After winning 108 regular season games on their way to another 11 wins in the 2018 postseason, Alex Cora’s roster looks very much like the one he had for most of last season. In fact, the Opening Day roster includes only one player – Colten Brewer – who did not play for Boston last season. Spring training was, like last year, relatively quiet, and the Red Sox finished with 12 wins versus 17 losses and a tie. Perhaps the biggest news out of Fort Myers was a contract extension Boston gave to pitcher Chris Sale; the five-year, $145M payout ensures that he will stay with the team through 2024, unless he chooses to opt out after the 2022 season.

With the roster now final, let’s see who will be with the team in Seattle tonight when they start the season against the Mariners at T-Mobile Field (formally Safeco Field).

The Backstop

To almost no one’s surprise, the Red Sox chose not to go with three catchers to begin the season, and the odd man out was Sandy Leon, whom Boston placed on waivers Sunday. He cleared waivers Tuesday and he has until today to decide whether to accept an assignment in Triple-A Pawtucket or become a free agent. Thus, it will be Christian Vazquez and Blake Swihart to begin the season. Vazquez remains the number one catcher on the depth chart, while Swihart offers utility options at nearly every position in the field.

The Infield

Dustin Pedroia, who missed all but three games last season, had hoped to make the Opening Day roster but will need extra time to rehab his surgically-repaired knee; this will be the second straight season he starts on the injured list (IL) (this term replaces the previously-used disabled list moniker). Eduardo Nunez and Brock Holt will split time at second until he returns.

The star of the infield is undoubtedly Xander Bogaerts, who finished last season with a career-best .833 OPS and a 135 OPS+. Another player whose star continues to rise is Rafael Devers, who played his first full season in 2018 and is still only 22 years old. With Steve Pearce on the mend due to an injury late in spring training, Mitch Moreland and Sam Travis will split time at first base, with Moreland facing all right-handed pitching; Travis will like head back to Pawtucket once the World Series MVP is ready to return.

The Outfield

On a team filled with talent – MLB.com picked Boston’s lineup as the best in baseball entering the season – the one player who sticks out above everyone else is 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts. His WAR of 10.9 last season tied Ted Williams for the second-best single season mark in team history among position players, bested only by Carl Yastrzemski’s remarkable 1967 season.

Boston also features arguably the best outfield talent in baseball, split between Betts, AL batting champion J.D. Martinez, left fielder Andrew Benintendi, and center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr.; Martinez will most often get the start as the team’s DH as was the case in 2018.

The Starting Rotation

Boston’s rotation, picked as the fourth best by MLB.com, includes the aforementioned Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, Nathan Eovaldi, and Eduardo Rodriguez. Dogged by his inability to win games in October, Price’s postseason run in 2018, including a victory in the deciding game of the World Series, quieted the critics and nearly earned him World Series MVP honors. Price’s first start will not be until Monday against Oakland to give him more time to recover from norovirus, which slowed him during spring training and limited him to only a handful of innings.

The Relief Corp

The bullpen appears to be the only question mark for the Red Sox entering the season. Two notable subtractions – closer Craig Kimbrel, who remains unsigned as the season begins, and Joe Kelly, who went to the Los Angeles Dodgers via free agency – have been left unresolved in the minds of many baseball analysts. Cora has stated that, to begin, Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier will split duties as the go-to pitcher in the ninth. Rounding out the bullpen will be Brewer, Heath Hembree, Tyler Thornburg, Brian Johnson, Brandon Workman, and Hector Velazquez.

The Rotation

The Red Sox may have won the offseason last December when they sent top prospect Yoan Moncada and three other players to the White Sox in exchange for five time All-Star southpaw Chris Sale. Sale has not disappointed this spring; in 16 innings pitched in Grapefruit League action, he has struck out 20 with a WHIP of 1.06, and even held the Yankees, Boston’s biggest rival, to just two runs over six innings pitched on Tuesday in Tampa. Coupled with 2016 Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello, David Price, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Steven Wright and backed by Drew Pomeranz and Kyle Kendrick, this rotation is arguably one of the best in the league, making the team early favorites to win another World Series.

Price will begin the season on the DL due to elbow issues that popped up during camp, but he is gaining strength day-by-day and, with effective monitoring and a full-blown throwing program, should return to the team within a month after the season begins. One pitcher who won’t return is Clay Buchholz whom, after ten up-and-down seasons with the Red Sox, Boston traded to the Phillies in December.

The Outfield

Remember last season, when Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley, Jr., and Mookie Betts would conclude each win with a celebratory dance in the outfield? Expect to see that more this season, as all three return to their respective positions (left, center, and right field). Backed by Chris Young and with spot starts from Brock Holt, this will be another strength of the team.

The Infield

The middle infielders, Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts, remain anchored at second base and shortstop, respectively. With David Ortiz enjoying all his retirement gifts and looking forward to seeing his number retired at Fenway Park in June, the Red Sox tapped last year’s primary first baseman, Hanley Ramirez, to replace Big Papi as the designated hitter. To fill this void, the Red Sox signed free agent Mitch Moreland, who won a Gold Glove at that position last fall with Texas. With no other backups, Ramirez should still see some spot starts at first.

Third base is another story; with Travis Shaw traded to the Brewers, the opportunity is there for former World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval to reclaim the position the Red Sox intended him to play when they signed him to a hefty $95 million contract after the 2014 season. The Internet was abuzz in December when photos appeared online of a slimmer Panda lifting weights and he reported to spring training camp last month looking more physically fit. Results to date this spring have also been promising; through yesterday, he had a .364 / .375 / .660 split in 15 games played. Consider him an early favorite for 2017 Comeback Player of the Year honors.

The Backstop

Slammin’ Sandy Leon returns for another season and was recently tapped as the Opening Day starter behind the dish; whether he returns to form at the plate with a bat in his hand is another story that will develop as the season progresses. Joining him will likely be Christian Vazquez, whose arm appears to finally be back at full strength after undergoing Tommy John surgery that forced him to miss the entire 2015 season. Blake Swihart is also in the mix for a spot on the 25 man roster but will likely start the season in Pawtucket as Vasquez is out of options and Boston doesn’t want to chance putting him on waivers.

The Bullpen

Carson Smith, whom the Red Sox brought in last year to serve as the set-up man for closer Craig Kimbrel, is now nine months removed from Tommy John surgery and only recently threw off the mound this spring. Right now, it looks like he will not return until midseason. With Junichi Tazawa joining the Marlins and Koji Uehara joining the Cubs as free agents, Boston had hoped to fill Smith’s void with Tyler Thornburg, whom the team acquired in the aforementioned deal with the Brewers. Unfortunately, Thornburg has dealt with arm issues in camp and has made only two Grapefruit League appearances to date. Whether or not he joins the team in Boston on Opening Day is still in the air; either way, Joe Kelly will likely take the ball in the eighth inning if the Red Sox have the lead.