Part of a series of articles previewing the defensive performance of all 30 MLB teams by asking the question … are they good? We give an overview of team strengths, weaknesses, and other things to know, using Defensive Runs Saved and other stats as the basis for our evaluation. To see the full series, click here.

2025 Team Defensive Runs Saved Rank: Tied for 12th

Team Strengths

The Red Sox have a manager who highly values defense in Alex Cora and that’s reflected in where the Red Sox chose to improve this offseason.

But let’s start with their strengths because they have a few. Center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela won a Fielding Bible Award last season after leading the position with 20 Runs Saved (he had 12 in 2024). Rafaela combines great range with standout outfield arm numbers. Wilyer Abreu nearly won his second straight Fielding Bible Award in right field but lost in a close vote to Fernando Tatis Jr. He too excels in both our range and throwing components of Runs Saved. On Rafaela’s other side, Jarren Duran is a left fielder who could play center field. He had 11 Runs Saved in left field in 2025.

Red Sox Outfielders – Defensive Runs Saved Rank in 2025

Carlos Narváez handled his first full season as a major league catcher very well. He had 10 Runs Saved, fourth-most at the position, 7 of which came from stolen base attempts against him.

Roman Anthony will play left field too. He had -1 Runs Saved there in 19 games last season but our reason for being optimistic is the 8 Runs Saved he had in an admittedly small sample of 36 games in right field.

Caleb Durbin is part of a revamped right side of the Red Sox infield, as he’ll play third base opposite first baseman Willson Contreras.

Durbin had 5 Runs Saved at third base as a Brewers rookie. It’s also somewhat possible that he could play second base. Most of his second base history came in the minors, where he had a combined 4 Runs Saved in 133 games. (this has been edited to reflect a greater likelihood of Durbin at third base than second base).

Contreras rates as an average defensive first baseman. Red Sox first basemen had -9 Runs Saved last season, so he should be an upgrade.

Team Weaknesses

The play of the Red Sox outfield propped up the team’s Runs Saved total. Fans were highly dissatisfied with the infield last season though Contreras should help there and Durbin should be a match for Alex Bregman.

As currently aligned, second baseman Marcelo Mayer is the biggest question mark. He played 8 games there in the majors and 10 in the minors last season. In 39 games at third base he had 0 Runs Saved.

The other thing to be mindful of is the Red Sox pitchers combined for -15 Runs Saved last season and had the worst Runs Saved from range of any team’s pitching staff in the majors. One pitcher who should help with that is Ranger Suárez, who has averaged 5 Runs Saved per season over the last five seasons and is generally considered one of the best fielding pitchers in baseball.

Other Things To Know

It’s hard to get a handle on what Trevor Story will be. He finished with -7 Runs Saved last year, the first negative season his career.

Kristian Campbell was not MLB capable at second base last season (-16 Runs Saved). He’ll likely transition to a versatile outfielder role this season but may start the year in the minors.

Are the Red Sox A Good Defensive Team?

They should be. I think they’re Top 10 good and there are probably circumstances in which they’re Top 5 (most of those involve the infield not laying a statistical egg).