Crochet, Sox Blank Reds on Opening Day (3/26/26)

After Boston Red Sox fans were ready to commit civil war amongst themselves over the fallout of the Rafael Devers situation and Alex Bregman fiasco in the off-season, the 2026 season got off to a rollicking start in Cincinnati against the Reds. Garrett Crochet (1-0, 0.00) proved he's still one of the best in the game as he tossed 6 shutout innings allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks. Roman Anthony went 3 for 4 and Marcelo Mayer went 2 for 2 off the bench with offense at a premium. Ceddanne Rafaela knocked in Mayer for the first run in the seventh and a 2 run rally in the ninth with Trevor Story and Jarren Duran joining the fun was all the offense they'd need. The trio of Justin Slaten, Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman slammed the door as the 2026 season began with a 3-0 win over the Reds at Great American Ballpark.

                                                           Team USA approves of the win

Andrew Abbott got the ball in the top of the first inning and Roman Anthony belted the first pitch he saw to dead center for a base hit. Trevor Story banged into a double play and it looked like Jarren Duran beat out a grounder to second, but Reds manager Terry Francona challenged that he was out. The replays showed Duran was safe and Willson Contreras made his Sox debut by drawing a walk. Caleb Durbin made his debut by grounding out to second to end the inning. Crochet got the ball in the bottom of the first and TJ Friedl grounded out to first to start. Matt McLain flied out to left and Elly De La Cruz grounded out to second to end the inning.

The Sox blew a rally in the top of the second as Wilyer Abreu beat out a roller to first to begin. Isiah Kiner-Falefa made his Sox debut by taking strike three but Carlos Narvaez got a base hit to right. Ceddanne Rafaela grounded into a double play to end the inning. Sal Stewart doubled to center to start the bottom of the second but Eugenio Suarez flied out to right. Spencer Steer walked but Tyler Stephenson flied out to left. Noelvi Marte struck out swinging to end the inning.

Anthony got a base hit to left to start the top of the third before Story lined out to left. Duran popped up to short and Contreras grounded out to short to end the inning. Ke'Bryan Hayes lined out to right to begin the bottom of the third before Friedl lined out to short. McLain struck out swinging to end the inning.

Durbin flied out to right to start the top of the fourth before Abreu grounded out to short. IKF grounded out to third to end the inning. De La Cruz went down hacking to start the bottom of the fourth before Stewart grounded out to third. It looked like Suarez walked but Narvaez challenged that it was a strike and sure enough, the call was overturned for strike three to end the inning.

Narvaez popped up to first to begin the top of the fifth before Rafaela lined a base hit past second baseman McLain. Anthony nearly took Stewart's head off with a line drive single but Story watched strike three go by. Duran struck out swinging to end the inning. Steer struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fifth before Durbin threw himself on a grounder by Stephenson and swam on it for an error. Marte took strike three and Hayes lined out to left to end the inning.

De La Cruz made a diving catch to rob Contreras of a base hit to begin the top of the sixth and Durbin grounded out to second. Abreu struck out swinging to end the inning. Crochet had one last inning in the bottom of the sixth and Friedl grounded out to short to start. McLain walked, De La Cruz singled to center and Stewart got a base hit to right to load the bases. Crochet struck out both Suarez and Steer back to back swinging to end his day. He had tossed 6 innings of shutout ball in his season debut.

                                                             Crochet was locked in

The Sox picked up their ace in the top of the seventh as Pierce Johnson came in to pitch for the Reds. Marcelo Mayer pinch hit for IKF and doubled just past the reach of Steer. Narvaez dropped down a bunt to move Mayer to third and Rafaela knocked in the season's first run with a base hit to center. Sam Moll came in to face Anthony and struck him out swinging before Story forced Rafaela at second to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.

                                                                Sox strike first

Justin Slaten came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Stephenson walked to start. Will Benson pinch hit for Marte and struck out swinging before Hayes flied out to left. Friedl struck out swinging to end the inning.

Duran grounded out to short to start the top of the eighth and Graham Ashcraft came in to pitch to Contreras. Wilson struck out swinging but Durbin walked. Abreu grounded out to second to end the inning. Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and McLain flied out to left to start. De La Cruz struck out swinging but Stewart pounded a ground rule double down the right field line. Suarez struck out swinging to end the inning.

The Sox got some big insurance in the top of the ninth with Connor Phillips on the mound. Mayer got a base hit to left but Narvaez struck out swinging. Rafaela flied out to left and Anthony was rung up for stri....not so fast! Anthony challenged it was ball four and it was, drawing a walk. Story stepped up with a line drive base hit to left to score Mayer to send Phillips packing. Brock Burke was greeted by Duran with a base hit to right to score Anthony. Contreras hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning with the Sox up 3-0.

                                                       Story drives in the big insurance run

Aroldis Chapman came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Steer flied out to left to start. Tyler Stephenson flied out to center and Dane Myers pinch hit for Benson. Myers flied out to right to end the game. The Sox had won it 3-0.

                                                              Sox win

Hero of The Night is Garrett Crochet. He dominated in his season debut tossing 6 innings of shutout ball while allowing 3 hits & 2 walks while striking out 8.

                                                                Hero Crochet

The Good:

Roman Anthony was 3 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.

Jarren Duran was 2 for 5 with an rbi and a stolen base.

Marcelo Mayer was 2 for 2 with 2 runs scored.

Carlos Narvaez was 1 for 3.

Ceddanne Rafaela was 2 for 4 with an rbi.

Justin Slaten tossed a scoreless seventh inning.

Garrett Whitlock tossed a scoreless eighth inning.

Aroldis Chapman earned his first save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning.

The Bad:

Isiah Kiner-Falefa was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.

The Ugly:

Trevor Story was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but drove in a big insurance run.

Willson Contreras was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked.

Caleb Durbin was 0 for 3 with an error but drew a walk.

Wilyer Abreu was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.

Final Thoughts:

Not much to complain about in this one. The offense was going to struggle to score runs with almost no power but getting clutch hits late is just what the doctor ordered. Roman Anthony and Ceddanne Rafaela picked up where they left off last year and Marcelo Mayer going 2 for 2 off the bench was a big lift. If Cora starting IKF was to send a message to Mayer to step it up, he might be listening. On the other side, once again the trio of Justin Slaten, Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman were unhittable. If Slaten is healthy this year, this bullpen might be as devastating as last year. I know Cora likes to ease the starters into throwing long early on but that wears out the bullpen. Still, with a better rotation on paper than last year, guys should be able to go 6 innings rather than 4-5 like last year. That's down the road, today it was Game 1 and the Red Sox looked pretty good. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox look to keep the momentum going on Saturday afternoon when Sonny Gray makes his Red Sox debut against Brady Singer of Cincinnati. The game begins at 4:10 PM at Great American Ballpark.

Sox Trade Hamilton, Harrison to Brewers for Durbin (2/9/26)

For better or worse, the Boston Red Sox have their new third baseman. This morning the Red Sox made a shocking trade, sending David Hamilton, Kyle Harrison and pitching prospect Shane Drohan to the Milwaukee Brewers for 25 year old third baseman Caleb Durbin. 28 year old utility infielder Andruw Monasterio, 25 year old infielding prospect Anthony Siegler and a bonafide second round pick.

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So who did the Sox give up? Shane Drohan was their 5th round draft pick in 2020 and was claimed by the Chicago White Sox after the 2023 season when Shane went 10-7 between Portland and Worcester. After being sent back to Boston, he went 5-1 with a 2.27 ERA in 11 starts for Worcester in 2025. With the acquisition of Ranger Suarez, Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo to bolster Boston's rotation already featuring Kutter Crawford, Brayan Bello and Garrett Crochet, this made Drohan expendable. Maybe he'll get to make his ML debut with Milwuakee.

Kyle Harrison was the pitching prospect the Sox got in the Rafael Devers trade. He was 4-2 with a 3.75 ERA for Worcester after the trade in June and had a 3 game cup of coffee with Boston at the end of the season. As mentioned earlier, with all the rotation depth in Boston and Payton Tolle and Connelly Early in Worcester, Harrison was deemed expendable. Like Priester and Drohan, maybe he'll find less of a numbers game in Milwaukee.

David Hamilton was originally in the Hunter Renfroe trade that sent Alex Binelas and Jackie Bradley Jr from Milwaukee to Boston. He was a speedster that stole 70 bases for the Portland Sea Dogs in 2022 and 57 for Worcester in 2023. He's been up and down between Boston and Worcester where he's stolen 55 bags the last two seasons. Problem is he hit just .198 in 2025. He's great when he gets on base, too bad he doesn't get on base often.

So who did they get? The centerpiece is the 25 year old Caleb Durbin who came in third place in National League rookie of the year voting hitting .256 with 11 home runs in 136 games. Definitely not Rafael Devers but he does have upside. At least this solidifies the position.

Andruw Monasterio is a utility guy that hit .270 with 4 home runs in 68 games. He's not Rob Refsnyder but he does get on base more than Hamilton did. 

Anthony Siegler was originally a 1st round pick by the New York Yankees back in 2018. He was released by the Yankees after the 2024 season but looked competent for the Nashville Sounds in 2025, hitting .285 with 8 home runs. Unfortunately during his cup of coffee with Milwaukee, he hit just just .194 with no home runs in 35 games.

The bottom line is the Sox should be embarrassed to have given up so much talent to get worse than they were a year earlier. Instead of Rafael Devers and Alex Bregman, we got Caleb Durbin and Wilson Contreras. The pitching might be improved, but they have a black hole in the power department. Trevor Story might not be as good as he was last year and who knows what Roman Anthony can do in his sophomore campaign.  Either way, this off-season was basically salary dumping and putting some semblance of a team together. Not exactly what the Los Angeles Dodgers are doing.

Sox Trade Hicks, Other Players Released (2/1/26)

With the New England Patriots heading to the Superbowl next Sunday the Boston Red Sox still found a way to steal some of the attention away. The Sox released three players and made yet another trade to make the fans angry.

      

On January 26th, the Chicago Cubs signed Worcester Red Sox utility infielder Karson Simas. The 25th round pick back in 2019 and one of the last of the Dave Dombrowski guys amounted to nothing in 7 seasons in the minors. He played in 78 games in 2022 for the Salem Red Sox and hit a whopping .197. He played in 80 games between Salem and the Greenville Drive the following season and hit .214 combined. Surprisingly he got 20 hits in 61 at-bats for Worcester to end last season which is probably why the Cubs took a flier on him. Good luck in Chicago.

                                                                   Bye bye Simas

On January 31st, the Sox released two prospects. The first was 22 year old Salem Red Sox catcher Diego Viloria. The acquisition of Nate Baez to the catching ranks made someone expendable and it turned out to be Viloria. He played in just 79 games between 2021 and 2025 for the Dominican Sox, Complex Sox and Salem. He had just 5 hits in 33 at-bats in Salem in 2024 and played in just 11 games last season. Good luck in your future endeavors.

                                                                     Farewell Viloria

Also released on the 31st was 22 year old Worcester Red Sox catcher Enderso Lira. Once again, with Nate Baez coming to town, organizational catchers had to go. Lira played 62 games for Salem in 2023 and hit a whopping .238. He played in just 44 games since including hitting just .142 for Greenville. Clearly he can't hit so he had to go.

                                                                    So long Lira

Finally the big trade. Today the Red Sox pulled off another salary dump. The Sox sent 24 year old pitching prospect David Sandlin, relief pitcher Jordan Hicks, a sack full of money and two players to be named later to the Chicago White Sox for 22 year old right handed pitching prospect Gage Ziehl and a player to be named later.

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David Sandlin was the pitching prospect in the John Schreiber trade two years ago. He was 0-4 in 18 starts between Greenville and the Portland Sea Dogs in 2024 but rebounded to go 5-4 with a 3.61 ERA last year for Portland before being called up to Worcester. He was 4-2 with a 7.61 ERA out of the bullpen so it didn't look like he was going to pan out. Still, the point is they had to give up a prospect just to unload the Hicks contract.

Quite frankly the Rafael Devers trade was just flat out embarrassing. The centerpiece of the trade was the flamethrowing Jordan Hicks who was heaving 100 mph fastballs directly over the plate. He was 1-2 with an 8.20 ERA and batting practice would be an insult to batting practice pitchers. The reason he was included in the Devers trade was he was due $25 million by the Giants in 2026 and 2027.....which is why the Sox dumped him off to Chicago. Its a shame because he threw hard but it was straight as an arrow. Ask Kaleb Ort how that turns out.

So who did they get in return? Gage Ziehl was the New York Yankees 4th round pick in 2024 four picks after the Red Sox took Zach Erhard. He was 4-4 with a 4.40 ERA for the Tampa Tarpons before being promoted to the Hudson Valley Renegades.....then got traded to the White Sox for Ausin Slater. He was 2-2 with a 4.01 ERA in 6 starts for the Winston-Salem Dash so in essence, he's a .500 pitcher....in the minors. He's a junkballer that relies on command & control, which seems to be the opposite of what Craig Breslow is trying to build with the power arms they drafted. Still, this was more about getting rid of Hicks than it is about getting something in return.

So let's recap the Devers saga before we all collectively throw up. They signed Alex Bregman last off-season and told Devers he wasn't good enough to play third. Devers wasn't happy but whatever, season begins. Then one month into the season Triston Casas is lost for the season. Rather than go get Nathaniel Lowe right then in there, they asked Devers to play first base for the first time in his career. The same guys telling him he wasn't good enough to play the field is now asking him to play out of position. Devers said no and John Henry himself came to see him in Kansas City to say "Play first or else." Devers said "Or else." On June 15th after the Red Sox dispatched the Yankees, the Red Sox traded Devers to the San Francisco Giants for Jordan Hicks along with prospects Jose Bello, Kyle Harrison and James "Leroy Jethro" Tibbs. Hicks was god awful and Tibbs was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Dustin May, who was equally awful. The Sox got beat by the Yankees in the playoffs largely due to the lack of offense and the Sox arrogantly mis-identified the market for free agents, losing Alex Bregman to the Chicago Cubs. The Sox panicked by trading Hunter Dobbins to the St. Louis Cardinals for Wilson Contreras to get a bat back but they still haven't replaced Devers. Now Hicks has been shipped off to clear 21 million off the books (Red Sox have to pay $4 million) to get under the Luxury Tax. Rafael Devers for 2 awful months of Jordan Hicks & Dustin May along with Jose Bello, Kyle Harrison and Gage Ziehl doesn't seem good does it? Not to mention they still have to give up two more prospects to Chicago when the time comes.

Once again, glass half empty is the Sox never replaced Devers and the fallout of the trade gets worse every day with salary dumps and bad roster moves. The Sox are going into spring training in a few weeks banking on the kids instead of established major league bats. The glass half full is the Sox just got rid of one of their worst pitchers and cleared money off the books they could use down the road. The Sox pitching will be better than it was last year (on paper) and if the rotation stays healthy, they could get ANYONE to pitch better than what Hicks gave them last year. 

Bottom line is Sox fans are angry because ownership constantly lies to them. If Sam Kennedy and John Henry came out and said "We're not going to spend money, we're going to play the kids to see what they got" you don't have to like it but at least its the truth. Enough "Full throttle" and pretending that they're going to get Juan Soto or Pete Alonso.

Sox Trade Gray for Baez (1/22/26)

No, not Sonny Gray. After the Boston Red Sox made the shocking move to sign Ranger Suarez, the Sox needed to open up a slot on the 40 man roster. Newly acquired infielder Tristan Gray was shipped off to the Minnesota Twins for 24 year old catching prospect Nate Baez.

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The 29 year old Gray played 47 career games in the majors including 30 last year for the Tampa Bay Rays hitting a lusty .231. The Sox essentially traded Luis Guerrero to clear up a spot and Gray was expendable.

So who did they get? Baez was taken in the 12th round back in 2022 15 picks before the Sox chose left handed pitcher Hayden Mullins. Baez was all or nothing in 2024 with the High A Cedar Rapids Kernels belting 12 home runs but hitting just .239. Last year he hit just 3 home runs but only played 45 games. The word on him is he's a below average catcher than can possibly hit for power. 

This was just a clear-out to open up a roster spot for Ranger Suarez and Baez is unlikely to develop into a star. If he does, then Breslow got lucky.

Sox Lose Bregman, Sign Suarez (1/21/26)

Talk about good news and bad news for Boston Red Sox fans. The bad news was the cheap Red Sox front office struck again as they were outbid on the services of Alex Bregman by the Chicago Cubs on January 14th. The Cubs offer was a 5 year, 175 million dollar contract with 70 million deferred and a full no trade clause. Why is that important? The Red Sox offered 5 years and 165 million but it wasn't the 10 million that Bregman told the Sox to piss off on. The Sox refused to give him a no-trade clause. Bregman saw the writing on the wall that if the Sox front office was willing to trade franchise icons Mookie Betts and Rafael Devers, then they were avoiding no-trade clauses to get out from bad contracts. Bregman now can make 175 million in Chicago and have no danger of being traded without his say so. This is a horrible look for the Red Sox who essentially started the downfall of Devers by signing Bregman last winter, and ultimately traded Devers because they had Bregman. Now they have neither of them and fans are very upset. The Sox also just set a precedent that they're only going to sign free agents they can potentially trade. Who the hell would want to sign here then? If the end-game is John Henry shedding as many long term contracts he can as MLB heads toward a Lockout in 2027, at least be honest about it.

                                                 Traded Devers for ultimately nothing

Then all of a sudden a ray of hope hit the fanbase today. Out of nowhere the Red Sox signed 30 year old left handed pitcher Ranger Suarez from the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5 year 130 million dollar contract. Suarez is essentially a long term replacement for Lucas Giolito as he went 12-8 with a 3.20 ERA in 26 starts last season. More importantly, he's 4-1 with a 1.48 ERA in the post-season. The kind of guy the Sox missed when they only had 3 starters remaining by the end of the season. He's had some injury issues in the past but he's coming off back to back 12-8 seasons including an all-star season in 2024. All of a sudden the Sox have a rotation that can match both the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. He joins a group including Garrett Crochet, Johan Oviedo, Brayan Bello and Sonny Gray, which now looks a lot better than having to rely on Kyle Harrison, Kutter Crawford and the kids Peyton Tolle & Connelly Early. Still, having four guys for depth is nothing to sneeze at and that's going to come in handy if and when someone gets hurt or straight up sucks. If you're 1-5 is now Crochet, Suarez, Oviedo, Gray and Bello, I'll take that 5 times out of 5. 

                                                       Welcome to Boston

The other news is Bo Bichette signed with the New York Mets for 3 years and 126 million dollars and Kyle Tucker signed with....who else...the back to back world champion Los Angeles Dodgers for a whopping 4 year, 240 million dollar contract. 80 million a season for the 28 year old outfielder. Sox fans are very angry because there's essentially no all-stars left to sign and they're furious at the idea of having an potential infield of Triston Casas, Marcelo Mayer, an aging Trevor Story and Romy Gonzalez. With 5 guys in the outfield including Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, Roman Anthony and Masataka Yoshida and Wilson Contreras strictly as a 1B or DH, they're clogged at certain positions and woefully inadequate in others. Still, there's another month before spring training and another move might be coming. At least the Sox improved their pitching & pitching depth, but scoring runs might be an issue.

Sox Trade Dobbins For Contreras (12/22/25)

Once again the Boston Red Sox made a shocking trade as they sent starting pitcher Hunter Dobbins along with pitching prospects Blake Aita and Yhoiker Fajardo to the St. Louis Cardinals for their starting first baseman Wilson Contreras. The Sox sacrificed yet another depth starter although they did get a much needed bat after the loss of Rafael Devers was never truly fulfilled during the regular season. If that wasn't bad enough, Rob Refsnyder signed with the Seattle Mariners.

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So who did the Sox give up? First, Rob Refsnyder signed a 1 year 6 million dollar contract to play for Seattle and Sox fans are livid that the front office has gone so cheap, they're not even signing their own utility players let alone other teams stars.

Yhoiker Fajardo was the prospect they got in the Cam Booser trade last December and he was 1-3 with a 2.98 ERA in 13 starts with the Salem Red Sox. He went from hitting 94 to 97 on the gun and seemed like a breakout star for Portland in 2026. Oh well.

Blake Aita was Boston's 6th round pick last year and was 3-4 with a 3.78 ERA in 10 starts for Salem. Wasn't a true fireballer but like Fajardo, he seemed like a potential star for the Portland Sea Dogs in 2026.

Hunter Dobbins finally made his ML debut after being drafted in 2021 and went 4-1 with a 4.13 ERA before tearing his ACL in July. A shame he had to go in order to fill a hole on this team left by the departure of Nathaniel Lowe and the Devers trade.

So who did they get? Conteras was the rookie catcher on the 2016 Chicago Cubs that helped win the World Series before becoming a modern day Brian Daubach by averaging 20 home runs and 80 rbis with Chicago and St. Louis. He's going to be 33 this season and his catching days are over, he's mostly a first baseman. How that's going to play out with Triston Casas coming back remains to be seen. The Sox still have Alex Bregman and Bo Bichette as potential free agents to sign. Knowing the Sox, they won't sign either of them.

Sox Trade Perales to Washington (12/15/25)

The Boston Red Sox made an interesting roster move today. The Sox traded 22 year old right handed pitcher Luis Perales to the Washington Nationals for 25 year old left handed pitcher Jake Bennett.

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So who did the Sox give up? Perales was the number 7 ranked prospect in the system that can hit 100 on the gun. He was a 16 year old Venezuelan teenager signed back in 2019 and was having a hell of a 2024 season between the Greenville Drive and Portland Sea Dogs. He was 1-0 with 1.23 ERA when he had Tommy John surgery in June of 2024. He pitched in just 3 games and 2 1/3 innings at the end of the 2025 season. He was projected to be a serious rotation contender by 2027 but now he's off to Washington to be their number 11th ranked pitcher.

                                                              22 year old that can hit 100

So who did they get? Jake Bennett was Washington's second round pick back in 2022 four picks after the Red Sox took Cutter Coffey. He was 10-4 for Oklahoma University in 2022 and had lit up the Fredricksburg Nationals in 2023. He was promoted to the Wilmington Blue Rocks but was 0-3 and had Tommy John surgery. He bounced back in 2025 going 1-2 with a 1.90 ERA in 7 starts for Wilmington before going 1-2 with a 2.56 ERA in 9 starts with the Harrisburg Senators. Allowing just 19 runs in 69 innings is pretty good.

                                                            Had a great 2025

So why make this trade? The overall consensus is Bennett is more close to the majors than Perales is. Perales is definitely an intriguing prospect since he can throw gas at 22 years old. Problem is will his arm hold up in the long run? Bennett tops out at 96 but has a devastating changeup. Not that Perales is short at 6 foot 1, but Bennett is 6 foot 6. Durability is the question, even Pedro Martinez broke down after years of throwing straight gas. Still, Bennett can start the year in Portland or Worcester and if he begins to dominate, he could be trade bait or might actually pitch in Boston. The Sox have too many number 3 starters, someone has to go. If Breslow is looking for his second straight winter blockbuster, Bennett could either be included in the deal or replace someone else who is. The Sox still haven't signed Alex Bregman or replaced Rafael Devers so it might not matter anyway.