Photo: Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire

Part of a series of articles previewing the defensive performance of all 30 MLB teams by asking the question … are they good? To see the full series, click here.

2024 Defensive Runs Saved Rank: 6th

Team Strengths

Jarren Duran had a major breakthrough defensively last season. He was excellent in center field (led the majors in Runs Saved) and pretty good in left field and he’ll likely mostly play the latter this season, as the Red Sox have the luxury of having a second very good center fielder, in Ceddanne Rafaela.

Most Defensive Runs Saved – Center Field in 2024

Wilyer Abreu led all right fielders in Defensive Runs Saved and was good both at chasing balls down and making throws to limit baserunner advancement.

Trevor Story has saved as many as 21 runs in a season as a shortstop but injuries have limited him to 62 games there the last two seasons. He had 10 Runs Saved in those games though, so he could be impactful.  

Alex Bregman won a Gold Glove last year and though he’s not Matt Chapman, he’s saved 5 and 6 runs the last two seasons at third base and is considerably better than now-DH Rafael Devers.

Team Weaknesses

Catcher Connor Wong ranked next-to-last in Runs Saved at the position last season, with issues both getting called strikes and blocking pitches. The strike-getting has not been at an average level in either of the last two seasons.

Triston Casas is the weak link on the infield, with -7 runs saved in his brief career at first base. 

Other Things To Know

Second baseman David Hamilton could play his way to being a strength. In a small sample last season (39 games), he had 8 Runs Saved at second base.

Are The Red Sox A Good Defensive Team?

People bristled at the Red Sox rank in Runs Saved last season and understandably so. The Red Sox outfield saved 53 Runs. The rest of the team saved -4, so even though the team may have been very good in one area it was not good elsewhere.

This year’s team is shaping up to be more legitimate, particularly if Bregman fits well at third base and Hamilton does likewise at second.