Red Sox

Five pressing questions facing the 2025 Red Sox 

The 2025 Red Sox have plenty of potential, but will need to avoid the injury bug this summer.

By Conor Ryan

March 26, 2025

6 minutes to read

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For the first time in a long time, optimism seems to be sprouting up at Fenway Park.

After being on the outside looking in at October baseball five of the last six seasons, the Red Sox seem to be ready to make another push for the postseason in 2025. 

An already solid core of talent on Boston’s roster should receive a sizable boost this summer, be it through key offseason additions like Garrett Crochet, Alex Bregman, and Walker Buehler, or the arrival of blue-chip talents like Kristian Campbell, Roman Anthony, and Marcelo Mayer.

But even if Boston — at least on paper — looks like it could be one of the top teams in the AL this season, there are still several question marks looming over a roster teeming with potential, but short in terms of proven results. 

Here are five pressing questions that will determine just how far the Red Sox can go in 2025. 

Can they stay healthy?

It all might come down to this. 

In terms of pure potential, there’s a lot to like about this Red Sox roster’s ceiling, even before factoring in the future contributions of the team’s “Big Three” prospects.  

But as was the case in 2024, any hope rooted in the clean slate offered by Opening Day can dissipate in short order due to the sting of the injury bug.

Boston’s 81-81 record last summer was the byproduct of several shortcomings across the roster. But it’s hard to ignore the devastating string of injuries that sapped Boston of several key contributors for a majority of the year.

A rib injury limited Triston Casas to just 63 games in a rudderless season, while Trevor Story’s shoulder ailment held him to just 26 games. Casas’ bat was missed in the heart of Boston’s lineup, while Story’s veteran leadership and defensive capabilities hindered a Red Sox infield that led the AL with 115 errors. 

Nagging ailments plagued Rafael Devers at times, while Boston’s pitching corps suffered setbacks with Lucas Giolito and Garrett Whitlock both undergoing surgery for internal brace procedures. 

The 2025 Red Sox have no shortage of injury concerns on their roster once again. 

Can Story remain healthy after playing just 163 total games with Boston over the last three seasons? Will Casas bounce-back and realize the potential he showcased in 2023 (24 home runs, .856 OPS)? 

Boston’s pitching staff stands as the most volatile area of the roster, especially with Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, and Giolito all opening the year on the injured list. 

Two of Boston’s healthy starters in Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler are also not without their red flags. 

There’s no knocking Crochet’s arsenal of pitches on the mound. But, Boston’s new ace has only logged one full season as a big-league starter and was limited to just 146 innings of work last season with the White Sox. With Chicago looking to preserve his arm, Crochet did not log more than four innings in a single start after June 2024.

Buehler impressed in the postseason for the Dodgers, throwing 13 scoreless innings to close out Los Angeles’ latest run to a title. But the 30-year-old righty’s first season back from a second Tommy John surgery left a lot to be desired (1-6, 5.38 ERA in 16 starts during the 2024 regular season).

There’s a lot that can go right with this Red Sox roster if they remain healthy and key players play to their capabilities. But there’s also a whole lot that can go off the rails in short order.

Can the bullpen hold up?

Boston’s bullpen labored in 2024, posting the sixth-highest ERA in the big leagues (4.36). 

After Boston failed to add a proven closer in free agency like Tanner Scott, questions will persist for the backend of Boston’s relief corps this summer. 

The current closer role has been handed to 37-year-old Aroldis Chapman, who has been as advertised when it comes to his knack for fanning batters (14 strikeouts in 7.1 innings this spring).

But Chapman’s command issues (5.7 walks per nine innings last season in Pittsburgh) could raise the collective blood pressure of Red Sox fans in the ninth inning. 

Liam Hendriks has the pedigree to be an elite set-up man this season for Boston, but the 36-year-old righty had a dreadful spring (9.95 ERA) while recovering from Tommy John surgery and has only made five appearances since the 2022 season. 

Whitlock’s return as a full-time reliever is a welcome sight, while Justin Slaten (2.93 ERA last season) should also give Boston another solid arm in the bullpen. Still, the Red Sox might be in for some tough sledding in crunch-time situations if both Chapman and Hendriks struggle.  

Can Boston’s “Big Three” make an impact?

There’s already plenty to like about Boston’s lineup as currently constituted, especially if Casas can bounce back, Story remains healthy and Bregman continues to tee off against pitching at Fenway Park (.375 batting average, seven homers, nine doubles, 15 RBI over 21 games).

But the ceiling of Boston’s already potent batting order would reach a new level if Boston’s prized prospect grouping of Campbell, Anthony, and Mayer can all make an impact at the big-league level in 2025.

Campbell (MLB.com’s No. 7 prospect) will get the first shot. The 22-year-old infielder’s meteoric rise since getting drafted in 2023 lead to him snagging Boston’s starting 2B job out of spring training. 

But both Anthony (No. 2 prospect) and Mayer (No. 12) may not be very far behind, with Anthony batting .344 as a 20-year-old in Triple-A Worcester last summer and Mayer boosting his stock with a strong spring training (.333 batting average, 11 RBI in 36 at-bats). 

Boston already has a strong roster in place. But the play of Anthony, Campbell, and Mayer might determine if an extended contention window is about to open up once again at Fenway.

Will Boston need to free up roster spaces? 

It stands as a good problem to have, but Craig Breslow and Boston’s management team might have to reshuffle this roster if Campbell, Anthony, and Mayer all make compelling cases for featured reps in the big leagues.

Anthony’s emergence could prompt Boston to rework their current outfield trio of Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, and Ceddanne Rafaela, while Mayer is also currently blocked by Story at shortstop. Mayer could conceivably shift to second as a stopgap, but that would also require Campbell moving to the outfield. 

Some of these roster-related headaches only become tangible issues if Anthony and Mayer force Boston’s hand — which, again, stands as a welcome challenge for a team that would have no qualms with their top prospects delivering at the major-league level.

Elsewhere, Boston might have to try to find a suitor for Masataka Yoshida or even weigh designating him for assignment, especially with Devers now set as the team’s DH moving forward. 

Will Devers settle into his role as a DH? 

At face value, Boston’s decision to slot Rafael Devers to DH and keep Bregman at third base should seem like a win-win for all involved. 

Not only does Devers get to focus solely on hitting and limit the wear and tear that builds up over a long season, but his defensive woes (an AL-worst 12 errors at third in 2024) further sunk a porous Boston defense.

Replacing Devers with Bregman — who won a Gold Glove in 2024 — at the hot corner should give Boston’s infield defense a sizable lift. 

But Devers’ move to DH still stands as a sizable shift for the star slugger, who has said all of the right things as of late after initially pushing back against the assertion that his days as the team’s starting third baseman were over. 

Devers should benefit from moving off third, but it will be worth monitoring how both he and manager Alex Cora handle his change in scenery throughout the 2025 season. 

“We all are in the winning business. He understands that,” Cora said of Devers on WEEI Wednesday.

Conor Ryan

Sports Writer

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.