Boston Finally Invested in Pitching — Now the Pressure Shifts

The Red Sox spent much of 2025 stuck in baseball’s uncomfortable middle class. They weren’t bad enough to blow it up. They weren’t good enough to seriously threaten the AL elite. Their offense was respectable — hovering around league average in runs and power — but their pitching was wildly inconsistent, especially in high-leverage situations.

The Red Sox rotation was the strong point in 2025, racking up the second-most quality starts in the league, and the bullpen had its moments. After all, this team did make it to the postseason, so we can’t be too critical, but the inconsistency did bite them at times. Despite being a top-5 team in ERA, they were middle-of the-road trending toward the bottom in categories like walks, strikeouts, WHIP and opponent’s backing average. They pitched with traffic, leading to a lot of high stress innings.

So Boston did something refreshing: they invested in real pitching.

Ranger Suárez gives this rotation a legitimate anchor. He stabilizes the staff, eats innings, and gives Boston a true tone-setter every fifth day. That alone addresses the biggest flaw on the roster. The problem? As I previously stated, their rotation was fine. They need bullpen help.

Adding Willson Contreras also helps the lineup’s stability and leadership. While Boston wasn’t starved for offense, they were often inconsistent in sequencing and situational hitting — areas where veteran presence matters. They ranked top-10 in most offensive categories, and Contreras can only help that, especially since they need to find a way to make up the production of the one-and-done Alex Bregman.

Biggest Need Entering 2026:
Bullpen consistency and defensive efficiency. Put that last part in all capital letters. The Sox were the worst defensive team in baseball across the board. That’s the area that truly held them back.

Have They Addressed It?
Yes — at least partially. Suárez dramatically raises the floor of the pitching staff. But most of Boston’s additions on the pitching side have been starters. Suarez, Sonny Gray, and Johan Oviedo. The Sox are LOADED at starter — Crochet, Bello, Gray, Suarez, Crawford, Houck to name a few — and no matter which way they go with their rotation, they’re poised to have one of the best units in baseball, but whoever ends up being the odd guys out need to embrace bullpen roles to help stabilize the back end of games. In the meantime, a name that comes to mind is Michael Kopech. Kopech is a 29-year-old hard throwing righty with starter’s length, but he shined in a bullpen roll with the Dodgers in 2024 after being traded from Chicago. That spotlight continued to glow in 2025 despite the season being cut short due to two separate bouts of inflammation, first in his arm, then in his knee. A healthy Kopech could add more firepower to that bullpen before the 9th inning is handed over to Aroldis Chapman.

This glaring issue, as I stated, was their defense. Bottom of the barrel. Worst of the worst. While it’s hard to make suggestions based solely on defense, when a team is this bad, you do what you can. The biggest move Boston could have made (and by all accounts, they tried), was to land the best defensive third baseman since Brooks Robinson – Nolan Arenado.

Alas, Boston lost that sweepstakes to Arizona and are left looking for other options. The names that spring to mind that are still on the market are first baseman Ty France and third baseman Eugenio Suarez. Both players rank near the top at their respective positions defensively, with Suarez also bringing a big bat. He’s usually good for 30+ homers, which would be a welcome addition to a Boston lineup that ranked 15th in the league in homers in 2025.

Our Take:
Boston feels like a team that finally chose a direction instead of floating. They’re not just hoping young players develop anymore — they’re actively constructing a competitive roster. If the bullpen stabilizes, this team could absolutely push into legitimate playoff contention, but, in the end, they will only go as far as their defense can take them.