As baseball seasons tend to go in Boston, the Red Sox 2025 campaign has been an up and down experience through the first month of regular season action.
But as the frost begins to melt around the city with the calendar flipping to May, it appears the early season malaise for the Red Sox has worn off as well.
Since April 13, Boston (17-14) has won 10 of its last 15 games, including three straight heading into Wednesday night’s Red Sox regular season debut for 2024 free agent acquisition Lucas Giolito.
Regardless of how Wednesday night’s game goes in Toronto for the 30-year-old starting pitcher who has not pitched at the big league level since October of 2023 after undergoing elbow surgery in March of last year, manager Alex Cora is feeling good about where things stand for the organization.
With his team averaging 5.6 runs per game over this 15-game sample size, it appears the offense Boston fans had high expectations for heading into the season is finally living up to its preseason hype. For context, the Cubs (18-12) lead all of baseball with an average of 6.03 runs per game, and the Yankees (18-12) lead the American League at 5.77. This stretch of hitting has bumped Boston’s season average to 5.10, good for the seventh-highest runs scored average in the MLB.
Good hitting is being paired with consistently good pitching from the starting rotation in recent weeks, with Garrett Crochet (3-2, 2.05 ERA), Walker Buehler (4-1, 4.28 ERA) and Brayan Bello (2-0, 3.27 ERA) all rounding into form as they continue putting up Ws on the scoreboard.
Add in improved defense - just one error in their last five games - and a Triple-A team brimming with talent seemingly ready to make an impact at Fenway, and you can understand why Cora is bullish about the current state of his operation.
He gave us a window into that when asked about potential call-ups during his weekly conversation with WEEI Afternoons on Wednesday.
“Kristian [Campbell] is the first of the ‘big three’ - obviously makes the club out of spring training - and the other two have been hot as heck at various points in Worcester,” said WEEI’s Andy Hart. “Marcelo Mayer was the International League Player of the Week. What are the conversations like with you and Craig Breslow and the organization? You know, those guys look like they're ready to play in the big leagues - although right now, I'm not sure there's obvious spots for them to play for your club. What are those conversations like about when, if, how you get those guys to the big leagues?”
“Just looking at metrics, what they’re doing - not everything is hitting .330 or slugging .500, you know?” said Cora. “There's other stuff that we take a look at. From my end - honestly, I got 26, kids here that have to take care of, and also paying attention to what's going on in Triple-A. Not only with them, but with others.
“But as our organization, we're in a good spot, to be honest with you. You know, we're playing better up here. We got some guys that can help us throughout the season in the minor leagues. So it's a good time to be a Red Sox.”
In keeping with his standout performance at Spring Training, the aforementioned Mayer has looked major-league-ready through his first month in Worcester, hitting 7 home runs and racking up 34 RBI in just 24 games for the WooSox.
Add that to the season top-rated prospect Roman Anthony is having for Worcester (.306 BA, .439 OBP, .565 SLG, 1.004 OPS), and it’s fair to wonder when and how Cora and Breslow will deploy this two-headed minor league monster on the big league level.
But for now, Cora is focused on keeping the good times rolling for Boston as they currently sit 1 ½ games behind the Yankees for the AL East lead.
“A fifth of the way through the season - a month in, 20% into the season - what grade would you give yourself and the Red Sox thus far?” asked WEEI’s Nick “Fitzy” Stevens.
“Uh, myself? I always give myself an ‘A,’ brah,” Cora joked before giving his real answer.
And while it didn’t include an actual letter grade, it had an air of confidence about the direction of his ball club.
“I think we've been OK,” said Cora. “I don't want to give us a grade. I think if you look around the division, that's the most important thing, right? And we're in the middle of things. We're playing better baseball.
“Like I said in spring training, and I said it during the show when we were in Texas for the opening series - I'm not going to say, ‘Oh, we're going to the World Series and we're gonna win it.’ Our goal is to keep getting better each and every day, and I think the defense is getting better. Pitching is doing the same thing. And offensively, we're hitting our stride. So let's keep rolling, keep stacking up days, and see where it takes us.”
Giolito will go up against the Blue Jays’ Yariel Rodriguez (0-0, 4.63 ERA), who will serve as his team’s “opener” tonight in Toronto. First pitch from the Rogers Centre is set for 7:07 p.m. ET.
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