Boston Red Sox
First prediction: Garrett Crochet wins the Cy Younger Award.
Baseball season is rapidly approaching, with Opening Day for the Pink Sox set for Thursday, March 26, in Cincinnati.
Boston has a lot of the identical core again, with some promising new gamers as effectively, and it could possibly be a season to recollect at Fenway Park.
With that in thoughts, listed below are 10 predictions which might be assured to all be proper.
Garrett Crochet has the power of somebody who has seen all of it, however in actuality, he’s solely 26 and is theoretically within the early phases of his prime.
Final 12 months was magical, as he posted an 18-5 report, 2.59 ERA, and completed second in Cy Younger voting behind Tarik Skubal. That was solely his second full season as a starter, and it was a fairly darn spectacular Boston debut.
Crochet dominates once more in 2026, and this 12 months, he wins the award.
Offensively, final 12 months was a bounce-back season for Trevor Story, as he hit .263 with 25 homers and 96 RBIs, delivered loads of well timed hits, and was a remarkably constant base stealer.
At shortstop, nonetheless, he struggled in spurts and located himself looking for the consistency that was a staple of his sport early in his profession. Two components to notice right here: First off, enjoying shortstop each day is tough, and even the perfect fielders make errors. Additionally, Story solely performed 26 video games at shortstop in 2024 attributable to a shoulder damage.
With that mentioned, he dedicated a career-high 19 errors final 12 months, which was tied for the third most within the majors. His fielding share dipped to the second lowest of his profession at .970. It’s a small soar, nevertheless it’s a major one he’s going to make to totally return to type.
This isn’t precisely a daring prediction, nevertheless it’s price noting that the Pink Sox have assembled an outfield that must be among the many finest in Main League Baseball.
If something, they’ve a surplus of robust outfielders ( drawback to have), with Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, and Masataka Yoshida all within the combine. Abreu, Rafaela, and Duran are wonderful defensively, and all 5 are reliable hitters.
The star energy is vital, however the depth could also be much more necessary, as supervisor Alex Cora can choose and select primarily based on matchups and previous success in opposition to given pitchers. The outfield is already nice, and it takes the following step this 12 months to develop into actually elite.
Drake Maye, meet Roman Anthony. Maye confirmed promise in 12 months one earlier than blossoming into a real famous person in 12 months two. Anthony has a great opportunity to observe an identical trajectory.
It’s simple to overlook that the child is simply 21, and as a lot as he’s achieved already, he’s actually simply getting began. Anthony hit .292 with eight homers and 32 RBIs in 71 video games final 12 months, drawing 40 walks and displaying skilled self-discipline on the plate.
Generally Bostonians anticipate an excessive amount of out of younger gamers, however the powerful love is as a result of they know deep down they’ll deal with it. It’s honest to anticipate Anthony to be one of many faces of the league by the top of the season.
The Pink Sox stored tempo with the Yankees in some ways throughout final 12 months’s Wild Card sequence, however the one main ingredient lacking was a home-run hitter within the coronary heart of the order. David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez aren’t going to magically reappear, however it could have benefitted the group so as to add somebody with legit pop.
Story (25), Abreu (22), and Duran (16) all hit a good variety of homers final 12 months, nevertheless it was simply the second time since 2018 that Boston didn’t have anybody attain 30-plus. The Pink Sox completed fourth within the majors in batting common (.254) and first in doubles (324), but ended up fifteenth in house runs (186).
Newly acquired first baseman Willson Contreras has hit 20-plus in every of his final 4 seasons with 100-plus video games, however he’s by no means reached 25 in his profession. Caleb Durbin totaled 11 final 12 months with the Brewers, and infielders Andruw Monasterio and Isiah Kiner-Falefa don’t supply a lot in that division, both.
Boston likes to get behind a scrappy, plucky underdog who performs greater than his dimension and has a complete lot of coronary heart. It occurred with Dustin Pedroia, Isaiah Thomas, and Wes Welker, amongst others, and it might occur right here with Durbin.
He has an extended strategy to go to succeed in the standing of these native legends, however the 5-foot-6-inch Durbin has all the mandatory instruments to develop into a dependable and gritty every-day third baseman. Durbin has a compact and exact swing, a cannon for an arm, and a knack for making hustle performs.
There could also be some ups and downs, however he develops right into a fan favourite and emerges as one of many workforce’s higher gamers.
Brayan Bello turned a nook final 12 months, reducing his ERA from 4.49 in 2024 to three.35 in 2025. He logged a career-high 166.2 innings, allowed simply 16 house runs, and posted a career-low WHIP of 1.236.
The following steps for Bello are to up his strikeout numbers (124 final 12 months) and go deeper into video games. He’s absolutely succesful, and buying and selling ideas with newcomers Sonny Grey, Ranger Suárez, and Johan Oviedo will solely assist.
Bello takes one other main leap and earns his first All-Star nod.
At age 38, Aroldis Chapman remains to be some of the dominant and overpowering closers in all of baseball. When he’s on the mound attempting to safe a save, it’s honest to anticipate a Pink Sox win each time.
Chapman was, fairly truthfully, superhuman final 12 months. His 1.17 ERA and 5.7 strikeout-to-walk ratio had been simply absurd. This 12 months, he continues to stabilize the Pink Sox, however he takes a slight step again. If he dominates the identical manner once more, kudos to him, nevertheless it’s unlikely he’ll be capable of replicate his unbelievable success to that degree.
As a complete, the bullpen struggles in spurts and isn’t as constant because the lineup or rotation this 12 months. Whereas Garrett Whitlock is regular once more, others have some moments they want again.
Marcelo Mayer has a great opportunity to emerge because the workforce’s major second baseman. He seizes the chance, and shows his potential in spurts, however has bother sustaining it for lengthy stretches.
He has some good moments and a few powerful ones alongside the best way and proves he belongs however nonetheless has room to develop. Finally, it’s a blended bag and he faces the identical questions getting into subsequent 12 months.
The Pink Sox are a greater workforce than they had been final 12 months. They bolstered their rotation, trusted their younger expertise, and added some confirmed veterans to spherical out the roster.
They improve their win whole from 89 to 92 (their most since 2021), advance within the playoffs, then lose to a greater workforce within the ALDS. The season leaves followers optimistic and genuinely excited concerning the future, but dissatisfied brief time period as a result of it was proper there for the taking.
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