Romy Gonzalez Has Filled a Big Role for the Red Sox in 2025

Only time will tell exactly why Red Sox manager Alex Cora sees a benefit in an inconsistent defensive lineup – particularly this close to October. Regardless of his thought process, whatever the lineup entails, it’s safe to have faith in Gonzalez.

All stats updated prior to games on Friday, September 5

The Red Sox Got Him At the Perfect Spot

The best analogy for Gonzalez is a rotisserie chicken. He cooked slowly, and over time became crispy, the juices started flowing, and eventually made plenty of Boston households happy at the dinner table.

On the offensive end, wearing a White Sox uniform, Gonzalez began his career in 2021 slashing .250/.273/.344 with a .616 OPS, 34% below league average. 

What followed in 2022 and 2023 was barely shy of a disaster: 

He was no longer a promising asset of the team. Come 2024, the White Sox designated Gonzalez for assignment. It was done to make room for RHP John Brebbia – who unfortunately poses a 6.75 ERA and 1.641 WHIP this season – giving the White Sox have reason to eat their decision.

The Red Sox, however, who took a chance on Gonzalez, specifically the audacious President of Baseball Operations Craig Breslow, are sleeping peacefully at night.

The Turnaround

He is a master of his craft in Boston. To say it never would have happened with Chicago’s Sox would be a blanket statement – those make for bad journalism. Instead, the numbers say it all: he struggled in Chicago, and is thriving in Boston.

In 2024, he slashed .266/.306/.417 for a .723 OPS, just above league average.

This year, he earned a career-high slash of .302/.339/.494 and a .834 OPS, which puts him 23% above league average by FanGraphs’ wRC+. In April, his worst offensive month, he managed a .250/.308/.261 slash with a .669 OPS over 36 at-bats – even calling this a “struggle” feels wrong.

Where Gonzalez has found the most success this year is facing left-handed pitching. As of right now, he is hitting .330 with a .986 OPS and 163 wRC+ against southpaws, which makes him one of the best hitters in the game against these types of pitchers.

In fact, he’s fifth in the majors in SLG against lefties, seventh in wRC+, ninth in batting average, and 17th in OBP. The Red Sox will happily take that production.

The 2025 Red Sox are streaky; between ebbs and flows of win and loss streaks, they lack consistency.

The most recent example is the month of August. Starting off strong with a seven-game winning streak, they were swept by the San Diego Padres days later, then lost a home series finale to the Miami Marlins to precede a Baltimore Orioles sweeping home loss. Then, they won three out of four to the Yankees before conducting a revenge sweep against the Orioles. The win in streaks; they lose in streaks.

To the Red Sox’s benefit, Gonzalez is a steady performer. Since they lack consistency this season, seeing it in a player is a blessing, as it gives them a steady grip to hold.

Throughout the team’s August erraticism, Gonzalez slashed .289/.325/.382 with a .707 OPS. More impressively, this was his second-worst slash month of the season. With only one month left before the postseason, Gonzalez thrived through the team’s streakiness, showing signs of a consistent player with a leveled craft prepping for a longevous post-season.

The Backbone of the Possible Frontrunners

Gonzalez sits in the 45th percentile for Fielding Run Value. There is no denying he needs improvement in the defensive realm.

Regardless, the defensive selling point of Gonzalez is his positional flexibility. Even without the unpredictable lineup, injury stunts are always possible, especially this late into the season. He can cover a majority of these positions, and excel offensively when playing them.

Finally, he can run. More importantly, he can get himself on base and in position to put his speed to work. Quick legs are useless in the dugout.

Outfielder Jarren Duran and infielder David Hamilton are often accredited with this team’s speed, but Gonzalez is an aggressive on-base asset, ranking in the 70th percentile in Sprint Speed, according to Baseball Savant.

The Red Sox want the 2025 AL East Divisional Title. For the team to win, they must be held together. Otherwise, they are a clubhouse of individual players, and individual players don’t dominate divisions on their own. Gonzalez makes it possible for the team to glue together: he plays everywhere, all while posing as a menace at the plate. That’s a good guy to have around.