The 2025 Red Sox season officially hits its halfway mark on Tuesday night. Mac Cerullo and Gabrielle Starr, the Herald’s Red Sox beat journalists, talk about how things have gone so far and what to anticipate in the coming months.
Gabrielle Starr: We were both feeling more upbeat before Opening Day than we have in more than five years. The signing of Alex Bregman, as I mentioned earlier, truly made a difference and has changed the game in a number of ways. The Red Sox were once again seen as THE Red Sox, but with the Rafael Devers deal, that perception took on a whole different meaning. That was my main takeaway from the offseason and spring training.
Mac Cerullo: I believe we both didn’t have that on our bingo cards. A lot of the resentment that the Garrett Crochet and Alex Bregman additions seemed to ease was uncovered by the Devers deal, which was clearly a shock to the system. It has also not helped that the team has been largely unimpressive.
GS: The Red Sox have formally eliminated any debate regarding their reputation with homegrown stars, regardless of whether the Devers deal is favorably received or not. Jon Lester, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and now Devers? Nomar Garciaparra paid off. The pattern is unattractive. At the same time when free agents were beginning to select Boston once more. No player will feel comfortable trusting this front staff anymore, in my opinion.
MC: Although that will have to wait until later, the good news is that the team has been performing better lately, even though this past weekend was an exception. The squad is at 40-39 heading into Monday night’s late game in Anaheim, meaning they will finish the first half hanging around.500. That’s a far cry from the AL East title we both projected, but it’s also quite decent given how dire things were looking a few weeks ago.
GS: This weekend’s umpiring was terrible as well. It surprised me that Alex Cora wasn’t dismissed earlier during Sunday’s game! San Francisco was a mess, and it wasn’t all their fault. There are no so-called moral victories at this stage of the season, and this team’s defense is unsupportable.
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In any case, the turnaround between May and June has been quite remarkable, especially considering that they lost Triston Casas over two months ago, are starting nine with at least three rookies every night, and have been plagued by the Devers situation since February.
MC: As we anticipated, by midseason, all three of the Big Three have made it to the major leagues. This is an added plus. Sort of. The lengthy wait for Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer has thankfully come to an end, but Kristian Campbell’s initial stint didn’t go well towards the end, so he’s back in Triple-A for some seasoning.
GS: It’s reasonable to ponder what this team might look like today if they hadn’t hurried Campbell onto the Opening Day roster, but I don’t want to dwell on the Devers scenario too much. The What if game is a pointless exercise. The Red Sox led the majors in mistakes as of Monday morning. Would it have been worse than what we’ve seen from this squad to keep Devers at third and move Bregman to second?
MC: In hindsight, things would have gone better in that regard because Devers would likely still be on the team if they had taken that course. Bregman at third and Devers at DH seemed like the perfect decision to us and nearly everyone else.
GS: Up until his injury five weeks ago, third base was stronger with Bregman. But there’s no denying that without Devers, the offense is poorer. However, Abraham Toro has been excellent.
MC: In the long run, the Red Sox haven’t performed nearly as well as everybody had anticipated, but if we’re being completely honest, the pitching has been just as much of a factor in that as anything else. Outside of Crochet, the starting lineup has been incredibly erratic, but in the last few weeks, we’ve witnessed how strong the club can be when the starters perform as intended. Can it be sustained?
GS: To be honest, most likely not. Rarely is pitching, isn’t it? I’m concerned about crochet in the latter stages. Last season, despite being kept on what he called a leash in the second half by the White Sox, he tossed a career-high 146 innings across 32 starts. With 16 starts, he has already reached 102.1 innings. As you pointed out, this rotation is plenty of unknowns beyond him, so the Red Sox need to exercise caution with him. Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito have shown strong improvement, but Walker Buehler has been woefully inconsistent, Tanner Houck s season has been all thorns, no roses, and it seems like we won t see Kutter Crawford any time soon. It’s still unclear what the intention is with Kyle Harrison, the lefty from the Devers trade. However, hey! If not enough quality, at least there is quantity for a change.
MC: I still believe the Red Sox have a chance to push in the second half since that is the main difference between this season and the last few years. The club will have weapons to draw from in the form of Harrison, Crawford, Houck, Richard Fitts, Hunter Dobbins, and perhaps even Patrick Sandoval in the future. Jordan Hicks ought to assist in the bullpen as well, and it will undoubtedly be very important when Justin Slaten returns. Call me crazy, but I believe the Red Sox could still be in a position to make a trade by the deadline if they persevere and get Bregman back soon.
GS: After bringing in all three of the Big Three, selling Devers, and signing Bregman, I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t try this year. And now is the time for them to put up a real fight for the supporters.
MC: A hefty bat is required. It goes without saying that they should also look into the pitching market, but this squad would significantly improve the lineup if they can add a first baseman with some power.
GS: Hoskins, Rhys?
GS: I think the Red Sox might go big at the deadline. Thus far, Craig Breslow is proving to be savvier and more aggressive in trades than Chaim Bloom, and it s paid off in guys like Crochet and Carlos Narv ez.
MC: Call me crazy, but I m not ready to back off my Red Sox winning the AL East prediction.
GS: I don t know about the East, but I think these crazy kids can definitely snatch a Wild Card. And when the Red Sox get into October baseball, they tend to take things to another level.
MC: It s been a wild and bumpy ride so far, but there s still plenty of baseball left to be played. If the team gets healthy, makes some moves and if Anthony and Mayer settle in, there s no reason why the Red Sox can t be the team that heats up in the second half.
