Fantasy Baseball Year in Review – Red Sox

​

  • By Anthony Kates

    Last Updated on November 18, 2025 7:34 am by Anthony Kates | Published: November 18, 2025

    The Red Sox were on a three-year postseason drought coming into the 2025 season, but expectations were sky high after adding a trio of stars in the off-season: Aroldis Chapman, Alex Bregman and Garrett Crochet. They joined a budding group of stars, led by 3B Rafael Devers, CF Jarren Duran, young and improving OF/IF Ceddane Rafaela and RF Wilyer Abreu. Plus, they had the number one prospect in all of baseball waiting in Triple-A, OF Roman Anthony, and the breakout star of the minor leagues in 2024, 2B Kristian Campbell. The season was full of ups and downs: Rafael Devers was traded to the Giants after bickering with the front office, Anthony was eventually called up and he made an immediate impact (before suffering a season ending injury), Campbell was promoted, struggled and then demoted (Marcelo Mayer was also called up, and he struggled before suffering an injury), they lost Tanner Houck to Tommy John surgery, they made the playoffs in a Wild Card spot, lost to the rival Yankees in the Wild Card Round and Crochet capped off his amazing season with a second place finish in the American League Cy Young race. The future is bright in Boston, but let’s take a look back at their 2025 fantasy performances.

    Catcher

    Carlos Narvaez’s first full big league season was a decent little surprise. He came over in a trade with the Yankees in December 2024 and was the Red Sox primary catcher. He hit 15 home runs, scored 51 runs, drove in 50 base runners, stole one base and had a .241 batting average. Though he had just a .715 OPS and a 97 wRC+, he was the 16th most valuable fantasy catcher, a solid #2 in two catcher leagues. He had solid statcast data, with a 9.1% barrel rate and a 44.6% hard-hit rate, with an average exit velocity (avgEV) of 91.1 MPH, so there may be even more homers in his bat as he lifts the ball more (1.18 GB:FB in the big leagues). He had a sub-30.0% chase rate, a contact rate near 75.0% and a not-that-terrible 12.3% swinging strike rate, resulting in a 24.9% strikeout rate. He should be treated as a C2 going forward, but if he can pull his walk rate up to near his minor league averages and tap into some more power, he could find himself inside the top 12 at the position at the end of the season. Connor Wong shares time with Narvaez, but can be ignored for fantasy purposes.

    First Base

    Tristan Casas had 112 mainly uninspiring plate appearances before he suffered a ruptured patellar tendon that required season ending surgery in May. He had hit just three home runs with a .182 batting average and a 56 wRC+ before the injury and his future as the Red Sox starting first baseman is currently up in the air. Romy Gonzalez had a pseudo-breakout season playing first, second and two games at third. The recently turned 29-year-old saw his most extensive playing time yet in the bigs, reaching 341 plate appearances and hitting .305 with nine home runs, 47 runs, 53 RBI and six stolen bases. He had an .825 OPS and a 123 wRC+ and made an extended impact on fantasy rosters. Though he had great statcast data (12.6% barrel, 57.3% hard hit, 93.3 MPH avgEV, it is tough to trust the outcome of his season due to some poor swing decision metrics (34.5% chase rate, 72.1% contact rate, 15% swinging strike rate), a terrible 50.2% ground ball rate (52.5% career) and a sky-high .378 BABIP. He is more likely to regress than progress in 2025 and can likely be ignored in all but the deepest fantasy leagues. Nathaniel Lowe was designated for assignment on August 14 by the National, allowing the Red Sox to sign him on August 17. He logged 119 plate appearances for the Sox, hitting two home runs, scoring 14 runs, driving in 16 base runners and batting .280, with a much improved .790 OPS and 114 wRC+ (stats for the Nats: 50R, 16HR, 68RBI, .216BA, .665OPS, 86 wRC+). He will likely be retained by the Red Sox, via arbitration, and his role will be determined by the health of both Casas and Masataka Yoshida (their full time DH when he was healthy). He is mostly irrelevant in fantasy circles, though he could rehab his value if given full time volume in Boston’s lineup.

     Second Base

    Ceddane Rafaela followed up his breakout 2024 season with a slightly improved 2025. Spending most of his time in centerfield, Rafaela played 24 games at second base and projects to be the Red Sox starting second baseman in 2026, with a fully healthy outfield (and no trades). He hit .249 with 16 home runs, 20 stolen bases, 84 runs and 63 RBI, good enough for a .709 OPS, 91 wRC+ and to finish as the eighth best second baseman and thirty-first best outfielder. He improved basically across the board, with better swing decisions and statcast numbers, more fly balls and a much improved strikeout rate. There might be a few 25-25 seasons in there, if he can tap into a bit more power and get on base a tad more, but the floor seems safe enough to draft him inside the first 130 to 140 picks in 2026 drafts. After a breakout minor league season in 2024, Kristian Campbell was expected to be the Red Sox opening day second baseman and lock up the position for the foreseeable future. Instead, he had a miserable time and was eventually demoted to Triple-A, where he would finish the season. In 263 big league plate appearances, he hit six home runs, stole two bases, scored 24 runs and drove in 21, with a .223 batting average, .664 OPS and an 86 wRC+. He was much better in Triple-A, but still a far shout away from where he was in 2024. He should start the 2026 season in the minor leagues, though he could earn a roster spot if he has a lights out spring training. Ignore him in all but Draft & Hold, dynasty and the deepest of re-draft leagues.

    Third Base

    Alex Bregman kicked off his Red Sox tenure in superstar fashion, generating a 156 wRC+ through May 23, the 11th best in the league, before suffering a strained right quad. He would miss nearly six and a half weeks of the season, before returning and being much less productive the rest of the season. Prior to the injury, Bregman scored 32 runs, hit 11 home runs, drove in 35 base  runners, stole one base and hit .299 in 226 plate appearances; after the injury, he scored 32 runs, hit seven home runs, drove in 27, stole zero base and hit .250, with a .724 OPS and a 100 wRC+. He finished the season as the number 10 fantasy third baseman, but probably would have been top five if not for the injury. His 2026 home is unknown at this time, since he opted out of his contract with the Red Sox, but, when healthy, it won’t matter really where he plays, because he is generally a very reliable top-12 third baseman. He should be one of the first seven or eight third baseman off the board in 2026 drafts and may be drafted within the first 100 picks by the time February and March drafts roll around. Marcelo Mayer didn’t make his big league debut until May 24, spending more time at third base than he had in his entire minor league career. He struggled over 136 plate appearances, hitting .228 with 20 runs, four home runs, 10 RBI and zero stolen bases, generating a .674 OPA and an 80 wRC+. His statcast data was more than solid, but his swing decisions could use some improvement and the strikeout rate needs to drastically drop (30.1% strikeout rate; never had a rate higher than 25.8% at any minor league stop). He had surgery in August to repair a triangular fibrocartilage complex injury in his right wrist, cuasing him to miss the rest of the season, but he is expected to be full healthy for spring training. He is penciled in as the Red Sox current starting third baseman, though that would change if Bregman is brought back. He is worth grabbing in the later rounds of most deeper (15 teams or more) leagues, just in case he does rebound and tap into his 30 homer power.

    Shortstop

    Trevor Story’s first three seasons in Boston couldn’t have gone worse, as he appeared in just 163 games, with 640 plate appearances. He hit .232 with 21 home runs, 73 runs, 90 RBI and 29 stolen bases over those three seasons, generating a .693 OPS. 2025, though? He stayed healthy for the first time since 2021, logging more than 600 plate appearances for just the third time in his 10 year career. He finished the season as the number six fantasy shortstop, hitting 25 home runs, scoring 91 runs, driving in 96 base runners, stealing 31 base and hitting .263. He had his lowest strikeout rate since he left Colorado, with some of the best statcast numbers of his career. Can he replicate this season? Maybe. He hasn’t had back-to-back healthy seasons since 2020-2021 and did demonstrate some regression in swing decisions and fly ball rate, so maybe don’t bet on it. But even with some regression, if you want to bet on his health, he can still produce a top-12 fantasy shortstop season with 500 or more plate appearances. You’ll have to grab him within the first 100 to 115 picks if you want to roster him in 2026.


    Want to get access to the rest of Anthony’s article? You’ll need to have an MLB FantasyPass membership. Click here to learn more and sign up!
    Premium Access Required

    Come join us at SportsEthos by filling out an application by clicking here
    Click here to join us on Discord!
    Follow us on X by clicking here
    Follow us on Bluesky by clicking here
    Follow Anthony on X at @akfantasybb
    Follow Anthony on Bluesky at @akfantasybb.bsky.social

    November 18, 2025, 7:34 am