do addition by subtraction, and that’s exactly what the trade that sent Jordan Hicks to the White Sox was. Worst Red Sox Offseason Move: Not Adding a Power Bat When the offseason began, Craig Breslow hammered home that the biggest need for the team (outside of another ace) was adding a middle-of-the-order power bat. With spring training now upon us and the first lineups of the year getting rolled out, that clearly didn't happen. The Sox have made offensive additions, sure, and most of them are positive, but none of them are the big bopper the lineup is currently missing. The team made a non-competitive offer to Pete Alonso and, reportedly, didn’t offer Kyle Schwarber or Eugenio Suarez any type of contract. There was hope that a trade could be made for a star bat as the offseason wore on, but the big trade came in the form of Caleb Durbin. A welcome addition to play the infield for sure, but he lacks the power we were promised in late October. Willson Contreras could prove to be a power threat with a swing that seems to be made for Fenway Park, but it’s tough to count on just him to provide that offensive spark the team needs. The team seems to be waiting for Triston Casas to get healthy to provide that offensive pop, but that’s a tall ask for someone coming off a second season-ending injury. A power bat is the missing piece that would put the Red Sox over the top this season, and hopefully they can either find one closer to the trade deadline or Casas proves to be that missing piece whenever he returns. You could argue that other transactions deserve either the best or worst designation but these two stood out to me as the two that impacted the roster as a whole. The Ranger Suárez contract or Sonny Gray trade also stand out, seeing as they did fulfill Breslow's promise of adding top-of-the-rotation upside. What do you think were the best and worst moves the Red Sox made, or didn’t make, this offseason? Sound off in the comments below. View full article

Major League Baseball has a Fanatics problem, and the Boston Red Sox found themselves right at the center of it in spring camp on February 18. Pictures posted from team picture day showcased a set of home whites that just looked… off. Upon further investigation, you can tell that the letters on the home whites this year are pressed in the incorrect areas and, as other pictures showed, were inconsistently placed from player to player. What remained on most jerseys, though, was that the D of the word ‘Red’ and the S of the word ‘Sox’ either touched or overlapped the red piping down the center of the jersey altogether. It gave the jerseys the look of a knock-off jersey that could be had for cheap, but with obvious flaws that made it stick out amongst the ones purchased from the team store. Fan response was quick and loud. The jerseys became almost low-hanging fruit on social media as fans of other teams even began to make jokes about the state of the jerseys in the official team photos. The complaining grew so loud that the Red Sox actually made an official statement regarding the jerseys: It’s rare for the team to make such a public statement regarding a sudden outcry from fans, but the Red Sox made it clear that the produced versions of the approved designs failed to meet their standard and, in corporate language, placed the blame squarely on Fanatic’s shoulders. Then, a mere three hours later, that original message was deleted and replaced by a new one: Well, that strikes a distinctly different tone, doesn’t it? What changed in a matter of hours? I think Tyler Milliken summed it up nicely: The Red Sox got the call from Fanatics and had to immediately backtrack. The team even called the company an ‘"outstanding partner" throughout the years they’ve been forced to work together. They went so far as to claim that Fanatics, the company that produced the physical jerseys, deserved no blame for the mistakes on the jerseys in the official team photos. Cut the crap. Fanatics deserves the blame for the multitude of jersey issues over the last handful of years. They are a company solely focused on profit without caring what we, the consumer, actually things of their product anymore. They’ve essentially monopolized the sports apparel market in the United States to the point that every major professional sport’s merchandise website is branded as ‘A Fanatics Experience’. They are so powerful that the statement, which is likely 100% true, from the Red Sox about how the jerseys didn’t match what was approved, had to be redacted and reworded so the team was no longer pointing the finger directly at the supplier. What’s even more sad is that Fanatics has made collecting jerseys, something that many baseball fans are passionate about, a hobby of the past. The last time I purchased a jersey was pre-COVID, and that’s saying something. I’ve spoken about my love for MLB and MiLB hats on the Talk Sox Podcast many times, but that collection used to be hats AND jerseys. Now, though? Forget it. Just a base-level jersey from the official MLB store is going for $200. If you want a field-quality jersey? Double it to $400. That amount for a jersey that isn’t signed, game-used, or has any distinguishing marks is beyond insane. Fine, maybe you’ll settle for a "shirsey" of your favorite player instead. Have fun paying that $50, plus shipping. Talk about daylight robbery. Fanatics is out of touch with their consumer base and even though the outcry has been loud for years, they don’t seem to care. It’s a shame, because they are both pricing out the dedicated fans of the sport while trying to sell them lesser quality materials. It’s the ultimate form of a sucky catch-22. And the worst part is that nothing will change. Fanatics' monopoly extends across every major sport in North America. They can hold the Red Sox's Twitter admin hostage, force the team to reword an official press release like Winston Smith in 1984, and continue to shake every penny out of consumers without any fear of ever being punished by the leagues that employ them. Add this to the ever-growing number of written media logs about how disappointed we are in Fanatics, but don’t expect anything to change until the powers that be in baseball decide to move their money to a different supplier. View full article

The trade to bring Carlos Narvaez to the Boston Red Sox completely flew under the radar before last season. The deal was completed almost immediately after the team traded for Garrett Crochet, and the most anyone said about Narvaez was, essentially, “well, he’s a rookie backup catcher.” How wrong we all were. Narváez burst onto the scene in 2025 as he filled in for an injured Connor Wong. He stepped into the starting role with confidence and never looked back. While no player should lose their position due to injury, Wong proved that he was incapable of playing starting quality baseball upon his return and the year of Narvaez was born. Narvaez worked a .240/.307/.413 slash line last season with 15 home runs, 50 RBIs, .315 wOBA, a 97 wRC+, and 2.7 fWAR. He wasn’t an offensive juggernaut by any means, but to begin the season he was one of the best hitters on the team and likely should have been named an American League All-Star reserve. He was the preferred catcher for the majority of the starters last season and proved that he could call and manage a game like a veteran backstop. That ability on the defensive side of the baseball is where Narvaez shined. He led the league in caught steals with 24, was in the 88th percentile in blocks above average, 87th percentile in framing, 80th percentile in pop time, and the 98th percentile in caught stealing above average. Defensively, he was a top-tier catcher no matter how you slice it. What makes those numbers even more impressive is that he played the entire season with an injured meniscus that should have required surgery in July. Narvaez held off on the surgery until the season concluded in October and has reported to spring training feeling great, according to Alex Cora. If Narvaez was able to play like that on an injured meniscus, which acts as a shock absorber between the femur and tibia while providing stability in the joint and help to provide lateral movement, then oh boy. With a healthy knee, expect Narvaez to improve his offensive output across the board. He has a swing that plays incredibly well at Fenway Park and with more stability in his lead leg, he should be able to generate more barrels and up his hard-hit rate, which clocked in at 45.5% last season. Where he could stand maybe the most improvement though, is in his strikeout habits. He posted a 25.4% K% last season to go along with a manageable 8.7% walk percentage. If he can cut down on his strikeouts, either by walking more or making more contact, then his offensive numbers will continue to climb. Posting even better numbers while being one of the top defensive catchers in the game will help set the Red Sox up for success, not only in 2026 but in every season that Narvaez is the starter behind the dish. We already have seen what kind of defensive wizard he is, and his ability to handle the pitching staff is fantastic, but should his offensive numbers start to catch up? Watch out because he’s going to be a big, big problem. His FanGraphs 2026 projections are fairly tempered. He’s expected to slash .228/.311/.375 with 11 home runs, and there likely is going to be some regression at some point in the season, but those are some conservative estimates for a rookie who played hurt all of last year. Barring a sophomore slump, fans should fully expect an improvement at the plate for one the game's best behind it. Carlos Nárvaez was an incredible bright spot for the Red Sox in 2025 and figures to be a massive part of the team for the next handful of seasons. Alex Cora recently, and expectedly, named him the starting catcher for the team and Gabrielle Starr spoke to Narvaez about that and a possible extension. While it hasn’t been discussed, Narvaez said that his goal is to be a member of the Red Sox ‘forever’ and he would like to retire with the ballclub. A bit of lip service? Perhaps, but there's real belief from both sides. After all, it’s hard to luck your way into trading for a catcher that has the makings of a foundational piece of the organization. View full article

Although the Boston Red Sox weren’t active in the Rule 5 Draft, they swung a trade immediately following the selection process for a right-handed pitcher with interesting pedigree. They landed Ryan Watson, who was selected from the Giants system by the Athletics. Since he was part of the Rule 5 Draft, he retains the Rule 5 roster restrictions; in other words, he has to stick on the big-league roster for the entire season unless he is injured. Just about three weeks ago, it looked like he could be in jeopardy of losing his spot with the Red Sox before his career even began, as the team was facing a 40-man crunch and still needed to add to the bullpen. While the need to add is still there, president of baseball operations Craig Breslow finally traded away Jordan Hicks to the White Sox and likely opened a path for Watson to at least break camp as an important member of the bullpen. Watson isn’t a direct replacement for Hicks, but he fills a similar role in the bullpen incredibly. Hicks was a flamethrower, but he had very little idea where the ball was going once it left his hand. Watson can’t touch triple digits, but his fastball tops out at 96mph and he controls it well. It’s a pitch that encourages swing and misses, and it pairs well with his secondary offerings: a slider with sweeping tendencies and a curveball that lacks reliable control as currently constructed. The latter needs work, but the slider is his true out pitch. That offering induced a ridiculous 40.5% chase rate last season, made only remarkable by the fact that batters whiffed at on 39.5% of their attempts to hit it. It grades out as his best pitch by Stuff+ (102) and Watson may benefit from throwing it more to left-handed hitters in the future. What likely drew the Red Sox to him though, is that he has elite extension and a fastball that has the potential to be dominant. He ended 2025 with a 28.1% strikeout percentage to go along with an 7% walk rate. The rest of his numbers leave a bit to be desired, though. He posted a 4.26 ERA and a 3.73 FIP over 50.2 innings pitched. Running that kind of ERA in Triple-A isn’t ideal, but getting him into Andrew Bailey’s pitching lab will likely do wonders for his approach on the mound. With his FIP running a half-point lower than his ERA last season, there's no denying that he controls a game well from the mound. He will be squarely in the bullpen mix for the Red Sox; they have no need for another depth starter at the moment. Though there are actually quite a few candidates for this distinction, Ryan Watson is probably the most under-the-radar roster addition of the offseason. What is working in his favor is that this team seems to be one of the best at developing pitchers taken in the Rule 5 Draft. Both Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten have carved out important roles for themselves in the bullpen and figure to be stalwarts of the pitching staff for years to come. Watson is hoping that the gamble the Red Sox took on him pays off; if so, he could become a crucial pice on one of the best teams in Major League Baseball. View full article

Alex and Maddie discuss the Caleb Durbin trade and how the Red Sox may have fleeced the Brewers. Then they dive into why PECOTA hates the team for the second year in a row before diving into an early spring training news roundup and discussing what, if any, moves the team needs to make to finalize the roster. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-talk-sox-podcast/id1783204104 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3qPrPXEngu0CxgTmlf0ynm Listen on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-talk-sox-podcast-244591331/ Listen on Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/4tmd121v Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@talksox View full article

Appreciate the perspective on him!