For the first time in nearly a decade, the Boston Red Sox have lofty expectations going into a season. Gone are the seasons where the only notable names on the roster were an injury-prone Chris Sale, a terrible glove at third base from Rafael Devers, and someone your dad claims has a worse swing than him. This season is different in Boston.
The Red Sox are coming off one of their most successful seasons of recent memory. An 89-73 campaign turned into the first playoff berth since the 2021 run to the ALCS, where they fell to the Houston Astros. While they did lose in three games to their bitter rival the New York Yankees in the first round, there was much to be excited about in Beantown.
Providence College first-year student and lifelong Red Sox fan Bo Bogan believes a championship run is the bare minimum for 2026.
“There is just so much talent on the roster right now, and this is a group that I believe can be a pennant team,” Bogan said. “When Fenway is rocking and packed with fans, it’s a cathedral for baseball and the best ballpark in the world.”
Red Sox fans were reminded what it was like to have an ace pitcher again who could dominate every fifth game without any worry. Starting pitcher Garrett Crochet had the best season of his career, tossing an American League-leading 205.1 innings to the tune of a 2.59 ERA and 255 strikeouts, the most in MLB. This resulted in a runner-up to the AL Cy Young award, given to the best pitcher in each league, and an eighth-place finish in AL MVP.
“It’s not, ‘let’s hope he has his stuff today.’ Instead, the other team better hope they are able to get a hit today,” Bogan said. “The mood is now, ‘let’s go get a win, and maybe load up DraftKings to throw some money on the Sox.’”
It was also the first season of former top-ranked prospect in baseball outfielder Roman Anthony’s career, and the 21-year-old has already won over fans’ hearts. In just 71 games, Anthony slashed .292/.396/.463 with a .859 OPS, and finished in third-place for AL ROY. Just before Boston’s playoff run, Anthony suffered an oblique injury that kept him out of postseason play, but he is poised for a strong sophomore season.
“I think he’s going to be the Red Sox MVP this season,” Bogan said. “On top of that, I think he’s going to be one of the best players in all of baseball.”
Bogan believes Anthony has the ability to be the Red Sox’s representative for this era of the “Boston sports Mount Rushmore” and be the face of the team for years to come.
“Roman is coming in at an interesting time because we no longer have those guys from the 2000s like Brady, Ortiz, Pierce, and Chara or Bergeron,” Bogan said. “We’re now talking about the next group of guys being Maye, Tatum, Pastrnak, and potentially Anthony.”
Since the calendar has flipped over to 2026, Anthony and a majority of Boston’s hitting core have been playing outstanding. This year, MLB ran its sixth World Baseball Classic, baseball’s equivalent to the World Cup in soccer. The Red Sox sent an MLB-leading 15 players to the WBC, and they dominated across the board.
Anthony had two home runs, including one to punch Team USA to the championship game against the Dominican Republic. Outfielder Wilyer Abreu hit timely home runs, punctuated by his deep shot against Team USA in the championship game to push Venezuela to their first WBC title. Outfielder Jarren Duran arguably had the best performance of anyone on the Red Sox, as he hit three home runs and finished with a .333/.412/1.000 triple slash and 1.412 OPS.
“People started calling it the World Boston Classic since every team had a Red Sox player who was balling out for them,” Bogan said. “Duran was exceptional and is looking like a beast again, and even though he’s just 21, Anthony was Team USA’s best player by far.”
So, with all of this hype around the Red Sox, is the team placing itself into a position to be considered one of the best in MLB this season? Some fans don’t exactly believe this. As one of those fans, Bogan believes the team isn’t doing enough to prove to fans, young and old, that the spotlight should be on Boston.
“When the Red Sox are at their best, they are the team that best represents Boston, and you can feel that,” Bogan said. “Right now, I’m not getting that feeling. Compared to a team like the Celtics, the Red Sox haven’t nearly done enough.”
Bogan cited the recent free agency history as to why the Red Sox aren’t in that upper echelon of teams.
“There’s been some stinginess in the free agent market and the hesitation to pull the trigger on certain players,” Bogan said. “They’re in the third biggest market in baseball, but in terms of spending or success, I don’t think they’ve done enough. However, this season I believe they can flip that script.”
The Boston Red Sox kick off their season against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday at 4:10 p.m. at Great American Ball Park.
