The big story will be Mike Yastrzemski’s return trip to Boston, but stories 1A and 1B — to me, anyway — are Andrew Bailey’s tenure as the Red Sox pitching coach after leaving the San Francisco Giants and whether or not the 2024 Giants can mount a challenge against a tough team and demonstrate that they’re taking a step forward in this early season.
As of this writing, Boston has the best pitching staff in the American League by wins above replacement, registering +4.6 fWAR. The Giants — thanks to the strength of their rotation only — check in at 21st in MLB (11th in the NL) with +1.