2025 saw the Red Sox make it back to the postseason for the first time since 2021. They did not last long as they were bounced by the hated Yankees two games to one in the AL Wild Card Series. The team finished third in the AL East with a record of 89-73, but it was a year marked with turmoil. The biggest issue was the trade of star Rafael Devers. Despite that, the team came together and had a big second half to capture one of the Wild Card spots.
FIVE FAVORITE PLAYERS
Rafaela became my favorite player in 2025, primarily as a result of the trade of Rafael Devers. 2025 saw him settle in as the center fielder after splitting the 2024 season between center field and shortstop. He did play second base for chunk of the season, but won the Gold Glove for his play in center. A late season slump tempered his numbers somewhat, but he hit .249/.295/.414 with 34 doubles, four triples, 16 home runs, 63 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. He showed a flair for dramatic hits with a couple walkoff homers and a walkoff triple that sent the team into the postseason.
Abreu won his second Gold Glove Award in 2025 and solidified his status as the best defensive right fielder in the league. He also had a very good season at the plate, building on his strong rookie season in 2024. He was second on the team with 22 home runs and hit .247/.317/.469 with 17 doubles, 69 RBIs and six stolen bases. He played in only 115 games due to injury, but showed he is a dynamic player when healthy.
Finally fully healthy for a full season for the first time since signing a lucrative free agent contract with the Red Sox, Story turned into a team leader. He led the team with 25 home runs, 96 RBIs, 91 runs scored, 161 hits and 31 stolen bases while hitting .263/.308/.433. He played great defense at shortstop until the last few weeks of the season when he seemingly developed a minor form of the yips resulting in a bunch of throwing errors. Story continued his hot hitting into the postseason as well. This was the player the Red Sox thought they were getting when he was signed prior to the 2022 season.
Bello had a very good season in 2025, finally looking like the pitcher that he was hoped to be when the Red Sox rewarded him with a big extension prior to the 2024 season. He finished with an 11-9 record and a nifty 3.35 ERA over 166.2 innings. He is not a big strikeout pitcher, instead inducing a lot of weak contact. He notched 124 strikeouts with 59 walks.
He was not quite as good as he had been in 2024 when Duran was one of the best players in the league, but he still turned in a productive season. He led the league with 13 triples and the team with 41 doubles while hitting .256/.332/.442. He was second on the team with 24 stolen bases, 86 runs scored and 84 RBIs while contributing 16 home runs.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Whitlock continued to be a force in the back end of the Red Sox bullpen. He turned in a phenomenal season, going 7-3 with a 2.25 ERA in 62 games, pitching 72 innings. He struck out 91 batters while walking 24 and picked up a save. Whitlock did a terrific job of bridging the gap to the team's excellent closer.
Officially, Giolito will go down as a One-Year Wonder, this despite actually signing with the Red Sox prior to the 2024 season, but he was injured all year that year. Giolito came back strong though with a record of 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA in 145 innings pitched. He struck out 121 and walked 56 in 26 games pitched.
Designated lefty masher Refsnyder had another productive season as a role player in 2025. He played in 70 games, hitting .269/.354/.484 with nine home runs and 30 RBIs. He played impressive defense in the outfield and hit .302/.399/.560 with seven home runs against lefties. Unfortunately, 2025 was his last season in Boston.
FAVORITE ACQUISITIONS
The Red Sox gave up a haul to get emerging southpaw starter Crochet from the White Sox, but it was worth it. Crochet finished second in the Cy Young vote and eighth in the MVP race while starting the All Star Game. He led the league in shutouts, innings pitched (205.1) and strikeouts (255), as well as strikeouts per nine innings (11.2). He had a 2.59 ERA and a record of 18-5. It was very reminiscent of another trade with the White Sox to acquire a lefty starter in Chris Sale.
Signing Bregman as a free agent was such an obvious fit that it was amazing it took so long for it to occur, but it also led to a lot of issues with incumbent third-baseman Rafael Devers. Bregman had some injury issues, but was very good when he was healthy. He hit .273/.360/.462 with 28 doubles, 18 home runs and 62 RBIs. He was named to the All Star team. Unfortunately, it would be Bregman's only season with the Red Sox.
Like Crochet and Bregman, Chapman was also an All Star in his first season with the Red Sox. The likely future Hall of Famer had one of the greatest seasons of his career in 2025, finishing with a 5-3 record with a mind-blowing 1.17 ERA and 85 strikeouts versus just 15 walks in 61.1 innings pitched. He notched 31 saves. Chapman continues in a line of potential future Hall of Fame closers acquired by the Red Sox over the last ten years, joining Craig Kimbrel and Kenley Jansen.
FAVORITE MIDSEASON ACQUISITIONS
There's not much to choose from here and it is annoying that there are no Red Sox cards of most of the midseason acquisitions (and I am definitely not going to use Dustin May). Matz cost the Red Sox slugging prospect Blaze Jordan, but gave the team 21 games as a lefty reliever with a 2.08 ERA. He struck out 12 and walked just two in 21.2 innings pitched and even picked up a save.
Earlier in the season, habitually wrong pundit Jim Bowden predicted Lowe would be traded to the Red Sox in exchange for prized prospect Payton Tolle. Thank goodness that didn't happen. Lowe was actually picked up off of waivers and had a nice run in Boston. He hit .280/.370/.420 with a couple homers and 16 RBIs in 34 games.
FAVORITE ROOKIES
A lot is expected of Anthony, but he had a phenomenal start to his career in 2025, finishing third in the AL Rookie of the Year vote despite playing in just 71 games before being shut down due to injury. Anthony hit .292/.396/.463 with eight home runs and 32 RBIs, also contributing 18 doubles and four stolen bases while playing steady defense.
Narvaez's contributions were kind of overshadowed by Anthony, but he had a very impressive rookie season of his own. He was acquired in a trade with the Yankees prior to the season and became the primary catcher, playing great defense and hitting .241/.306/.419 with 27 doubles, 15 homers and 50 RBIs. He finished eighth in the Rookie of the Year vote.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS
After a surprisingly good 2024 season at the plate, Wong took a major step backwards in 2025. It was revealed after the season that he had a nagging hand injury, but he had an atrocious year at the plate. He hit just .190/.262/.238 with eight doubles, zero home runs, seven RBIs and two stolen bases. It looked for a time that his time in Boston was over.
Campbell was one of Boston's top three prospects entering the 2025 season and shockingly made the team out of Spring Training. He started off hot too, but cooled down quickly and could not get going again. He finished with a line of .223/.319/.345 with six homers and 21 RBIs. His defense was shaky and he was out of the Majors by June and has yet to make it back.
Not all of the Red Sox offseason moves worked out. Buehler was brutally bad for Boston. He appeared in 23 games, pitching 112.1 innings to an ERA of 5.45 and a record of 7-7. He struck out 84 and walked 55 and had a WHIP of 1.558. It was a shockingly bad performance for a pitcher who had helped the Dodgers beat the Yankees in the World Series a few months prior. Boston cut bait and he ended up in Philadelphia.
Devers is not here because he played poorly. On the contrary, after a brutal start to the season, he was having one of his greatest seasons, but his attitude, particularly sulking after being unseated at third base and asked to move first to DH and then to first base, led to the Red Sox making a rushed trade to get out from under his contract. He was hitting .272/.401/.504 with 15 homers and 58 RBIs at the time of the trade.
POSTSEASON HERO
There are not too many options here as the offense fell completely flat and Brayan Bello was terrible in the postseason. Crochet though, built upon his huge regular season and struck out 11 Yankees in 7.2 innings while giving up just one run in his Game 1 victory. Boston was handicapped by a number of major injuries to key players though and were not able to build on it.
