Are the Red Sox legit?

We know the tiebreakers. At least we think we do. Our resident stat guru is Lucas D'Aversa, and he says that the US either needs Italy to win or Mexico to win and also score five runs of more. Lucas is a Team Italy diehard, though, so we’re not sure we trust him.

Scroll for rising Sox, Swilly’s ability to take a fastball in the ribs, and Dan Rourke (surprisingly) getting heated in the Warehouse.

— Team TSN

Boston won 89 games last year, got into the postseason, and still enters 2026 with the sense that there’s another level here. This is a team that already proved it can win, then went out and shored up the rickety parts of their roster. Sure, they lost out on Pete Alonso and Bregman slipped away. But the team they pulled together looks deeper, sharper, and a little more dangerous than the one that won 89.

The ace gets some help: Garrett Crochet gives them the kind of true No. 1 starter only a few teams in baseball can claim. He’s one of those guys you can line up against anybody and feel good about your chances. You need real pitching if you want to survive Fenway for six months and then go beat good teams in October. Behind Crochet, the calm-but-deadly Ranger Suárez coming in is a big deal. Add Sonny Gray, who somehow feels underrated every single year, and suddenly Boston has a rotation with real shape to it. At times last year if Crochet didn’t take the ball you could start squinting a little. Now? There’s a lot more certainty.

Boston leather: The defense could be a sneaky separator. The outfield already had athleticism and playmaking. Behind the plate, Carlos Narváez brings real value as a framer. The issue last year was the infield, where Boston too often felt like it was mixing and matching or asking guys to do a little too much. This year, there’s a better chance the gloves line up cleanly. Caleb Durbin adds reliability. Marcelo Mayer looks like someone who can settle things down. There’s just less wobble here.

Stuffed Sox: The lineup has a lot of good players. A lot. Roman Anthony looks like the real thing, the kind of young hitter who can become one of the faces of the league in a hurry. Trevor Story quietly had a very nice year. Jarren Duran still impacts the game in all kinds of ways. Wilyer Abreu keeps putting up numbers that make you do a double take. Wilson Contreras brings real thump and could be one of those Fenway-perfect hitters who ends up posting huge production once he settles in.

The Boston No-Pops: The Sox were middle-of-the-pack in homers last year, and when you scan the lineup, it’s fair to wonder where the easy 30-homer guy is coming from. Maybe it’s Anthony. Maybe it’s Contreras. Maybe Story repeats it. Maybe it’s more of a collective effort than one true masher. That can work — we’ve seen teams win that way — but it’s still the biggest question on the roster.

This might be the year: There are quality players all over the diamond. There’s pitching depth. There’s outfield depth. There are prospects who could become stars. And if Boston decides it’s one move away in July, it has the capital to go make that move. This team already looks like a 90-win club. If the young talent fully arrive, the rotation clicks the way it can, and they pull a trade at the deadline, Boston won’t just be in the playoff mix but will be a legitimate threat to win the East. How do you like them apples?

Emotions are high in the WBC right now, from MLB teammates passing on handshakes to Team USA staring down elimination after they underestimated a feisty Italian team (and apparently didn’t know they weren’t guaranteed a spot in the next round).

Left hanging: In last Thursday’s WBC matchup between Australia and Czechia the first batter of the game, Milan Prokop of Czechia, attempted to shake hands with Australian catcher Robbie Perkins as he stepped into the batter’s box. And Robbie Perkins told him no thanks, as recapped in Jimmy’s breakdown. Perkins later explained that there was no malice in it, and that when he’s on the field he is solely focused on competing. We thought it was a one-time thing, but then on Monday Mexico’s Randy Arozarena stepped into the box against the US, and offered his hand to USA catcher (and his Mariners teammate) Cal Raleigh. And Cal Raleigh refused the handshake. After the game, Arozarena had some strong words for the way Raleigh handled it, but as Joez pointed out there is some nuance in Arozarena’s Spanish that doesn’t come across in the English translation. And Cal Raleigh did all he could to squash the beef yesterday.

An im-pasta-bility: The US went into last night’s game against Italy as heavy favorites to complete pool play a perfect 4-0. However Italy jumped all over them, and were up 8-0 before the US squad mounted a late-inning rally that fell short. And after the game manager Mark DeRosa confirmed that the US did not think they had anything to play for and the team apparently celebrated after beating Mexico as if they’d punched their ticket to the next round. As Italy plays Mexico today, the US needs either Italy to win or Mexico to win AND to score at least five runs. But let’s put some respect on Team Italy, which took down the USA and earned that postgame vino.