They’re the hottest team in baseball, but they’re not the best team in the league over the past month. That honor belongs to the Astros, who are 24-8 with a plus-57 run differential since the start of June. Their latest work this weekend in Los Angeles, pulverizing the Dodgers by 23 runs over a three-game sweep, was especially eye-opening.

Do you remember back before this 2025 Major League Baseball season began, when six National League teams topped our preseason power rankings and it seemed inevitable that the NLCS was going to be more entertaining than the World Series?

In November, the Red Sox signed closer Aroldis Chapman, now an eight-time All-Star. Garrett Crochet, who arrived via trade in December, is making his second appearance. And Alex Bregman, who Cora previously coached in 2017 for the Houston Astros, is headed to his third Midsummer Classic.

In each player's first season with the Red Sox, the veteran trio was chosen to participate in the MLB All-Star Game on July 15 in Atlanta.

For the second year in a row the Red Sox will send three players to the MLB All-Star Game, with Garrett Crochet, Alex Bregman, and Aroldis Chapman all earning nods. Looking over those names, you may notice that none of them were on the team last year,