2018 Boston Red Sox Spring Training Storylines -- The Outfield
Last week, we took a look at the storylines for the 2018 Boston Red Sox rotation, and their infield. Today, we take a look at the outfield.
JD Martinez — Yeah, I know. JD Martinez isn’t technically an outfielder anymore. At least, not full time. After signing with the Red Sox this past offseason, Martinez is set to get most of his at-bats as Boston’s new DH. However, despite seeing significantly less time in the outfield, Martinez would like you to know that he is not a defensive liability, and that he also would like to prove that. We’ll see. I don’t think anybody particularly cares about his defensive prowess. We just want to watch him mash baseballs.
After hitting the least amount of home runs in the American League last season, the Red Sox needed some help in the power department, regardless of what other teams did to improve their rosters over the winter, but that need grew exponentially when Boston’s division rival traded for the player who hit more home runs than anybody in the majors last year. Yeah, it was a rocky negotiation process, but it got done. He’s here, he appears to be happy, and so are the Red Sox now that they don’t have to go into the 2018 season with the same underwhelming lineup as they did a year ago.
As far as storylines go in regards to Martinez, there is certainly no shortage of them. I fucking hate the narrative, but it’s been true in the past — can Martinez overcome the first year in Boston jitters? How will he handle being “the guy” in a city like Boston after being just one of the guys in Detroit? Can he actually stay on the field? He’s played at least 125 games in a season just once in his career. Will a lack of protection in the lineup be a factor? Will not playing in the outfield as much negatively affect his offensive production? How will he handle the Boston media? Can he come anywhere close to the season that he had a year ago?
Mookie Betts — 2018 is a big year for Mookie Betts. In 2016, he finished as a runner-up to Mike Trout for the American League MVP award. Perhaps you’ve heard of him. Last year, Betts took a step back when he hit .264 with an .803 OPS. Not terrible numbers, but his batting average dropped 54 points, his OPS dropped 94 points, and he collected 71 fewer total bases after leading the league the year before. His defense remained top notch, as did his base running, but the drop-off in offensive production was a huge disappointment after what he had accomplished as a 23-year-old.
Coming into his age-25 season this year, like Xander Bogaerts, Betts is about to embark on the first year of his prime seasons. Both Betts and Bogaerts had down years last season that they are now in a great position to blow past in 2018. You’ll notice that there are a lot of players on the Red Sox who had down years last year, but none of them are as talented as Mookie while also just entering their prime. If everything goes according to plan, it’s a perfect storm situation for Betts (and Bogaerts) to have a monster year.
I’ve got full confidence in Betts being better than he was in 2017. My question is, can he be better than he was in 2016? Can Betts take that next step towards becoming a superstar, household name outside of Boston? Can he win an MVP award? Can he be the standout offensive performer in a lineup that now contains JD Martinez?
Andrew Benintendi — In the summer of 2015, the Boston Red Sox selected Andrew Benintendi in the first round of the MLB Draft. In the summer of 2016, he made his major league debut. In the summer of 2017 — from the first day of summer on June 21 to the last day of summer on September — he led the Red Sox with a .369 on-base percentage. Every year since he joined the Red Sox organization, Benintendi has taken a step forward.
Will that trend continue in 2018? Right now, I’ve got Benintendi penciled in as Boston’s number two hitter. The Red Sox have a shit ton of number two hitters — Dustin Pedroia, Xander Bogaerts, Eduardo Nunez, and Benintendi. Last year, Benintendi hit in six different spots in John Farrell’s lineup. Will this be the year that Benintendi finds a permanent home in the Red Sox lineup? Will he continue the trend of getting better each year, or will this be a regression year? After he put more of an emphasis on lower body workouts over the offseason, will that translate to more power? More doubles? More homers?
Jackie Bradley Jr. — Every year, it’s the same storyline with Jackie Bradley Jr. in centerfield. By now, everyone is well aware that he’s one of the best defensive outfielders in the game. It’s actually insane that he’s never won a Gold Glove before, but that’s neither here nor there. The frustrating element here is that we’re no longer talking about potential as it pertains to Bradley. Next month, he’ll be 28 years old. He’s not old, but he’s not exactly young anymore either.
At this stage of his career, he is what he is, and what he is is wildly inconsistent. But you take that because A) his defense is so good, and B) when he’s going good, he’s going great from an offensive standpoint. The frustration comes into play when you see just HOW good he can be at the plate in short bursts, but it’s something that he’s never been able to sustain over the duration of an entire season, or even half a season for that matter. That’s fine, because when you look up at the end of the year and see that he’s still posting an OPS that’s north of .800, then you’ll gladly take that.
The only problem is, he didn’t do that in 2017. Bradley took a big step back last year, posting a pretty poor .726 OPS in 541 plate appearances, and that was on the heels of posting an .834 OPS from the start of 2015 through the end of 2016, which ranked fourth among major league centerfielders over that span. Only Mike Trout, Charlie Blackmon, and AJ Pollock were better. His slugging percentage (.489) was also fourth among centerfielders with only those three aforementioned players ranking higher than Bradley.
Bradley sprained his knee less than two weeks into the season last year, and that was something that hindered his production at the plate for the rest of the season, so are we on the verge of seeing Bradley return to the offensive production that we saw from him in 2016? Could he possibly prove to be better than that season? Will he finally fucking win a Gold Glove award this year? In what month will he randomly post an OPS that’s well over a thousand? Curveball — will his name come up in trade talks at the deadline if both Hanley Ramirez and Mitch Moreland are hitting so that JD Martinez can slide back into the outfield, Hanley back to DH, and Moreland back to full-time at first base? Hm.