Red Sox announce Opening Day roster for 2025 season
The Boston Red Sox announced their 2025 Opening Day roster Thursday afternoon, just a few hours prior to their game against the Rangers in Texas. Rookie Kristian Campbell made the cut as was widely reported last week, while reliever Liam Hendriks will begin the season on IL.
Before we get to the Opening Day roster, here's Alex Cora's lineup card for Thursday afternoon against the Rangers:
1. Jarren Duran, LF
2. Rafael Devers, DH
3. Alex Bregman, 3B
4. Triston Casas, 1B
5. Trevor Story, SS
6. Kristian Campbell, 2B
7. Wilyer Abreu, RF
8. Connor Wong, C
9. Ceddanne Rafaela, CF
-- Garrett Crochet, SP
Red Sox 2025 Opening Day Roster
Here's a breakdown of the 26-man roster Boston will start the 2025 season with:
Pitchers (13): Brennan Bernardino, Walker Buehler, Aroldis Chapman, Cooper Criswell, Garrett Crochet, Richard Fitts, Tanner Houck, Zack Kelly, Sean Newcomb, Justin Slaten, Greg Weissert, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Wilson
Catchers (2): Carlos Narváez, Connor Wong
Infielders (5): Alex Bregman, Triston Casas, Rafael Devers, David Hamilton, Trevor Story
Outfielders (3): Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Rob Refsnyder
Infielder/Outfielders (3): Kristian Campbell, Romy Gonzalez, Ceddanne Rafaela
The 22-year-old Campbell made the roster after a solid spring in the field, earning him Boston's starting second baseman job.
The Red Sox posted video of when Campbell learned the news during Spring Training, which started with manager Alex Cora quizzing him on how many players from Georgia Tech had played in the Majors:
That list now includes Campbell. Utility man David Hamilton will back him up at second, while Romy Gonzalez will be the team's uber-utility guy to start the season.
Cora officially announced Tuesday that Rafael Devers will be his full-time DH this season, while Alex Bregman and his Gold Glove defense will take over at third base.
On the pitching front, lefty Brennan Bernardino and Cooper Criswell made the final two spots on the roster. Criswell will be the team's long man out of the pen to start the year.
New ace Garrett Crochet, 2024 All-Star Tanner Houck, and newcomer Walker Buehler are slotted to start the first three games of the season, while fill-ins Richard Fitts and Middleboro native Sean Newcomb will round out the Boston rotation.
As expected, a number of Boston's starters will begin the season on the Injured List.
Red Sox starting season on Injured List
A lot of roster tinkering will be coming in the near future, as seven players are starting their 2025 season on the IL.
Outfielder/DH Masataka Yoshida will begin the year on the 10-Day Injured List as he works his way back from a right shoulder labral repair. He was a DH during the exhibition season but still needs to put in some work in the outfield before returning to the Big Leagues.
A trio of starting pitchers are starting on the 15-day IL, but we've known this was coming for a few weeks now. Brayan Bello is on the shelf with a right shoulder strain, Kutter Crawford is sidelined with right patellar tendinopathy, and Lucas Giolito is still on the mend from a left hamstring strain. Bello and Giolito aren't expected to miss much time, but Crawford might be out a while with the knee injury he pitched through for nearly all of the 2024 season.
The most surprising name in the bunch is Hendriks, who would be next in line to be Boston's closer should Aroldis Chapman falters early. But Hendriks is on the 15-day IL with right elbow inflammation.
Two lefties ended up on the 60-day IL: Chris Murphy (left UCL surgery) and Zach Penrod (left elbow sprain).
