From Crochet to Bregman: 10 Red Sox to watch throughout 2025 season
The 2025 Boston Red Sox have the chance to be a special bunch. The hopes are high that this group won't just end the franchise's three-year playoff drought, but could even make some serious noise come October.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow put together a solid team with his offseason moves, highlighted by the acquisitions of ace Garrett Crochet and third baseman Alex Bregman. Added those two -- and others -- have greatly improved the odds of Alex Cora's team making it back to the postseason.
We've got a lot of baseball to watch before we start thinking about October, starting Thursday afternoon when the Red Sox open the season in Texas against the Rangers. Here are 10 of the most interesting players on the roster heading into the 2025 Red Sox season.
Garrett Crochet
The Red Sox have an ace again. Standing at 6-foot-6 with a missile of a fastball, Crochet has all the makings of a stud who could front the Boston rotation for years to come. It will be appointment viewing whenever he takes the bump for the Red Sox.
Crochet made 32 starts last season with the White Sox, which was his first full year as a starter. He only tossed 146 innings as Chicago managed his workload, but Crochet racked up a ton of strikeouts, fanning 209 batters to just 33 walks.
It will be interesting to see how the 25-year-old manages a much bigger workload -- and much higher expectations -- in Boston throughout the year, but he's going to rack up a lot of K's and should contend for the AL Cy Young award.
Alex Bregman
Bregman brings a Gold Glove to third base, a solid bat for the middle of the order, and a strong veteran voice for the clubhouse. He also loves to hit at Fenway Park, with a career slash line of .375/.490/.750 and a 1.240 OPS over 21 games at the ole ballyard. He has nine doubles and seven homers over his 80 at-bats at Fenway, so expect Bregman to do some serious damage in Boston.
Having Bregman at third means Rafael Devers is shifting to DH to start the season, and we'll see if the team sticks with that even after Devers fully recovers from last season's shoulder injuries.
Kristian Campbell
The rookie is on the Opening Day roster as Boston's starting second baseman after absolutely shredding apart the minor leagues last season. Campbell was the Minor League Player of the Year in 2024 after he put up big numbers in High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A, and now he's the first member of Boston's "Big Three" to make it to the big leagues.
He struggled at the plate during the spring, but won the starting job at second with some excellent defense throughout Boston's exhibition slate. Expect some growing pains from Campbell, but the 22-year-old is going to be a huge part of the Red Sox for the foreseeable future.
Trevor Story
Sticking on the infield, we'll see what Story has at short after he played just 26 games last season. He's played just 163 games over his three years with the Red Sox due to a litany of injuries, but the two-time All-Star has a slick glove in the middle of the infield and his bat can bring some pop to the lineup.
Health is always the biggest storyline with Story, and it's two-fold this season. If (when?) Story misses significant time again this season, it will open the door for another one of Boston's top prospects, Marcelo Mayer, to make his way to the bigs.
Mayer was a monster this spring, slashing .333/.455/.528 with a homer, two triples, and 11 RBI over 20 games.
Triston Casas
Last year was a lost season for Casas, who played just 63 games due to a rib injury. He showed flashes of greatness in 2023 when he launched 24 homers over his 132 games, and Boston needs him to get back to that form in the middle of its lineup.
Jarren Duran
Duran was the team's MVP last season when he had a year for the ages, putting up 8.7 WAR. He was not just an All-Star for the first time, but was the game's MVP when he hit a game-winning homer for the American League. The dynamic outfielder finished the year with an MLB-best 48 doubles and 14 triples.
The 28-year-old may have a bit of regression after such a monster year, but Durran will continue to set the tone for the Boston offense.
Tanner Houck
Houck was Boston's other All-Star last season, and finished his year with a 3.12 ERA over 30 starts and 178.2 innings pitched -- both career-highs for the righty.
He struggled during the spring as he allowed 17 earned runs off 29 hits over just 13.2 innings, but the Red Sox need him to take another step forward this season as the No. 2 guy in the rotation. At least Houck will have less pressure on his shoulder with Crochet in front of him.
Walker Buehler
Breslow also added Buehler to give the rotation another proven veteran. He missed all of 2023 after undergoing Tommy John surgery and struggled for much of the regular season last year, posting a 1.553 WHIP over his 16 starts, but Buehler regained his form in the postseason and helped the Dodgers win another World Series.
Boston is counting on the 30-year-old righty to pitch like a Cy Young candidate again as the team's No. 3 starter.
Aroldis Chapman
The 37-year-old flamethrower will start the year as Boston's closer, and Chapman has 335 saves over his 15-year MLB career. He can still light up the radar gun but has struggled with his control the last few years, so the ninth inning could be a bit contentious for Red Sox fans once again.
If Chapman can't get the job done, veteran Liam Hendriks -- who hasn't pitched since 2023 after undergoing Tommy John and recovering from cancer -- will likely be next in line for Cora at closer.
Garrett Whitlock
The experiment of Whitlock as a starter is over and he's back to being a reliever, which has always been the rubber-armed righty's best role. He's coming off an internal brace procedure to fix his UCL, which limited him to just four games last season.
But if healthy, Whitlock will be a valuable and important arm for Cora out of the Boston bullpen.
Bonus: Roman Anthony
Yes, we've already mentioned 10 players, but Anthony is starting the season in the minors so we're going to fit him in as a bonus. And he's very much worth it as one of the top prospects in all of baseball.
The 20-year-old tore the cover off the ball in Double-A and Triple-A last season, though he hit just .206 over 17 games this spring. But the kid has a monster swing and loads of upside, and should be in Boston as soon as the Red Sox figure out a way to get him in the lineup every day.
