Don’t Count Out the Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox won 10 games in a row heading into the Midsummer Classic, recording their longest winning streak since 2018. What happened that year? They won the World Series.

That team, notably starring the dancing outfield trio of Andrew Benintendi, Mookie Betts, and Jackie Bradley Jr., leaped into the All-Star break with a 68-30 record.

In the 2018 regular season, the team slashed .268/.339/.453, earning a .792 OPS. A speedy bunch, they stole the third-most bases in MLB that season with 125.

As of July 13, 2025  — the final game of their winning streak — the Red Sox accumulated a season slash line of .256/.326/.433 with a .759 OPS, ranking fifth in MLB with 85 steals. 

Clearly, the 2025 Red Sox are not quite the team they were in 2018 — yet, at least.

They only recently heated up. After earning three consecutive sweeps, a streak that began when they were a whopping two games below .500, the Red Sox climbed to a 53-45 record. Arguments of their sweeps being “gimmes” against the Colorado Rockies (24-76) and Washington Nationals (40-60) began to circulate, as both teams sit in last place in the NL West and NL East, respectively.

Rightfully so, this narrative dwindled when the Red Sox concluded a third sweep against their AL East division competitor, the Tampa Bay Rays (52-49). As a result, they surpassed the Rays in the division and postseason standings.

With a slow start out of the gate to the second half of the season, losing three of their first four games post All-Star break, the Red Sox sit six games behind the first-place Blue Jays (59-41) and hold the final wild-card spot by 1.5 games, just ahead of the Rays.

It’s been an up-and-down season for the 2025 Red Sox, but their strong finish to the first half may have just saved their season.

All stats and rankings were taken prior to play on July 22.

A Hot Streak That May Have Changed Boston’s Season

It all came out of nowhere — but the talent was always there.

For some players, the resurface of talent was unexpected. Despite fan calls to DFA Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story, who has severely underperformed expectations after signing a $140 million contract in 2022, he has proved those fans wrong in recent weeks.

From Opening Day through the end of May, Story slashed .216/.260/.326 with a .586 OPS. Then, his former All-Star talent emerged come June. From June 1 through the All-Star break, Story had a slash line of .319/.355/.556 for a .911 OPS in 152 plate appearances. Now, DFA’ing him feels unfathomable as he rocks a 146 wRC+ in July.

The list of surging Red Sox hitters doesn’t end there, though.

Center fielder Cedanne Rafaela has taken off since his slow start at the plate, and infielder Romy Gonzalez continues to soar offensively since returning from the injured list at the beginning of June.

From Opening Day through the end of May, Rafaela slashed just .239/.288/.359 for a .647 OPS. Gonzalez, on the other hand, had a terrific start to his season, slashing .308/.362/.423 for a .785 OPS over the same stretch before hitting the IL on May 10 with a quad injury that forced him to miss nearly a month of the season.

June is when things start to turn around for these two hitters.

Gonzalez returned from the IL on June 2. Since then, he’s hit .306/.333/.612 with a .946 OPS in 105 plate appearances.

Rafaela has been even better over that stretch. Since the beginning of June, Rafaela is slashing .309/.340/.611 for an OPS of .950. In July these two hitters have leveled up even more, with Rafaela posting a 1.081 OPS and Gonzalez posting a .991 OPS in the month. Simply put, these guys are slugging, and it’s done wonders for the Red Sox’s offense.

More specifically, Rafaela has another ace up his sleeve: the ability to perform under pressure.

Under bottom-of-the-ninth pressure, he helped defend the club’s winning streak, crushing a two-run, walk-off home run against the Rays to extend the winning streak to eight games. Then, in game four against the Rays, he homered to add insurance to his team’s lead.

However, a walk-off is only made possible by the offense setting the table for the hero.

That walk-off winner on July 11 was the perfect representation of how this team combines individual talent to wholly excel. Rafaela was in a position to be a savior because of the Red Sox’s persistent offense, which included RBI from Abraham Toro and rookie Marcelo Mayer, Alex Bregman’s first post-rehab game double, and rookie Roman Anthony’s clutch walk in the bottom of the ninth.

It truly felt as if there was magic in the air.

From Big Names to Young Guys

The Red Sox’s streak was made possible by every member of that team, from award-winning veterans to those called up from Triple-A just weeks prior.

In the offseason, the Sox signed three notable soon-to-be 2025 All-Stars: LHP Garrett Crochet, LHP Aroldis Chapman, and 3B Alex Bregman. These three veterans buoyed the team on multiple fronts, specifically with Crochet’s ability to eat innings with a dazzling 2.19 ERA this season.

Just before the break, to extend the Red Sox’s hot streak, he threw his first ever complete game on July 12 against the Rays, going nine innings of three-hit, shutout baseball while striking out nine. He continues to flash is Cy Young potential on the mound with each start he makes.

Regarding Chapman, the swiftness with which he eliminates opponent’s hopes of igniting a late-game comeback — posing an average fastball velocity of 98.6 mph and a 1.15 ERA — makes him a tremendous offseason pickup. At 37 years old, he doesn’t look a day over awesome.

On the offensive side, however, the team is young. They need leadership.

The Red Sox had veteran Rafael Devers before trading him on June 15, whose leadership skills were in question when he — with 313 million reasons to help the team win — refused to switch positions to accommodate a Gold Glove winner, despite his below-league average defense.

That’s where Bregman comes in. A Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner, his generational talent speaks for itself on the field. Like any great, however, he doesn’t need to touch the dirt to help his team win. When he entered the IL on May 24 with a quad injury, he was anything but absent from the team.

Constantly surrounded by his new teammates of all ages, including Rafaela, Story, and Jarren Duran, as well as rookies Mayer, Anthony, and Kristian Campbell, he shares his wisdom. Even when injured, when the television cameras pan to Bregman, he appears locked in, talking to a different teammate than in minutes prior.

Still, leadership is a two-way street, and the 2025 Red Sox understand this. Bregman’s teammates are willing to learn and go to lengths to absorb every word leaving Bregman’s mouth. According Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, Mayer referred to Bregman as appearing “like a coach.” Duran said something similar.

“It’s like when you’re in a movie theater, ‘You’re like shut up, Bregman is talking, let’s hear what he has to say,’” Duran was noted saying in the article.

Duran, after a slow start to his 2025 campaign, has seen an uptick in production in July, slashing .283/.387/.585 for a .972 OPS. Surely Bregman’s teaching has helped Duran shake his early-season struggles.

Another rookie, Carlos Narváez, is also making a name for the young end of the team. In December, Boston acquired Narváez from the New York Yankees as nothing but a backup to give Red Sox catcher Connor Wong a few days off here and there. 

Reasonably so, it came as a shock to Major League Baseball when Narváez, as a happy accident, took Wong’s position by the horns as it quickly became his own.

Narváez has a .266/.341/.430 slash line on the year to go with a .771 OPS while sitting in the 97th percentile in Fielding Run Value, according to Baseball Savant, by posting impressive defensive metrics across the board, including elite blocking, framing, and pop times.

This is a roster that features a unique blend of high-caliber veteran talent and up-and-coming promising rookies, and it’s clear the pieces are starting to come together.

Are the Red Sox Officially Buyers?

They are all-in, in terms of playoff contention being feasible, but that doesn’t necessarily make them guaranteed buyers. Having a surplus of talent is a good problem to have, but it creates a roster construction problem nonetheless.

With five eligible outfielders — Duran, Rafaela, Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, and Masataka Yoshida — the Red Sox have more names than positions available. If the Red Sox decide to trade an outfielder, which is a viable solution to nail down the crowded talent pool, it would allow them to enhance other parts of the big-league roster or even bolster the farm system.

Moreover, another priority for Craig Breslow and Co. at this year’s deadline should be to not only keep Alex Bregman around, but maybe even consider offering him an extension.

On top of his elite baseball ability with both his glove and his bat, it’s clear that his baseball brain has been extremely valuable in the clubhouse as well given how much young talent surrounds him.

The Red Sox pulled off a 10-game winning streak under Bregman’s coach-like leadership from the sidelines. Even if his production on the field were to taper off in years to come, it’s clear his wisdom holds tons of value within this organization.

The Red Sox are hoping that this is the opening of a window to continually compete for World Series titles, and having Bregman in-house would be key in keeping that window open for as long as possible.

Whether or not the Red Sox choose to buy at this year’s deadline or reallocate assets to address holes on the roster is yet to be seen. But what has transpired lately is an indication that this may not be a lost season after all, and Boston might just have what it takes to make it to October baseball and compete for a championship once again.