Baseball season is long, so reacting to each game like one of 17 in the NFL is a fool’s errand. Instead, analyzing the Red Sox season in 10-game chunks feels like a more reasonable approach. Sure, there are stories, like the crochet extension, that warrant stand-alone blogs, but when it comes to the Red Sox on-field performance, as a team, 10-game increments feels right.
Through 10 games, things are looking good for the 2025 Red Sox, but there is an issue just below the surface that warrants keeping an eye on them as we get into the full swing of the season.
Let’s start with the good, and that’s undoubtedly the offense, at least lately. Yesterday, the Sox played 19 innings of baseball (due to Saturday’s rainout) and scored 23 runs, highlighted by the 18-7 beatdown they handed the Cardinals on Sunday Night Baseball. The Red Sox recorded 22 hits, hit .478, and reached base to the tune of a .522 clips AS A TEAM last night in a game that saw Rafael Devers and Alex Bregman combine for 8 hits in 9 at-bats while driving in 9 runs. THAT is the offense we all expected to see when the team broke camp in late March. Despite their slow start in Arlington, scoring just 6 runs total in games 2-4 of the season, the 2025 Red Sox are 3rd in Major League Baseball in runs scored (63), fourth in batting average (.283), and fourth in OBP (.363). I’m not a baseball nerd, and I’m sure the pocket protector posse has some advanced metric that debunks what my eyeballs are telling me, but the Red Sox offense looks like it’s going to be a real problem for the American League. Sure, the Yankees are first or second in all of those categories, but they’ve had the luxury of beating the shit out of the Brewers and Pirates in 6 of their 9 games played. Talk to me on May 1st about the Yankees.
Their offensive outpouring goes beyond Bregman and Devers. Wilyar Abreu has been the best hitter in baseball through 10 games. He’s leading the league in all of the slash stats and has 12 RBIs and 3 dingers despite only starting 8 games. There’s obviously no chance he continues producing at this pace, but we’re only reacting to what we’ve seen, and what we’ve seen has been spectacular. Kristian Campbell has been swinging the bat like a grizzled vet despite having never stepped foot on a major league field before opening day in Arlington, and everyone else, this side of Tristan Casas and Connor Wong, has produced as expected, or better, thus far. Simply put, this lineup is deep, and when you are getting elite production from your 6 and 7 hitters in Abreu and Campbell, there are very few easy at-bats for opposing pitchers.
The second bright spot for this Red Sox team is their defense. They have been a dreadful defensive team these last few years with guys playing out of position all across the diamond and were anchored by possibly one of the worst defensive third basemen in recent baseball history making a mockery of the game, night in and night out, at third base. This year, it’s a whole different story. The addition of Bregman at third and the arrival of Campbell at second base has turned the Red Sox infield defense into an elite unit overnight. Adding in Campbell, a healthy Trevor Story, and Alex Bregman has also improved the Red Sox outfield defense by allowing Rafaela to play center every night and shifting Duran, who’s a plus outfielder but nowhere near as talented as Rafaela, to left while 2024 gold glove winner and offensive juggernaut Wilyar Abreu continues to play the best right field in the major leagues. We’re 10 games in, and I can’t think of a single back-breaking error that had become commonplace over the last few years. Hall-e-FUCKING-lujah.
It’s not all fun and games for the Red Sox, though. Outside of Crochet, their starting pitching has been suspect. Number 3 starter Walker Buehler has looked very pedestrian, sporting an 8.68 ERA in his 9.1 innings pitched, and has served up 3 long balls, while number 2, Tanner Houck, is sporting a 6.52 ERA in 9.2 innings pitched and has also given up 3 home runs. The Sox have been able to withstand the rough starts by both Buehler and Houck, but if this team is going to truly compete for the AL East crown, both of those former All-Stars will need to turn things around, and quickly.
Overall, the Red Sox sit at 6-4 and are riding a 5-game win streak as they welcome the Blue Jays to Fenway Park for a 3-game series against their division rival. Their .600 winning percentage puts them on pace for 97 wins, which even this optimistic Red Sox blogger acknowledges is probably slightly unrealistic, but it’s refreshing to see this team performing like we all expected they would early in the season as we settle in for the 152 remaining games in this marathon that is the baseball season.
