FORT MYERS, Fla. – In this analytics- and technology-heavy age of baseball, mere mortals have plenty of ways to dissect, pinpoint and highlight what makes athletes extraordinary.
But how do players assess one another? Certainly, a person who’s extraordinary in their field sees their fellows through a different lens than the outside observer.
At this point in the calendar so much is unknown about a team’s identity, and it can be difficult to cut through the noise of roster turnover, role changes and injuries. So, what’s standing out to members of the 2026 Red Sox about each other? Which teammates’ abilities are they admiring or coveting? What do these players want to do better? Who do they want to be?
During the first weeks of Red Sox spring training, the Herald asked players, executives and a couple of franchise legends the following question: If you could steal or replicate one skill or ability from a teammate, à la “Space Jam,” what would you choose?
Anthony’s … everything?
Roman Anthony was among the top answers. Several teammates want to bat like the 21-year-old wunderkind. Others want to be him.
“I would steal Roman’s bat,” center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela said. “He’s special. I mean, it’s crazy how he’s so mature and he’s 21. I think I’m stealing his bat, dude. The way he controls the at-bat, I think that’s something I’m looking to do as a player.”
“I wish I was Anthony,” first baseman Willson Contreras said. “Roman, 21 years old and playing in the big leagues, I think he’s awesome. I would borrow his contact, his skill in managing the strike zone, for sure.”
“The first thing that came to mind was Roman’s discipline at the plate and his eye at the plate,” shortstop Trevor Story said. “And I’d probably take JD’s energy, and just his full-bore, all ways, all the time.”
The need for speed
Speed remains highly coveted, even by Red Sox legends like Jim Rice and Fred Lynn.
“Probably speed, more than anything else,” Rice said. “Because all the rest of the things, I could do. We didn’t have too many guys that depended on speed (when I played). We all could hit, we all could do the small things that win ball games. I could hit to all fields, I had power alley to alley. I could throw, I could run, but I didn’t have the speed to steal 30, 40 bases.”
“I came to the Sox with a pretty full tool belt,” Lynn told the Herald by phone. “Really didn’t have any holes in my game.”
“If I could I’d take my twin’s power and Dewey’s arm,” Lynn said of Rice, his “Gold Dust Twins” counterpart, and fellow outfielder Dwight Evans. “Current team, I’d take Duran’s speed.”
Jarren Duran’s speed was a common answer among today’s players.
“I would like to have the speed that JD has,” catcher Carlos Narváez said. “I would like to be super fast on the bases. That’s the dream.”
“I’d steal Jarren’s speed,” Wilyer Abreu said, as the man in question walked over.
“I’ll give you my speed for your arm,” Duran replied.
“You want to trade?” Abreu asked with a laugh.
“Half and half,” Duran countered.
Off the field
Some Red Sox admired non-baseball attributes around the organization.
“Kiyoshi, he’s trilingual,” righty Garrett Whitlock said of Red Sox strength and conditioning coach Kiyoshi Momose. “He speaks Japanese, Spanish and English. I’d like to be able to steal that. I’m working on Duolingo, but I’m not anywhere near that.”
“From when I was playing here, if I could steal something it would be Koji’s split. That was always kind of a get out of jail free card,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said of former Red Sox closer and fellow 2013 champion Koji Uehara. “Now if I were stealing something from somebody on this team, that’s tough because I feel like no matter how I answer this I’m leaving something or somebody out. (Aroldis) Chapman’s car? It’s pretty intimidating.”
Chapman an easy choice
While Breslow coveted Chapman’s car, several of the closer’s teammates had their eyes on other attributes.
“Chapman’s fastball,” Sonny Gray said. “That’s the easy one for me.”
Rookie Connelly Early believes if you could put Chapman and new Red Sox starter Ranger Suárez in a lab, you’d have the ideal hurler.
“Obviously the ability to throw as hard as Chapman does for his whole career, that would be nice to have,” Early said, “but also, I would say Ranger’s command is pretty, pretty crazy. One of those two, I feel like I’m stuck in between. Take the location ability of Ranger and the velo ability of Chapman, and I feel like you have the best pitcher ever.”
Desire for defense
The Red Sox know they led the majors in errors last season. They also know they have some of the best defenders in the game, including Gold Glove outfielders in Abreu, coming off back-to-back award wins, and Rafaela, who earned his first last season and has the Platinum Glove on his proverbial 2026 vision board.
“I’ve got to get Rafaela’s glove,” Kristian Campbell said. “And Nate (Eaton’s) speed.”
“I’d probably want to play defense like Trevor Story,” said first baseman Triston Casas. “His quickness, his first step, his footwork, his agility, how dynamic he is. Specifically on defense though, because we have guys who are fast, guys who base run well, but playing lockdown defense and having great footwork is an art.
“I see the way he prepares for ground balls. He’ll just be in the gym working on his stutter step, approaching a ground ball and once he does, how he moves his feet. He’s just like a little crab out there, side to side, he can move so well. He can move in all directions.”
Contreras may want to be Anthony, but he’d also like to defend like Marcelo Mayer.
“Other than (Anthony), for me it’s tough to say because I basically just got here,” Contreras said, “but I would say, how smooth is Marcelo Mayer playing defense. I wish I was like that. He’s so smooth.”
Getting greedy
Story and Contreras were far from the only members of the Red Sox who couldn’t choose just one skill or one teammate. Rookie left-hander Payton Tolle would like to learn something from practically everyone.
“Some of the swings that I’ve seen on Garrett Whitlock’s changeup have been pretty wicked. It’s one of a kind,” Tolle said. “Non-baseball-wise, we’ve got a few good golfers on the team. Pretty sure Trev (Story) and (Greg) Weissert are pretty nasty at golf. It’d always be nice to be good at golf, especially overnight, just be that good. Maybe Kutter (Crawford’s) knowledge of fishing.”
The question evoked Tolle’s desire to connect with his new teammates, something he said can be difficult for him. Those are qualities he sees in catchers Narváez and Connor Wong.
“We have a lot of guys that can just talk to anybody, like have a good connection with anybody,” Tolle said. “Like, ‘Who’s their best friend,’ and they don’t really have one because they’re able to have conversations with everybody. I feel like (Narváez) is a good example. Just being able to connect with everybody is pretty impressive. Even myself, I try to connect with a lot of people but at the end of the day there’s only a few guys that I really can talk to.”
“I think Wong has incredible baseball IQ and he’s able to portray that,” Tolle said. “I would say everybody is very smart when it comes to baseball, but nobody’s able to articulate it like Wong can.”
“I’ll give you three,” Anthony said, before giving five. “Rafaela and Abreu’s outfield abilities. I’ll take Rafa’s range and the way that he tracks everything down, and then give me Willy’s arm. And then give me JD’s speed and his wheels and his ability to just change the game on the base paths. If I was a pitcher though, I would say just let me be Aroldis Chapman or let me be Garrett Crochet.
“But I mean, there’s so many guys on our team that do so many impressive things. I could go through that locker room and probably pick one thing from every guy.”
