Some Things I Think I Think: Once more, poor defense impacting Red Sox (2025)

*One of the most disturbing developments of the first two weeks of the Red Sox season is the team’s sloppy defensive play.

Heading into play Saturday, the Red Sox had made 19 errors, far and away the most of any team in the game. (The Athletics, with 10, were next among all AL teams). Worse, as was the case a year ago, opponents are taking full advantage of the Red Sox’ misplays when they happen — the Sox have already allowed a stunning 14 unearned runs; only one other MLB team had yielded as many as 10.

Statistically, it’s the worst start to a season since 1996. The team bottomed out Friday night in Chicago, when it committed five errors — the most by any team in a single game this season.

(To be clear, four of the 19 errors to date have come on catcher’s interference calls, which are somewhat freakish in nature and inflate the total at least somewhat. Still, an error is an error and hitters are awarded first base, so the net result of an extra base being given away poses a problem).

This issue was supposed to be a thing of the past. By subbing out Alex Bregman for Rafael Devers at third, having Trevor Story fully healthy and available at short and inserting Kristian Campbell at second over the parade of 11 different second basemen from a year ago, the team’s defense was expected to be upgraded.

Instead, it’s been more of the same. Not even the outfield defense, thought to be a team strength, has been as good as expected. Jarren Duran overran and dropped two fly balls for errors on the first homestand; he made just six errors all of last season.

The poor fielding can be corrosive. For a pitching staff that should be better on paper with the additions of Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler, the defensive ineptitude can lead to unearned runs, and, at the very least, force pitchers to throw more pitches and unnecessarily add to their workload.

Last winter marked the second straight year in which the Sox fired a base coach who had served as the club’s infield instructor — ex-third base coach Carlos Febles was dismissed after 2023 and former first base coach Andy Fox took the fall following last year. None of it has helped.

A few of the errors have been random. Take away the catcher’s interference falls and Bregman and Duran have combined for a third (five) of the team’s remaining (15) errors. Bregman was a Gold Glove winner last year and Duran was a finalist for one, so their struggles are not likely to continue.

Still, mistakes are mistakes and the last thing a team battling to achieve some consistency with the bat is a breakdown in the field. And yet, here we are. Again.

*It’s been said before, but the NBA really needs to crack down on the “load management” phenomenon. Fans, both home and away, buy tickets with the expectation they’re going to see certain players and a representative roster. But then the Celtics put a team on the floor in Orlando this past week that more closely resembled that of the Maine Celtics from the G League.

None of the top five players in minutes played this season made an appearance. Sorry, but that’s consumer fraud. (To be clear, this practice has sadly become commonplace; I’m not singling out the Celts here).

*Mike Trout went into the weekend tied for the league lead in homers, and that’s a good thing after he was so limited by injuries for the past four seasons. The game is better when Trout is healthy and playing to his ability.

*The next choice for the Patriots’ Hall of Fame isn’t a very difficult one — Adam Vinatieri, easily, over Julian Edelman and Logan Mankins.

*Over the second half of the season, Elias Lindholm has quietly played closer to the player he should be. Maybe there’s hope yet. That doesn’t mean, however, that the Bruins aren’t still in desperate need for a new 1C.

*If MLB can design a schedule that features more early- and late-season games at home for the Tampa Bay Rays this year, why can’t the reverse be done early in the season for teams in the Northeast or upper Midwest? There are enough teams in warm weather cities and/or retractable roof ballparks to make this happen.

The fact that there’s an odd number of teams in each league — mandating an interleague game every day — surely complicates things when it comes to schedule-makling. But there’s no good reason why, for instance, the Red Sox should be in the middle of a stretch that sees them play 30 of 48 games at home before Memorial Day.

*There’s plenty to criticize when it comes to Don Sweeney’s time in the GM chair, but fair is fair: uncovering Morgan Geekie, who has evolved into a 30-goal scorer, as a low-cost free agent, was a stroke of genius. Now all Sweeney has to do is re-sign him this summer as Geekie reaches RFA status.

*Liz Moore is a brilliant novelist, and her Long Bright River was a joy to read a few years back. Now, the limited series based on the book, available on Peacock, is also a treat.

*Who had Chase Meidroth beating Kyle Teel to the big leagues? Not I.

*The whole Joe Milton saga is a strange one. Apparently, the Patriots took offense to Milton expressing confidence in his own ability and saw it as a threat to Drake Maye. Isn’t competition a good thing?

*While some carp about the fairness of deferred payments in baseball, there’s something untoward about the Toronto Blue Jays classifying almost two-thirds of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s new $500 million deal as a “signing bonus,” That’s done because there’s a loophole in the CBA which stipulates that signing bonuses can be assigned to a player’s official place of residence — in this case Florida, which has no state income tax, saving Guerrero tens of millions.

How long before someone “officially” makes the major league minimum over a long-term deal, with the vast majority of the deal is paid as a signing bonus?

*By now, It’s pretty obvious, that the hatchet-burying between Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick was a complete sham. Don’t believe everything you see or hear in a press conference.

*Finally, happy (belated) 80th birthday to the great Peter Gammons, the best baseball writer in history.