Saturday marked the official midway point of the Red Sox season, with the club playing game No. 81 out of 162. The first half has obviously been a huge disappointment, and if we were to grade the club’s performance as a whole it would clearly earn a big, fat “F.”
But even amid the club’s collective failure there have still been some strong overall performances on an individual level. So today we’ll go down the roster and hand out some midseason grades.
Starting pitchers
Garrett Crochet: D
Coming off a Cy Young runner-up finish, Crochet’s second season in Boston has not gone according to plan. The ace endured a rocky start punctuated by a hideous 11-run blowup in Minnesota and has now been sidelined with a shoulder injury since April 26. The only saving grace for Crochet is his 6.30 ERA in six starts was skewed badly by the disastrous outing, and otherwise he ranged from good to so-so when healthy.
Ranger Suarez: A
Signed for five-years, $130 million this past offseason, Suarez has lived up to the bill and pitched like the front-of-the-rotation standout the Red Sox expected.
Sonny Gray: A-
Similar to Suarez, Gray has been reliably good for the Red Sox since he was acquired from the Cardinals this past offseason. The only blemishes on his resume so far was the brief trip to the IL at the end of April and his relative lack of strikeouts compared to recent years.
Connelly Early: B+
Coming off a fantastic debut last fall, Early has proven his successful 2025 cameo was no fluke. The rookie left-hander has become an anchor of the Red Sox rotation, though he has given up more home runs recently than the club would prefer to see.
Payton Tolle: A-
Though he did not make the Opening Day starting rotation, Tolle has come up and proven he belongs. The rookie left-hander has developed some MLB-caliber off-speed pitches to pair with his lethal fastball and consistently given the Red Sox a chance to win whenever he takes the mound.
Brayan Bello: F
A complete disaster. Bello’s regression this season has been shocking to behold, and his Jekyll and Hyde act when starting games versus coming out as a bulk reliever defies explanation. The Red Sox have to hope he can get his act together in Worcester.
Jake Bennett: B+
So far so good. The rookie left-hander was acquired from the Washington Nationals this past offseason and has already given the club some good innings. His nine-strikeout performance last Monday in Colorado was particularly promising.
Red Sox right-hander Justin Slaten has endured a rocky first half. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Bullpen
Aroldis Chapman: A
Before his meltdown on Monday night in Colorado, Chapman had been effectively untouchable all season long. One of Boston’s biggest failures has been their inability to get Chapman the ball more often, as the closer only took the mound four times in the span of a month from May 21 to June 21.
Garrett Whitlock: B+
Whitlock spent some time on the IL and has had a small handful of shaky outings, but overall he’s remained one of MLB’s most dominant set-up men and a foundational piece of the Red Sox bullpen.
Justin Slaten: D
Slaten has battled injuries throughout his career and missed roughly a month with an oblique strain from early April into early May. When available he hasn’t been as reliable as usual either, with his numbers heavily dented by a handful of blowout outings.
Greg Weissert: D
Weissert’s overall numbers are fine, but he has been the go-to fireman when things go sideways and the Red Sox need to get out of a jam, and in those situations the right-hander has frequently struggled. No reliever in MLB who has come on with 20 or more inherited runners has allowed a higher percentage to score.
Jovani Moran: B
Moran has quietly had a good season, giving the Red Sox left-handed length out of the bullpen, a lot of strikeouts and some good innings. But he’s also struggled as an opener for Bello and has been out since June 5 with an elbow injury.
Danny Coulombe: C+
Coulombe has largely performed well in his role as a veteran left-handed reliever, though his overall numbers took some hits thanks to a couple of blowup outings. He also missed about three weeks on the IL in May.
Zack Kelly: C-
Kelly was optioned to Triple-A on May 21 and despite frequent bullpen turnover has not returned to the majors since. Prior to that demotion Kelly performed respectably, posting a 3.31 ERA in 16 1/3 innings.
Tyron Guerrero: A
A 35-year-old journeyman who hadn’t pitched in the majors since 2019, Guerrero made a strong impression as a non-roster invitee in spring training and since earning a call-up in late May has established himself as one of the bullpen’s top arms. He’s without a doubt been one of the season’s biggest success stories.
Ryan Watson: C
Watson hasn’t made the kind of impact fellow Rule 5 picks like Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten had before him, but as a mop-up man he’s been perfectly serviceable. In fact, after enduring some early growing pains Watson has actually been quite good since the middle of May.
Tyler Samaniego: B+
Samaniego has bounced up and down from Triple-A, but whenever he’s gotten a big league opportunity the rookie southpaw has delivered. He didn’t allow an earned run in any of his first 13 MLB appearances and boasts a 2.66 ERA in 17 appearances.
Tommy Kahnle: C
Kahnle joined the Red Sox on a minor league deal late in spring training and spent the first two months in Triple-A before forcing his way to the majors via an opt out clause. Since then he’s posted respectable numbers, although he’s also tended to allow more traffic on the base paths than you’d prefer.
Red Sox catcher Mickey Gasper has emerged as one of the club’s biggest bright spots. (Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)
Catchers
Mickey Gasper: A
Gasper wasn’t on anyone’s radar when the season began, but after a great start in Triple-A he was called up and immediately became one of the most productive hitters in the Red Sox lineup. Gasper has effectively become the club’s No. 1 catcher and he’s also eaten into Masataka Yoshida’s playing time at designated hitter.
Carlos Narvaez: D
Coming off a breakout rookie year, Narvaez has seen his offensive production fall off a cliff. His playing time has been curtailed as a result, though the backstop has still performed well defensively.
Connor Wong: C-
Wong is hitting better than he did last year, but like Narvaez his playing time has been heavily impacted by Gasper’s ascendence. Wong has started getting more time behind the dish recently at least, a signal he might still have a role once the team starts getting healthier.
Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story has spent the entire season battling a sports hernia injury that contributed to his severe first-half slump. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)
Infielders
Willson Contreras: A+
The Red Sox offense has been horrible this season, but Contreras has been everything the club could have hoped for. The first baseman is enjoying a career year while also establishing himself as a Gold Glove candidate at first base.
Marcelo Mayer: D
Outside of Wednesday afternoon Mayer has been respectable defensively, but otherwise the former top prospect has not taken the steps forward the Red Sox hoped to see. He has been a poor offensive performer and the Red Sox still don’t trust him to face left-handed pitching despite some good results in a small sample size. He also just hit the IL again and is likely to miss extended time for the fifth consecutive season dating back to his time in the minors.
Trevor Story: F
Story’s time in Boston has been marked by setbacks, and this season has been the latest to go off the rails. When active, Story ranked among the worst position players in MLB on both sides of the ball, and eventually it turned out he was trying to play through a sports hernia injury he’d suffered during the spring. Story will now be sidelined until at least the second half, by which point the season might already be lost.
Caleb Durbin: C
Durbin was shaping up to be among the biggest disappointments in a Red Sox season full of them, but the second-year third baseman has bounced back recently and put together a strong month at the plate. Durbin has also ranked among the league’s best defensive third basemen.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa: B
Kiner-Falefa has exceeded expectations offensively and given the Red Sox reliable defense at multiple positions, but for a while he rarely saw the field and is now sidelined with forearm inflammation.
Andruw Monasterio: C-
Monasterio has been a functional bench piece, but he hasn’t really excelled in any particular area. His role could also be impacted once Romy Gonzalez returns to the fold.
Jarren Duran’s performance this season has been a far cry from the MVP-caliber numbers he posted in 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Outfielders
Jarren Duran: F
Duran has hit a bunch of home runs, but other than that he has ranked among the least productive offensive performers in MLB. His batting average has sat below .200 for large swaths of the season, his on-base percentage and slugging are way down, and his overall impact has been a far cry from 2024 when he was one of the most dangerous players in the league.
Ceddanne Rafaela: A
Rafaela has always been an elite defensive center fielder, and he’s likely cruising towards his second career Gold Glove, but this season has also marked an impressive step forward at the plate. Rafaela has elevated himself from a No. 9 hitter to a top-of-the-order contributor, and he’s also improved his overall consistency and avoided the deep slumps that used to plague his game.
Wilyer Abreu: A
Long someone who the club protected from left-handed pitchers, Abreu has become a true everyday player who is now a genuine threat against southpaws. Abreu is also on pace for his best overall season at the plate and he remains among the game’s best defensive right fielders.
Roman Anthony: D
This season has marked a big step backwards for the second-year standout, who got off to a slow start at the plate and has now been sidelined for more than a month and a half with a sprained hand. The expectations placed on Anthony this season may have been a bit much, but the club was counting on him at least being a regular contributor, which to this point he hasn’t been.
Masataka Yoshida: D
Once signed for five years, $90 million, Yoshida has now been relegated to part-time designated hitter duty. The Japanese standout has struggled to earn playing time all season, and even after Anthony went down and theoretically opened a starting spot, Yoshida still battled for at bats with Mickey Gasper.