Spring Storylines: What will be Red Sox’ biggest strength and weakness?

On paper, the Boston Red Sox look much improved heading into the 2025 MLB season.

The lineup and infield defense should be noticeably better with All-Star Alex Bregman in the fold. Offensively, Boston will be even scarier if one or more of the top prospects -- Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, and Marcelo Mayer -- pan out.

The Red Sox bolstered their starting rotation by trading for left-hander Garrett Crochet and signing two-time World Series champion righty Walker Buehler. Lucas Giolito will enter the mix after spending the 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery.

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Also returning from injury are righties Garrett Whitlock and Liam Hendriks, who should be difference-makers out of the bullpen. With Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin leaving in free agency, Boston signed flamethrower Aroldis Chapman to add another go-to option in high-leverage situations.

While the Red Sox are expected to be markedly better than they've been in recent seasons, they'll be far from perfect. Their strengths and weaknesses will be evident by late April, when we'll have a clearer idea of their potential.

We predicted the 2025 club's biggest strengths and weaknesses in the latest installment of our "Spring Storylines" series. The responses were unanimous among our three-person panel:

Justin Leger

Strength: Offense

The top of the lineup with Jarren Duran, Alex Bregman, Rafael Devers, and Triston Casas should strike fear in opposing pitchers. Throw in a healthy Trevor Story (wishful thinking, but still...), plus the top prospects Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, and Marcelo Mayer if they adjust well to the majors, and this should be among the most productive lineups in the league.

Weakness: Bullpen

Is Liam Hendriks the closer? The 36-year-old has made only five appearances over the last two years due to a battle with stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, followed by surgery to repair a torn UCL in his right elbow.

Will it be Aroldis Chapman? The 37-year-old with at least 5.6 walks per nine innings in each of his last four seasons? Little-known right-hander Justin Slaten is an intriguing candidate after an outstanding rookie season with Boston, but he's unproven as a ninth-inning arm.

The back end of the 'pen is going to be a problem. The middle and long-relief options should be OK -- Garrett Whitlock gives the group a big boost in his return from injury -- but the Red Sox will lose their fair share of games in the late innings, just as they did last year.

Nick Goss

Strength: Offense

The Red Sox ranked No. 3 in runs, No. 2 in hits, No. 1 in doubles, No. 4 in home runs and No. 4 in batting average in 2024. This team should continue to mash in 2025, especially if some of the elite prospects (Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell) make an impact.

Weakness: Bullpen

There's a lot of uncertainty with this group. What are they going to get from Liam Hendricks? Will Garrett Whitlock be effective? The Aroldis Chapman signing is the team's major bullpen addition so far this offseason, which is a bad sign. The loss of Kenley Jansen will be felt unless a better closer is brought in. It's possible this group could be a pleasant surprise, but there's probably a higher chance it disappoints.

Darren Hartwell

Strength: Offensive depth

Last season, the Red Sox were calling on the likes of Romy Gonzalez and Enmanuel Valdez to make spot starts. Entering this season, they're dealing with a lineup logjam after adding Alex Bregman that could get even more backed up if Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and/or Kristian Campbell reach the big leagues. Those are good problems to have for manager Alex Cora.

Weakness: Bullpen

Some things never change. The Red Sox had the seventh-worst bullpen ERA in baseball last season (4.39), and swapping 37-year-old Kenley Jansen for 36-year-old Aroldis Chapman doesn't exactly inspire confidence in that number improving.