On Friday night, the Boston Red Sox officially punched their ticket to the 2025 MLB postseason with a 4-3 win over the floundering Detroit Tigers. This is a major achievement for the Red Sox, as they managed to escape the mediocrity they seemed to be destined for towards the start of the season. This also vindicates their decision to trade away Rafael Devers, freeing up payroll room all while creating space for the team's youngsters to thrive.
But at the heart of the Red Sox's efforts to make the postseason in 2025 is the continued strong play of their stars, particularly left fielder Jarren Duran. Duran has shown that he is not a one-season wonder, as he is on pace to finish with a 4 WAR season — a more than respectable follow-up to his 6.8 WAR breakout campaign in 2024.
While it was Ceddanne Rafaela who will grab most of the headlines for hitting the walk-off triple to give the Red Sox their postseason spot, Duran's contributions should not go unnoticed. After all, he drove in the tying run in the bottom of the eighth inning. And after the game, Duran was fired up during the team's locker room celebrations, and based on his proclamations, they're not close to being done making noise quite yet.
“All year we’ve been proving people wrong and having come back from behind games and just continue to do that all year. I feel like [that's] something we can carry on our shoulders to the postseason, and not let any moment get too big for us,” Duran told Tricia Whitaker of Apple TV.
🍾“All year we’ve been proving people wrong and we can carry that into the postseason.”
– Jarren Duran, champagne and beer covered, during the Red Sox clubhouse celebration after clinching the postseason pic.twitter.com/blvhEAMblN
— Tricia Whitaker (@TriciaWhitaker) September 27, 2025
This Red Sox team was counted out earlier in the year, but there's a reason why MLB teams play 162 games. It's not over until it's over, and Boston has certainly embodied that mentality.
Red Sox will be facing either Yankees or Blue Jays in Wild Card series
Only one thing is for certain in the AL playoff picture: the Seattle Mariners will be receiving a bye to the ALDS after sealing the AL West crown over the Houston Astros since they cannot have a worse record than the division winner of the AL Central (one of the Cleveland Guardians or Tigers).
But the other positions are still up for grabs. The AL East crown is yet to be decided, with the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays being tied currently for the division lead. (Blue Jays own the tiebreaker.) But with the Red Sox's win over the Tigers on Friday, it's likely that Boston ends up being the fifth-seed in the AL — setting them up with a matchup with the best non-division winner in the AL, which is going to be one of the Yankees or Blue Jays.
