Roman Anthony and Wilyer Abreu stole most of the Red Sox -related headlines during the World Baseball Classic.
Anthony crushed a go-ahead home run to lead the United States to a semifinal victory over the Dominican Republic. Abreu belted a go-ahead homer to lift Venezuela over Japan in the quarterfinals.
Nate Eaton also delivered quite an exciting moment, although it didn’t grab as much attention. Eaton, playing for Great Britain, hit a leadoff home run on the first pitch against the United States in a pool play game.
And it came against two-time defending American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal .
“It was definitely a cool experience,” Eaton said. “Obviously going into the at-bat, I wasn’t necessarily trying to do that at all. I was just looking for a good pitch to hit and I got it first pitch.”
Eaton connected on a 94 mph fastball from Skubal and sent it 390 feet to center field with a 102.5 mph exit velocity.
Opponents batted just .189 with a .316 slugging percentage against Skubal’s fastball last year. Eaton said he wasn’t sitting fastball.
“In any situation if someone hits a leadoff home run, it gets everybody going,” Eaton said. “So it kind of helped fuel everybody.”
Did he have hundreds of text messages waiting for him on his cell phone after the game?
“It wasn’t anything crazy,” Eaton said. “I have my group of people I talk to and it was just pretty much everyone saying, ‘Congratulations. That was pretty cool.’”
Despite a strong WBC and spring training, Eaton will begin the 2026 regular season at Triple-A Worcester . Boston optioned him Monday , paving the way for Andruw Monasterio to fill the final utility player role on Boston ’s Opening Day roster.
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Below is a list of five players — leading with Eaton — who will begin the year at Worcester but should help Boston sooner than later.
1) Nate Eaton : The 29-year-old played an important role down the stretch for the 2025 Red Sox. He went 24-for-81 (.296 batting average) with a .348 on-base percentage and nine steals in 41 games for Boston. He then went 2-for-5 with a double and walk while starting two games in the AL Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium.
It’s a little surprising that the Red Sox didn’t give Eaton any infield reps during spring training games. After all, the Sox’ outfield is crowded and the Red Sox lineup is left-handed heavy. So it would make sense to keep Eaton, a right-handed hitter, as versatile as possible. But manager Alex Cora said , “I see him more as an outfielder. I think that’s where he makes the team better.”
2) Tyler Samaniego : The 27-year-old lefty had a strong spring training after back tightness delayed his debut until March 9. He tossed 5 ⅓ scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out six across four outings.
Boston acquired him and starter Johan Oviedo from the Pirates for outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia on Dec. 4.
His above-average extension in his delivery and a lower arm slot make him tough, especially on lefties. He topped out at 95.4 mph and also throws a slider and changeup
Lefty reliever Jovani Morán has no minor league options remaining, and so it’s not surprising he won a spot on the Opening Day roster. But if Morán struggles, Samaniego is one call away.
3) Zack Kelly : Inducing swing and miss was an issue throughout camp for Kelly, who recorded just five whiffs. He had three whiffs in his first outing, then just two combined over his next five. That was somewhat of an issue last year when he had a below league average 23.3% whiff percentage in 28 outings.
The 31-year-old righty also lacked command and gave up damage this spring. He finished Grapefruit League play with more walks (5) than strikeouts (4).
He gave up seven hits, including five extra-base hits, in 6 ⅔ innings. He allowed two homers off a curveball and changeup. He allowed three doubles off his curveball, cutter and four-seam fastball. He also allowed two singles, both on cutters.
His 25 four-seam fastballs averaged 95.9 mph with a perceived velocity of 97.2 mph. But he needs to throw strikes consistently. Kelly has gotten into the most trouble during his career when he’s not aggressive in the strike zone.
4) Tommy Kahnle : The Red Sox didn’t sign the 36-year-old righty until last Tuesday. With a minor contract that doesn’t have an opt-out until May 1, it makes sense to build him up in Worcester.
In his one spring training appearance, his fastball averaged 94 mph. He pitched a perfect inning against the Braves with two groundouts and one strikeout.
Kahnle posted a 4.43 ERA in 66 outings last year for the Tigers, but he limited hard contact and had a 47.6% ground-ball percentage.
His top pitch has always been his changeup, which he threw 85.6% of the time last year.
His contract includes an upward mobility clause May 1 that would allow him to sign with another team offering him a spot on their major league roster. He also has a straight opt-out opportunity June 1.
5) Nick Sogard : The 28-year-old utility player has been much better from the right side of the plate in his career. He’s batted .333 with a .352 on-base percentage, .431 slugging percentage and .783 OPS in 54 major league plate appearances against lefties compared to a .238/.309/.295/.604 line in 136 plate appearances against righties.
With the Red Sox being so left-handed heavy, Sogard might have more opportunities than Tsung-Che Cheng , a left-handed hitting utility infielder.
Payton Tolle :The 23-year-old lefty needs to work on his secondary pitches. Baseball America graded his fastball an 80 (top of the scale) on its 20-80 scale but it won’t play like an 80 fastball in the majors if his secondary stuff isn’t better.
Tsung-Che Cheng: The Red Sox claimed the 24-year-old left-handed hitting infielder , a native of Taiwan, off waivers from the Nationals on Feb. 6. He’s a good contact hitter and above-average defender. The Red Sox are focused on run prevention and doing a better job putting balls in play this season. At some point, Cheng should help.
Mickey Gasper : The 30-year-old catcher/infielder, a member of the 40-man roster, will begin the season with Worcester after a strong spring. He went 10-for-29 (.345) with two homers, one triple, seven RBIs, six runs, five walks and three strikeouts in 16 Grapefruit League games.
Backup catcher Connor Wong , who struggled offensively last year, went just 4-for-33 (.121) during spring training. Wong has a minor league option and Gasper is an option to replace Wong if he struggles.
Tayron Guerrero : The 35-year-old righty, who signed a minor league deal, tied with Tolle for the highest average four-seam fastball velocity (97.1 mph) among Sox pitchers during spring training. His fastball looked even harder with a 98.7 mph perceived velocity. But command has always been an issue. He needs to throw strikes more consistently.
Seth Martinez : The 31-year-old brings experience with 117 major league games on his resume. But the righty, who’s on a minor league deal, walked four batters and gave up 11 hits in 8 ⅔ innings this spring.
“Just get back to being consistent in the strike zone,” Cora said. “He knows it. He talk about it. Like there were some flashes of him throwing the ball well, but as he said, he didn’t show the consistency that you need to make it to the big leagues.”
Noah Song : The 28-year-old righty enjoyed a strong big league camp as a non-roster invitee. He posted a 1.13 ERA and struck out nine batters in eight innings. The Red Sox want Song to work on his cutter .
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