The Boston Red Sox have developed homegrown superstars like Nomar Garciaparra, Jon Lester, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and Rafael Devers. The best part about all of them is that, in one way or another, they have led the Red Sox to four World Series championships since the turn of the century.
While many have thrived and are future Hall of Famers, the Red Sox have had a bevy of players who could've been on that list, but failed to thrive. This especially counts within the last 10 years, where many were big names, and could've still been on the Red Sox roster right now if the cards had fallen right.
Since 2015, the Red Sox have had many names who were supposed to be game-changers at a minimum. Names like Henry Owens, Bryce Brentz, Blake Swihart, Michael Chavis, Tanner Houck, Jeter Downs, Alex Verdugo, Connor Wong, Bobby Dalbec, Richard Fitts, and arguably, Triston Casas.
There have been 3 changes to both the pitching coaches and the hitting coaches since 2015. Originally, it was Chili Davis (hitting coach) and Carl Willis (pitching coach), then it became Tim Hyers (hitting coach), Dana LaVangie (pitching coach from 2018 - 2019), and Dave Bush (pitching coach from 2020 - 2023). Nowadays, it's Peter Fatse (hitting coach since 2021) and newly-hired Andrew Bailey (pitching coach since 2024).
Carl Willis, Tim Hyers, and Peter Fatse were the most respectable coaches the Red Sox have hired over the last decade. The managers over that time were John Farrell (from 2013-2017) and current manager Alex Cora, who has managed since their championship season in 2018.
Henry Owens was supposed to be a great pitcher for the Red Sox, eventually making 19th on MLB's 2015 Top 100 Prospects list. However, it never materialized with him as he struggled with command issues. Bryce Brentz was supposed to be a great power hitter for the Red Sox, but unfortunately, he kept getting injured, including a shooting incident in 2013. Michael Chavis was supposed to be a great power hitter for the franchise as well, but he was also an injury-riddled mess. Those two were unlucky players who could've at least had longer careers if everything worked out.
Richard Fitts can be in this argument, with him getting on the injured list very frequently in 2025. He had a great season last year in his small sample size (four games), striking out nine with a 1.74 ERA. While it's too early to necessarily call him a "bust" per se, he's heading in that direction. He's got a 4.78 ERA in his 6 games this season, giving up 14 runs in that sample size. There's room for improvement, but with this season and how things have been going, it may seem like a pipe dream.
However, there's no excuse for the rest of the players. Jeter Downs, Alex Verdugo, and Connor Wong were supposed to be star players in the Mookie Betts trade, but Wong regressed heavily and was replaced by Carlos Narvaez. Alex Verdugo had stalled out where he was traded in 2024 to the Yankees. Jeter Downs was supposed to be the piece, however. After acquiring him, he struggled right out of the gate in AAA Worcester, batting average-wise. He was strikeout-prone, and the Red Sox did nothing to change his approach.
President of Ops Chaim Bloom let him go just after one season in 2022, where he was picked up immediately by the Washington Nationals. He never panned out there either, but he still should've stayed since he was supposed to be the Xander Bogaerts replacement in 2023. This questioned the leadership of Bloom and how ruthless he truly could be with player operations, justified or not. Poor kid never had a chance.
Bobby Dalbec had mechanical problems his entire tenure in Boston, but did amazingly in AAA Worcester. As soon as he was brought up to the majors, he also had strikeout issues. Not right away, however, as he excelled in the shortened 2020 campaign, slugging 8 HRs with a .929 OPS and a .600 slugging percentage in just 23 games. While 2021 was a good season for him, 25 HRs with 78 RBIs, his batting average was only .240, with an OPS of .792 and a team-leading 156 strikeouts. The Red Sox never fixed that strikeout problem properly, and he never repeated those two seasons, not even a semblance of that 2021 season either.
Now comes the most frustrating players that haven't or didn't pan out for the Red Sox: Blake Swihart, Tanner Houck, and Triston Casas. First, Blake Swihart, and he was supposed to be the missing piece, the All-Star catcher for a decade plus. He was, at one point, the #18th prospect in all of baseball in 2015. He was supposed to be what Christian Vazquez ended up becoming: a hero in Boston.
After his rookie season in 2015, he hit 5 HRs, batted .274 with a .712 OPS in 84 games. However, the Red Sox foolishly believed that he wouldn't fit well at catcher, as his pop times were sub-2.0, which is good for catchers, to say the least. They put him in left field in 2016, and that's where he had that collision with the left field wall that caused his ankle injury and took him out for the season. He never recovered from that injury, and it completely ruined his chances of becoming a stellar catcher for the Red Sox.
Tanner Houck has been one of the most frustrating pitchers on the Red Sox staff (besides Walker Buehler, but he's not homegrown). While the Red Sox can focus on other successes in their pitching staff like Brayan Bello (also homegrown) and newly-acquired Garrett Crochet, Houck is being left in the dust and for very good reason. Houck was an All-Star last year, and now this season has become a complete 180 since then. He had an ERA over 8 before he was put on the shelf with an elbow injury. During his three rehab outings, he has an ERA over 12, struggling to find his rhythm at the AAA level.
During the 2017 MLB draft, many teams were hesitant to take him because of his lower arm slot, and it could possibly affect him as a starter. The Red Sox took the chance, and are still figuring him out. Many scouts have already believed that he should be a reliever who can go up to three innings. Alex Cora tried that with him in 2022 after an abysmal start to his season, and he did very well. But they immediately put him back into the starting rotation next year, and 2024 brought him to heights that were once unimaginable. Nowadays, he's struggling to even get to the MLB roster again...in rehab.
Here's Triston Casas, who, by many, has already been called a bust. This season was supposed to put him back into the light, proving himself as the first baseman to be feared. Now, he's struggling to stay healthy, getting hit by a pitch to the ribcage that caused him to be out for 4 months. This season, he ruptured his left patellar tendon and is out for the rest of the year.
He had an amazing 2023, slugging 24 HRs with a .263 AVG and a 129 OPS+. 2024 and 2025 were supposed to be his full breakout seasons. But again, his health issues have flared up, and who knows if he'll be able to develop into what he's supposed to be. The key words here are "supposed to be", and that's been a spectacle of his career thus far.
Casas has amazing power with the bat, but consistency has been his issue (and usually is with prospects). But entering his age-26 season, questions have been rising in the front office about him and if he can truly be their first baseman of the future. It would be delusional not to, given these past transgressions.
The reason why those arguably six notable players hadn't developed into their superstar, sky-high potential? It's because the Red Sox have heavily shifted into analytics, which all started during the Chaim Bloom era, but has now been emphasized much deeper by current CBO Craig Breslow. He's keeping his yes-men in a short circle of trust, while doing what he thinks is correct. The problem is that analytics don't work for soft attributes.
This even accounts for them allegedly hosting interviews with AI instead of the staffers. This doesn't work for teams, and the Red Sox will learn that the hard way.