Happy Opening Day! To celebrate, here are the first seven questions of the 2025 regular season.

1. How will Rafael Devers handle the transition to designated hitter?

What seemed inevitable for the last month is now official: Rafael Devers is no longer Boston’s starting third baseman.

“Alex (Bregman) is going to play third,” manager Alex Cora told WEEI on Wednesday. “Raffy’s going to DH. We are all in the winning business. He understands that.”

By now, Devers has been around long enough to know the breaks. He had a front-row seat when the Red Sox slighted the homegrown stars who came before him, trading Mookie Betts and asking Xander Bogaerts to help recruit his own replacement, Trevor Story.

Yet understanding that baseball is a business doesn’t mean it’s easy to block out the noise and focus on the game. Sources told the Herald that Devers felt betrayed and blindsided by the only organization he’s ever known, especially after he came out in favor of adding Bregman early in the offseason. During his first spring training media availability Devers explained that he’d been promised positional security when he signed his franchise-record extension in January ’23. (Cora responded by pointing out that Chaim Bloom is no longer running the Red Sox.) As such, Devers thought the Sox were interested in signing the longtime Astros star to play second. The Red Sox apparently did little to suggest otherwise; Devers said they didn’t broach the topic of switching positions until after Bregman chose Boston.

Not to get all ‘the sky is falling’ on Opening Day, but this is a risky strategy for the Red Sox. If Bregman opts out at season’s end, what then? Does Devers go back to third, or do the Red Sox again give the position he wants to someone else? It’s one thing to move Devers for the reigning Gold Glove third baseman, another thing to start choosing anyone else over him. That’s a problem for another day, but it’s a legitimate possibility.

Hopefully, Devers can turn his frustration into fuel. But he made it abundantly clear how he felt about moving off third base during his first spring training scrum, and just because he’s publicly falling in line now doesn’t mean he suddenly feels like a company man. If he remains in that headspace, there’s no guaranteeing the Red Sox get the best version of his bat this year.

2. Does an Opening Day win matter?

Each spring, I hear people say, ‘It’s just one game in March/April/May’ as if the games less before the All-Star break, and it drives me bananas!

Is there technically more leeway at the beginning of the season? Sure, there’s more time to right the ship and opportunities such as the trade deadline to strengthen their rosters. The Red Sox have been a second-half team before, such as in 2004 when they were 27-28 between the start of May and the end of June, then went 50-26 after the break. (They’ve also been a second-half-collapse team before, including these last two seasons.)

The ‘just one game’ losses pile up quickly, though, and it’s not easy to climb out of an early-season hole.

But worry not: an Opening Day win is no guarantee of success at postseason’s end, or even of making it into the postseason. Nor does a loss mean that all is lost; the Red Sox were beaten in Game 1 of 162 in 2004, 2007, and 2018, and those seasons turned out pretty well.

3. Why aren’t the Red Sox wearing jersey patches to honor Luis Tiant?

In two of the last three seasons, the Red Sox used their jerseys to honor franchise legends who passed away at the very end of the preceding seasons. In ‘22, it was No. 2 in a circle for Jerry Remy. Last season, it was a heart with No. 49 for Tim Wakefield. The Sox also added No. 6 patches after Johnny Pesky passed away during the 2012 season.

But there will be no patch for the late, great Luis Tiant this year, and it’s a real shame.

Frankly, I was shocked when multiple Red Sox higher-ups confirmed that they’re forgoing patches, and only doing a tribute logo on the outfield wall (which they did for Remy and Wakefield in addition to the patches). So was Tiant’s longtime teammate and friend, Fred Lynn, as well as many Red Sox fans when I shared this information on social media.

There’s no set policy in place, so the Red Sox make these decisions on a case-by-case basis, one official said.

That, however, begs the question: what more did Tiant need to do to merit a patch?

Be a postseason workhorse in October ’75? Go look at his stats. Spoiler alert: three complete games.

Overcome adversity and inspire countless young players? Check. He had to leave his entire family behind in Cuba to pursue his baseball dreams.

Happily attend Red Sox events every year? Check. He even came to the final game last fall, less than two weeks before he passed away.

Come to spring training and mentor players? Check. He was visibly frailer last year, but still a joy to see riding around the complex in his golf cart.

Be a fan-favorite and genuinely enjoy interacting with Red Sox Nation? Check and check. Sometimes, you’d get lucky and find him sitting at his ‘El Tiante’ Cuban sandwich stand on Jersey Street, chatting with thrilled passersby before games.

Rank in the Red Sox top-ten all-time in pitching WAR, wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, starts, complete games, and shutouts, to name just some of the metrics? Check (times seven).

Furthermore, the Red Sox have done surprisingly little to promote the 1975 team’s 50th anniversary reunion taking place at next week’s home opener, and the Tiant tribute is supposed to be part of that. This man, who was so integral to the fabric of this franchise, and who added so much joy and zest to the Red Sox for decades, deserves a lot more from them.

3. Do the Red Sox owe Jim Rice an apology?

Speaking of this organization that claims to value its history, it was also shocking to hear that a Red Sox staffer recently asked Jim Rice not to dispense hitting wisdom when a young prospect asked him for help, prompting a verbal altercation at the club’s spring training complex.

If player development doesn’t want Hall of Famers giving advice, they should tell the players not to ask them. After all, the player in question approached Rice; he’s not the type to go around giving unsolicited advice.

Of course if that’s really what the Red Sox want, then why even ask Rice and his fellow stars to come around?

“It’s really a shame,” Fred Lynn told the Herald. “You’re talking about history here. All the information that all of our players have, it’s going to be lost if you don’t do an interview or you don’t document it.”

“It’s a whole different world of how information is learned or disseminated, so you can’t blame the players,” Lynn added, noting that today’s athletes have a fount of knowledge at their fingertips in their tablets. “It’s just, that’s their world now, so we’re on the outside looking in. If one of them is smart enough to ask, then we’ll be glad to help out. Guys are available and I guarantee you they would love it when guys would ask them.”

4. How long can the Red Sox keep Marcelo Mayer in Triple-A?

If it feels like Marcelo Mayer had a lot more than 12 hits this preseason – only three of which were for extra bases (two triples and a home run) – that’s because MLB’s spring training stats don’t include Boston’s two exhibition games in Monterrey, Mexico this week; Mayer went 2-for-4 with a run and five RBI in Game 1, then promptly outdid himself in Game 2, going 3-for-4 with a double, two runs, three RBI, a walk and a stolen base.

If he carries this momentum into the Triple-A season, the Red Sox will have a difficult time keeping him down.

5. Who’s hitting the first Red Sox home run of the season?

Last year, the first Red Sox home run belonged to Rafael Devers, who went deep in the third inning on Opening Day.

6. Will the Red Sox sell out their home opener?

After the offseason they had, and with Bregman, Garrett Crochet, and top prospect Kristian Campbell on the roster, I have a feeling Fenway tickets won’t be as easy to find this year.

The Red Sox home-open against the St. Louis Cardinals next Friday, April 4.

7. Excited for baseball to be back?

Yes.