Since winning 92 games in 2021 and making a run to the ALCS, the Red Sox have been a massive disappointment in comparison to the expectations of the illustrious franchise. While the team hadn’t been spending money to compete for a World Series, it actually has been competitive compared to market expectations.
In 2023, the Red Sox lost to the Orioles on the final day of the regular season to land on 78 wins and stay under the win total by the hook. In 2024, Boston exceeded expectations, finishing 81-81 despite a ton of injury and fielding issues. While the bump to the win total for 2025 displays the improvements the Sox are expected to have addressed entering this season, I’m not sure the market has adjusted quite enough.
Even prior to the notable signing of Alex Bregman, I had played some overs on the Sox due to the rotation alone. Boston was very thin when it came to starting pitching last season, but a combination of moves in free agency, trades, and simply getting other arms healthy, this rotation has serious potential.
The big move was landing Garrett Crochet from the White Sox, who slots in as an Ace at the top of the rotation. While Chicago was cautious with the 25-year-old, Crochet thrived in 32 starts last season. Boston also added a veteran arm in Walker Buehler, who has been injured over the past couple seasons, but showed grit in big games during the Dodgers’ World Series run.
The Red Sox return three starters, all of which have reason to be optimistic about. Tanner Houck is a former first-round pick that started 30 games last season, and improved as the season went on. Brayan Bello has been up-and-down in his young career, but started 30 games last season, and at 25-years-old has shown flashes of potential. Slotting down the rotation should take a lot of pressure off of Bello in 2025. Finally, it’s early to forget that Boston signed Lucas Giolito last year, but he missed the entire season due to injury. If the former Ace can provide anything close to what he once was, that’s another solid arm that the Red Sox were missing in 2024.
The bullpen did lose closer Kenley Jansen from last season, but is set to replace him with another quality arm in Liam Hendriks. Additional moves to acquire Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson should provide some further depth that wasn’t in Boston’s bullpen last season.
Scoring runs wasn’t an issue at all for the Red Sox last season, finishing with a top-10 offense that produced 4.64 runs per game. That said, there’s plenty of reason to think the offense can improve. Bregman is the major addition that should be set to make a major impact right away, and meshes perfectly with hitting at Fenway Park.
But beyond Bregman, Boston also has a trio of prospects that appear to be close to ready to make an impact at the major league level — Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer. Even if one of the three catch on as an everyday player by the home stretch, that’s a nice addition to the order. It looks like Campbell, who has made the big league roster, is in position to start the season off as a starter.
Back in mid-February, I put out a Tweet with a variety of ways I’m backing the Red Sox in the futures market. As of publishing this article, all of those markets are still available on DraftKings Sportsbook at the best prices in the market!
MLB Pick: Red Sox 85+ Wins (-115) 2-units
MLB Pick: Red Sox 90+ Wins (+210) 0.25-units
MLB Pick: Red Sox To Make Playoffs (-105) 1-unit
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