Can you believe the playoffs are almost here? A week from today the Red Sox will wrap up their regular season, closing the book on what has been among the most unexpected, topsy turvy seasons we’ve ever seen. From there the playoffs await, and who knows what twists and turns may still be in store.
But before we get there, what business is there left for the Red Sox to get squared away before Game 1 of the Wild Card series? We answer your questions in today’s Red Sox mailbag.
Tanner Houck and Garrett Crochet both appear close to ready to return. What is the chance that the Red Sox decide to put both of them on the postseason roster? Each feels like a high upside question mark but is it too risky relying on both of them to excel in limited roles? — Paul from Bluesky
If the Red Sox decide they’re ready I think there’s a great chance both pitch in the playoffs. The question of whether or not it’s too risky is valid, but the other factor to consider is would it be riskier to let an inferior arm take the mound at Yankee Stadium with the season on the line.
The nature of a best-of-three playoff series compared to a best-of-five or even a best-of-seven also makes the idea of loading up on short-inning relievers more attractive.
The Red Sox will only need three starting pitchers in the first round, presumably Sonny Gray, Ranger Suarez and Payton Tolle, in some order. That effectively frees up two additional bullpen spots, one of which I’m guessing will be filled by Jake Bennett as an emergency bulk man should the starter exit early due to injury or poor performance.
The back end of the bullpen is pretty much set in stone. If everyone is healthy and available it will be Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, Erik Miller and Tyron Guerrero locking down the high leverage innings. But after that the Red Sox have some interesting decisions to make.
In one group you have the other short men, including Greg Weissert, Jovani Moran and Wyatt Olds. Then in the next group you have the longer men, including Patrick Sandoval, Brayan Bello, Alec Gamboa and Raymond Burgos. Finally, you have Crochet, Houck and Johan Oviedo, who has also begun a rehab assignment after missing nearly the entire season. What the Red Sox have to decide is which five of those 10 options give you the best chance to win?
I don’t think you can dispute that Crochet and Houck have the highest ceiling of that bunch, so if they’re good to go I don’t think the Red Sox will hesitate to give them the nod.
With Romy Gonzalez now hitting so well in Worcester, do you see him being put on the postseason roster as a lefty masher, and one of Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Andruw Monasterio or Jahmai Jones being left off? — @wcbosox on Bluesky
If the Red Sox believe Romy Gonzalez gives them the best chance to win in October, I feel like it would make sense for them to call him up and get him some looks at big league pitching over the last two weeks. You could make a great case that they should — he was batting .360 in 23 games since being optioned to Triple-A entering Friday — but if that doesn’t happen then that could be a sign the Red Sox don’t see him as part of the October plan.
Either way, the club has some tough decisions to make as far as constructing the bench goes.
Presuming that Ceddanne Rafaela returns from the IL without any issues and Willson Contreras isn’t sidelined by his hand injury, the Red Sox should enter the playoffs with a starting lineup featuring Adley Rutschman at catcher, Contreras, Nick Sogard, Trevor Story and Caleb Durbin across the infield, and an outfield of Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Roman Anthony and Jarren Duran, with one of Anthony or Duran presumably starting at designated hitter if a righty is on the mound.
That leaves four spots for Kiner-Falefa, Monasterio, Jones, Mickey Gasper, Connor Wong, Nate Eaton, Gonzalez and possibly Curtis Mead. For our purposes we can probably set aside Eaton, who will likely be optioned upon Rafaela’s activation, as well as Mead, who only just started swinging a light bat and won’t have the benefit of a rehab assignment prior to his return.
Let’s also set aside some of the more outside the box candidates like Braiden Ward, who has never appeared in a big league game but who may garner consideration as a late-inning pinch runner after stealing 60 bases at Triple-A.
One spot will go to a backup catcher, and while you could talk yourself into Gasper filling that role, Wong has the most familiarity with the pitching staff and the Red Sox would probably rather keep Gasper available as a pinch hitter without worrying about catching logistics.
How about the other three spots? Kiner-Falefa, Monasterio and Gonzalez are all versatile infield defenders who bat right-handed, so there’s some redundancy there. Jones also bats right-handed and could function as an emergency reserve outfielder in addition to his pinch hitter, and while Gasper is technically a switch hitter, his real value comes from the left side, where he’s crushed righties over the past month.
What’s going to happen? My guess is the bench will be Wong, Gasper, Jones and one of the three righty infielders. So to go back to your original question, could Gonzalez make the playoff roster over one of Kiner-Falefa, Monasterio or Jones? Yes, and in fact even if he doesn’t make the roster one of those guys could still wind up on the outside looking in.
If the playoffs started today who would be the starting second baseman? Also, what’s the long-term plan for that position? — Tom P.
If the playoffs started today I think Nick Sogard would be the clear choice to start at second base. He’s been an everyday player for the Red Sox since the end of July, and at a time where most of the offense has hit a skid Sogard has been a reliable contributor at the plate, batting .262 with five home runs and a .772 OPS entering the weekend since being called back up on July 29.
Long-term, the Red Sox have a couple of different candidates who could emerge in the coming years.
If he hadn’t broken his wrist in his team debut I think it’s safe to say Curtis Mead would have spent the past two months starting at second for the Red Sox. Prior to the trade he was in the midst of a breakout season with the Washington Nationals, and at only 25 years old there’s good reason to believe his best years are still ahead of him. Whether he returns in the playoffs or for the start of next season, Mead should have the best chance to claim second base for himself.
But outside of him, Sogard and perhaps Gonzalez or Anthony Seigler, there is one other wild card. That’s Franklin Arias.
The top Red Sox prospect is putting the finishing touches on a brilliant season, and if he continues to develop he should have a great chance of becoming a key building block, perhaps as soon as next year. With Story under contract for only one more season he will have an opportunity to slide right into the starting shortstop job entering 2028, but what if he proves he’s ready for primetime before that? In that case Arias might get an initial look at second, with Mead perhaps rotating between the designated hitter spot and occasionally giving Durbin and Contreras a breather at their corner infield positions.
Does MLB need to readjust its postseason schedule? The No. 2 or 3 team in the American League will be eliminated in a three-game series, meanwhile two teams that are barely .500 play each other in the first round. — Brandon C.
I like the idea that there should be a reward for winning your division. If you’re one of the top two division winners you get a first round bye, and if you’re the third division winner you at least get to host the best-of-three Wild Card series. I’m fine with that, even in a weird year like this where all of the American League’s best teams are in the same division and the other division leaders are mediocre at best.
But the problem is what happens afterwards. Like you said, the No. 2 and 3 teams in the AL are probably going to wind up being the Yankees and Red Sox, and whichever of those teams advances will have to play the No. 1 seeded Tampa Bay Rays. Meanwhile, all three teams on the other side of the bracket could potentially finish with worse records than anyone on the AL East side, and one of those clubs will be guaranteed a trip to the ALCS.
I think MLB could address this by reseeding after the Wild Card round. The top two division winners would still get home field advantage in their divisional series, but whichever team advancing out of the Wild Card round has the better record would be paired with the second division winner. So this year if the Red Sox beat the Yankees and let’s say the AL West champion wins their Wild Card series, the Red Sox would go on to play the AL Central champion instead of the Rays, while the AL West champion would get Tampa Bay even though they would have technically started the playoffs as the higher seed.
Most years it probably won’t make a huge difference, but reseeding ahead of the divisional round would strike a balance between preserving the incentives for winning your division while ensuring the bracket doesn’t become unbalanced.
