Opening Day 2025 is in view and the Boston Red Sox have begun paring their roster down to 26 players.
Sox camp is still packed and the front office still has plenty of work to do before the Opening Day roster is set. Boston will play spring training games until March 23, and every one of those games could be necessary to determine some of the team's most critical position battles.
The Red Sox will likely make a few cuts every week until the Opening Day roster is set. Boston's first round of cuts included injured pitcher and top prospect Luis Perales, his fellow top prospect Jhostynxon Garcia, and a few relievers, but no surprises.
On March 11, the Red Sox optioned pitching prospect Hunter Dobbins to minor league camp. The righty is on the 40-man roster after Boston protected him from the Rule 5 Draft in December. He'll likely begin the season in Triple-A, where he spent all of last year and posted a 2.61 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 20.2 innings over four starts.
Red Sox Spring Training Roster Cuts Tracker: Live updates
Player | Position |
|---|---|
Hunter Dobbins | RHP |
Luis Perales | RHP |
Jhostynxon Garcia | OF |
Robert Stock | RHP |
Jovani Morán | LHP |
Brian Van Belle | RHP |
Jacob Webb | RHP |
Yovanny Cruz | RHP |
The Red Sox's list of roster cuts has been predictable so far. Dobbins, Garcia and Perales are on the 40-man roster to protect them from selection as part of the Rule 5 Draft, but none have MLB experience and neither Garcia nor Perales have reached Triple-A. Dobbins has pitched less than 20 innings in Triple-A, and the Red Sox likely want to get him more experience there before he's called up to The Show, possibly later this year.
Morán is another obvious cut, as he's still recovering from Tommy John surgery. The Red Sox recently reunited with 2020 reliever Stock, and he's fresh off a Triple Crown in the Mexican Pacific League, but he hasn't had the same success back in the Grapefruit League. He's let up four runs in three innings of work with the Sox so far. Cruz, Van Belle and Webb don't have any MLB experience and Boston has plenty of pitchers who do.
The Red Sox still have 55 players in camp after Dobbins' reassignment, and they need to get that number down to 26 before Opening Day on March 27. The Sox have already announced that a few players will begin the season on the injured list and they'll need to replace those players on the 40-man roster once the IL becomes available.