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Red Sox: Takin’ Care of Business

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2025 Opening Day at Fenway Park – Sox Win, 13-9

By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief at Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – The pregame ceremonies were poignant and impressive. The 1975 Boston Red Sox honored their teammate, the late, great Luis Tiant, and the Sox backed it up with a wonderful photo gallery during a moment of silence, except for “Danny Boy” playing in the background.

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Cue the National Anthem, the Air Force flyover and the Tiant family exclaiming, “Play Ball” into an on field microphone to start a beautiful New England spring (67-degrees) day in front of a sold out Fenway Park crowd of 36,462. It was time to play baseball and get down to business.

Newly acquired SP Walker Buehler took the mound and retired the first three batters for the St. Louis Cardinals in order, and looked good doing it. Buehler’s contributions to the Sox regular rotation could be a major factor for the club this season. The former LA Dodgers’ ace  with a career 47-23 record and 3.30 ERA.

Today, it was welcome to Fenway Park.

The Red Sox spotted Buehler a 5-0 lead when lead-off man Jarren Duran singled, stole second base and Rafael Devers walked to begin the bottom of the first. Alex Bregman, Boston’s new third baseman, took advantage of his first at bat for the Red Sox at Fenway and doubled down the left field line, driving in Duran and giving Boston a quick 1-0 lead.

The middle of the Red Sox lineup then went to work. Shortstop Trevor Story hit a 364-foot home run blast to the top of the Green Monster, scoring Devers and Bregman to mark a 4-0 lead.

Boston’s right fielder, Wilyer Abreu, followed with a 392-foot homer, taking Cards’ starter Erick Fedde for back-to-back longballs. It was 5-0, Red Sox.

Once again, it was welcome to Fenway Park, but this time to Buehler’s disadvantage.

St. Louis struck back with a run in third and three runs in the fourth when v eteran third baseman Nolan Arenado doubled, DH Alex Burleson singled and catcher Ivan Herrera homered to right center field (387 feet). An inning later, Cards’ second baseman and No. 3 hitter, Brendan Donovan, hit a 404-foot homer to right center field, making the score Boston 6, St. Louis 5.

It was back to business in the Red Sox half of the fifth inning when the combination of a Bregman lead-off walk, a Tristan Casas double and an Abreu single scored Bregman. Next up was Boston’s rookie second baseman, Kristian Campbell who popped up down the right field line, close to the stands, allowing Casas to tag-up and score on the caught, sacrifice fly ball. A lengthy umpire and MLB review allowed the play to stand and the run to score, and it was 8-5 Boston in the fifth.

St. Louis picked up a run in the top half of the seventh inning when Donovan knocked in left fielder Lars Nootbaar. By that time, Buehler had been lifted for reliever Zack Kelly.

Buehler left the game after five innings pitched, allowing seven hits, five earned runs, while walking only one and striking out four St. Louis batters.

Fedde went only three innings, allowed five hits and six earned runs. He walked four Boston batters and stuck out one.

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In the last half of the seventh, Boston scored three more insurance runs, taking advantage of four singles and a walk to make it 11-6 going into the top of the eighth when Brennan Bernardino relieved Kelly. (RHP Greg Weissert also threw one scoreless inning of relief in the sixth).

Bernardino struck out the side in the top of the eighth, as St. Louis began to wave the white flag of surrender before the traditional “Sweet Caroline” echoed through the Fenway crowd, not a single fan having departed.

The Red Sox listened to their own scouting reports in the bottom of the eighth, as it reported, “you can never have enough runs at Fenway Park,” so Boston loaded up for another pair of runs with doubles by Casas and catcher Carlos Narvaez and a fielder’s choice groundout by Abreu plated two more runs to make it 13-6, Boston, heading into the ninth.

Some sloppy play in the top of the ninth combined with a Wilson Contreras single followed by a Donovan base hit and an errant throw by the Gold Glover Bregman plated three useless runs against Sox reliever Cooper Criswall. 

With the score 13-9, an annoyed Sox manager, Alex Cora, called for ace closer Aroldis Chapman who walked a batter but a bases-loaded game ending double play to end the game.

 

It’s Opening Day at Fenway Park

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk (and on site at Fenway Park)

BOSTON – We’ve endured a long winter, but when a deep and dark December turned to the New Year, we started to count down the days until Pitchers and Catchers reported to Spring Training at Little Fenway, down in Fort Myers, Florida. There were 42 days to tear off the wall calendar, from January 1st to February 12th. It seemed to last a lifetime.

Then, it came. The equipment truck left Jersey Street. The veteran players began to arrive – early. Then it was official. Spring Training opened and soon after – February 17th to be exact – the entire squad was stretching and jogging/ jogging and stretching in the Florida sun.

Soon after there were exhibition games and not so much later came the opening day for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs way over in Toyko, Japan. It was set your alarm for real games. There were more on March 27 when everyone except the Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays were throwing out the first pitch of the 2025 season.

Today, it’s Boston turn to host a Major League Baseball game in 2025. The St. Louis Cardinals are in Boston for a three game series and today, at ten after two o’clock, Walker Buehler will throw a baseball as the starting pitcher for the ‘25 Red Sox. A half-inning later, Erick Fedde will take the mound – the cool kids call it ‘the bump’ – and we’ll all see what this hometown baseball team is all about.

The Red Sox limped home yesterday after a seven-game road trip with a 3-4 record, somewhat respectable considering an opening day win was sandwiched with a current two-game winning streak but in between were four losses, three to the tough as nails Texas Rangers and one to the equally talented Baltimore Orioles.

The Orioles and the New York Yankees – once again – are probably the two teams in the American League East standing between the Red Sox and postseason play, but it’s a long way until September when the days are shorter, cooler and the scoreboard watching begins.

Opening Day for the Red Sox begins with a number of storylines.

First and most important is the fact there’s a new third baseman and a new designated hitter for the Sox. Alex Bregman, a gold glove defender, is manning the hot corner which forced Boston manager Alex Cora to name longtime third baseman, Rafael Devers, as the club’s DH. Devers was none too happy and his .111 batting average (3 for 27) with 16 strike-outs tells that tale.

Devers did rip a double down the line at Camden Yards to break his slow start and he scored twice in Baltimore, so his horrible start has nowhere to go but up. Bregman, Wilyer Abreu and rookie Christian Campbell are the bright lights for the offense, as of today and, newly acquired and highly rewarded ($) starting pitcher Garrett Crochet (ERA 1.38) might become the ace that Cora needed.

The Sox faithful might’ve been too far ahead with visions of division titles dancing in their heads during Spring Training. The Red Sox finished 81-81 last season, third in the AL East, and they were five games back of a wild card spot. Now, they’re a half-game back of that pace, but it’s far too early to make any real, keen judgements on this club.

Too many questions remain, and they include:

Can Campbell keep up the pace and be a legit contender for AL Rookie of the Year?

Can Crochet win 20 games and strikeout 200+ batters along the way?

Can the likes of Buehler, Tanner Houck, Richard Fitts, and Sean Newcomb morph into a successful starting rotation while Garrett Whitlock, Arnoldis Chapman, Justin Slaten and a few others hold down a promising and improved bullpen?

Cora said Thursday that pitchers Lucas Giolito (hamstring) and Brayan Bello (shoulder) are “not close” to returning as they sit on the club’s 15-day injured list. Reliever Liam Hendricks (elbow injury and also on the IL) has been throwing at a 120-foot distance, a good sign for April 4th. Kutter Crawford (patellar tendinopathy, a fancy name for tendinitis) is also on the IL with an injury that’s bothered him since his third start of 2024.

Today, the Red Sox begin a stretch of 14 of 20 games to be played at Fenway from April 4-24 and add ton that the fact Boston will play 30 of 48 games (from 4/4-5/25) at Fenway, where Bregman should be a “double machine” and Devers will have comfortable confines to raise his batting average and home run count to normal range.

We’ll see today whether Campbell can perform well after a standing ovation from the Fenway faithful greets him upon introductions and for his first home at bat. And, we’ll also watch Abreu batting as he leads the American League in batting average at .471 – not too shabby, eh?

Otherwise, Boston will do what it does best – throw a party at Fenway which will honor the late, great Luis Tiant and his 1975 teammates while ushering in a 63-degree New England spring day.

Play Ball.

 

Bregman Breaks Out the Bats

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BALTIMORE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) –  Boston’s Alex Bregman, Kristian Campbell and Triston Casas slugged two-run home runs and the Red Sox strung together back-to-back victories for the first time this season, defeating the host Baltimore Orioles 8-4 on Thursday afternoon in the finale of a three-game series.

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Bregman, who added a run-scoring double in the ninth, finished with three hits.

Cedric Mullins homered for the Orioles, who dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Zack Kelly (1-0), the first of four relievers, was the winning pitcher with one inning of relief for the Red Sox. Boston starter Tanner Houck went four innings, giving up three runs on five hits with six strikeouts.

Baltimore starter Charlie Morton (0-2) took the loss, working five innings and allowing five runs on six hits with 10 strikeouts. He reached a double-figure strikeout total for the first time since August 2023, when he was pitching for the Atlanta Braves.

Morton struck out the side in the fifth, including two batters who had earlier homered off him. By then, much of the damage had been done.

Bregman smacked his first home run with the Red Sox in the first inning. Campbell connected for his second homer of the year in the second.

Baltimore trailed 4-2 through three innings, using Mullins’ second-inning homer and Jordan Westburg’s run-scoring single in the third. The blast from Mullins marked the first homer in three home games for the Orioles this season. Baltimore had gone three straight games without a home run.

After Jarren Duran’s sacrifice fly for Boston in the fourth was matched by Urias’ RBI single in the bottom of the inning, neither offense struck until Casas smacked his first home run this season in the seventh off reliever Keegan Akin for a 7-3 lead.

Campbell and Casas each had two hits and teammates Rafael Devers and Wilyer Abreu each scored two runs.

–Field Level Media

Devers Gets Red Sox on Track

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BALTIMORE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox worked through a few glitches in the opening week of the season, but there should be some good mindsets going into their Thursday afternoon game.

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The Red Sox, after snapping a four-game losing streak, will oppose the host Baltimore Orioles in the decisive contest of a three-game series.

Boston designated hitter Rafael Devers said there was no reason for alarm even after he began the season 0-for-19 through Tuesday. He went 0-for-2 to start the Wednesday game at Baltimore, then hit a run-scoring double in the fifth inning and added a single in the eighth during Boston’s 3-0 win.

“I knew it was going to come,” Devers said. “I also received a lot of texts from people worried about me, but I was OK.”

The breakout excited his teammates.

“It makes me happy seeing that reaction,” Dever said. “Because that makes me see they’re paying attention to my at-bat and they’re supporting me.”

Boston’s Trevor Story homered for the game’s first run, his first RBI of the season. He finished 3-for-4 to raise his average from .133 to .263.

“We know the type of players we have and the type of team we are,” Devers said. “We knew everything was going to change.”

Story said there are signs emerging that Boston possesses “a really deep lineup.”

The Orioles didn’t have an extra-base hit on Wednesday, just four singles and two walks. Red Sox starter Garrett Crochet tossed the first eight innings, and Aroldis Chapman handled the ninth.

“We just had a tough time putting pressure on them,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said.

It’s possible that the Orioles could have a significantly different lineup for the series finale. On Wednesday night, shortstop Gunnar Henderson (right intercostal strain) played his fourth game on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk, going 0-for-3 at Charlotte to leave him 5-for-19 (.263) with two homers and four RBIs.

There was a possibility he would be on Baltimore’s lineup card Thursday afternoon.

The Orioles should have Jackson Holliday back in the lineup after he had Wednesday night off. Hyde said the 21-year-old infielder might sit out against certain left-handers.

Boston will give the ball to Tanner Houck (0-1, 6.35 ERA) on Thursday. The right-hander worked 5 2/3 innings and allowed four runs — including a pair of homers — in his season debut at Texas on Friday.

Houck’s career record against the Orioles is 4-3 with a 3.50 ERA in nine outings, including five starts.

Baltimore right-hander Charlie Morton (0-1, 10.80 ERA) will try to bounce back from a rough opening outing in Toronto, where he lasted 3 1/3 innings in his Orioles debut on Friday.

Morton is 8-2 with a 4.21 ERA in 15 career starts against the Red Sox. He has struck out 88 Boston batters in 83 1/3 innings. The eight wins against the Red Sox are the second most he has against any team.

Baltimore has alternated wins and losses across its first six games of the season. The Orioles have scored 29 runs in their three victories, so they are capable of a big breakout despite the sluggish offense they displayed on Wednesday.

“Show up (Thursday) and win the series,” said Zach Eflin, who took the loss on Wednesday after yielding three runs in six innings.

The Thursday contest is the last of seven consecutive road games to begin the season for the Red Sox, who play their home opener on Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals.

–Field Level Media

The A’s Head to Sacramento

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SACRAMENTO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Athletics (formerly of Oakland and Kansas City) formally begin the home portion of their Sacramento era when they host the Chicago Cubs on Monday night in the first-ever Major League Baseball game in the California capital.

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A’s right-hander Joey Estes (7-9, 5.01 ERA), a California native, will get the honor of making the game’s first pitch. He will be opposed by Cubs righty Ben Brown (0-1, 6.75).

All 14,014 tickets have been sold at 10,624-seat Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. Those who don’t have seats will be finding space on the lawn behind the outfield fence.

Among the other unusual aspects of the home opener will be that all A’s players will be wearing No. 24 in tribute to Baseball Hall of Fame member and franchise great Rickey Henderson. The all-time stolen base leader died in December, just days before his 66th birthday.

The A’s opened with a 2-2 split in Seattle, sandwiching 7-0 and 4-2 wins between 4-2 and 2-1 losses. A’s starting pitchers Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, Osvaldo Bido and JP Sears allowed just three earned runs in 23 2/3 innings in the series.

Sears said he was just following the lead of his teammates and hopes Estes can do the same.

“It’s contagious,” he said. “You go out there and you want to do what the guys before you did, or top that. We’ve got a good group of starters that bounce off each other. We’re each different, but we can help each other out.”

Tyler Soderstrom hit three homers in the four Seattle games. Four other A’s went deep against the vaunted Seattle pitching staff, including Brent Rooker, who is excited about what he expects to experience in the team’s new temporary home.

The A’s are expected to spend three seasons in West Sacramento as they await the construction of their permanent home along the Las Vegas Strip. They will share the stadium with the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.

“I think there will be an energetic atmosphere with a lot of fans who are excited for us to be there,” he said. “We’re hoping we get a combination of local longtime A’s fans and people who are maybe new to the fan base we’re hoping to bring on board. We’re excited about it.”

[Read more…] about The A’s Head to Sacramento

Red Sox Add More with Moore

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FT MYERS – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The Boston Red Sox added left-handed pitcher Matt Moore to the club’s 2025 Spring Training roster as a non-roster invitee. He will wear number 56.

Moore, 35, posted a 5.03 ERA (27 ER/48.1 IP) with 41 strikeouts in 51 relief appearances for the Los Angeles Angels in 2024. The left-hander did not allow an earned run from July 25 to August 19 (10.2 IP) and did not surrender an earned run in 37 of his 51 total appearances. Since the start of 2022, he owns a 2.98 ERA (58.0 IP/175.0 IP) and .210 opponent batting average (134-for-639) in 164 games. Originally selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the eighth round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, the Florida native has a 4.39 ERA (557 ER/1,142.2 IP) with 1,053 strikeouts in 369 career Major League games (164 starts) with the Rays (2011-15), San Francisco Giants (2016-17), Texas Rangers (2018, 2022), Detroit Tigers (2019), Philadelphia Phillies (2021), Cleveland Guardians (2023), Miami Marlins (2023), and Angels (2023-24). The 2013 American League All-Star has also posted a 3.33 ERA (9 ER/24.1 IP) in five career Postseason games with the Rays (2011, 2013) and Giants (2016).

Bring Back the Beards

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TAMPA – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Where’s Johnny Damon when you need him?

Why?

It’s “Bring back the beards to the Bronx” year for the New York Yankees.

Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner declared “well groomed beards” would be permitted in declaring an end to the franchise’s longstanding policy that allowed mustaches but not beards or unruly sideburns.

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“In recent weeks I have spoken to a large number of former and current Yankees – spanning several eras – to elicit their perspectives on our longstanding facial hair and grooming policy, and I appreciate their earnest and varied feedback,” Steinbrenner said Friday morning in a statement. “These most recent conversations are an extension of ongoing internal dialogue that dates back several years. Ultimately the final decision rests with me, and after great consideration, we will be amending our expectations to allow our players and uniformed personnel to have well-groomed beards moving forward. It is the appropriate time to move beyond the familiar comfort of our former policy.”

The policy on player appearance includes the length of their mane — stating “hair cannot touch the uniform collar” — and came about in 1976. When George Steinbrenner died in 2010, his daughter and Yankees managing partner, Jennifer, insisted the team’s rule not be changed.

A generational shift that came too late for infamously shaggy stars such as Damon and Randy Johnson takes effect immediately.

Ironic timing or part of a plan as Steinbrenner claimed, there is at least one current Yankees player who appreciates the razor relief. New closer Devin Williams reported to Tampa with the goatee look he’s had for several years. When the topic of the facial hair policy came up, Williams was coy and said only “we’ll see” when pressed on his plans for altering his appearance.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Sit Top Prospect

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FT. MYERS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s top prospect Roman Anthony was scratched from the Red Sox lineup Friday with right elbow soreness.

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Manager Alex Cora said the move is a precaution after Anthony was hit by a pitch in the right elbow on Thursday, and he might be back after sitting out Boston’s spring training exhibition opener against Northeastern.

Anthony was slated to hit leadoff and play left field with Boston’s “Big Three” prospects in the top three spots in the batting order. Second baseman Kristian Campbell and shortstop Marcelo Mayer remained in the lineup Friday.

“He’s sore,” Cora said after Anthony arrived to take batting practice.

The No. 2 prospect in baseball, Anthony was replaced by Trayce Thompson, a spring training non-roster invitee. Thompson has played seven seasons with five teams prior to joining the Red Sox.

Anthony, 20, was a second-round pick in the 2022 draft. Baseball Prospectus ranks him first among all MLB prospects with Major League Baseball Pipeline and Baseball America ranking Anthony second.

In parts of three minor league seasons, he has a combined .284 batting average with 32 home runs, 141 RBIs and 38 stolen bases in 245 games.

–Field Level Media

ESPN: “Baseball Been Very, Very Bad”

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – ESPN and Major League Baseball will no longer be partners following the 2025 season, as the sides agreed to mutually opt out of their broadcast contract Thursday.

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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred sent a memo to clubs that was obtained by The Athletic, in which he confirmed ESPN had asked the league to “reduce the amount (ESPN) pay for MLB content over the remainder of the term.” MLB put that on the record in a statement released Thursday night.

“Unfortunately in recent years, we have seen ESPN scale back their baseball coverage and investment in a way that is not consistent with the sport’s appeal or performance on their platform,” the statement said in part. “Given that MLB provides strong viewership, valuable demographics, and the exclusive right to cover unique events like the Home Run Derby, ESPN’s demand to reduce rights fees is simply unacceptable. As a result, we have mutually agreed to terminate our agreement.

“… The positive energy around the sport has also led to significant interest from both traditional media companies and streaming services who would like to obtain rights to MLB games. We will be exploring those opportunities for a new agreement which would start in the 2026 season following the conclusion of ESPN’s agreement at the end of this year.”

ESPN’s current deal was for seven years and $550 million annually, and featured Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby and wild-card games. But Apple and Roku have since negotiated slimmer packages of games for less cash.

MLB did not want to renegotiate, and the league felt ESPN wasn’t doing enough to promote baseball on its platforms.

“Furthermore, we have not been pleased with the minimal coverage that MLB has received on ESPN’s platforms over the past several years outside of the actual live game coverage,” Manfred wrote in his memo.

“While ESPN has stated they would like to continue to have MLB on their platform, particularly in light of the upcoming launch of their DTC product, we do not think its beneficial for us to accept a smaller deal to remain on a shrinking platform. In order to best position MLB to optimize our rights going in to our next deal cycle, we believe it is not prudent to devalue our rights with an existing partner but rather to have our marquee regular season games, Home Run Derby and Wild Card playoff round on a new broadcast and/or streaming platform.”

“We are grateful for our longstanding relationship with Major League Baseball and proud of how ESPN’s coverage super-serves fans,” the statement said. “In making this decision, we applied the same discipline and fiscal responsibility that has built ESPN’s industry-leading live events portfolio as we continue to grow our audience across linear, digital and social platforms. As we have been throughout the process, we remain open to exploring new ways to serve MLB fans across our platforms beyond 2025.”

MLB’s other main broadcast partner on linear TV is Fox. Comcast (NBC) and Paramount (CBS) may have interest in working with the league, while Amazon and Netflix are potential streamers to join Apple and Roku as Manfred eyes a larger streaming package for 2028.

–Field Level Media

Sox Officially Ink Bregman

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FT MYERS – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – After a few days of speculation, the Boston Red Sox today signed infielder Alex Bregman to a three-year MLB contract through the 2027 season. He will wear No. 2. To make room on the 40-man roster, Boston placed left-handed pitcher Patrick Sandoval on the 60-Day Injured List. 

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Bregman, 30, is a two-time All-Star (2018-19), two-time World Series Champion (2017, 2022), and winner of the 2019 Silver Slugger Award and 2024 Gold Glove Award at third base. He has earned American League Most Valuable Player votes in four seasons (2018-19, 2022-23), finishing second in 2019 and fifth in 2018, and was named Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP in 2018. The right-handed hitter has batted .272 (1,132-for-4,157) with an .849 OPS, 694 runs scored, 265 doubles, 18 triples, 191 home runs, and 663 RBI in 1,111 career games with the Houston Astros (2016-24). Selected by Houston in the first round (No. 2 overall) of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft, he has made 977 career starts at third base, 107 at shortstop, 13 as the designated hitter, and two at second base.

In 145 games during 2024, Bregman batted .260 (151-for-581) with 30 doubles, two triples, and 26 home runs while making 142 starts at third base and three as the designated hitter. It marked his fifth season with as many as 30 doubles (also 2017-19, 2022) and his fourth season with 25 or more home runs (also 2018-19, 2023). From May 9 through the end of the season, he batted .280 (127-for-454) with 25 doubles, 25 home runs, and an .838 OPS in 112 games.

The two-time World Series Champion has played in the Postseason in each of his eight full Major League seasons (2017-24), tied for the longest current streak in the Majors. In those eight seasons, he has reached the American League Championship Series seven times and the World Series four times. Since his debut in 2016, his 99 Postseason games are tied for most in the Majors. In that span, he ranks second in runs scored (63) and extra-base hits (37), and tied for second in home runs (19) and RBI (54).

Bregman owns the highest OPS (1.240) of any player with at least 75 career plate appearances at Fenway Park and ranks second in on-base percentage (.490), trailing only Ted Williams (.496). In 21 games at the ballpark, Bregman has hit .375 (30-for-80) with 24 runs scored, nine doubles, and seven home runs. The New Mexico native was selected by the Red Sox out of Albuquerque Academy High School in the 29th round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft, but did not sign and attended Louisiana State University.

Along with his wife, Reagan, Alex founded the Bregman Cares Charity to accelerate life-changing resources to those in need. The foundation has focused on autism awareness and at-risk youth, raising two million dollars. He was named the Astros’ Roberto Clemente Award nominee three times (2019-21).

Sandoval, 28, was signed by Boston to a two-year contract on December 23, 2024. The left-hander made 16 starts for the Los Angeles Angels in 2024 before undergoing Tommy John surgery on June 26. Originally selected by the Houston Astros in the 11th round of the First-Year Player Draft, the California native has posted a 4.01 ERA (239 ER/536.0 IP) with 529 strikeouts in 107 career Major League games (100 starts) with the Angels (2019-24).