That's the important questions, right? Just how good are the 2026 Red Sox going to be? The answer? Good. Very good.
The last few year, things for the Sox have started positively. But, this year's a bit different. Instead of depending on the future, or potential, the Sox are depending on the now.
Last year's team looked good...if Buehler could regain some of his past form...if Casas Could stay healthy...If Chapman found his fastball.
This year it's not so much of the "if"s. All the team has to do it do what it did last year, and they'll be more than OK. And that seems perfectly reasonable to expect.
Sure, they have some youth that they're counting on. Durbin will be tasked with filling in for and replacing Bregman. However, for as eager as Sox fans were to have Bregman return, Durbin's WAR last year was about 0.8 lower. So, again, if he just does what he did, the Sox will be fine. Similarly, the Sox are once again expecting a youngster to start for them at second. Mayer certainly has the potential to be great. But, again, the Red Sox second basemen last year didn't exactly set the world on fire. They don't need Mayer to be an all-star. Just decent. That doesn't seem like too much to ask.
The biggest wild card is likely Roman Anthony. Does he have growing pains? Or do we get last year's version, and the version from te WBC, all year. Either one is an adequate replacement and likely an improvement over last year.
And, same with the rotation. Crochet is back. But, the pitchers behind him are less hopeful, and more probable. It's hard to overstate how poorly Buehler pitched last year. And he pitched A LOT. Just replace his starts with anything from Sonny Gray and you're ahead of the game. That's before you put Ranger Suarez in the spots taken last year by Richard Fitts. That's an automatic improvement from last year to what some people consider the best rotation in baseball.
So, where do we set expectations? Playoffs would be bare minimum. They should be at least fighting for a division championship, if not the top seed in the AL.
It's going to be a fun year.
