In many ways, traditional baseball logic hasn't applied to the Boston Red Sox this season. The team was supposed to be left for dead when it traded its best player, Rafael Devers, a month and a half before the July 31 trade deadline. Instead, the team has a winning record since that fateful June 15 trade, leap-frogging the arch-rival New Yankees and putting themselves back in the thick of the AL Wild Card race.
Given the topsy-turvy nature of the 2025 campaign, expect Boston to make some interesting playing time decisions once rosters expand in September, with some players in jeopardy of losing significant playing time if not being relegated to the bench altogether.
4 Red Sox are in grave danger of losing playing time when rosters expand in September
Masataka Yoshida
After a long recovery and many setbacks, designated hitter Masataka Yoshida finally rejoined the Red Sox lineup in July, hoping to make an impact. Instead, the 32-year-old has played in 22 games, posting a disappointing 94 wRC+ and putting up exactly 0 WAR.
Yoshida is basically bound to the designated hitter spot, only playing 13 innings in left field this year. He's never been known for his power, but his stellar on-base skills that were on display in Japan haven't translated stateside, and his .309 OBP on the season is a career-worst.
The Red Sox will have a logjam in the infield and the outfield, meaning having the DH spot open to rotate players through and get some guys off their feet will be crucial for the stretch run. As a result, expect Yoshida to be firmly planted on the bench most nights in September.
Jordan Hicks
Any hope that an IL stint and change of scenery would reset Jordan Hicks and allow him to tap into his tremendous upside in Boston has all but vanished. The flamethrowing righty struggled mightily as both a starter and reliever in San Francisco, posting a 6.47 ERA pre-trade.
If anything, he's arguably been worse in Boston. A 6.23 ERA in 13 innings has been an ever-so-slight improvement, but his walks have dramatically increased while his strikeouts have taken a dip. At the end of the day, Hicks still can't get anyone out consistently.
With a host of arms, like former Giants teammate Kyle Harrison, arriving in Boston when rosters expand, it would not surprise to see Hicks get pushed to the wayside, serving as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency-type option over the season's final month.
Rob Refsnyder
Rob Refsnyder has been a dangerous weapon against left-handed pitching for Boston this season, making it seem slightly surprising that the veteran could lose playing time come September. Refsnyder's pointed comments at the end of May were an effort to galvanize his team during their darkest moments at the end of May, but since then, his performance and that of his team have gone in opposite directions.
The favored bench bat posted an OPS above .900 in each of the season's first two months; however, he saw that level of performance taper off with a .742 mark in June and a .771 OPS in July. Now in August, he's fallen even further, down to a .690 clip as his power has evaporated.
Likely September call-ups include top outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia and the versatile Kristian Campbell, both of whom should figure to get at-bats. That will result in a shuffle that likely makes Refsnyder the odd man out most nights.
Connor Wong
After his billing as a top prospect and a key component of the Mookie Betts trade, Connor Wong's big league career has not gone the way the Red Sox had hoped. Bumped out of a starting job by the surprising performance of Carlos Narváez, Wong is in the midst of his worst offensive season, slashing just .175/.246/.208 over 134 plate appearances.
Boston claimed former Toronto Blue Jays catcher Ali Sánchez off waivers last week, which may cut into Wong's role as the primary backup backstop. Sanchez only saw eight games of big league action with the Blue Jays and has only recorded one hitless at-bat with the Red Sox, but he's a real threat to Wong.
The well-traveled Sánchez posted a .279/.347/.419 line for Toronto's Triple-A affiliate Buffalo this year, giving some hope that he can provide a sliver of offensive upside in a backup role. These two likely battle it out over the remainder of August, and if Sanchez looks to be the better option, he could fully usurp Wong come September.