Lucas Giolito, the team’s biggest offseason signing, is already out for the season. He had surgery to repair a partially
torn UCL in his right elbow and was fitted with an internal brace. While Giolito hopes to return for the start of the
2025 season, this does not assist a rotation that was already littered with issues before the season began.
The Red Sox still have a chance to succeed; their defense needs to be better. Tyler O’Neill has been an excellent
defensive left fielder during his career, saving 25 runs. His emergence allows the Red Sox to shift former left fielder
Masataka Yoshida to full-time DH, a position he is more suited for. Vaughn Grissom hasn’t performed well
defensively at second base in the majors, but he only has 94 games of experience between the levels and minors.
Regardless of the additions, Trevor Story will be crucial to the Red Sox’s defensive success.
When healthy, Story is among the best defensive shortstops in baseball. He saved 77 runs at shortstop over parts of
seven years, leading the National League in 2019. In 2023, Story saved seven runs at shortstop, the eighth-best total
in the majors despite only 36 appearances there.
Story is also a key to the Red Sox lineup. He has proven to be a solid power and speed threat, reaching the 20
homer/20 steals club three times. The Red Sox lineup is centered around Yoshida leading off, with third baseman
Rafael Devers and first baseman Triston Casas providing the power. Story had hit at least 24 homers in five of his six
years in Colorado before that streak was interrupted by the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
