For the first time since the 2021 season, the Boston Red Sox are heading to the MLB playoffs.
The Red Sox punched their postseason ticket with Friday night’s walk-off victory over the Detroit Tigers.
There was a lot of optimism coming into this season after the Red Sox traded for Garrett Crochet and signed Alex Bregman. Those additions proved to be huge difference-makers in ending Boston’s four-year playoff drought.
Projected NL Playoff Matchups (Based on Current Standings)
Projected AL Playoff Matchups (Based on Current Standings)
NL Wild Card (Top 3 Teams Make Playoffs)
*Denotes clinched playoff spot
There was tremendous pressure on the Red Sox entering this season coming off three consecutive years in which they finished .500 or worse.
President of baseball operations Craig Breslow took a huge swing by trading four prospects, including two in MLB.com’s top 100, to the Chicago White Sox for Crochet and giving him a six-year, $170 million contract after just one season in which he threw more than 60 innings at the MLB level.
The Red Sox also waited out Bregman’s free agency by getting him to sign a three-year, $120 million deal in February. Both deals turned out to be crucial in elevating the club back to prominence in the AL East.
Crochet made his second straight All-Star team and will likely finish second in AL Cy Young voting to Tarik Skubal. Bregman had his highest OPS+ in a season since 2022.
Four years after signing Trevor Story to a huge contract, the deal paid off in a big way this season. He had his best season by FanGraphs’ WAR since 2019. Aroldis Chapman turned back the clock in a big way with one of the best seasons of his career at the age of 37.
The Red Sox also found a long-term franchise building block in Roman Anthony. He was on track to win AL Rookie of the Year before an oblique injury suffered in early September ended his regular season, though the team is hopeful he can return in the playoffs.
In the midst of all that positive buzz, the Red Sox made a bold move during the season by trading Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants. The decision came with criticism that ownership and the front office were playing things cheap again and putting a potentially successful season at risk.
Instead, the Red Sox took off after the trade with a 34-18 record in July and August. They have many of the components needed to make a deep playoff run. They have start talent in the lineup, though it’s not a deep group of hitters.
Outside of the Detroit Tigers with Skubal, Crochet is arguably the best No. 1 starter on any AL team. Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito are quality starters. The bullpen goes five players deep with Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, Greg Weissert, Brennan Bernardino and Justin Wilson.
In a year where the entire AL looks wide open, the Red Sox have as much top-level talent as anyone as they look to get back to the World Series for the first time since 2018.
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