The Boston Red Sox have perhaps the best starting rotation in MLB, but that doesn’t exactly guarantee the ability to prevent runs from being scored…
Garrett Crochet (2.59 ERA in 2025), Ranger Suárez (3.20), Sonny Gray (4.28) and Brayan Bello (3.35) are all coming off fantastic seasons and could feasibly be even better in the immediate future, but they have one thing in common that has raised red flags among those with a more negative disposition — they give up a lot of ground balls.
Crochet (188; 16th), Suárez (158; 42nd), Gray (167; 29th) and Bello (202; 11th) were among the league leaders in ground ball outs among starting pitchers in 2025, which is inherently a good thing, but that means they need the help of their infield to convert those outs — which has been a problem around these parts for several seasons…
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow discussed that obvious need on Wednesday.
“We tend to get caught up in the pitching portion of run prevention, but there are other key components as well — defense being the most obvious,” Breslow said, as seen on NESN. “It’s really important that we improve our defense, particularly our infield defense. I’d argue that we have the best defensive outfield in baseball, but we led the league in errors last year and our out conversion needs to be improved. We’ve done things internally to re-prioritize that, but any additions we may make will be mindful of the defensive skillset.”
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It’s no secret that there remain needs to be filled, but given those comments, we’re starting to see exactly what Boston might be looking for before finalizing the roster ahead of 2026 Spring Training.
Nico Hoerner, Isaac Paredes and Brendan Donovan have all been tied to the organization one way or the other, and could all conceivably fill the remaining hole at second/third base, taking one of them while the other is filled by Marcelo Mayer.
Hoerner, 28, might be the best defensive option among that trio, having earned two Gold Glove Awards (2023, 2025). The Cubs probably aren’t in a hurry to trade the utility man, but it will certainly be easier following the addition of third baseman Alex Bregman.
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Paredes, 26, is the best bat in this trio, having carried a .245/.348/.420 slash line to back-to-back All-Star selections in 2024 and 2025. It’s hard to justify adding someone who averages negative-three defensive runs saved when you’re focusing on defense, though.
Donovan, 29, is a super utility player who definitely has a defense-first profile (Gold Glove in 2022), but can get on base and might be the easiest to acquire given the recent relationship between Boston and the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Red Sox, of course, would have to put together a trade package in order to obtain any of their services, which will begin and end with tapping into their surplus of starting pitching and outfielders.
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Breslow made it clear that is something he’ll consider, but will he actually pull the trigger?
Featured image via Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox via Getty Images
