Red Sox Recap: May 2025
- Om Brown
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Welcome back to Red Sox Recaps! So far, I've broken down their potential season outcomes right before Opening Day, as well as their tumultuous first month of their 2025 campaign. Today, I cover what happened in a downright awful month of May. I plan to recap each month of Boston baseball, breaking down the Red Sox successes, as well as their struggles, and much more! Let’s get started and see what happened to the Sox during the second month of ‘25.
Overall Record as of 5/31 (May Record): 28-32 (11-17)
AL East Standings (as of 5/31): 4th (8.5 GB of 1st Place)
AL Wild Card Standings (as of 5/31): 4 GB of Final WC Spot
Month MVP: DH Rafael Devers (.356 AVG, 7 HR, 33 RBI)
Month Cy Young: LHP Brennan Bernardino (16 GP, 0.71 ERA, 10 K)
Month Breakout Player: C Carlos Narvaez (.356 AVG, 9 RBI, 168 OPS+)
*Note: Monthly award winners’ stats are only from the month being recapped*
May Recap:
May was not a good month for Boston. The excuse of “it's just early” is no longer valid. We are now in June, and the Red Sox limped to the end of May with just 11 wins, including a rough 5-game losing streak. March/April's MVP, 3 Alex Bregman, suffered a right quad strain, similar to the one he had in 2021. However, the one positive from his likely extended IL stint is that MLB’s 8th-ranked prospect, INF Marcelo Mayer has now taken over the role. The former 4th overall pick lit up Spring Training as well as Triple-A Worcester to start 2025. Both DH Rafael Devers and C Carlos Narvaez have had huge months, something that I will cover in depth later.
That is about where the positives end. Manager Alex Cora, who signed an extension last summer for around $7 million/year through 2027, has made some peculiar decisions to say the least. His unwillingness to keep starting pitchers going deeper in games, even ace LHP Garrett Crochet, has put an unnecessary strain on the bullpen, and it has shown. I understand pulling a guy early every now and then, but in May, especially with a sub .500 record, is flat out stupid. Boston cannot be “saving” pitchers for October. At the pace they’re on, there will be no October baseball for the 4th consecutive season in Boston.
Another head-scratching move that the front office/Cora have made is keeping the best prospect in all of baseball, OF Roman Anthony, in Triple-A. Roman has been mashing balls all season long for the WooSox, and with the state of the team right now, there is no reason why he shouldn’t be up with the big club aside from petty service-time manipulation. The roster is beat-up, struggling, and in need of a spark. Why not call up the last of the “Big Three” prospects (Anthony, Mayer, and INF/OF Kristian Campbell) to let them grow together in what seems to be yet another lost season in BeanTown?
Positives from the Month:
I covered Devers’ great season to an extent already, so I’ll keep this short. The best DH in the AL hit .356 with 7 bombs and 33 RBI to go with a ridiculous .468 OBP this month. He leads the league with 52 ribbies for the year, as well as leading the AL with 46 walks. His insane 199 WRC+ (meaning he is 99% better than the league average hitter) is 6th in the majors for the month of May. Devers is also now hitting .265 vs. fastballs for the year compared to .211 at the end of last month. He sports an elite bat.
2. Carlos Narvaez has broken out as a top catcher in the whole league.
Acquired from the Yankees for a Single-A pitcher, The Narv was slated to be the backup to Connor Wong. However, Wong fractured a finger early in the year and hit the IL. Narvaez took the starting job and has taken the rest of the league by storm. In his rookie season, Narvi has a .285 average with 5 dingers and 17 driven in. Defensively, he leads the whole league for catchers with a 1.8 DRS (defensive runs saved), as well as a defensive WAR of 1. His breakout has him atop the AL Rookie of the Year conversations.
3. Brennan Bernardino has an elastic arm out of the pen.
This month’s winner of the team Cy Young has been a key cog of the bullpen. On the year, he has already pitched in 27 games, nearly half the season so far. Bernardino has pitched to a mighty fine 1.52 ERA to go with a great 0.89 WHIP over 23.2 innings. He has allowed just 13 hits and 4 earned runs. While the rest of the pen has been struggling and overworked, Bernie has been ready for nearly every game, throwing in 16 of the 28 games this month, and allowing just a single run.
Concerns from the Month:
1. Trevor Story and Kristian Campbell have struggled big time.
Campbell was on a tear in April, winning AL Rookie of the Month. However, he did shut down rumors about his rib being an issue to his May struggles. At the start of the month, he missed a little time due to rib discomfort. I believe that this is a thing to worry about, as KC has a violent swing, and Triston Casas was shut down last season for a rib injury as well. Injury or not, Campbell had a poor May, slashing .134/.184/.171, to go with just 1 HR and 4 RBIs. As a rookie, it's understandable that he's struggling once pitchers have adjusted to him.
What isn’t understandable is Story’s struggles. The veteran SS had just 3 extra-base-hits in the second month of the year, though 2 were bombs, including a rocket that he launched at the end of the month in Atlanta. He is second in the AL in strikeouts with 72, and his defense, a former strength of his, has vanished. Hopefully, both Story and Campbell can turn it around in June, since their success is imperative to the Red Sox salvaging the campaign.
2. Alex Cora has managed very poorly.
I’ll try to keep this short. Cora has not managed this season in a way that justifies his salary. Yes, the injuries suck, but the team is doing worse than they were in 2023 and 2024 up to this point, and both of those teams had less talent than this one. His misuse of the bullpen will catch up to him, as I doubt Bernardino will continue his run, and both Justin Slaten and Liam Hendricks have already been put on the IL. He also was hitting Kristian Campbell in the cleanup spot for most of the month when he was one of the worst qualified hitters in the MLB. Cora has also shuffled KC around the field instead of keeping him at 2B, a position new to him. I think that this is stunting his defensive development at the position, and was on display when he made miscues in the Brewers series.
The team hasn’t made the playoffs since 2021, and have a .500 record since the World Series win in 2018. Combined with two last place finishes in that time, any other manager would have been fired already. It is time for Cora to step up his game, because the Sox have to turn it around. If he truly is one of the best managers in the game, like his salary would tell you, he has to turn the club around. If the squad struggles in June, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets put on the hot seat, or even gets fired by the end of the month. Something needs to change with this ballclub.
3. Alex Bregman is on the shelf with a serious quad injury.
Like I mentioned earlier, Bregman is hurt. In 2021, he missed 58 games due to a similar issue with his left leg. With him out, the lineup takes a big hit. He provided valuable protection for Devers and was having an MVP-caliber season before he hit the IL. Though Mayer is finally up, it is a shame that Bregman’s injury is the reason why. The team needs his bat in the lineup every day.
June Preview:
Coming up in June, Boston plays 4 series vs. division rivals, including a pair of 3-game sets in 9 games against the Yankees. They also have a couple with the Angels, another team in purgatory, but still in the Wild Card race. The Sox will also face the Seattle Mariners, who are on top of the AL West right now. To say they have their work cut out for them is an understatement. I would expect Roman Anthony to be called up some time this month, and if the Red Sox can get a little win streak and be around .500 by the time Bregman returns, it would be a huge win in my book.
Cora does have to manage the team better. The bullpen is getting used far too much this early in the season, and on top of that, their depth in the pen isn’t a strength of the team. The farm system, though, is a strength, which allows GM Craig Breslow to make trades. In an ideal world, Anthony gets the call to the Bigs, allowing him, Mayer, Campbell, Narvaez and the fantastic defensive OF duo of Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu to grow together. The squad is a very young one, which in the present isn’t a good thing, but allowing them to spend a disappointing season together, working through struggles with little pressure, is a silver lining that a bad month of June could give.
As school gets out, and spring turns to summer, baseball becomes the main sport. Boston sports haven’t had the greatest 2024-2025 campaigns, and the Red Sox are on track to be the next team in line for an underachieving season. The injuries have decimated the roster, but they are far more talented this year than in recent seasons past. The Red Sox have the ability to make a run and recapture a season that is headed for the drain. The question remains if they are able to rattle off a win streak and catapult themselves back into contention.
Hot Take for Next Month: After another lackluster month, Cora is canned heading into July.
I hope you enjoyed this piece recapping the disastrous month of May of Red Sox baseball. Continue to check in every month for blogs on Boston, as well as the Majors as a whole, especially come summertime and maybe even October!