At 22-22, the Red Sox are sitting in an all-to-familiar position heading into Wednesday night’s series finale with the Tigers (28-15) at Comerica Park:
A team with a .500 record on the outside-looking-in of a playoff berth if the season ended today.
Luckily for Red Sox fans, there’s still a ways to go in 2025. But if this up-and-down nature continues for Boston, it’ll be yet another fall without playoff baseball at Fenway Park.
With Boston’s two top prospects in Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer continuing to tear their way through Triple-A, Red Sox fans have gotten loud with their desire for the team to call up the duo from Worcester.
During his appearance on WEEI Afternoons on Wednesday, Red Sox manager Alex Cora threw a bit of water on that idea.
“[With] this obviously frustrating up-and-down kind of season, some would say the team maybe needs a jolt, maybe bringing up some young guys just to maybe make a point,” said WEEI’s Ted Johnson. “Do you see this team needing a jolt, or just little tweaks at this stage of the season?”
“No, we need to execute pitches,” said Cora. “I think that's the most important thing, especially in the later part of the game. You know, there's been a lot of damage done against us. You can go to the series against Minnesota, right? You know, we lost that one. We had a chance to get them two out of three, even sweep them, right? And we didn't execute pitches.
“Obviously, there's a lot of talk about what some of the guys are doing in the minor leagues, right? And obviously they're really good at what they do. But we have some good players here, and they're doing their job. I think defense can improve. And obviously the pitching part of it, especially when we have the lead late in games.”
Even though the Red Sox rank sixth in all of baseball in runs scored per game (4.91), Boston’s offense has been trick-or-treat all season long. The peaks in their run production are the primary reason for their inflated ranking.
Take this road trip, for example:
5/9 @ KC - L 2-1 (F/12)
5/10 @ KC - W 10-1
5/11 @ KC - W 3-1
5/12 @ DET - L 14-2
5/13 @ DET - L 10-9 (F/11)
1, 10, 3, 2, 9. A quintessential snapshot of offensive inconsistencies.
For those clamoring for Anthony and/or Mayer to get the call-up, here’s what they’ve been doing at the plate for the WooSox:
Roman Anthony, OF
- 161 plate appearances
- .298 batting average
- .416 on-base percentage
- .473 slugging percentage
- .889 OPS
- 5 home runs
- 17 runs batted in
- 26 runs scored
Marcelo Mayer, SS
- 155 plate appearances
- .275 batting average
- .342 on-base percentage
- .500 slugging percentage
- .842 OPS
- 8 home runs
- 38 runs batted in
- 24 runs scored
Anthony turned 21 in May. Mayer turned 22 in December.
These guys are young, but they’ve lived up to the hype so far at the Triple-A level.
Despite that production, Cora is keeping the faith in his current major league roster to turn things around. And in doing so, he hopes they can stack some wins when they return to Fenway for an extended homestand.
“Coming [to Detroit] from Kansas City, we got momentum, and then we gave it right back,” said Cora. “[Both] in the first game of the series [and again] yesterday, it felt great until it didn't, right? So it'll be good to finish strong this road trip. Play good today, and win the ball game. We got an off day tomorrow, and then it's a long homestand.
“And we've been talking about this for the last two or three years. We have to be better at home. We face the Braves, we face the Mets, and then Baltimore. Having that great homestand that we haven't had in years, it feels like we haven't had a long winning streak either. So, you know - 8 out of 10, 13 out of 15, 13 out of 16, that would be great. And if we do that, then you can survive for a week. Play .500, and then you go right after it, you know? And that's how winning teams do it.
“You know, it doesn't happen winning 20 in a row. That happened once or twice that I remember - Colorado in 2007 and Cleveland [in 2017], right? So just keep winning series, which is the most important thing, obviously. Save this one, win this one, and then go home and dominate.”
Sox will look to avoid being swept by the Tigers with Hunter Dobbins (2-1, 2.78 ERA) on the mound. That won’t be easy, with defending AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal (4-2, 2.08 ERA) getting the start for Detroit. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET.
WEEI and WEEI.com are your home for Red Sox baseball all season long. Hear every single game of the 2025 season on 93.7 WEEI-FM in Boston and across the WEEI Shaw's Star Market Red Sox Radio Network.