Good morning! The Red Sox will play an honest-to-god baseball game today, as Spring Training is finally under way. So my question to you today is: what are you watching for in Spring Training?
For fans, Spring Training tends to be about two things: the new guys and the rookies. But in the case of the 2026 Red Sox, a few of the big new names will be off playing in the World Baseball Classic (Ranger Suárez and Willson Contreras) while another (Sonny Gray) is more of a known commodity. Meanwhile, the club doesn’t really have any unknown rookies in camp this season, though there are plenty of young guys who still have questions to answer.
So here’s what I’ll have my eye on this spring:
- Will either Connelly Early or Payton Tolle force themselves into the rotation?
- Is Johan Oviedo a diamond in the rough?
- Is Caleb Durbin better than I think? (I do not think he’s that good!)
- Will Marcelo Mayer take a step up with the bat?
- Will Kristian Campbell take a step up with everything?
Talk about what you want to see over the next six weeks or whatever else you want and, as always, be good to one another.