In the spirit of the holiday season, the Boston Herald’s Red Sox reporters, Mac Cerullo and Gabrielle Starr, present their Red Sox wish lists.

Happy holidays!

Mac’s wishlist
A breakout season for Anthony

For all the talk we’ve heard about the Red Sox adding bats to improve their lineup, the biggest difference-maker on next year’s club may already be on the roster.

As impressive as Roman Anthony’s rookie season was, he still hasn’t quite tapped into his full potential. Anthony only hit two home runs over his first 50 games last year, but over his last 21 games he really started hitting his stride, batting .317 with six home runs before suffering what ended up being a season-ending oblique injury.

Anthony was already doing just about everything else well other than hitting for power before his hot streak, so if he can maintain anywhere close to that level of production over a full season, the Red Sox could have something truly special on their hands. Even if not, it’s reasonable to expect Anthony should be capable of at least topping 20 home runs in 2026, which would go a long way towards giving the Red Sox the power they’ve lacked.

A healthy season for Mayer

Ever since he was drafted No. 4 overall back in 2021, Marcelo Mayer has been among the most highly-anticipated Red Sox prospects in recent memory. Since then he’s consistently shown flashes of greatness, but he’s also struggled to stay on the field.

This past year Mayer’s season ended prematurely for the third straight year, this time due to a sprained wrist. Before that Mayer showed off some excellent defense at third base while filling in for the injured Alex Bregman, but his bat clearly needs more work, especially when it comes to facing left-handed pitching.

Mayer could develop into a star, but that’s never going to happen if he can’t stay healthy.

Time will tell what Mayer’s role on the 2026 Red Sox winds up being. Perhaps he earns a starting job at either second or third base. Maybe he starts the year in Triple-A and winds up filling in after an injury. Either way, here’s to hoping Mayer can stay healthy and get the reps he needs to reach his full potential.

30 home runs from Abreu

Never considered a can’t-miss prospect, Wilyer Abreu has developed into an excellent all-around ballplayer since the Red Sox acquired him from the Houston Astros at the ‘22 trade deadline. He’s a two-time Gold Glove winner with a .791 career OPS, and last year he hit a career-high 22 home runs despite playing only 115 games.

Those little injuries that have cropped up from time to time are among the only black marks on Abreu’s resume so far.

If Abreu can stay healthy and improve his performance against left-handed pitching, he could make the leap and become a true everyday player. Should that happen Abreu is absolutely capable of hitting 30 home runs in a season, which would give Boston yet another impact bat in the middle of the order.

200 strikeouts from Gray

Is Sonny Gray a true No. 2 starter? That was the question on a lot of fans’ minds after the veteran right-hander was acquired from the Cardinals last month.

He’s certainly pitched like one in the past.

Over the last two seasons Gray is one of only five pitchers in MLB to record back-to-back 200-strikeout seasons, the others being Tarik Skubal, Garrett Crochet, Freddy Peralta and Dylan Cease. The year before that he finished as 2023 AL Cy Young runner-up, posting a 2.79 ERA with 183 punch outs.

Gray is on the older side at 36 years old, but his metrics are still solid and there’s good reason to believe he’s still capable of pitching at a high level. Can he make it three straight years with 200 Ks? That would certainly answer the question of whether or not he’s a suitable No. 2.

20 holds from Slaten

Acquired following the 2023 Rule 5 Draft, Justin Slaten has established himself as one of Boston’s top relievers over his first two big league seasons.

The only problem? Each of those years were marred by injuries that sidelined him for several months.

With Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock leading the way the Red Sox should have one of the best late-inning combos in MLB. But if Slaten can stay healthy and lock down the seventh too? Boston’s bullpen could rank among the game’s elite.

Gabrielle’s wishlist
Back-to-Back ‘Years of Health’ for Whitlock

Last winter, Whitlock declared 2025 his “Year of Health”

And was it ever.

After missing large portions of the previous three seasons due to injuries, the affable right-hander shone in his full-time return to the bullpen. He pitched a career-high 62 games – five more than the previous three seasons combined – and posted a sterling 2.25 ERA over 72 innings. The Red Sox were 47-15 when he pitched.

The Red Sox have made the postseason twice in the last five years. It’s no coincidence that both of those seasons featured a healthy Whitlock.

Hit with RISP and reap the rewards

When the ’25 Red Sox had two outs and runners in scoring position, they batted .224/.310/.374 with 151 hits, 231 runs, and 192 strikeouts.

Yet they also left 1,125 men on base, eighth-most in the majors and second in the American League. They were excellent at creating scoring opportunities for themselves, but struggled to complete the equation too many times.

Their brief foray into the postseason amplified the issue, as they left 21 men on base over three games. They could have swept the Yankees in Game 2, but instead lost 4-3.

Hopefully, Willson Contreras will help. He slashed .279/.329/.441 in 152 plate appearances with runners in scoring position this year. With two outs and men on second and third, he had a .286/.444/.714 line.

A strong second half

The ’25 Red Sox barreled into the All-Star break on a 10-game winning streak, but again scuffled down the stretch.

Yet unlike the last few years when pitching injuries piled up and they didn’t have the depth to sustain them, this year’s late-season struggles were more about the lineup’s power outage.

Losing Roman Anthony to an oblique strain in early September was a massive blow, and proved the offense wasn’t deep enough. Bregman and Abreu struggled upon returning from their respective injuries, too. The lineup’s collective slugging percentage dropped from .433 to .404.

Power was an issue from the start, though. The Red Sox entered the season without much thump in the lineup, then lost Triston Casas to a season-ending knee surgery at the start of May and traded their biggest thumper, Rafael Devers, in mid-June.

Cy Young for Crochet

Garrett Crochet was everything the Red Sox hoped for and more this year.

All that’s left to conquer is the Cy Young Award (though Crochet will tell you he’d prefer to win his first World Series ring).

The most important thing, though, is for Crochet to stay healthy. Thus far, there are plenty of parallels to the Chris Sale trade: both were acquired from the White Sox at the MLB Winter Meetings (‘16, ‘24), both are dominant left-handers, and in their first seasons in Boston (‘17, ‘25) were All-Stars, led the majors in strikeouts, and had career years. They even finished runner-up to AL Central pitchers for the Cy Young award. Sale finished ninth in AL MVP voting, Crochet eighth.

Hopefully, the parallels stop soon, though. Sale was excellent in the first half of ‘18 but missed significant portions of the second half due to shoulder inflammation, and the next several seasons were all or partially lost due to injuries and surgeries.

Crochet is the ace Boston has been waiting for ever since. But after throwing an AL-leading 205.1 innings this year– 59.1 more than his previous career-high the season prior – the most important wish, and one the Red Sox can only do so much to grant, is good health.

Revenge on the Yankees

Need I say more?