The Big Story – Red Sox Season Opens: It gets started Thursday, March 26, at the home of baseball’s first organized team, the Cincinnati Reds. An interesting season lies ahead, in part because of a change in team style to something Red Sox Nation is not accustomed to. We’ll see if GM Craig Breslow’s emphasis on improving the pitching and infield defense at the expense of adding the power most (including me) felt they needed will succeed. Or if passing on free agent slugger Pete Alonso (who’ll be in the AL East with Baltimore) and jettisoning Rafael Devers last year was just the result of owner John Henry being cheap.
The other reason for excitement is being led into 2026 by a parade of blossoming young talent like Garrett Crochet and guys who came up big in the WBC: Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran and Brayan Bello. Should be fun.
Sports 101: Of the 33 who have 3,000 career hits, only four from the 20th century and beyond never had a 200-hit season. Name them.
News Item – March Madness Marches On: The opening weekend provided the usual thrills.
• BestIndividualGame:UConn’s Tarris Reed going for 31 points and 27 rebounds in a R1 win over Furman.
• Biggest Upset: 15-seed High Point taking out 2-seed Wisconsin. Iowa taking out defending champion Florida on a last-second shot by Alvaro Folgueiras wasn’t farbehind.
• MIA Award –Rick Pitino: Back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2015.
News Item – Proposed Trade for Eagle A.J. Brown: No way the Pats should give up what Denver did (first, third and fourth) to get Jaylen Waddle from Miami for Brown. They have bigger immediate needs at OL and edge rusher and need to use the 2026 draft (or trades of them) to get them. If a trade for the speedy Brown can be done after June 1 for a 2027 second and 2028 third, done.
News Item – Red Sox Stories to Watch
Roman Anthony: Will he live up to what runaway imaginations have him becoming?
The Outfield Jumble: They’ve got five guys to play the outfield and DH. Can Alex Cora find enough at-bats for everyone or is a trade coming?
Aroldis Chapman: At 38 can he possibly be as good as last year (32 saves, 1.17 ERA and 67 k’s in 43 innings)?
Most Intriguing Prospect to Follow – Justin Gonzalez: Is the 6’6”, 272-pound 19-year-old mountain of a man more Aaron Judge or Wily Mo Peña? What’s most appealing are his New Age stats (that are actually useful) like his percentages on strikeouts and hard contact to at-bats. He starts his Year 2 in AA. Keep an eye on him.
News Item – Predictions for Red Sox
70 – combined homers from Anthony and Abreu.
180 – K’s from 15-game-winner Sonny Gray to make it a record five teams he’s done that for.
275 – league-leading K’s Crochet whiffs on his way to winning the AL Cy Young Award.
Sports 101 Answer: The four with 3,000 career hits and no 200-hit seasons are Dave Winfield, Eddie Murray, Rickey Henderson and Yaz.
Final Thought – Red Sox Season Prediction – 92-70: I might be talking myself into it, but they’re gonna be better than last year’s 89-win team. If you’re going to Vegas to bet, you should know I missed my Red Sox predictions in each of the last two years by one win because of the outcome of each season’s final game. Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.
Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.