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Boston Red Sox land 6 players on ESPN Top 100 list
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- Boston Red Sox land 6 players on ESPN Top 100 list
The Red Sox are well-represented on ESPN’s Top 100 players list entering the 2026 season.
Six of the 100 wear Boston uniforms, tied for the third-most of any franchise.
Garrett Crochet is the highest ranked at No. 8 overall. The AL Cy Young runner up, Crochet trails only Tarik Skubal (No. 4) and Paul Skenes (No. 6) among full-time, non- Ohtani pitchers.
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After Crochet, the next highest Red Sox player is 21-year-old Roman Anthony , who comes in at No. 33 overall despite only having 71 big league games on his resume. Jeff Passan predicts Anthony to hit 31 homers with a slash line of .286/.391/.538 this season.
“Though he’s expected to hit leadoff for the Red Sox this season, he’s the best hitter on the team by a considerable margin, hitting the ball harder on average than anyone other than Oneil Cruz , (Aaron) Judge and (Shohei) Ohtani last year while walking at an elite rate,” Passan writes. “What will separate Anthony the All-Star from Anthony the perennial MVP contender is his capacity to hit the ball in the air. Like De La Cruz, Anthony hits too many ground balls -- 50.6% last season -- and for his power to really matter, that needs to change.”
There’s a sizable gap after Anthony, as Jarren Duran is next at No. 67, followed by newly-acquired Ranger Suarez (No. 85) and defensive whiz Ceddanne Rafaela (No. 87). With Gold Glove defense already, Buster Olney is predicting a power surge at the plate for Rafaela in 2026.
“At 25 years old, he’ll continue to add to his value, learning through experience to chase just a little bit less and hit for more power,” Olney writes. “That will lead to his first 20-homer season.”
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Then 38-year-old closer Aroldis Chapman rounded out the field of Red Sox at No. 93.
Last season Boston placed five players on ESPN’s Top 100, but two are no longer on the team ( Rafael Devers , Alex Bregman ) and one has fallen off the list ( Triston Casas ). Crochet and Duran are the only ones to appear on the list in back-to-back to back seasons while in Red Sox uniforms.
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