What former Red Sox players are still alive in the 2023 playoffs?
Even though Fenway is going to be quiet throughout October, Red Sox DNA runs far and wide still through this year's playoffs bracket.
Newsflash: the Boston Red Sox had a bad season. A never-ending sense of frustration among the fans, be it either at the front office or the players, was fully justified as this team that was battling for a Wild Card spot ended the season at 78-84, in last place of the AL East, and without a key decision maker after firing Chaim Bloom. The second half of the season couldn't have gone any worse for the Red Sox, and so I don't blame any disillusioned fans who would rather skip out on watching playoff baseball and just move on to the other Boston sports teams (maybe don't attach hopes to the Patriots this year, though).
However, just because the current Boston Red Sox aren't playing any October baseball, that doesn't mean there aren't players that we can't root for. With the never-ending player movement around the majors, it may be easy to miss out on who went where, and who will be suiting up in the upcoming divisional series around baseball (spoiler alert: the Dodgers have a lot). This is going based off of the active 28-man rosters as posted on the team pages on Baseball Reference, so they may not line up perfect with the final rosters, but it gives us a good idea as to what we're working with.
ALDS: Texas Rangers vs. Baltimore Orioles
As the final AL East team standing, the Orioles are looking to carry on rolling after their first 100-win season since 1980, and hope that their young core that includes Adley Rutschman and presumptive Rookie of the Year winner Gunnar Henderson can bring a title back to Baltimore. They'll be facing off against the Texas Rangers, a team that feels very much in a win-now mode, that almost completely missed the playoffs by getting ice cold at the wrong time of the season, but patched things up and absolutely rocked the Tampa Bay Rays in their Wild Card series (the Rays are the baseball equivalent of the Buffalo Bills, at this point).
The Rangers actually hold the advantage in the former Red Sox player battle, most notably having postseason hero Nathan Eovaldi holding down a spot in their rotation. Eovaldi put up another great appearance in the closeout game 2 against the Rays yesterday, which continued to rub salt in the wound of Red Sox fans who watched Eovaldi walk for free this offseason. On top of Eovaldi, old friend Martin Perez is still on the Rangers roster, so expect to see him get some action on the bump this series.
What surprised me was that, despite there usually being some sort of crossover between the teams, there are no former Red Sox players on the active roster for the Orioles. A lot of that is a testament to the sheer amount of homegrown talent that Baltimore has brought up throughout the past few years, and those young guys slotting right into high-performing roles on this team without missing a beat, but unless you're a fan of young talent and rooting for the champion to be from the AL East, the Texas Rangers hold more credence to Red Sox fans in this series.
ALDS: Houston Astros vs. Minnesota Twins
Ah yes, the Christian Vazquez series (no other former Astros player comes to mind that plays for the Twins now, none at all). Congratulations are in order for the Twins for snapping their playoff losing streak and winning their first playoff series in 21 years by knocking off the Toronto Blue Jays (who are absolute frauds). I do think the Twins may get overmatched by an Astros team that has been there, done that many times over recently, but I will be pulling for Minnesota personally, mainly as a continued thanks for giving us David Ortiz.
When it comes to the current Houston Astros, there are no former Red Sox major leaguers that are on their active roster. However, if you allow for a bit of a stretch, there are a few Red Sox draft picks that find themselves in Houston. The Red Sox drafted Alex Bregman during the 2012 draft, but he did not sign with us, eventually being drafted again by the Astros in the 2015 draft, and Mauricio Dubon was drafted by the Red Sox in 2013, eventually finding himself as a part of a trade to get Tyler Thornburg from the Brewers. Ryan Pressly was also a Red Sox draft pick, who we traded to... the Minnesota Twins, so once again there's a nice double crossover like the case of Vazquez.
Speaking of Vazquez, Christian is the only Minnesota Twin that has a Red Sox tie in their career path. Of course, Vazquez is the man who caught the final out of the 2018 World Series for the Red Sox, and walked off game 3 against the Rays in 2021 during that miraculous run, so I think I can speak for many Red Sox fans when I say that we hold him in high regard around these parts, and I know that I'll be rooting for him (and more importantly, against the Astros) in this series.
NLDS: Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies
A rematch of last year's NLDS, I think that Braves-Phillies has become one of my favorite playoff matchups to watch anytime that it's on. Both teams are electric to watch, intra-divisional rivalries get even more amped up in October, and the crowds at both ballparks always show up for the big matchups (do better, Tampa).
When it comes to the Atlanta Braves, we have a couple of interesting cases when it comes to the Red Sox crossover. We have the normal played for both teams in Kevin Pillar, who I argue that the Red Sox should have held onto a bit longer than half of the 2020 season. We have the draft pick that did not sign in the case of Kirby Yates (who I honestly thought had retired), and then there's the case of Collin McHugh. McHugh signed with the Red Sox in 2020, but then opted out of the COVID-shortened season, leaving for Tampa in the offseason. I do wish the Red Sox had someone like McHugh in the rotation now, but circumstances proved to not allow that to occur.
The Phillies have a couple of big-hitters in their ranks for Sox fans. Craig Kimbrel was a massive part of the 2018 team (even if Chris Sale stole his thunder in the close-out game), and who can forget the mania for Kyle from Waltham during the 2021 run? I'll always remember Schwarbombs getting dropped constantly throughout those playoffs, and being pretty disappointed that we let him go because he couldn't play first base. Matt Strahm, survivor of the 2022 Boston Red Sox, also finds himself on the Phillies roster, but it's primarily a Craig and Kyle party in Philly for Sox fans.
NLDS: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Well, it's pretty obvious who's going to win this breakdown. I want to mention, first, how awesome it is to see the Diamondbacks making the playoffs and giving us another divisional matchup in the divisional round. Manager (and old friend!) Torey Lovullo has done a great job this year with that squad, and should be commended for his performance. However... they're walking into a buzzsaw, I fear.
The Los Angeles Dodgers could be classified as "Red Sox West" with the amount of dealing these two teams have done over the past decade or so. The Dodgers currently have Joe Kelly, Ryan Brasier, J.D. Martinez, Kiké Hernandez, and a certain generational talent by the name of Mookie Betts for their Red Sox representation, all of whom seem to be clicking at the right time for the Dodgers to make a run at a normal World Series title. The Betts trade is a complete failure by the front office, I do miss J.D. even though Justin Turner had a great year for us, and how come we never got Brasier's current run of form from him at any point after 2018? I'll always root for Mookie, but with a heavy heart.
For the Diamondbacks, all Red Sox fans have to root for is Tommy Pham, and that's really dependent on how near and dear fans hold his 53 games for us last season to their heart. The more important thing to consider for Red Sox fans is that nemesis Evan Longoria is on the Diamondbacks, and I think the memories of him capping off the 2011 collapse is more than enough reason for us to lean LA in this matchup.