Happy New Year! Have you made (or abandoned) any New Year’s resolutions? According to Fortune, most people give up on their New Year’s resolutions by only the second Friday in January.
As a team in need of improvements on the 2024 season, do you think any Red Sox players resolved to do (or not do) anything? We hope so. And we also hope these resolutions can last longer than so-called Quitter’s Day, which is already just around the corner.
Rafael Devers: Cut down on the errors. I’m not going to be a stickler and put a number on it, but just…less.
Triston Casas: No more car crashes, no more hyperbole to the media involving stabbing knives. Keep loose in order to stretch for Devers’s wide throws. Maybe invent a new yoga pose.
Garret Crochet: Work with Andrew Bailey to improve the change-up. Anchor the Red Sox rotation for at least the next two years.
Brayan Bello: Reduce walk rate.
Vaughn Grissom: Don’t be a footnote to Chris Sale’s Red Sox career: have a comeback year. Let’s start by getting on the field. Baby steps.
Rob Refsnyder: Continue to rake against lefties and then possibly call it a career.
David Hamilton: Cut down on the strikeout rate. Help to set a new club record for steals in a single game.
Jarren Duran: Play every game. Help to set a new club record for steals in a single game. Behave.
Aroldis Chapman: Get better in Fenway Park. Buy a ring light if you’re going to post get-to-know-me selfies in your Dorian Gray era.
Kutter Crawford: Cut down on the long ball.
Masataka Yoshida: Come back from offseason shoulder surgery to play a full season and hit like early 2023 or July/August 2024. Settle in because you’re probably not going anywhere (not with that contract!).
Trevor Story: Please don’t break anything; please don’t break anything…
Richard Fitts: Keep limiting hard contact. Improve whiff rate.
Wilyer Abreu: Hit better against lefties.
Tanner Houck: Build on 2024’s success: keep inducing inning-ending groundouts (and hope the defense can keep up with them), continue to trust the improved sweeper. Just for fun, try to nudge WAR above 4.0.
Ceddanne Rafaela: Become a Gold Glove finalist. Get more walks. Lay off pitches outside the zone.
Connor Wong: Continue with 2024’s plate discipline: keep chase and strikeout rates down. Improve at framing and blocking.
Quinn Priester: Build on a strong first game with the Sox. Reduce fastball usage. Improve changeup.
Lucas Giolito: Get on the field. Oh, and don’t return to 2023 form.
Greg Weissert: Work on consistency. Get first-pitch strikes.
Cooper Criswell: Refine the slider. Ditch the sinker.
Walker Buehler: Take the World Series-winning momentum and absolutely kill it on this one-year deal.
Liam Hendriks: What was Giolito’s? Right, get on the field.
Romy Gonzalez: Continue to be a reliable and often exciting bench option. Yeah baby!
Patrick Sandoval: Get on the field, most likely in the second half.
Justin Wilson: Improve on a 5.59 ERA. Try to bounce back. Take it from there (he’s 37, after all).
Garret Whitlock: Get back on the field.
Josh Winckowski: Stick on the big-league roster.
Luis Guerrero: Build on a beautiful September call-up (9 appearances, 0.00 ERA, 9K and 0.800 WHIP). Work with Andrew Bailey. Learn from teammates.
Brennan Bernardino: Get over second-half struggles.
Jovani Morán: Get back on the field.
Justin Slaten: Build on 2024’s success, take on a more important role in the bullpen, but also: fix the breaking balls.
Craig Breslow: Aim high. Finally, finally pull off that genius move that will improve the Red Sox defense, add to the bullpen, and deliver a strong right-handed bat. Maybe a three-team trade will do it…