Look, I was already bullish on the Boston Red Sox heading into 2025.

After adding Alex Bregman, Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler, I thought the Red Sox had everything it took to rebound from an 81-81 season and make the playoffs. I even thought they could challenge for the American League East crown.

Now? The Red Sox have been given an early-season opportunity to take the division, and they need to be ready to capitalize.

The Yankees have lost Juan Soto in free agency, and just lost reigning American League Rookie of the Year Luis Gil for multiple months with a lat injury. Gerrit Cole is also “concerned” about his elbow and has undergone imaging that will come back in a few days.

New York won the division last year and advanced to the World Series. They are good no matter what, but in this division? You have to be great. The Red Sox have a chance to capitalize on their weakness, especially if Cole is out for any substantial amount of time.

The Baltimore Orioles won 91 games last year and still feature as much pure talent as anyone in the AL, but they are also in tatters at the moment. They lost Anthony Santander, John Means and Corbin Burnes in free agency, and the pitching staff is a question mark after the news that Grayson Rodriguez is likely to start the year on the injured list as well. Kyle Bradish is out for much of the first half of the year, if not all of it, and the team is relying now on a mid-30s newcomer (Tomoyuki Sugano) and a low-40s newcomer (Charlie Morton) to carry the staff.

Look, no reasonable fan wants to see injuries, but it’s an unfortunate reality of the sport.

Now, the Red Sox just have to be able to pounce on the opportunity.