The Boston Red Sox can't get out of their own way.
After going 81-81 during the 2024 MLB season, Boston has remained mediocre at 18-18 to begin 2025. Alex Cora's group is 4-9 in one-run games, and the bullpen hasn't helped matters with a league-leading eight blown saves. On top of those ongoing issues, the Red Sox must find a replacement for Triston Casas after the first baseman went down with a season-ending knee injury.
While it hasn't been smooth sailing for Boston so far, it's reassuring that the American League East has arguably been the worst division in baseball. The Red Sox are only 1.5 games behind the first-place New York Yankees as of Tuesday.
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So, how do the Red Sox stack up against the rest of the league? Here's where they rank amongst the 30 MLB teams, according to several national outlets:
The Athletic (Chad Jennings): 12th
"Honestly, Casas had not been very good. Negative WAR. Below-average offensive numbers. Just a brutal start to the season. But last week’s knee injury left the Red Sox with a glaring hole at first base, a position at which they have no obvious replacement. Getting Bryan Bello and Lucas Giolito off the IL should stabilize the rotation — Bello has been great through three starts — but the Red Sox now face a curious decision at first, and they seem hesitant or unwilling to move Rafael Devers to the position. Is there a way to get creative with top prospects Roman Anthony or Marcelo Mayer (neither of whom plays first)? Will they add someone? The Red Sox clearly were banking on Casas turning things around, but injuries continue to plague him, and an uneven Red Sox season is now left with a fresh dose of uncertainty."
CBS Sports (Matt Snyder): 16th
"Tanner Houck was an All-Star last season. He had a 2.18 ERA through 16 starts. His numbers are brutal right now, but he looked great last time out and a lot of the horrible numbers could be pinned on one start. It's worth watching."
Bleacher Report (Joel Reuter): 15th
"The Red Sox still sit second in the AL East standings even after a pair of series losses last week, and they welcomed catcher Conner Wong back to the active roster on Friday. How many teams are regretting not signing Alex Bregman while watching him hit .317/.396/.583 with 13 doubles, eight home runs and 27 RBI through his first 35 games in a Red Sox uniform?"
MLB.com (Will Leitch): 12th
"Some cracks are starting to show with the Red Sox’s pitching. The bullpen has been blowing leads like crazy lately, but even more worrisome is the shoulder inflammation that put Walker Buehler on the injured list. The team is trying to stay optimistic.
“We don't think it's that serious,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “Miss two starts and hopefully come back as soon as the [15] days are over.”
"But we are talking about shoulder inflammation here, with a pitcher who doesn’t exactly have the cleanest injury history."
USA TODAY (Gabe Lacques): 11th
"Just brutal to lose Triston Casas for the season with a gruesome patella injury."
theScore: 15th
"Boston's off to an inconsistent start, as the club's left multiple wins on the table. The Red Sox are 4-9 in one-run games and haven't overcome a deficit of more than two runs on the season. They'll attempt to piece things together at first base following Triston Casas' season-ending knee injury."
FOX Sports (Rowan Kavner): 13th
"The potential for greatness is still there. The results, so far, have not been there. The offense has the second-most strikeouts and third-highest whiff rate in MLB and just lost Triston Casas for the season, the defense leads the league in errors, and the pitching staff has been mediocre overall. There are still plenty of reasons for optimism. Kristian Campbell looks like the best rookie in the sport, new additions Garrett Crochet and Alex Bregman have looked like stars, and eventually top prospect Roman Anthony should enter the fold. I still expect better days ahead."