The first off-season move came on October 9th, when pitching coach Dave Bush and infield coach Carlos Febles were let go. On October 24th, the Red Sox hired their former pitcher, Craig Breslow to take over as the man in charge of baseball operations. He brought in Andrew Bailey to be the pitching coach. Bailey stressed first-pitch strikes, throwing one's best pitch with two strikes, lowering walk percentages, and increasing strike percentages. He also wanted his pitchers to stop relying on throwing fastballs and use more breaking balls.

Breslow's first trade was to send secondbaseman Luis Urias to the Seattle Mariners for reliever Isiah Campbell on November 17th.

On December 5th, Breslow traded Alex Verdugo to the Yankees, for minor league pitchers Richard Fitts, Greg Weissert and Nicholas Judice. Next, reliever Justin Slaten of the Mets, and catcher Mickey Gasper of the Yankees were chosen in the Rule 5 Draft.

Outfielder Tyler O'Neill was traded from the Cardinals for pitchers Nick Robertson and minor leaguer Victor Santos on December 8th. On December 12th, reliever Cooper Criswell was signed as a free agent and two days later free agent catcher Roberto Perez was brought in.

Chris Sale was traded to the Braves for a young secondbaseman named Vaughn Grissom at the end of December. Sale was in the last year of his expensive Red Sox contract and Grissom would be under Sox control for six years.

On December 29th, the Red Sox and pitcher Lucas Giolito agreed to a two-year, $38.5M contract, but in spring training he was lost for the season with a UCL tear that would need surgery. Other pitchers the Sox acquired were Chase Anderson and Naoyuki Uwasawa.

No important other moves were made during the off-season and the only other major move as it turned out, was pitcher Brayan Bello and the Sox agreeing to a six-year deal worth $55M with a seventh year club option.

Opening Day was in Seattle on March 28th and the Red Sox beat the Mariners, 6 to 4. Rafael Devers homered and doubled, but the news was newcomer, Tyler O'Neill who also homered. It was his record fifth consecutive Opening Day home run. The Sox lost the next two games despite great pitching efforts by Kutter Crawford and Nick Pivetta.

The Sox and Mariners did split the series thanks to an outstanding game pitched by Garrett Whitlock, 5 to 1 on March 31st. Whitlock pitched five innings and gave up three hits. The four Sox starters registered a 1.64 ERA in the series. Rookie Justin Slaten impressed in his second relief appearance retiring all seven batters he faced on 15 pitches. Enmanuel Valdez's three-run homer led the Red Sox hitters.

The Sox next moved down to Oakland on April 1st. Tanner Houck shut out the A's 9-0 on four hits and 10 strikeouts. Jarren Duran (3-for-5) stole three bases, bringing his season total to five thus far, becoming the first Red Sox player to ever do so.

Trevor Story (3-for-5, 2 RBIs) came through in a big way in the next game on April 2nd, singling home the tying run in the seventh inning and leading the Sox to a 5-4 victory over the A's.

Aside from Jarren Duran's 4-for-4 day on April 3rd, there was not much activity from the Red Sox bats in a 1-0 win at Oakland. Nick Pivetta (0.82 ERA) shut out the A's for five innings and has given up just one run in the eleven innings he's worked thus far.

Down in Anaheim on April 5th, Duran's home run put the Sox on top to stay in the eighth inning, winning 8 to 6. The red-hot Tyler O'Neill launched two of the Sox five home runs. Two days later on April 7th, the Sox (7-3) rolled over the Angels by a score of 12-2. Houck pitched six more shutout innings and the batters supported him with four homers. David Hamilton belted his first homer in the majors.

On April 8th the Sox locked up Ceddanne Rafaela with an eight-year extension.

The Red Sox returned home to celebrate Tim Wakefiled and the 2004 World Series Champs, but they were swept by the Baltimore Orioles by playing shoddy defense and having the bullpen blow leads. With Trevor Story out for the year, the defense had suffered. After 14 games, the Sox led the majors with 16 errors.

TANNER HOUCK

After losing four straight at home, Triston Casas slugged a 429-ft homer sandwiched between RBI singles from Masataka Yoshida and Ceddanne Rafaela to lead the Sox to a 7-2 win over the Angels on April 13th. On April 14th, Kenley Jansen walked a ninth inning tightrope to save a 5-4 victory over L.A.

Tanner Houck (3-1, 1.35 ERA) became the third MLB pitcher to toss a complete game this season, when he overpowered the Guardians, 2-0, giving up just three hits on April 17th. He threw 94 pitches, 69 of which were strikes.

The Sox (10-10) lost 7-of-10 on their opening homestand primarily to playing lousy defense. They led the majors with 20 errors, leading to 25 unearned runs. The pitching was keeping them afloat with a 1.82 for the starters.

In Pittsburgh on April 19th, Brayan Bello pitched six shutout innings and allowed just one hit, beating the Pirates, 8 to 1. The Sox batters belted out four home runs in his support.

Kutter Crawford took the mound in Pittsburgh the next day with the best Sox ERA (0.45) through four starts since Roger Clemens in 1991. Twice he pitched out of trouble and got his first win of the season, beating the Pirates 4 to 2, on April 20th. Masataka Yoshida (3 for 4) helped him with a two-run homer.

With injuries to half the starting lineup, the pitching carried the Sox to a sweep of the Pirates with a 6-1 victory on April 21st. Wilyer Abreu was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs, and again played solid defense in the outfield.

April 24th proved to be a very productive day for the Sox. Rafael Devers, who missed five games with a bruised knee, came back strong. He belted a single, a double and a home run. Wilyer Abreu continued his hot hitting with a 4-for-5 game and Connor Wong banged out two homers of his own. With Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta and Garrett Whitlock all down with injuries, Cooper Criswell picked up the slack and started, hurling five scoreless innings and giving up just three hits.

After losing two of the three played in Cleveland, the Sox returned to Fenway to meet the Chicago Cubs. On April 27th, the Sox exploded for seventeen runs on 21 hits in a 17-0 rout of the Cubbies. Ceddanne Rafaela belted out four hits including a homer, bringing in seven of the runs. Masataka Yoshida also had four hits and Tyler O'Neill had three, including his MLB-leading ninth homer.

With a rib injury to firstbaseman Triston Casas, that placed him on the 60-day DL, the Sox acquired Garrett Cooper from the Cubs.

Tanner Houck (1.60 ERA) lowered the staff ERA to 2.08 by pitching 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and striking out nine on April 28th vs the Cubs. The Sox won the game on Tyler O'Neill's walk-off bloop single, 5 to 4.

Cooper Criswell (1.65 ERA) took his turn against the Giants on April 30th and shut them out five innings, giving the Sox a 4-0 victory. Meanwhile, Jarren Duran was 3-for-4 and the red hot Wilyer Abreu also went 3-for-4 with a double and a triple.

On April 30th, the Sox acquired firstbasemnan, Dom Smith from the Rays and infielder Zack Short from the Mets.

Through the end of April, the unheralded starters that began the year with low expectations posted a 2.00 ERA with a .211 opponent average against them and six shutouts. The team ERA was 2.59, their lowest mark since 1920 Red Sox and the lowest in MLB since the 1981 Dodgers posted a 2.06 ERA.

The Red Sox (17-13) sat in third place in the AL East, 2 1/2 games out, despite of losing Trevor Story and Lucas Giolito for the year, Triston Casas on the 60-day DL and with injuries to pitchers Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta and Garrett Whitlock. This was also despite of a stretch where the defense led the MLB in errors and unearned runs at one point.

The Sox beat the Giants for a second time on May 1st, 6 to 2. Kutter Crawford (1.56 ERA) pitched seven innings, while Connor Wong rapped out three hits including two doubles.

In Minneapolis, the Sox lost two of the three game played against the Twins. On April 5th, they stopped the Twins' 12-game winning streak by beating them 9 to 2. Cooper Criswell (1.74 ERA) was excellent on the mound and he was backed by homers from Rafael Devers and Ceddanne Rafaela as well as Jarren Duran's MLB leading fith triple of the season.

The Sox lost both games in Atlanta and had Chris Sale shut them out 5-0 on May 8th. After returning home and losing on May 10th to Washington, it marked the 12th time in 38 games that the Sox had scored two or fewer runs. They led the majors with 94 strikeouts with runners in scoring position and have gone 2-for-29 in that situation.

Rafael Devers came through and hammered a pitch with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, that slammed off the wall for a go-ahead, two-run double on May 11th, and led to a victory over Washington, 4 to 2. Given the recent struggles the Sox had at the plate, the timing couldn’t have been better for their best hitter to come up clutch with the game on the line.

Four Sox relievers (Cam Booser, Zack Kelly, Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen combined to pitch four one-hit innings after Brayan Bello pitched the first five innings, giving the Sox a 3 to 2 win over the Nats on May 12th.

After losing the opening game to the visiting Rays, the Sox beat them 5-to-4 in 12 innings on May 14th. Romy Gonzalez lined the walk-off hit down the right field line to get Brennan Bernardino (2-1, 0.50 ERA) the win. But the Sox lost 3-of-4 to the Rays.

Despite and MLB-best ERA (2.74), the Sox (22-22) are struggling at .500 baseball. The Sox failed to score more than three runs in nine of their last 12 games, leave too many men on base batting .231 with runners in scoring position and lead the majors in strikeouts.

RAFAEL DEVERS

In St. Louis, the Sox lost 2-of-3, but on May 19th ran wild over the Cardinals, winning 11 to 3 on a series of bloop hits and big blasts. Tyler O'Neill belted a long home run and it was followed by one from Rafael Devers. Nick Pivetta also was immense, tossing a one-hitter over his six innings of work.

Tanner Houck (4-5, 1.84 ERA) continued to live up to his "ace" status by shutting out the Rays in Tampa, 5-0 on May 20th. Devers launched a home run in this, his sixth straight game, which established a new franchise record. Duran also knocked out his eighth triple that leads the majors in that category.

The next night, on May 21st, the speed of Jarren Duran led the Sox to a 5 to 2 win in Tampa. He was on the front end of a double steal and stole home. This, after hitting a sixth inning home run that tied the game. The Sox swept the Rays by winning the finale on May 22nd, 8 to 5.

After losing the first two games with the Brewers at Fenway, the Sox fought and clawed their way to a much-needed 2-to-1 victory on May 26th. Wilyer Abreu (3-for-4) broke the scoreless game with a lead-off triple in the fourth and Duran drove in Ceddanne Rafaela with the eventual game winner for Tanner Houck (1.90 ERA). But in the three games, the Sox hitters were only able to score a total of five runs.

The Sox then lost two of the three games in Baltimore. But in their second match-up which they won 8-to-3 on May 29th, Brennan Bernardino (0.78 ERA) came in with the bases-loaded and the Sox up, 4 to 3 with no outs. He got two men to strike out and the third hit a weak tapper to him to force the runner at home for a nice save.

Back at Fenway on May 30th, the Sox were no-hit by Jack Flaherty of the Tigers going into the seventh inning, but Nick Pivetta was also throwing flames, tying a Red Sox record of eight straight strike-outs, shared by Roger Clemens. The Sox ended being shutout at the final bell, 5 to 0.

The next night, on May 31st, Tanner Houck (1.85 ERA) continued his dominance, while the Sox beat the Tigers, 7 to 3. He allowed three hits over seven innings and was backed by two homers goof for five RBIs, by Ceddanne Rafaela.

At the end of May, Sox pitching was third in MLB with a 3.22 ERA. The offense was holding them back with a .239 BA when runners were in scoring position (21st in MLB) and their .709 OPS ranked 22nd. They had scored two runs or fewer in 17 of their 29 losses. But defense was the biggest reason in them being a .500 team. They made the second most errors in MLB with 41 and led the league with 37 unearned runs.

The Red Sox (30-29) started June in third place, 10 1/2 games out and with a 6-3 win over Detroit. Enmanuel Valdez was called up from the WooSox and became the star of the game with two homers and a double.

JARREN DURAN

After throwing away the opening game with the visiting Atlanta Braves, the Sox (30-30) rebounded in grand style on June 5th, 9 to 0. Nick Pivetta held the Braves to one hit over seven innings while Rafaela slugged two homers. Jarren Duran also homered and belted his MLB-best 9th triple.

In Chicago on June 6th, the Red Sox batters let loose with 24 hits against a terrible White Sox team. Duran had four hits, leading off the game with a home run. Rafaela also logged four hits; Rob Refsnyder (.346 BA) and Dom Smith each with three. These in support of another stellar performance by Tanner Houck (1.91 ERA), who carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, with nine strikeouts. The next night in a Red Sox loss, Duran made history, when he stole home for the second time this season.

The Sox (33-33) split with Chicago winning the finale 6-4 in extras. David Hamilton was 2-for-5 with a homer and a double in the ninth inning. He stole third and scored on a sac fly to tie the game.

After losing the opening game to the visiting Phillies, the Sox made the second contest into one of the most gratifying wins of the season on June 12th. Down 4-0, they stormed back to overtake Philadelphia (the team in the NL with the best record), 8 to 6. A five-run rally topped by David Hamilton's (.296 BA) homer did the trick. The win moved the Sox (34-34) back to .500 for the 17th timer this season. Hamilton also singled, which gave him multiple hits in five of his last six games.

The Sox knocked out five doubles in the first two innings to take a 4-0 lead over the Phillies in the final game of the series on June 13th. Then added another four runs highlighted by seven doubles in total. There were two each by Jarren Duran and Enmanuel Valdez, as well as a three-run homer from Tyler O'Neill, to beat Philly, 9 to 3. Reliever Brad Keller took over for Tanner Houck, and threw three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits.

With the first-place Yankees in town, who had the best record in the majors, the Sox lost the opener. But in the second game on June 15th, they bashed the Yanks, 8 to 4. Three doubles in the first inning by Duran, O'Neill and Jamie Westbrook netted three runs. The biggest out game came when the Yankees loaded the bases and Justin Slaten got Alex Verdugo on a grounder and struck out Giancarlo Stanton to get out of the inning unscathed.

The Red Sox ran wild against the Yankees in the series final game on June 16th, winning 9 to 3. They set a franchise record for stolen bases with nine, led by speedy David Hamilton who swiped four of them. But the accolades have to be given to reliever Zack Kelly (1.88 ERA), who came in with the bases loaded and nobody out in the seventh, with the Sox clinging to a one-run lead. After falling behind 3-0 to Gleyber Torres, he struck him out. He then struck the next batter and got the final out on a fly to center.

That was 2-of-3 from each of the top two teams in the majors. In the two wins against the Yankees, the Sox won without hitting a home run, scoring 17 runs, and leading the league in triples and with 69 stolen bases.

On June 17th in Toronto, the Sox bashed four home runs. O'Neill accounted for two of them as the Sox beat the Jays, 7 to 3. Rafaela (3-for-4) continued his torrid month of June (.377 for the month) by knocking in David Hamilton with the deciding run, that gave the Sox a 4-3 victory in Toronto the next night. O'Neill homered for the third time in two days to tie the game in the eighth inning.

The Sox left Toronto after sweeping the series and taking the final game on June 19th, 7 to 3. Jarren Duran smashed a solo homer to break a 2-2 tie, and stole two more bases. Five of his six home runs this year have either tied the game or given the Sox the lead.

Their bad defense took down the Sox in Cincinnati on June 21st, losing 5-2. They committed three errors that cost them the game. The Sox ranked last in fielding percentage (.979), with 57 errors and 48 unearned runs allowed.

The second game in Cincy was won by the speed, aggressiveness and athleticism of Jarren Duran, 4 to 3, on June 22nd. Duran's aggressive attitude and speed allowed him to score the go-ahead run from third base, on a short fly to left. Then in the ninth, he scaled the center field fence to take away the game-tying home run. Duran had three more hits as the Sox took the final game in Cincinnati, 7 to 4, on June 23rd.

Back at Fenway on June 24th, the Sox held a one-run lead over the visiting Blue Jays, until the visitors scored five runs in the seventh to take a 6-1 lead. After hitting a pop-up that landed between two players, Duran ended up on second and scored ahead of Hamilton's homer in the eighth. Then with the bases loaded, Romy Gonzalez tied the game with a single to left. In the ninth, Ceddanne Rafaela reached on an error, was balked to second and driven home by Duran's walk-off single to right, 7 to 6 .... Mercy!

With the season at the halfway point, the Sox were 7 1/2 games out of first place. Led by Tanner Houck (2.18 ERA) and Kutter Crawford, the pitching staff was sixth best in the majors with a 3.54 ERA. The offense came alive despite losing starters live Triston Casas and Trevor Story. Connor Wong (.330 BA) and Jarren Duran helped refocus the team on using speed as a weapon. Duran led the majors with 10 triples and had started every game thus far, while Rob Refsnyder became the go-to clutch hitter.

After the San Diego Padres pounded the Red Sox by an aggregate 20-3 in the first two games of their weekend series at Fenway, Josh Winckowski restored the order on June 30th, by pitching five scoreless innings in a 4-1 win. Rafael Devers pounded his 18th homer and Jarren Duran hit his 9th.

In Miami on July 2nd, homers by Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Jarren Duran as well as a fine game pitched by Kutter Crawford, led to an 8-3 Sox victory. The next night, Brayan Bello delivered one of his best performances of the year, beating the Marlins 7-2, while Sox batters delivered 13 hits.

Nick Pivetta had 6 2/3 scoreless innings in the series finale. After he allowed the first Miami hit in the seventh, he left and the fireworks started. The lead see-sawed back and forth until the Sox won-out in the 12th inning, 6 to 5. The defensive star was Jarren Duran who threw the runner out at home in the ninth, who reeked havoc on the bases again.

CEDDANNE RAFAELA

At Yankee Stadium, on July 5th, Tanner Houck was brilliant for a couple of innings. Then the rains came and he couldn't find the plate after the delay, to put the Sox behind 3-0. Up to the ninth inning and down now only two runs, with two outs away from it being a sloppy loss, Dom Smith singled. Next was Masataka Yoshida, and he was down to seeing his last pitch with a full count. Masa turned on a sinker and lined it into the right field stands to tie the game. An inning later, in the 10th, Rafaela, playing for the first time in the Bronx, homered into the stands in right-center and the Sox were 5-3 winners.

The Sox lost the middle game in New York, but Rafael Devers banged out his 1000th career hit, as wll as a home run off Gerrit Cole, who he has owned over the years. But in the finale, on July 7th, Devers put the Sox on his shoulders and broke up a pitcher's duel with two home runs, giving the Sox a 3-0 decision. The Sox half of that duel was Kutter Crawford who shut down the Yankees efficiently for seven innings on four hits.

At Fenway on July 9th, the Red Sox produced an historic offensive outburst. All nine members had a hit and scored at least a run in the first two innings. They hit for eight runs in the second inning, for a season's high in runs scored in an inning, and earned a 12-9 win over Oakland. Although Bryan Bello gave up five runs, he established a moden day strike-out record by having his first ten outs, coming on only strikeouts. The Sox lost the second game of the series, but Nick Pivetta tied a Red Sox club record, established by Roger Clemens, when he struck out eight straight batters.

On July 11th, in the series finale, Tanner Houck (2.54 ERA) took a no-hitter into the fifth and limited the A's to just two hits in six innings for a 7-0 shutout win. Chase Anderson pitched the last three innings of one-hit ball without any trouble. Connor Wong, Masataka Yoshida (3-for-4) and Wilyer Abreu (3-for-4) made it easy for their pitchers by all belting home runs.

Kutter Crawford pounded the strike zone again and shutout the Royals, 5-0, on July 13th. He limited Kansas City to just two hits over seven-plus inning, the longest he had ever pitched in a game. With their 11th shutout of the season, the Sox are tied for the most in the season with the Braves. The Sox flashed some leather in the ninth inning and concluded the first half by beating the Royals 5-4 on July 14th.

The Sox (53-42) went into the All-Star break in third place, 4 1/2 games out of first and holding the third wild card by two games. Since May 19th, after a rocky start, they held the best record in baseball at 31-18 and were 14 games out with 14 players on the DL and playing .500 baseball.

DURAN ALL STAR MVP

Red Sox pitchers ended the first half with a 3.61 ERA, the fifth best in the majors with Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford and Nick Pivetta leading the way, after losing Lucas Giolito and Garrett Whitlock. The athleticism and base-stealing threat of Duran, Rafaela and Hamilton in the lineup regularly put pressure on opposing pitchers. The team ranked second in the AL in doubles, tied for second in triples, fifth in homers, and third in batting average.

Tanner Houck, Jarren Duran and Rafael Devers were all named to the American League All Star team. Devers decided not to go and give his sore shoulder some rest. Houck served up a Shohei Ohtani homer that put gave the NL a 3-0 lead. But then the AL tied the game in the fifth inning and with a runner on base, when Jarren Duran, who was a defensive replacement for Aaron Judge, belted a home run that put the AL on top to stay, winning the "Ted Williams Award" as the game's MVP.

To begin the second half, Duran picked up where he left off, as he doubled and homered to give the Sox the lead, behind an outstanding start by Nick Pivetta, who struck out eight and gave up two hits over six innings in L.A. But the Dodgers came back and beat the Sox 4 to 1 on July 19th. The next night, two clutch homer by Tyler O'Neill brought the Sox from behind and gave the lead. But the Dodgers walked it off against the Sox bullpen for the second game in a row.

In Colorado, the Sox bullpen coughed up the lead for the fifth time in four games and lost the game on walk-off hits. This time it was 9-8 in 12 innings on July 22nd.O'Neill blasted two home runs in the second game on July 23rd, to lead the Sox in a 6-0 shutout of the Rockies. But the star was Cooper Criswell, who pitched seven innings of scoreless ball, something never done by a Red Sox pitcher at Coors Field.

After a 1-5 trip to start the second half, the Sox returned home to face the Yankees after re-acquitting James Paxton from the Dodgers. In one of the more exciting see-saw games of the season the Sox prevailed 9 to 7 on July 26th. The highlight of the game briefly came off the bat of Aaron Judge, whose ball cleared the centerfield wall and landed in the camera-well under the scoreboard, estimated at 470 ft. It gave the Yankees a 7-4 edge. But the Sox came roaring back with Ceddanne Rafaela belting a two-run homer. A double by Wilyer Abreu tied the game and Masataka Yoshida put the the Sox ahead to stay.

The next day the Sox picked up veteran catcher Danny Jansen from the Blue Jays for three prospects and released Reese McGuire. They also selected Yohan Ramirez off waivers from the Dodgers.

The Sox lost two of three to the Yankees but exploded against the Seattle Mariners on July 29th. Wilyer Abreu took 12 pitches to get a two-run single with the bases loaded. The Sox scored seven runs in the second inning and routed Seattle, 14-7, highlighted by Masa Yoshida's home run. Before the game they traded their #6 prospect, infielder Nick Yorke to the Pirates for their 2019 first round pick, pitcher Quinn Priester.

Tyler O'Neill was named American League "Player of the Week" batting .429 with four home runs.

On July 30th, the Sox added two relief pitchers at the trade deadline. They picked up pitcher Lucas Sims (3.57 ERA) from the Reds in exchange for a minor leaguer and Luis Garcia (3.71 ERA) from the Angels in exchange for Matthew Lugo and three other prospects.

The Sox finished the month by taking 2-of-3 from the Mariners. None was more important than the finale on July 31st, where Rafael Devers' third hit of the day was a walk-off wall-ball-double for a 3-2 win in ten innings.

August started in Arlington, where the Red Sox powered by the Rangers, 11 to 6 on August 2nd. Rookie Nick Sogard was called up and got a two-run base hit in his MLB debut. The next day Rob Refsnyder had two homers for the first time in his career, but Tanner Houck got knocked around again in a losing effort.

In his first 16 starts, Houck pitched to a 2.18 ERA with a .211 BA against. Since the All-Star break, he has had a 6.16 ERA and a .290 BA against.

In the series finale, Wilyer Abreu belted two homers and David Hamilton (2-for-3) added a solo shot to give the Sox a 7 to 2 win on August 4th.

In Kansas City, the Sox were chasing the Royals for the third wild card spot. The first game on August 5th, saw James Paxton give up just five hits over six innings to lead the Sox to a 9 to 5 win. Jarren Duran put the Sox ahead to stay with the score tied, by lacing a clutch two-run double in the sixth inning. The Sox offense leads the majors with a .301 BA with Masataka Yoshida going 4-for-4.

Masa stayed hot the next night, on August 6th, with a go-ahead homer and a bases-loaded double to lead the Sox to a 6-5 win. Kenley Jansen chocked-up a huge four-out save, striking out three of the for batters he faced. The victory gave the Sox the head-to-head season advantage should the two teams tie for a position in the post-season.

Having the worst pitching stats in the majors since the All-Star break, the Sox lost three straight to the Astros at Fenway. With a depleted bullpen, Brayan Bello next pitched one-run ball for six innings against the Rangers on August 12th. Then the game was tied and the teams went into the 10th inning. The Rangers took the lead quickly. Then in the bottom of the 10th, Enmanuel Valdez doubled home the ghost runner to tie the game again. The Rangers pitchers loaded the bases for Rob Refsnyder, who hit a line drive into the left-centerfield gap for a walk-off 5 to 4 victory.

The following night the Sox bats staked Kutter Crawford to a 6-0 lead, as he was perfect for five innings. Connor Wong laced a three-run homer fo pace the hitters in a 9 to 4 victory on August 13th. In the finale of the series, a botched ninth inning doubleplay ball, that would have ended the game, cost the Sox a victory.

The Red Sox defense has always been questionable, and has quickly become a major problem again, along with a pitching staff that has nosedived as the season draws to it's stretch run. Since the All Star Break the Sox pitchers had given up 54 homers, with a 6.10 ERA, the worst in the majors.

The Sox were on to meet the AL East leading Orioles in Baltimore. After losing the opening game, the two teams engaged in an outrught slugfest, with the Sox prevailing, 12-10 on August 16th. Masataka Yoshida was 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs. Jarren Duran also had three hits with a homer and a double. In the third game against the on August 17th, Brayan Bello silenced the bats of the Orioles going 5 2/3 innings and liniting them to just two hits in a 5-1 win. In his last seven starts he is 2-0 with a 3.57 ERA and the Sox were 6-1 in those games.

The speed and hustle of Duran (4-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBIs) along with the power of Casas (2-3, HR, 3 RBIs) put the Sox in an early lead against the Astros. Then with the score tied, Duran put the Sox on his back and came through with a game-winning homer, to finish a 6-5 Sox win in Houston on August 20th. The next night some strong pitching from starter Cooper Criswell and clutch performances by the Sox bullpen, led to a 4-1 victory. Ceddanne Rafaela was the offensive hero with two clutch run-scoring doubles and some web gem plays at shortstop.

Back at Fenway, the Sox were swept by the Diamondbacks and took a big step back in the postseason aspirations. The pitching was fifth best in baseball with a team 3.63 ERA before the All Star break and was now 21st with a 4.19 ERA. And with runners in scoring position, the Sox were under-whelming with much too many strikeouts in that situation. In the Arizona series, they struck out 33 times in the three games they played and lost. The Sox defense was also one of the worst in baseball leading the majors with 94 errors.

Toronto next came to Fenway on August 26th to play a doubleheader. History was made in the first game, which was a continuation of a game played on June 26th, which was halted because of rain. At the plate for the Jays at the time was their catcher Danny Jansen. When play resumed three months later in the first game of the doubleheader, Jansen had been traded to the Sox and was now doing the catching for the Sox when this game resumed. He was thus the only player in history to play for both teams in a single game and was now the catcher when he was also was also the batter.

After losing five straight games the Sox unloaded on the Blue Jays on August 27th, 6 to 3. Jarren Duran (20 HRs) homered for the second time in two days and threw out two baserunners. Brayan Bello delivered one of his best performances of the season on August 28th, shutting out the Jays, 3-0. Bello pitched eight innings, gave up just two hits and struck out nine.

44-year old Rich Hill pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief on August 29th, appearing in a game in each of his last 20 seasons. It was the fourth time he has had a stint with the Red Sox.

Jarren Duran (3-for-5) and Ceddanne Rafaela went back-to-back in the 10th inning to edge the Tigers in Detroit, 7 to 5 on August 30th. Tanner Houck threw six shutout innings but continued to struggle with his control. Nick Pivetta had strong stuff in Detroit for his second consecutive game, but the Sox defense let him down, losing 2 to 1 on August 31st

The Sox (70-66) were 17-16 in August and 3 1/2 games out of the final wild card spot at the end of the month. On certain days they were very good and on other days they looked like the inexperienced young team that they were, striking out too many times and playing questionable defense.

The Sox continued to run out of gas and were swept by the Mets in New York, falling back to .500 at 70-70. In their first 52 games, the Sox were .500 at 26-26. In their next 44 games they had the best record in the American League at 27-17. In their last 44 games, they have gone 17-27, the third worst record in MLB.

They had not been hitting with a .207 team batting average, especially with runners in scoring position and struck out 120 times in their last 13 games. The top 10 offense had slumped to a point of averaging 2.5 runs per game over the last two weeks. Since the All Star break the bullpen had the worst ERA in all of baseball, but the starting pitching had pitched to an excellent 2.40 ERA since the middle of August. They were not hitting and pitching well at the same time and missed numerous opportunities to gain some ground in their playoff chase.

Trevor Story returned to the Red Sox lineup on September 7th after dislocating his shoulder at the beginning of April. He and the Sox beat Chicago 7-5 on the strength of Tyler O'Neill's two home runs that woke up the Red Sox sleepy offense. However, they still struck out 11 times in the game. Missing a great opportunity to gain some ground against the worst team in baseball, the Sox only took 2-of-3 from Chicago.

Rob Refsnyder (4-for-4, 5 RBIs) and Tyler O'Neill (3-for-5, 3 RBIs) hit back-to-back homers two times, in a game where the Sox pounded the Orioles, 12-3 at Fenway on September 9th. Two nights later on September 11th, O'Neill slammed a walk-off homer, his 30th, in the 10th inning, to lead the Sox to a 5-3 victory.

Against the Yankees in New York, on September 12th, the Sox hitters struck out 14 times and were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position, losing 2-1 in 10 innings. The next night Aaron Judge pounded what symbolically was a big nail in the 2024 Red Sox coffin, as a hit a walk-off grandslam homer, to beat the Sox, 5-to-4 on September 13th.

TRISTAN CASAS

After losing five of the seven games on the road, and getting one hit against the Rays in the last game, the team returned home to meet the Twins for any chance of a shot at the wild card. That shot was immediatly halted as the Sox set a franchise record by striking out 20 times in 12 innings of the first game on September 20th. The team was also were an inefficient 1-for-19 with men in scoring position. In their last four games the Sox had scored just seven runs and struck out 53 times and Rafael Devers struck out 11 times in his last 15 at-bats.

On September 22nd, however, Triston Casas had a game to remember. He hit three home runs in his first three trips to the plate, in the first game of a doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins.

The 2024 Red Sox blew it. It's a fact. They did. That doesn't mean there weren't success and moments of admiration for a team that many didn't believe could get to 80 wins, particularly after prolonged injuries to Trevor Story and Triston Casas. But even with all the overcoming of adversity and overachieving, it shouldn't be forgotten what kind of opportunity was at the Red Sox' collective fingertips.

The Red Sox (81-81) just couldn't put one foot in front of the other enough and couldn't take advantage Fenway Park. They had a roller-coaster season with a better road record than a home record with a lineup of mostly left-handed hitters, who did not take advantage of the Green Monster in left.

The season started with the external belief it would be a bridge year in Boston, one in which young players would get a chance to grow, but the Red Sox wouldn’t be participants in the postseason for the third straight year. It was true througout most of the season, they played .500 baseball with streaks of fine play followed by slumps by the pitching staff and then the batters.

As flawed, inexperienced and banged up as this roster was, the path to a World Series appearance had been during one streak before the All-Star break. Yhey raised everyone's expectations on a roll from May 19th thru July 14th, in which they were 31-19 and were "greedy" enough to think they could win the AL East, let alone a Wild Card spot at the All-Star break.

But then they reported to Dodger Stadium to start the second half, and the dagger moments started with bullpen-induced losses, that turned out to be a dismal second half run.

The kids showed they could play however. Rookies Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela and David Hamilton all had the chance to play regularly, and each of them took steps forward, which allowed the Sox to stay in contention.

The Sox decided to give their mid-to-late 20’s trio of Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford and Brayan Bello room to grow as mainstays in the rotation.

Although Bello (14-8, 4.49 ERA) struggled with consistency, it was a strong development year. As the club’s opening day starter, he struggled with ineffectiveness and injuries in the first half, but he started to turn things around after the All-Star break. From July 20 to season’s end he had a 3.47 ERA in 72 2/3 innings, far surpassing his season-long numbers. Ideally, he’ll build on that success and produce at such a rate (or better) from start to finish next year.

Tanner Houck had a strong first half with a 2.54 ERA and a .215 batting average against. He was rewarded with an All Star nod, but he wasn't the same pitcher after the break with a 4.23 ERA and .263 batting average against. But he still put together an excellent year, posting a 3.12 ERA across 178 2/3 innings. Whether Houck is actually an ace remains to be seen, but he proved that he can be a very good part of a rotation, something that wasn’t so certain just a year ago.

Like Houck, Kutter Crawford mirrored the Sox performance with a 3.00 ERA before the All Star Break and a .210 batting average against. Then after the All Star break, he had a 6.59 ERA. He also gave up an MLB-worst 34 home runs and lost 16 games, the most in the majors. Crawford pitched more innings than any other Red Sox hurler, racking up 183 2/3 frames across 33 starts (also a team-high). For the most part, those innings were pretty good, although the 28-year-old right-hander couldn’t maintain his strong start to the season all year, but he proved he could eat innings and for a Red Sox rotation that needed some stability, that had value in and of itself.

The veteran, Nick Pivetta (6-12, 4.14 ERA) was a team work-horse who did what was asked of him. He went seven or more innings in eight of his last 14 starts, but also had a problem of giving up too many home runs with 29. Capable of striking out 10 over seven shutout innings one day and getting lit up for seven runs the next, Pivetta struck out a team-best 28.9% of batters he faced.

Kenley Jansen was actually a bit better in 2024 than he was when he was when he was the Red Sox’s lone All-Star representative in 2023. He improved his ERA, walk rate and home run rate. However, we’re talking marginal improvements here. At this point in his career, Jansen will likely just keep humming along posting an ERA in the threes while saving 25-30 games like he has his two years in Boston.

Even a 6.75 ERA in September couldn’t sink Chris Martin’s otherwise excellent 2024, although it certainly didn’t help the Red Sox’s failed postseason push. The 38-year-old reliever set a career-low 1.7% walk rate while striking out 27.8% of the batters he faced across 44 1/3 innings this season. His 3.45 ERA was a touch higher than you might expect, but he was effective throughout the campaign.

Going by games started, Cooper Criswell was the Red Sox’s No. 5 man in the rotation this year. He acquitted himself fairly well given the role, as he had a 3.49 ERA in 85 innings as a starter. His less successful work as a reliever pulled down his overall numbers, but with the Red Sox needing arms to take on starting duties, Criswell stepped up.

And then there was the James Paxton debacle. After getting DFA'd by the Dodgers, the Sox picked him up. He started three games, pitched 11 innings, got injured, and retired.

The starting rotation crashed in the second half and couldn't pitch deep into games during an ill-timed August rut, while the bullpen lost two key arms in Kenley Jansen and Justin Slaten. Slaten had a very strong rookie campaign, with a 2.93 ERA in 55 1/3 innings and he also struck out 25.9% of the batters he faced while walking only 4.0%. The Red Sox will be hoping for an encore performance next year.

Greg Weissert was one of the Red Sox’s most utilized and most effective relievers this season. He pitched in a team-high 62 games and used his side-winding delivery to produce a 3.13 ERA. He was particularly nasty in September, holding opponents scoreless across 11 2/3 innings.

Josh Winckowski was once again a do-it-all pitcher for the Red Sox, although he moved back and forth from Worcester a handful of times as well. Across 76 innings (34 relief appearances and six starts), the 26-year-old relied on his cutter and sinker to induce groundballs, but he remained a useful contributor.

The trade-deadline additions of Lucas Sims and Luis Garcia to the bullpen was a bust. The relievers were great to start the season, but their numbers decreased in July, August and September. After the All Star Break they were last in ERA, opponents batting average, OPS, blown saves and home runs allowed.

The team's biggest downfall started on defense. For the second straight year, the infielders were making errors at an alarming rate and at the worst possible time. The 115 errors led to an MLB-worst 95 unearned runs allowed.

Then came a surprising month and a half long thud from the offense coming at the most inopportune time. The team struck out too often because of their propensity to be free-swinging. Ceddanne Rafaela, Rafael Devers and Tyler O'Neill had 150 or more strikeouts. The inability to put the ball in play negated chances for rallies and big innings. At the beginning of the season with the speed and baserunning abilty of Rafaela, Hamilton and Duran, playing small-ball and taking an extra base countered the strikeouts. That all stopped when Hamilton went down and the others slumped. Then seemed to forgot what got them to where they were. Even so, for the season, the Sox led the league in OPS, doubles and extra base hits. The Red Sox also had 144 stolen bases, their most since 1914.

Overall, Jarren Duran took his game up a couple of notches and was a stud in the leadoff spot until a late-season slump. He was always trying to take the extra base, turning singles into doubles and had an MVP year, with 83 extra base hits, that ranked him fourth in the majors. The electrifying speedster became the first major leaguer to record at least 10 triples (14), 20 homers (21), 30 steals (34) and 40 (48) doubles in the same season. He led the majors with 12 outfield assists.

Rafael Devers was on pace for a career year, batting .291 and making his third All Star team, before hitting a wall in August. Over the second half of the season, he was not the same as before the All-Star break. He also ended the season on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. Despite the swoon down the stretch, Devers still launched 28 home runs. He improved on defense bt remained inconsistent and sloppy much too often.

The Red Sox signed Tyler O'Neill to a one-year deal and got their money’s worth. The 29-year-old outfielder clocked a team-high 31 home runs across 473 plate appearances while setting a career-high in walk rate (11.2%). He also struck out a ton and was streaky as hell. Regardless, he proved he can bash.

Ceddanne Rafaela was an exceptionally exciting player to watch as a rookie, but there are still a lot of flaws he needs to iron out. Despite his excellent defensive versatility and speed, Rafaela never found enough rhythm at the plate chasing too many bad pitches and striking out much too much. He had his moments, belting 15 home runs, but didn't draw a walk over the final six weeks of the season. He did lead all rookies with 75 RBIs and led the majors in several categories. In all, Rafaela will need to show drastic improvements in the next few years.

Trevor Story had a devastating shoulder injury in April and was expected to be out for the season. But miraculously he came back at the end of the season, solidified the infield and cointributed with his bat with a .270 BA. His results were solid, as he led the Red Sox in shoring up the shortstop position.

Triston Casas severly sprained his ribs and was out for four months after hitting six hoimers in 23 games. When he came back, he started off hot, getting at least one hit in his first 11 games back. Then he slumped, but showed some power, and was ultimately benched against left pitchers at the end of the season. He had 13 home runs across 243 plate appearances while walking 12.3% of the time and hitting .241. He also played a solid first base. To take the next step toward stardom, he’ll need to cut down on the strikeouts and that all seems doable, especially if he can stay healthy for most or all of next year.

When Casas went down, the Sox picked up Dom Smith to fill in for him. He did a fine job at first base, getting some good at-bats, and even pitching some in mop-up situations, to save bullpen arms.

Wilyer Abreu was in the discussion for Rookie-of-the-Year, wielding a hot bat until he slipped down the dugout steps and sprained his ankle. He covered Fenway's right field like a blanket on defense on was a strong candidate for a "Golden Glove", sometimes going into walls and diving into the stands. In his first full season in the bigs, Abreu may not have flashed star power, but any team could use an above average position player who hasn’t even hit his late 20s just yet.

Despite a massively cold first few months and a thumb injury, Masataka Yoshida still turned in an above average offensive campaign fueled by his excellent bat-to-ball skills with a .280 BA. However, his defense and baserunning prowess remain suspect and without a ton of pop (10 home runs), it’s tough to call the entire campaign a full-on success. Still, Yoshida has proven to be competent player top have in the lineup, especially when he goes on a hot streak.

Connor Wong was the last remaining player on the Red Sox from the Mookie Betts trade. He batted .307 in the first half but that plummeted to .246 in the second half. He socked 13 home runs, but his defense was the worst in the league.

Rob Refsnyder’s ability to feast on left-handed pitching served him well this season, as he produced very well against southpaws with a .302 BA. However, he was pressed into service against righties quite frequently as well. Although his bat wasn’t as potent in such situations, he remained a solid utility outfielder for much of the year regardless of who was on the mound.

David Hamilton’s speed really stole the show in terms of his production this year. He snagged 33 bases while being caught only four times. The rest of his profile was less outstanding. He struggled mightily when he became Story's replacement as the everyday shortstop, but eventually found his rhythm. While he may have things to figure out, having one elite skill will serve Hamilton well in the furure.