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Is Braiden Ward on Wild Card Roster? Red Sox Final Decision Revealed vs. Yankees

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FORT MYERS, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 17: Braiden Ward #92 of the Boston Red Sox poses for a picture during the 2026 Boston Red Sox Photo Day at JetBlue Park at Fenway South on February 17, 2026 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

The Boston Red Sox have set their roster for the AL Wild Card Series against the New York Yankees.

They’ll open the best-of-three series at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night. All three potential games for the Red Sox will be on the road, and the winner will advance to play the Tampa Bay Rays in the next round.

Boston didn’t have a ton of difficult roster decisions to make. There were always going to be a few key pitching calls in the short series that might look different than a regular season roster.

There was also the Garrett Crochet discussion — and he made it.

But there was one name that kept coming up during the process: Braiden Ward.

Ward has never played in an MLB game, but he had a legitimate chance to make this roster.

Is Braiden Ward on Wild Card Roster?

In the end, Braiden Ward missed the Red Sox Wild Card roster.

The choices to keep Nick Sogard and Nate Eaton, both versatile players in their own way, is likely what kept Ward off the roster for this series.

It doesn’t exclude him from being used in later rounds if the Red Sox advance, but he won’t make any appearances against the Yankees.

Who is Braiden Ward?

Ward is a 27-year old outfielder and second baseman originally from the state of California who is now in the Boston Red Sox minor league system.

He was a 16th-round pick by the Colorado Rockies in the 2021 MLB Draft out of the University of Washington.

Ward has game-changing, series-changing, playoff-changing speed.

He stole 61 bases this season in 109 games at Triple-A Worcester. He was caught nine times.

Ward has stolen 272 bases in 523 career minor league games while only being caught 39 times.

He hit .251 with a .738 OPS this season for Worcester. If he makes it onto the playoff roster at some point, it won’t be to step into the batter’s box. It’ll be to run.

But that won’t be possible against the Yankees. Ward was left off the roster.

At this point, Ward’s best chance is probably an injury. If anything, the short Wild Card Series made it easier to keep Ward, because he could potentially take the place of a pitcher who wouldn’t be needed in the best-of-three schedule.

As the series get longer, it seems less likely the Red Sox would use the luxury roster decision to keep Ward — but you never know. Dave Roberts once made Boston history with a playoff stolen base. Maybe that’s still in the cards for Ward, even if it won’t be against the Yankees.

Billy Heyen Billy Heyen is a Heavy contributor with focus on the NFL and MLB. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who spent his senior year following Jim Boeheim's basketball team around the country. His reporting work has also included extensive work for The Sporting News, the Sandusky Register and Rochester's Democrat & Chronicle. Adventures in sports writing have also led to in-person coverage of the Buffalo Sabres, Cleveland Guardians, U.S. men's national soccer team and a variety of minor league baseball stories. More about Billy Heyen

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Is Braiden Ward on Wild Card Roster? Red Sox Final Decision Revealed vs. Yankees

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