It’s been almost a month since pitchers and catchers reported for spring training, and the Herald has been on site that whole time following the daily ins and outs at Red Sox camp. Gabrielle Starr was on duty for the first two weeks, and I just wrapped up my own 11-day stint in Fort Myers on Wednesday.

It was certainly an enlightening trip.

All things considered, Red Sox fans have a lot to be excited about. There hasn’t been any significant drama or discord like last year with Rafael Devers, and outside of a handful of non-roster invitees, there haven’t been any major injuries suffered during camp, either. Obviously the rubber won’t hit the road until Opening Day, but here are a few takeaways from my time down in Florida.

Infield defense legit

Probably the biggest difference between this year’s team and the past few is the infield defense looks massively improved.

Regardless of whether they start at second or third, Caleb Durbin and Marcelo Mayer are both smooth fielders who have consistently made some impressive plays at both positions. Durbin is athletic, fundamentally sound and has sneaky good range. And Mayer is just a natural, making highlight-reel glove flips as well as the sort of heads up plays you don’t typically see from guys with his level of experience.

Willson Contreras was regarded as one of the best defensive first basemen in the league after shifting to the new position last year, and he’s been as advertised since joining the Red Sox. Trevor Story has historically been a strong defender too, though his metrics were somewhat skewed last year by a stretch of bad throws toward the end of the season.

That group of four could absolutely rank among the best defensive infields in baseball, but crucially the Red Sox have more solid gloves behind them.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa has historically been regarded as a quality defender all over the diamond, but what’s stood out most is how quickly he’s taken to first base. That is the only position he’s never played in his big league career — catcher and pitcher included — but he’s already made himself at home, which is huge considering the Red Sox really don’t have any obvious backup first base candidates while Romy Gonzalez and Triston Casas are sidelined.

Between him, Andruw Monasterio and Nick Sogard, the Red Sox infield should maintain some baseline competency even if one of the projected starters goes down, which has been a big problem in recent years.

Offense could exceed expectations

The Red Sox aren’t going to lead the league in home runs, but this group has gotten off to an encouraging start.

Contreras has popped some eye-opening home runs to all fields at JetBlue Park, suggesting he could emerge as the right-handed power bat the club needs. Roman Anthony had a monster of a homer the other night for Team USA in a World Baseball Classic tune-up, and Ceddanne Rafaela swung the bat well, too, though obviously with him consistency will be key.

The biggest eyebrow raiser, however, has been Jarren Duran. The outfielder has been on an absolute heater since Grapefruit League play began, and last Friday, Duran had arguably the best hit by any player in camp so far when he took Chris Sale deep 409 feet to the right field bleachers in North Port. Hitting lefties was often a problem for Duran last season, and Sale is one of the best lefties on the planet, so if that’s a sign of things to come, Duran could be looking at a big year.

Rotation depth is real

None of the Red Sox starters have looked particularly overwhelming through their first two to three starts, but for the most part everyone has been solid and the competition for the No. 5 spot has lived up to the hype. Johan Oviedo, Connelly Early and Payton Tolle have each delivered at least one gem, with Oviedo likely separating himself from the pack with his four-strikeout showing on Monday.

Patrick Sandoval and Kutter Crawford have both advanced to multiple innings of live batting practice too, so it might not be much longer before we see the two veterans are back in game action as well.

Bullpen depth isn’t there

One of the biggest surprises of the offseason was that the Red Sox didn’t bring in more bullpen depth, and while the club should be in great shape for the high-leverage innings with Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock, the team could be vulnerable if any injuries pop up.

Right now the Red Sox only have eight true relievers on their 40-man roster, those being Chapman, Whitlock, Justin Slaten, Greg Weissert, Zack Kelly, Jovani Moran, Ryan Watson and Tyler Samaniego. Watson and Samaniego have never pitched in the big leagues, so the club may wind up relying on a couple of guys trying to make the team as non-roster invitees.

The three from that group who have impressed the most are Kyle Keller, Tayron Guerrero and Noah Song, and perhaps one or more will wind up making the team. But big picture, the Red Sox need more bodies and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another veteran addition before Opening Day.

Vibes are high

I’ve been covering the Red Sox since mid-2021, and throughout that time, spring training has often felt like an extended period of people trying to talk themselves into something everyone knew wasn’t going to work. Whether it’s obvious areas of deficiency that weren’t addressed over the offseason, heralded prospects overshadowing a talent-deficient big-league roster or all of the Devers drama last spring, the signs were usually there that something wasn’t right.

But this year it hasn’t felt like that at all.

The vibes around the Red Sox this spring have been great. The players are developing good chemistry, the mood around camp is positive and the coaching staff and front office all seem to like what they’ve seen. Bigger picture, the focus on the field has been firmly on the big-league club and not “the future,” and outside of some relatively minor position battles the Red Sox opened camp largely knowing what their team would look like.

We’ll see what the coming weeks and months have in store, but so far the 2026 Red Sox season has gotten off to a good start.