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State of the Sox: For a change, Red Sox can boast of star quality
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- State of the Sox: For a change, Red Sox can boast of star quality
Spending time at the World Baseball Classic, it struck me how many stars were associated with the event.
Admittedly, I got on the WBC train late – just in time for the semifinals. That means I never got an in-person look at Team Japan, with Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto , who exited in the quarterfinals.
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Still, everywhere you looked, everywhere you walked, there were stars — active ones and retired ones, too, like Ken Griffey Jr.
The existence of so many stars gathered for one tournament goes a long way in explaining the popularity of the WBC. That and, of course, the pride that comes from rooting for your country.
This was a best-on-best tournament, from across the globe. And the presence of the stars acted like a magnet, attracting the attention of not only hardcore baseball fans, but also, more casual followers. The huge TV ratings confirmed as much.
And that, in turn, got me thinking about the evolution of the Red Sox in the last few years.
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From 2022 through 2024, the Red Sox weren’t just non-competitive; they were also uninteresting. This was the post-Mookie era and the Sox were retooling , a mixture of unproven young players and somewhat faceless veterans rounding out the roster.
Even when they weren’t winning championships, the Red Sox were seldom without players who were worth watching. The greatest Red Sox player of all, Ted Williams, won one pennant in a career that touched four different decades, but he was always worth your attention.
Carl Yastrzemski was a star. So were Jim Rice and Luis Tiant and Wade Boggs and Mo Vaughn. They made those seasons without a championship bearable. They held your interest and managed to entertain you, even without delivering duck boat parades.
That wasn’t the case earlier this decade. It was one thing for those Red Sox teams failed to win. But they were so nondescript, they were hardly worth your time.
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Red Sox fans pay some of the highest ticket prices in the game. They sit in cramped seats and pay exorbitant parking costs. They should, at minimum, have some star players for whom to cheer.
The 2026 Red Sox have some of that. They‘re not a perfectly constructed bunch, to be sure. They could stand more power and a deeper bullpen, but they’re probably good enough to qualify for the postseason.
But what separates them is their star power, led by Roman Anthony and Garrett Crochet .
Anthony was the talk of the WBC, with teammates and opponents alike marveling at his ability, maturity and poise. Established veterans took note of his work ethic and preparation. Superstars like Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper sounded almost envious when speaking of his future.
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Now that the WBC is complete, Anthony again belongs only to the Red Sox. Next week will begin his first full season and the possibilities seem almost limitless.
What is he capable of? Forty homers? A spot on the All-Star team? An MVP? Finding the answers to those questions will be reason to watch the Sox this season.
Crochet will be another. When the Red Sox dealt for him in December of 2024, he was largely unproven. He possessed elite stuff, but he had never thrown as many as 150 innings in a season.
The Red Sox projected he could be the No. 1 that they — and every other team in the game – desperately needed. Fortunately for them, their bet paid off. Crochet led the league in innings pitched and strikeouts. If he’s not the best starting pitcher in the game, he’s very high on a short list. Several pre-season rankings by top evaluators confirm that status.
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As was the case with the incomparable Pedro Martinez , Crochet’s starts are now appointment-viewing events. You never know what you might see – 20 strikeouts? A no-hitter? He’s that special, to the point where you don’t dare risk missing one of his outings. There are only 32 of them per season, after all.
It’s not just his sheer brilliance on the mound that draws you in. There’s an intensity to him on the mound, that coupled with his big leg kick, draws you to his starts.
It’s hard to specify what makes a player a star. But there’s a certain quality that Anthony and Crochet exude. You know it when you see it.
That same quality was absent at Fenway before last year as the Red Sox were being built. At times, it felt like you were watching a collection of journeymen and aspiring prospects.
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Stars are different. You anticipate seeing them, and afterward, you discuss what they did. You remember seeing them play.
Their mere presence doesn’t guarantee success — Ohtani and Mike Trout were arguably the two biggest stars in the game as teammates in Anaheim and the Angels never so much as qualified for the playoffs.
But they make the games more interesting. Finally, the stars are back out at Fenway.
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