Red Sox suffer October reality check, lacking experience to be true World Series contenders this season

The Red Sox entered the 2025 season with belief, ambition, and a roster they believed could compete for a World Series title. Boston had just enough firepower to win games in the regular season, enough young talent to dream about playing under the bright lights of October, and a group of veterans with a strong presence to stabilize them through the grind of a grueling 162-game schedule.

But as the postseason unfolded, one truth became a painful reality: the 2025 Boston Red Sox were too young and weren’t good enough to win the World Series.

This wasn’t about effort. It wasn’t about desire. Boston battled its way into the playoffs, surviving a competitive rollercoaster into the postseason, securing the fifth Wild Card spot.

As we all know, October baseball is forever ruthless; teams are stripped down to their purest form—their strengths are magnified, and weaknesses exposed. And the Red Sox' flaws, the ones that lingered all year long, reared their ugly head when the games mattered the most.

Late-season injuries to star rookie Roman Anthony and starter Lucas Giolito played a massive role in the Red Sox' downfall. So did a handful of mistakes in Game 2 that ultimately tipped the momentum in the Yankees' favor.

One of those mistakes was the failed bunt attempts by Ceddanne Rafaela with runners on first and second base in the top of the seventh with the game tied 3-3. Alex Cora called for the right play: drop a sacrifice bunt down late in the game, move the runners over, and put the ball into the air for an RBI sac fly. All of that happened, minus the execution of the bunt from Rafaela.

Yankees starter Fernando Cruz fired the first pitch into the zone, and Rafaela failed to drop the bunt. Cora called for the bunt again. Rafaela stabbed at the ball and popped it up to Cruz. Two attempts to bunt. Both were poorly executed, and Boston missed a golden opportunity to move the runners over.

Another widely discussed pivotal moment of Game 2 came in the seventh inning when Masataka Yoshida ripped a grounder up the middle, and Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. made a tremendous diving stop, throwing to first, but his throw got away from Ben Rice as the Sox’ runner was diving headfirst into the bag.

Nate Eaton, who advanced to third on the play, hesitated and then was ultimately held up at third by base coach Kyle Hudson.

Eaton, who has blazing speed, should have been well on his way to home but wasn’t, and both he and the third base coach failed to read where the ball was. Once they figured out where it was at, it was too late; the moment was gone, and the Sox’ chance to cash in was quickly erased.

Boston was plagued by failed bunting and base running. Two fundamentals that are critical to executing winning baseball.

The Sox’ defense remained sloppy, as highlighted by Jarren Duran’s dropped fly ball with two outs in the fifth inning of Game 2. Aaron Judge hit a liner to left field, and Duran charged at the shallow fly ball and looked to be in an ideal position to make the catch. It wasn’t an easy routine play, but it was one that Duran had made in the past. For whatever reason, Duran couldn’t secure it on the dive; the ball hit his glove, allowing Trent Grisham to score and giving the Yankees a 3-2 edge in the game.

The official scorer at Yankee Stadium called the ball a hit, but anyone watching knew it should have been an error.

Following the game, Duran took accountability for the misplay, knowing he should have caught the ball.

“I was just playing pretty deep on Judge,” Duran told reporters. “As I was coming in, I thought it was hit a little harder than it was. I gained more ground than I thought. I didn’t really have to go into a full dive there.”

Duran said he pushed the ball on himself, and it got up on him. He took ownership, but it doesn’t erase the fact that playoff inexperience resulted in a poor decision on that play.

“This one’s going to sting a little bit,” Duran said. “I know that game is 100 percent on me. If I make that play, Trevor [Story] hits the homer, and we take the lead. But I messed it up. I gave them momentum.”

Duran repeatedly told reporters that he’s “going to have to wear that one.”

In Game 3, Rafaela dropped a crucial fly ball hit by Cody Bellinger to spark a four-run fourth inning for the Yankees. To Rafaela’s credit, he tried to make a last-second diving catch that had a 90% catch probability for him and an 85% catch probability for Wilyer Abreu.

“That’s a play we make,” Cora said.

A lack of communication was the issue.

Both players were asked if they called for the ball after the game. Rafaela said no, and Abreu replied, “It’s hard to say because it was too loud, so we couldn’t hear.”

Abreu acknowledged that he was concerned with possibly colliding with Rafaela on the play.

“I just tried to see him, where he’s at, because I know he’s very aggressive in the outfield,” Abreu said. “So I was trying to get the ball in front of me.”

The fourth inning unraveled from there as rookie Connelly Early was unable to stop the bleeding. He walked Giancarlo Stanton following Bellinger’s double to put runners on first and second base.

Early struck out Ben Rice for the first out, then Ahmed Rosario hit an RBI single past the diving Story to make it 1-0. Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with a single that loaded the bases, and Anthony Volpe hit an RBI single to right field, making it 2-0.

Boston made another defensive blunder when first baseman Nathaniel Lowe couldn’t make a play on a chopper to him. The ball would deflect off his glove, resulting in an error that allowed two more runs to score, putting New York up 4-0.

“I thought I could get to the short hop, and I didn’t,” Lowe said. “The between hop ate me up ... It sucks to put in the work and not make that play.”

The Red Sox defense has been a black eye for the club the last couple of years. Boston led all major league teams in errors during the regular season with 116.

“We didn’t play defense,” Cora said. “The pop-up drops, there’s a double, and there’s a walk, and they didn’t hit the ball hard, but they found holes. It just happened fast. The kid (Early) did a good job. He threw the ball well and induced them to weak contact, but it didn’t happen for us tonight.”

Even though the Red Sox failed to execute in October and will be watching the remainder of the postseason at home, it doesn’t mean the season was a failure. Making it to the playoffs was an accomplishment for the club. Boston hadn’t played in October since 2021, when they lost in the ALCS to the Astros.

“Remember the feeling because it sucks. You don’t want to feel it. Take it into your offseason,” said Alex Bregman following the game. “This is brutal. We envisioned winning tonight and making a deep run, but I’m proud of the fight in the room. I’m proud of the guys. It was an honor to put on this jersey.” 

The young players gained valuable experience, the front office saw that there are upgrades needed, and Cora proved he is the right man to guide the team through the season. 

“It sucks. I mean, most of all, it’s just awkward, man,” Garrett Crochet said. “Everyone’s feeling bitter. But individually, there were a lot of good seasons that happened in this room, so that’s praise that needs to be shared. But ultimately, as a group, we’re all pretty bitter. I think most of us are going to be watching the World Series here in three weeks, wishing it was us, thinking that it should have been us. But it ended the way it did. And ultimately, we had a lot of young guys gather some really valuable experience.”

It should go without saying that banners aren’t raised for making it to October. Boston wasn’t good enough to win the World Series, and that should sting for the players.

“The season coming to an end when you don’t expect it to kind of slaps you in the face,” Crochet said. “I thought that (Connelly) Early threw the ball great tonight, man. Some seeing-eye singles, some balls that landed just where people weren’t but you could say were mishit. I’d say they were mishit. Ultimately, I feel like it was the biggest start of his life, and he looked great out there. (Payton) Tolle put up a zero in his postseason outing. I think that we were asking a lot of some really young guys with little major league service time to compete in the postseason at a really high level and in a really hostile environment. Ultimately, they answered the call. I’ve got a lot of belief that those guys are going to continue to contribute to the direction that this team’s going.”

Some of the Sox' players handled the loss with professionalism. Carlos Narvaez made himself available to speak to the media for longer length of time than normal. Story, Giolito, and Crochet faced the music and gave their raw emotions in real time. 

Rafaela stormed out of the clubhouse, initially refusing to speak to the media. He eventually came back inside and spoke for a few minutes. Duran spoke to the media for exactly 39 seconds, answering two questions following the Game 3 loss. In the moment, the players were digesting the reality of a 162-game season and a small postseason run coming to a screeching halt. On the other hand, actions speak volumes as to the maturity of some players in the heat of the moment. 

All of that aside, the question now is whether this was a stepping stone or a ceiling.

“Sucks to say right now that we’re looking forward, but ultimately that’s our reality,” Crochet said. “That’s the only way that we’re gonna move. Right now it’s kind of that ‘So what? Next pitch’ mentality. The next pitch for us is in five months. So everybody in this room has a lot to reflect on and ultimately get to work.”

The foundation is there — a budding core, a passionate fanbase, and a front office willing to spend when the moment is right. But if Boston wants to hang its next banner at Fenway Park, it will take more pitching depth, more lineup balance, and more October-ready resilience.

For now, the Red Sox are left watching someone else celebrate, knowing they still have work to do.