Boston Red Sox 2025 Playoff Preview: The Rivalry Returns

The most appropriate word to describe the 2025 Red Sox season is “chaos”. From the Spring Training signing of Alex Bregman, the Rafael Devers drama, the eventual trade, and the ups and downs formed one of the most hectic seasons in recent memory. While this could be viewed as a negative, the Red Sox embraced it, as the chaos reflected in their style of play.

Putting pressure on the base paths, riding momentum at home, and winning some of the wildest late-game finishes you’ll see in sports were major factors in the Red Sox’ success. While they weren’t always the most fundamentally sound, Alex Cora’s club found many ways to come up with wins throughout 162 games, an encouraging factor heading into the playoffs.

Another theme of the 2025 Red Sox is resiliency. While Boston was expected to be a playoff team ahead of the season, that narrative quickly changed following several major injuries and the blockbuster trade of the face of their franchise. Moving on from a player of Devers’ caliber would typically signify a potential rebuild or fire sale, but that wasn’t the case. Boston rallied after the trade and ultimately competed for each other, finishing with a 63-51 record following the departure of Devers, showcasing their depth and resilience as an organization.

Red Sox Vs. Yankees: Matchup Breakdown

It’s only fitting that the Red Sox’ first hurdle in the 2025 postseason would be the Yankees, whom they’ve faced at many pivotal points of the season. Boston has faced New York in four series up to this point, winning three and posting a 9-4 record on the year. The Red Sox have faced them with just about every variation of the roster, trades, and injuries included.

Using regular-season matchups to predict a playoff series can be tricky, so it’s important to take certain things with a grain of salt. The most important factors to predict this matchup are the constants that haven’t or won’t change heading into the series, and the injury complications that may impact the outcome.

The Red Sox will be without Lucas Giolito, Marcello Mayer, and Roman Anthony, all of whom would’ve been on the postseason roster. These injuries raise many questions for the Boston, including a potential surprise game three starter, and the absence of arguably their best hitter.

The Yankees will open the series with two left-handed pitchers in Max Fried and Carlos Rodon for games one and two. This will likely warrant a matchup-based lineup from Cora, including his most dependable right-handed bats. Romy Gonzalez and Rob Refsnyder with be Boston’s X-factors as their ability to do damage against New York’s frontline starters could dictate the series. Boston will start Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello in the opening games, two pitchers who’ve caused trouble for the Yankees outside of their most recent matchups.

Arguably, the biggest factor in the series will be the manager duel, something that has been in Boston’s favor in recent years. Aaron Boone has struggled to match Cora’s ability to pull the right strings in crucial moments, as the Yankees have made errors, poor bullpen decisions, and base-running blunders hurt them over the past year.

Whether it be going to a high-leverage arm early, running on a backup catcher, or giving his starter an extra inning, Cora has seemingly been one step ahead of Boone in multiple instances. This is undoubtedly the biggest advantage Boston will have over New York, as they are the less talented, especially with key injuries. Cora’s decision-making against the top of the Yankees lineup and especially Aaron Judge, will dictate the direction this series goes in.

End Of My Red Sox Vs. Yankees Rant

Ultimately, eliminating the Yankees in the Bronx without one of their best players will be a tall task for the Red Sox, but the formula is right in front of them. Keeping the ball in the park and taking advantage of New York’s mental mistakes will be the key to advancing to the American League Division Series. The Red Sox must embrace their identity and expose the Yankees in areas where they have the advantage.