The Boston Red Sox are 65-54, down four games to the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in an increasingly competitive AL East. After a torrid stretch post-All-Star break, Boston has come back down to earth with losses in three of its last four. Overall, however, the vibes around this team are high, and it's hard to watch the Red Sox play and not see a potential World Series contender.
Craig Breslow's job in the front office is under constant scrutiny. He has made his share of mistakes this season, from a quiet trade deadline to the negligible return package in the Rafael Devers trade. But he also made the call on Garrett Crochet, a leading Cy Young candidate, and put Boston in a position to wield one of baseball's deepest rosters come October.
The roster is mostly set after the trade deadline, but the Red Sox will continue to tweak around the margins as we inch closer to the postseason. There are still several quality pitchers waiting to come off the IL and Boston has a few extremely productive prospects remaining that might be worth a call-up in the near future.
Here are a few Red Sox in danger of hitting the cutting room floor before Sept. 1 as a result of imminent changes.
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RHP Isaiah Campbell
While most Red Sox fans will vouch for the permanent expulsion of Jordan Hicks, his contract is too substantial and he carries too much "upside" (scare quotes intentional) for the organization to demote him right now. As such, Isaiah Campbell is first in line for a return to Triple-A Worcester, presumably as soon as righty Justin Slaten is up to speed.
Slaten was put on the IL months ago with shoulder inflammation, but he threw his first full bullpen session last week and is getting closer to game action. Campbell has only thrown six innings with the big-league squad this season. The surface-level stats aren't great — 4.50 ERA and 1.50 WHIP — and the 28-year-old does not have much of a résumé to bank on.
That said, it's fair to wonder if demoting Campbell first might end up being a mistake. His underlying metrics are strong, as he has produced a ton of ground-ball contact and ceded very few walks in his brief MLB stint this season. His expected ERA of 4.16 is still not great, but it's in line with most low-leverage guys around the league and it's proof that Campbell has been a victim of bad luck since Boston called him up.
Even so, while Hicks is easily the most volatile member of the Red Sox bullpen, it's Campbell on the chopping block for now.
1B Abraham Toro
Abraham Toro has settled into an uneasy arrangement as Boston's starting first baseman after the Triston Casas injury. The Red Sox tried several different avenues to fill that void — including, rather famously, asking Rafael Devers to pick his glove back up — but in the end, zero quality options emerged and Toro won the job more or less by default, although he splits plenty of reps with Romy González.
It's hard to find positives with Toro's performance this season. He's batting .250 with a .685 OPS and 85 wRC+. He isn't particularly adept in the field either, which begs the question of why he's still getting regular starts to begin with. González is more of a platoon bat, sure, but he's just so much more productive across the board.
Either way, the clock is ticking on Toro's Boston tenure — at least as far as this season is concerned, with Worcester very much in the cards. Kristian Campbell was sent back to Triple-A after a rocky patch earlier this season, but he's one of the hottest bats in the Minors right now. Better yet, he has been learning the ropes at first base, allowing Boston to fill that void with one of the most innately gifted individuals in the organization.
2B David Hamilton
David Hamilton was the primary beneficiary of Kristian Campbell's stalled development, but the latter's recent hot streak in Triple-A practically forces Boston to call him back up — as if it's not a priority already. On top of Campbell, who is sure to spend time at second base and elsewhere in addition to his newly-acquired position of first base, Boston will soon welcome Marcelo Mayer back from the IL.
The key to the Red Sox' success this season was always maximizing this incredible young core. Mayer, Campbell and Roman Anthony are all future stars with the talent necessary to impact winning at a high level right now. With Alex Bregman back to full strength, Mayer will presumably move off of third base to start at second full-time upon his return. Trevor Story is mashing at shortstop, and first base will belong to the Toro/González platoon until Campbell gets his phone call.
So for Hamilton, a demotion is truly only a matter of time. He has done very little to secure his big-league present or future in 2025, batting .174 with a dismal .492 OPS in 132 at-bats. It would be one thing if Hamilton was the greatest middle infield glove of all time, but he's perfectly adequate in that department — which is not close to adequate on the whole when he's such a negative at the plate.