Red Sox Series Preview: Opening the 2025 season at the Rangers
The Boston Red Sox are set to open the 2025 season with more promise than they’ve had in recent years, thanks to a combination of big off-season additions and the arrival of dynamic top prospects. They get their first chance to get off to a hot start when they visit the Texas Rangers for a four-game series at Globe Life Field to kick things off.
As for the younger talent, Kristian Campbell will be the first of the big names to make his major-league debut, after having a clear path to playing second base for the Red Sox throughout the spring. Shortstop Marcelo Mayer and outfielder Roman Anthony will have to wait, although their Boston debuts aren’t far behind.
The Red Sox also made a number of major acquisitions in both free agency and the trade market. Big lefty Garrett Crochet enters 2025 as the new staff ace, while ex-Dodger Walker Buehler carries top-of-the-rotation potential. On offense, the Sox won the Alex Bregman sweepstakes, and will deploy him at his usual third base while moving Rafael Devers to designated hitter.
In Texas, the Rangers enter the season sharing similar concerns with the Red Sox when it comes to injuries and depth in their starting rotation, as well as relative uncertainty in the bullpen. But both teams bring pop to the top half of their batting orders, making for an interesting matchup between similar teams to begin the season.
Offense
Here is the projected Opening Day lineup for the Red Sox, via Ian Browne at MLB.com:
LF Jarren Duran
DH Rafael Devers
3B Alex Bregman
1B Triston Casas
SS Trevor Story
C Connor Wong
RF Wilyer Abreu
2B Kristian Campbell
CF Ceddanne Rafaela
This contains the same starting nine that the Red Sox used in their final spring training game in Fort Myers on Sunday, with a slightly different order. Campbell batted sixth in the previous game, as the 6-7-8 hitters were in reverse order compared to the projected Opening Day lineup.
But the top-five hitters appear locked in. Bregman is notably on track to begin his Red Sox tenure as the No. 3 hitter, while first baseman Triston Casas will open the season in the cleanup spot for the second straight season. Left fielder Jarren Duran and Devers will pick up where they left off in the 1-2 holes.
Here’s the projected batting order for the Rangers, according to Rangers beat writer Kennedi Landry:
2B Marcus Semien
SS Corey Seager
LF Wyatt Langford
RF Adolis García
DH Joc Pederson
3B Josh Jung
1B Jake Burger
C Jonah Heim
CF Leody Taveras
Texas added Joc Pederson and Jake Burger (52 combined home runs in 2024) in the off-season, adding some much-needed power to a top-heavy lineup. The Rangers are hoping that promising 24-year-old left fielder Wyatt Langford can build upon his rookie season, in which he smacked 16 home runs and 25 doubles with a .740 OPS in 134 games.
Starting Pitching
Here are the four projected pitching matchups for the season-opening Red Sox-Rangers series:
Thursday: Garrett Crochet vs Nathan Eovaldi
Friday: Tanner Houck vs Jack Leiter
Saturday: Walker Buehler vs Tyler Mahle
Sunday: Richard Fitts vs Jacob de Grom
The Red Sox are fortunate to have the top half of their rotation intact. Houck earned the No. 2 starter role after a breakout season in 2024 (3.12 ERA in 30 starts). Meanwhile, deGrom, a two-time Cy Young winner, is easing in for the Rangers after making three short appearances at the end of last season, as he returns from his 2023 Tommy John surgery (via Kennedi Landry).
Both teams are dealing with injuries at the back-end of their rotations. Fitts will begin the season as the No. 4 starter for the Red Sox, amid injuries to both Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford. Leiter and Kumar Rocker both ended up making the Rangers roster out of camp after starters Jon Gray and Cody Bradford went down with injuries of their own.
Relief Pitching
Here’s how the two bullpens stack up ahead of Opening Day, per MLB.com:
Red Sox:
Aroldis Chapman (closer)
Liam Hendriks
Justin Slaten
Garrett Whitlock
Justin Wilson
Rangers:
Chris Martin
Luke Jackson
Robert Garcia
Shawn Armstrong
Jacob Webb
Hoby Milner
Chapman is reportedly expected to open the season as the Red Sox closer, with Hendriks and Slaten ready to push for save opportunities, if Chapman struggles to finish games. On the other side, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy has yet to commit to a full-time closer. Martin, Jackson, and Garcia all look like legitimate candidates.
Where To Watch Red Sox-Rangers
The entire four-game series will be broadcast on NESN. Here at 98.5 The Sports Hub, you can check out The Baseball Hour with Tony Mazz starting with Wednesday night’s season premiere at 6 p.m. ET, available both on the air and live on YouTube.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
