Tag Archives: Rafael Devers

What a Hanley Ramirez Trade Could Look Like

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Photo by Getty Images

Trading Hanley Ramirez Could Help or Ruin This Season

In what seems to be a lackluster off-season for the Boston Red Sox, teams like the New York Yankees got seemingly stronger. So far, in response they have resigned Mitch Moreland to a team-friendly 2 year contract. In addition to making Samuel Adams the official beer of the team. The clear-cut move: Trade Hanley Ramirez.

With a hefty $22 million dollar vesting option for 2019, the trade will be tough. He only needs 497 plate appearances this year. The President of Baseball Operations is no stranger from making trades. The key to pull this off is simple: leave the farm system alone!!!!

Dave Dombrowski has a reputation of making trades for win now mode. Examples of this are going for Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel. With that being said, if you move the DH to a National League team, you could potentially receive a couple of prospects in order to make room for JD Martinez. There might even be flexible room enough to grab a bench bat to even out the salaries. One way to boost the intrigue is to eat some of his $22 million dollar contract.

It helps to have the history that Dave and Martinez have throughout the years. When he held the same position in Detroit, he traded for Martinez. After that, his stats went up. It helped to be around hitters like Miguel Cabrera, who is a lock for the Hall of Fame. In Boston, David Ortiz will be back around the clubhouse, as he has a verbal agreement with his team.

With a little over 100 days until the regular season is under way, there is plenty of time to make a contender out of a very good ball club. With players such as Benintendi, Devers, and Betts driving the young core, this team’s future looks bright.

 

Credit to NESN for the featured picture.

 

Stanton

The Red Sox Should Not Trade for Stanton

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The Boston Red Sox should not trade for Giancarlo Stanton. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy. Stanton is a pleasure to watch.  He hits the ball harder than anyone I have seen. I’ve sent many videos of his home runs to my brothers over the years. With all the following aspects considered however, the Red Sox have better options available to them.

The Money

The Sox would owe Stanton fat stacks.  Yes, Stanton is an all-world talent and worth a lot of money. Yes, he is still only 27 years old. But other options  can be had much cheaper that aren’t much worse at the plate. Giancarlo Stanton will get $285M over the next 10 seasons. He then has a team option in 2028 for $25M. If one assumed that wouldn’t be picked up, the team would still owe him $10M  as a buyout of his contract. Bare minimum.   For the $295M owed to Stanton, JD Martinez could be had for half of that, maybe even less than half. Is Stanton really worth that much more than Martinez? That answer is no.

The Cost of Trade

If you do believe Stanton is worth all that much money, how about the trade aspect? JD Martinez is a free agent. No players would have to be given up to acquire him. Stanton would cost players, and good ones at that, in addition to the near $300M. How could someone justify spending $150-$175M  more and good players on top of it for Stanton as opposed to Martinez? Who would it take to acquire Stanton? A centerpiece of Jackie Bradley Jr. or Xander Bogaerts along with a couple prospects? Or maybe all of them. In theory Stanton would be worth such a package, but considering all angles that’s not the case.

The Statistics

Stanton Catch

Giancarlo Stanton catches the third out in the second inning during game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on May 25, 2015 (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

Stanton is actually a better defender than Martinez. He is surprisingly solid for someone his size, but unless we move Bradley neither of these guys would be acquired to play the field. If they are designated hitters, defense is a moot point. So let’s just focus on the offense.

JD Martinez had his breakout four seasons ago. Over that four-year span, how much better has Stanton been than Martinez? In the last four years Giancarlo Stanton has batted .271 with a .939 OPS. JD Martinez in those same four years has hit for a .300 average with a .936 OPS. Martinez hits for a much higher average, but Stanton walks a lot more so their on base percentages are very similar — .366 for Stanton to .362 for Martinez. That actually leaves Martinez with the very slight edge in slugging, .574 to .573. Surprise!

When it comes to home runs, Giancarlo Stanton has averaged 38 home runs over those four seasons. That number jumps to 49 per 162 games due to injuries. Martinez lags behind, but not so far behind that Stanton becomes worth that much more than him. Martinez has averaged 32 home runs per year, or 40 home runs per 162 games played. The reason his slugging is higher is he gets more hits and a lot more doubles. Their triple slash lines are nearly identical.

Giancarlo Stanton vs JD Martinez

Blast

Stanton takes aim at the ugly sculpture in center field.

Year Tm Lg G PA AB 2B 3B HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS
2014 MIA NL 145 638 539 31 1 37 105 .288 .395 .555 .950
2015 MIA NL 74 318 279 12 1 27 67 .265 .346 .606 .952
2016 MIA NL 119 470 413 20 1 27 74 .240 .326 .489 .815
2017 MIA NL 159 692 597 32 0 59 132 .281 .376 .631 1.007

 

Year Tm Lg G PA AB 2B 3B HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS
2014 DET AL 123 480 441 30 3 23 76 .315 .358 .553 .912
2015 DET AL 158 657 596 33 2 38 102 .282 .344 .535 .879
2016 DET AL 120 517 460 35 2 22 68 .307 .373 .535 .908
2017 TOT MLB 119 489 432 26 3 45 104 .303 .376 .690 1.066
2017 DET AL 57 232 200 13 2 16 39 .305 .388 .630 1.018
2017 ARI NL 62 257 232 13 1 29 65 .302 .366 .741 1.107

I’m not saying Martinez is better than Stanton, though the numbers show the difference might not be so large. All I’m saying is, there isn’t even close to a $150M gap between them, let alone some good players on top of it.

JD Martinez hits a 3-run home run off of Matt Wisler (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)

Why not add them both?

Hey, I’d be all for adding them both. If the Sox were to sign JD Martinez and then trade, say, Jackie Bradley Jr. and a prospect or two for Stanton they could slide Betts to center, put Stanton in right and DH Martinez. That is one heck of a lineup. How do you pay both of them though? The Red Sox would soar well past the luxury tax and be stuck above it for years to come. With Chris Sale, Mookie Betts and others needing to be paid in a couple years the payroll is going to rise, not decrease.

And if we miss on JD Martinez?

If we were to whiff on JD Martinez, then I would more seriously explore trading for Stanton. There is no other bat available that can compare. Eric Hosmer is available and has a solid bat, but he is no true power threat like the Red Sox need. They need a thumper, someone opposing pitchers should fear. Hosmer is an up and down offensive player with 20-25 home run power. There are also rumors he is looking for 200 million dollars which borderlines on the absurd.

I would definitely pay Stanton his contract and give up something to get him before entertaining that. Just no trading Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi or Rafael Devers. If we were to acquire him without giving up any of them would I be upset? Probably not. Like I said, I love Stanton, he is one of my favorite players. The Red Sox just better let us in to watch our home team take batting practice.

WDR

Does Giancarlo Stanton already “Win-Dance-Repeat”?

“Judging” Rafael Devers

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Let’s jump to conclusions. For one minute, let’s be Yankee fans and make ridiculous assertions about how every player who dons our uniform will one have a plaque in Cooperstown.

Rafael Devers is that guy. His electric start, along with the addition of a scalding-hot Eduardo Nunez, injected energy and offense into the struggling Sox in July and vaulted them back into first place in the East. Even after a recent dip, his .300/8/18 start to his big league career is more than just promising, it’s exhilarating. Let’s face it, if he played in the Bronx they’d already be thinking about retiring his number and ordering his plaque for Monument Valley. God knows they’re already measuring Aaron Judge for a HoF jacket.

But we’re not Yankee fans. Thank the Lord.

We’re smart enough to know that as good as Devers was on the farm, and what he displayed with his hot start, he will level out – in fact he may already have. But when he does, what can we expect? From an offensive standpoint, the answer looks pretty damn good.

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

Bill James didn’t reinvent the game with his Baseball Abstract in 1977, but he did start a revolution in how we think about, analyze, and project player value. Johan Hill showed Brad Pitt the power of data analytics in Moneyball, and if he could figure it out between adopting half the world’s orphans and murdering zombies then most of us can too.

Many believers in sabermetrics will tell you that the number-one predictor of hitting potential in the big leagues over time is best summed up as the relationship between power, average, and strike-outs. Intuitively, when we think about the greatest hitters who ever played the game, we think about guys who drove the ball with power and seldom swung and missed. Williams, Ruth, Mays, and Aaron come to mind.

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It’s not enough to simply crush the ball. Nobody in their right minds considers Dave Kingman one of the all-time great hitters – though he did hit 442 HRs in the pre-steroid era. Kingman’s problem? He was a career .236 hitter with more than 1,800 Ks. So, the greatest hitters who ever lived are those with high slugging percentages, high batting averages, and low strike-outs. Not exactly rocket science. If you isolate hitting for power (slugging avg – batting avg) and divide by Ks per 9-innings, you can begin to see quantitatively why the people you think were great hitters were, and why we hate Carl Crawford .

Name Level Games Slugging Average ISO-Power SOs SO per 9 Inning ISO-P/K
Ted Williams MLB 2292 0.634 0.344 0.290 709 0.309 0.937
Rogers Hornsby MLB 2259 0.577 0.358 0.219 679 0.301 0.729
Babe Ruth MLB 2503 0.690 0.342 0.348 1330 0.531 0.655
Hank Aaron MLB 3298 0.555 0.305 0.250 1383 0.419 0.596
George Brett MLB 2707 0.487 0.305 0.182 908 0.335 0.543
Willie Mays MLB 2992 0.557 0.302 0.255 1526 0.510 0.500
Gary Sheffield MLB 2576 0.514 0.292 0.222 1171 0.455 0.488
Wade Boggs MLB 2440 0.443 0.328 0.115 745 0.305 0.377
David Ortiz MLB 2408 0.552 0.286 0.266 1750 0.727 0.366
Manny Ramirez MLB 2302 0.585 0.312 0.273 1813 0.788 0.347
Mark Texiera MLB 1862 0.509 0.268 0.241 1441 0.774 0.311
Dwight Evans MLB 2606 0.470 0.272 0.198 1697 0.651 0.304
Jack Clark MLB 1994 0.476 0.267 0.209 1441 0.723 0.289
Jim Thome MLB 2543 0.554 0.276 0.278 2548 1.002 0.277
Dave Kingman MLB 1941 0.478 0.236 0.242 1816 0.936 0.259
Reggie Jackson MLB 2820 0.490 0.262 0.228 2597 0.921 0.248
Carl Crawford MLB 1716 0.435 0.290 0.145 1067 0.622 0.233
Wily Mo Pena MLB 599 0.445 0.250 0.195 559 0.933 0.209

Of the players who belong to the Hall of Fame (bold), Reggie Jackson was an outlier. Objectively speaking, from a quantitative standpoint, he was a painfully average ballplayer. For perspective, in more than 1,000 fewer at bats, he struck out 1,071 more times than Willie Mays. Reggie just happened to excel on the big stage – winning four World Series and winning MVP in two of them.

Boston’s Future

Rafael Devers hasn’t had enough MLB at-bats to generate a sufficiently large statistical sample yet. But if we compare his minor league numbers to Betts, Bogaerts, and Bradley – and knowing how those players have leveled out after over 450-MLB games each – we can begin to see where he might level out himself.

Name Level Games Slugging Average ISO-Power SOs SO per 9 Inning ISO-P/K
Mookie Betts Minors 313 0.442 0.307 0.135 147 0.470 0.287
Rafael Devers Minors 399 0.482 0.296 0.186 291 0.729 0.255
Rafael Devers MLB 40 0.513 0.300 0.213 39 0.975 0.218
Xander Bogaerts Minors 315 0.503 0.288 0.215 272 0.863 0.249
Jackie Bradley Minors 277 0.474 0.298 0.176 208 0.751 0.234

We should note that currently, through 493 MLB games, Mookie’s ISO-P/K is .355 – placing him squarely between Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. I hope we can agree that he’s leveled out quite nicely. It would be premature, with such a small sample at the big-league level, to project Devers will be in Betts’ class as a pro (he’s at .218 now.  But with good coaching, line-up protection, and patience at the plate,. we can expect him to be more productive than either Bogaerts or Bradley – and that’s not too shabby.

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And just for perspective – NY’s newest hero, Aaron Judge, had a .182 in 348 minor league games.  And despite all the tape measure HRs and Sportscenter fawning, he’s sitting at .202 through 152 big-league games. Dave Kingman? He’s not even Carl Crawford.

 

Note: all statistics thank to the tome of wisdom at www.baseball-reference.com

 

How Badly Do the Red Sox Want To Win the World Series ?

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Is this the year that the Red Sox win the World Series?  Is it all or nothing this season or are we satisfied with just making the playoffs and taking our chances?  The Red Sox have one move that could possibly make them a scary contender for the post-season (and maybe for years to come). Could possibly mortgaging the future for winning right now pay off?  Let’s explore and see what you think.

Giancarlo Stanton To The Red Sox

Do I have your attention?  This move is a real possibility right now.  The Miami Marlins have placed the South Beach Slammer on waivers, which he has cleared.  The Marlins will transition  to a new ownership group (good thing because Lauria is a clown) that includes Derek Jeter and Michael Jordan.  I guess the reason that Stanton was placed on waivers is to reduce payroll.  At $30M per season, losing that salary would lower anyone’s payroll.  Stanton contract extends for another ten years so no fear of not having him under control, contract wise.

Worth The Cost?

This question really needs an answer.  What do the Red Sox have to give up to get this behemoth in a Sox uniform for some time to come?  There are a couple of options that the Marlins might bite on to make this deal a reality.  The key to the deal?  Not too many teams can handle the salary that they would have to take on.  That limits the teams in the running, which works in the Red Sox favor.

One of the options gives the Marlins Jackie Bradley Jr., Joe Kelly, and Xander Bogaerts.  Before all of you folks throw me under the bus, I don’t want to lose any players.  You have to give up something to get something and this would work.  Yes, you lose a great defensive outfielder but you have Benintendi and Betts along with the acquired Stanton.

The team would suffer some defensively, but remain pretty damn good if you ask me.  This deal would likely require Betts moving to center and slotting Stanton in right.  Playing Fenway’s right field takes some work, so you pick where Stanton should go.  Nunez could replace Bogaerts.  This would allow Pedroia to stay at second and Devers playing third.  This plan doesn’t look so far fetched now, does it folks?

Another more radical theory on how the Red Sox could make this deal work gives the Marlins David Price in exchange for Stanton instead.  This does not shave a ton off of the Marlins payroll, so they may be the roadblock to this type of deal happening.  With all of the drama between Price and Eckersley, this may be a more popular move with Sox fans than you might think.  As Dr. Phil has said many times “save the drama for your Mama,” and I agree wholeheartedly.

What Does Stanton Bring To The Lineup?

Inserting Stanton into this lineup gives you an incredible power bat that the Red Sox have been missing since Papi retired.  Stanton is not your average power hitter, but a perennial bomber for years to come.  He has power to all fields and could possibly make the Green Monster seats look like the flight path at Logan.  A mere 27 years old, just reaching the prime of his career, his best is likely not behind him.  Stanton looks like a fairly solid outfielder but not as solid as the current occupant.  He’ll look like a like a drop off, but honestly he should be fine.  Stanton sports a respectable .268 career batting average, so he is not just an all-or-nothing homer run hitter (looking at you now Aaron Judge).

The Stanton Safety Net

Having made the player shifts to acquire Stanton, the Red Sox order would look a little different then it does now obviously.  With the continued bench presence of Chris Young and Brock Holt, there is always the possibility of giving players the needed days off if required.  You lead off with with Betts, Benintendi, Hanley, Pedroia, Stanton, Moreland, Nunez, and Devers in whatever order you want.  Good luck to the opposing pitchers and managers facing that type of offense.

In the second scenario, if we actually send David Price to the Marlins, the team faces more of a challenge.  This year might be tough to cover but hopefully with the return of Steven Wright, the return-to-form of Porcello, and the crazy condor-like Chris Sale, the future looks not bad on the mound.  All of this and no drama between Price and Eckersley unless it’s a road game isn’t so bad either.

Pay to play

In closing, I think that the Red Sox should shake things up a little bit and take the plunge to challenge for the World Series title.  I believe that this deal makes them a contender for the present and the future with either scenario.  The deal would require Stanton to approve it since he has a movement restrictive clause in his contract.  By the sound of everything we’ve heard, Stanton just wants to win and the Red Sox would certainly fit the requirements.

I would be interested to hear other people’s ideas on this concept.  As you can see, it is not as far fetched as you might think.  Let’s see how ambitious the Red Sox are in pursuit of the scariest hitter in MLB.  Let’s Go Red Sox

Can the Red Sox Make the World Series?

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Five things that need to happen for the Red Sox to win the World Series:

  1. David Price comes back healthy and finally wins a couple games in the postseason:

    Price has notoriously never won a playoff game.   If he could come back and pitch well that would be huge for the Sox. He needs to get the monkey off his back and win a playoff game, and in so doing he would go a long way towards shoring up the pitching staff. Drew Pomeranz has had a complete turnaround, but behind Chris Sale the Red Sox pitcher with ace capability is David Price. Having a healthy Price to follow Sale in rotation is ideally what the Red Sox need.

  2. Red Sox bats follow Rafael Devers’ and Eduardo Nunez’ example:

    Red Sox hitters were ineffective until the month of August. Struggling to find their way following David Ortiz’ retirement, the trade for Eduardo Nunez and the call up of Rafael Devers have helped spark their dormant bats. Halfway through the month of August the Red Sox have 19 home runs, only six less than they hit the entire month of July. They are on pace to hit more home runs this month than any month this season and their team OPS of .810 is the highest of any month. But through Monday night, Mookie Betts was hitting .220 in August, Hanley Ramirez .214, Xander Bogaerts .211 and Jackie Bradley .179. If the Red Sox can get everyone clicking they will be dangerous.

  3. Bullpen continues to perform:

    Despite all the talk of the Red Sox needing bullpen help, their relievers this year are 21-13 with a 3.03 ERA and better than a strike out per inning. But the Sox don’t have a shut-down reliever beyond Craig Kimbrel.  Dominant as ever this year, Kimbrel’s stats speak for themselves:  striking out an insane 16.56 batters per nine innings while allowing just eight earned runs in 50 innings. All other Red Sox relievers are having solid seasons, but just not comparable. Does anyone have faith come playoff time the other relievers can hold down the fort?  That might just be a key to them winning the World Series. The Red Sox need their middle relievers and setup men to continue pitching well.

  4. Catcher Defense:

    The Red Sox have two excellent catchers who can control the running game. Christian Vazquez and Sandy Leon have combined to throw out 29 would-be base stealers this season at a 35.8% rate. Vazquez stands fifth in the league in caught stealing percentage at 37.2%. Keeping opposing baserunners honest and not allowing them to take the extra bases has proved daunting for the Red Sox in recent seasons. In the playoffs, where every run seems to have amplified meaning, holding runners at first could be an underrated key.

  5. NO MORE PABLO SANDOVAL! :

    Does this one even need an explanation?

Year Age Tm Lg G PA WAR oWAR dWAR Salary
2015 28 BOS AL 126 505 -0.9 0.3 -0.9 $17,600,000
2016 29 BOS AL 3 7 -0.2 -0.1 -0.1 $17,600,000
2017 30 BOS AL 32 108 -1.1 -0.3 -0.8 $17,600,000
SFG SFG SFG 877 3562 20.7 20.6 0.8 $18,516,750
BOS BOS BOS 161 620 -2.2 -0.1 -1.7 $52,800,000

Five things that could go wrong

  1. Rotational depth isn’t strong enough in postseason:

    If David Price can’t get healthy the Red Sox rotation is solid, but not as strong as they would like for postseason play. What if David Price doesn’t pitch again this year? What if he comes back and can’t stand up, getting lit up a couple times? Without him, Drew Pomeranz and Rick Porcello have to be the numbers two and three for the playoffs, and I’m not sure they match up. Pomeranz has been great this year, but he doesn’t pitch deep into games. Pomeranz also had never thrown 100 innings before last year; will he wear down come playoff time? Rick Porcello just has not been very good this year with an ERA over 4.50. Those two would look a lot better behind Sale and a healthy Price.

  2. Dustin Pedroia doesn’t heal:

    Dustin Pedroia has been bothered by left knee inflammation for a couple weeks now. He came back from a disabled list stint to play in only one game before returning to the DL. By the sounds of things we won’t see him anytime too soon. Pedroia is the only season-long regular on the Red Sox with a batting average over .300 (.303). He also plays Gold Glove defense at second base, something his replacements most certainly do not. Hopefully Pedroia will heal up with a couple weeks off.  But if his knee gives him problems the rest of this season, the Sox will be without a team leader on the field.

  3. The bullpen implodes:

    This is something that seems to be the fear of all Red Sox fans. The bullpen has performed well this year, but without any lock-down guy beyond Craig Kimbrel can the bullpen hold up their end of the bargain down the stretch and come playoff time? I liked the Addison Reed trade, low-risk move for a setup man who has had a couple good years. However, he was another guy I do not trust added to the bullpen. I tweeted at the time of the trade I would not be surprised if he went full blown Eric Gagne circa 2007.

    The Red Sox traded for Gagne that year to solidify the bullpen.  He came over with a 2.16 ERA for Texas. Gagne posted a 6.75 ERA the rest of that season for the Sox. Unfortunately so far Reed hasn’t alleviated my concerns, allowing five runs in 4.1 innings pitched since the trade. Joe Kelly also hasn’t looked the same since coming back from the disabled list. The Red Sox could use him pitching like he did in May and June when he did not allow a single run.

  4. Rafael Devers and Eduardo Nunez slow down:

    Nunez and Devers have given the Red Sox offense a shot in the arm since they have arrived. Through Monday they had a combined 10 home runs between the two of them in just 130 at bats. Realistically though, Nunez isn’t going to bat near .400, and we can’t count on a 20 year old hitting with the best in all of baseball for the rest of the year. If and when they slow down, are other Red Sox stars going to step up their games and take the reins? Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Hanley Ramirez are all having down seasons. If they don’t make a move once others slow down the Red Sox might go back to hitting like they did in July.

  5. John Farrell:

    Many fans, myself included, are not the biggest John Farrell supporters. He routinely makes questionable decisions in games, leaving in certain pitchers too long, bringing in relievers in questionable situations, not pinch-hitting in obvious situations, etc. Will his game management help cost the Red Sox the World Series? He did his best in 2013, game three to be exact, but that’s another story.  Then again, maybe Farrell gets them to play better late in the year. Last year the Red Sox were one of the hottest teams down the stretch, and they seem to be trending that way again this year having won 11 of their last 12. Ninety percent of managing seems to be handling the personalities and keeping everyone in line and happy. You watch any manager enough and you will question plenty of moves they make.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS XANDER BOGAERTS ?!

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Kansas City Royals v Boston Red Sox

By: Bill Murphy

Twitter: @B_Murph1021

Where is the X-Man?

As our Red Sox start to gain momentum and head into the last leg of the season with a full head of steam we have one important thing missing.   And that thing isn’t A THING at all — our starting short stop, Xander Bogaerts.

To say that Xander is struggling recently would be a complete understatement, as one of our most talented players has COMPLETELY fallen off the face of the earth. Let’s take a look at what Xander hasn’t done recently and why he needs to take a turn for the better in these coming weeks.

Take a look at the photo above (which I took from my fantasy baseball site) and you will see Xander has not exactly had great success since the All-Star break. Not only has he gone missing but it’s almost as if he is going to the plate with an imaginary bat in his hands! We are not talking about just some guy plugging a hole in our lineup and in the field.  We are talking about an All-Star short stop projected to hit 20 to 30 HRs and about 80-90 RBI per season.

New York Yankees v Boston Red Sox

 

Why it matters

At this point in the season, ALL the games truly do matter for this Red Sox team.   Momentum can be key when it comes to heading into the post season and more importantly, making a run in the post season. As previously stated, this Red Sox lineup has had its struggles this year and currently ranks LAST in Home Runs out of ALL TEAMS in the Major Leagues.

Xander remains one of my favorite guys to watch on this ball club offensively and defensively.  The guy is a dirt-dog and leaves it on the field every night, no matter how poorly he may be playing.  With that said, this offense will need him to step it up in a BIG WAY. Xander is one of the most important players for this team.  So his continued struggles truly do hurt this lineup. If X-Man can figure it out and turn it around in these next few weeks, then this team could be deadly in the post season.

 

Inside the Numbers (or Lack Thereof)

To break down this past month for X, lets go a bit deeper inside the numbers and see what he has done (or hasn’t done) at the dish since around the break. In the last month X-MAN has hit .174 (which is below his weight).  He has two RBI, ZERO HOME RUNS, two stolen bases, eight runs scored and a putrid .240 on base percentage.

Want another example of how bad it’s been? In his first 60 at-bats of his career, Rafael Devers has six HRs, the same HR total that Xander currently has, but in 417 at-bats! That stat alone is staggering and should leave most of Red Sox Nation scratching their heads and asking themselves, “Whats wrong with X?”

 

Time for Everyone to Pick Up X

Whether Xander is nursing an injury, or his hand is still bothering him from the HPB he took earlier in the season, we need Xander back and we need him back now! Luckily for the Red Sox we have had some unexpected heroes as of late in the form of Benny Biceps, Devers, and Eduardo Nunez.   Nunez stands out as one of the best pickups made at the deadline due to his knack for making contact and his versatility in playing multiple positions in the field. Either way we look at it one thing is certain, the bigger names need to pick up X and get this offense rolling. Yes, I am calling out guys like Mookie, JBJ, Hanley, and Peddy to step it up and lead this offense into the post-season

Finally…

All I have left is one question and one question only and if anyone knows the answer please feel free to hit my twitter and let me know the answer…

WHERE HAS XANDER BOGAERTS GONE?

Sox Rookies Lead the Way in New York

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The Red Sox bounced back after possibly the toughest loss of the year Friday night to take both games over the weekend. The Sox, now 5.5 games ahead of the Yankees in the East, were led by the play of rookies Andrew Benintendi and Rafael Devers.  Benintendi homered three times and drove in nine runners over the weekend series. His two three-run shots during Saturday’s win propelled the team to their 10-5 victory. Not only that, all of his home runs were rockets, making it out of the stadium in the blink of an eye. In Sunday’s game, Benintendi came up with the bases loaded in the 10th and delivered with the game winning hit to right field.

Devers, the 20-year-old- baby faced third baseman, collected the biggest hit of the weekend. With two strikes, facing a fellow lefty and the hardest thrower in the game, Aroldis Chapman, Devers connected for a home run to the opposite field. The pitch was clocked at 102.8 MPH, the fastest recorded pitch hit for a home run.

http://<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Rafael Devers home run was off a 102.8 MPH pitch…. Hardest pitch hit for a HR… Welp ever in the tracked velocity era. (2008)</p>&mdash; Daren Willman (@darenw) <a href=”https://twitter.com/darenw/status/896929237545832449″>August 14, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

Impressive only begins to describe the game-tying home run on the biggest stage. Up again in the 10th with the bases full, Devers hit a missile to left field that turned Brett Gardner around. Gardner was able to hang with it and make the catch, but it was another illustration of Devers’ ability to hit the ball hard to all fields. The day before, Devers connected on a lined shot that hit off the center field wall for a double. In New York, Devers picked up four hits and is now batting .328 after having spent only nine games in Pawtucket.

With these two rookies, at 23 and 20 years old, I am excited to see what the future holds for them in Boston. Benintendi has been getting Fred Lynn comparisons all year long. Lynn was on a Hall of Fame path before leaving the Red Sox in free agency.  If Benintendi can play like Freddy did in Boston, this should be fun. As for Devers, at 20 years old and having hit at every level of the minors despite being young at each stop, the Major Leagues has not slowed him down. I hope he doesn’t get too much pressure put on him at such a young age and can stay within himself. His future in the big leagues looks like a potential perennial all-star at third base.