The Boston Red Sox have been largely a .500 baseball team in 2025, but fans will say they're lucky to be there.
Boston has won some close games, including a few extra-innings thrillers, but its lows have been much lower than its highs have been high. The Red Sox lead MLB with nine one-run losses and are tied for the lead in blown saves with eight, alongside the Phillies. Some of their one-run losses and late-game failures have been more concerning than others.
The early part of the Red Sox's schedule has included two series with the White Sox and a bout with the Twins, the two worst teams in the American League Central. Boston has given the White Sox three of their first 10 wins — one in a blowout 11-1 loss and another in a one-run loss — just one year removed from Chicago posting the worst season in MLB history, with a 41-121 record.
The Red Sox's two losses against the Twins also came in one-run fashion, partly due to lackluster offense, but bullpen collapses haven't helped matters. Aroldis Chapman has been rock-solid as the Sox's closer in the early weeks of the campaign (1.59 ERA, 17 strikeouts, 11.1 innings pitched), but their setup men have struggled to maintain leads in close games.
Slaten posted nine scoreless outings in April, but faltered against the Jays and Twins in May. He's let up five runs over two innings in his two most recent appearances, and four of his five walks on the year have come in his last four games. Whitlock also struggled against Toronto and Minnesota, which got to him for three and two runs, respectively, in his latest two appearances.
The Red Sox's early-season struggles, inconsistencies have cost them too many easily winnable games
The Sox's offense is also in desperate need of a spark. Boston has fanned 98 times with runners on base, which leads MLB, and it isn't particularly close. The Cubs rank second with 88 strikeouts with runners on, but they've managed 102 hits compared to the Red Sox's 85 — not only does Boston strike out far more than it should, but it isn't advancing runners in critical moments.
Unfortunately, the Red Sox's schedule is only getting harder, and it will come at them fast. Boston will face the Rangers, who took three out of four games from them in their season-opening series, the Royals, the AL Central-leading Tigers, the National League East-best Mets and the division-rival Orioles before the end of May.
Despite their offseason additions and a stellar start from Kristian Campbell, the 18-18 Red Sox have been disappointing, especially due to their losses against unimpressive teams like the White Sox and Twins. Their inability to hit consistently in crucial moments and erratic performances from the pitching staff will only hurt them further against better teams.
Hopefully, the 2025 Red Sox can eventually look back at their early losses against the White Sox and Twins and laugh from a postseason spot. But if Boston has another close playoff miss like last season, when it was three games removed from a Wild Card berth at a .500 record, its early losses in this easy stretch of the schedule will come back to haunt it.