Final regular season Red Sox player power rankings: win, dance, repeat
COMMENTARY
Division champs. We have a few days to let that sink in before the postseason begins, so let’s let it. When the team started 9-9, it looked like it would be an up-and-down season. But a few weeks later, they would be 18-13, and they’d be at least five games over .500 the rest of the season. On the evening of August 12th, they improved to 62-52. It was the first win of a six-game winning streak, and the last time they would be as little as 10 games over .500. They would only spend 40 days in sole possession of first place, but the only day that counts is the last one. No baseball season is perfect, and no team is perfect, but these Red Sox did more right than wrong, and for that they are American League East champions once again.
This season, 50 players suited up for the team, and 51 graced the active roster or 15-day disabled list. We’re going to rank them all. In parentheses, you’ll find their rank from last time, the number of Rankings they made it on to for the season counting this list (this is the 13th time we’ve done this), and finally their average rank for the season. Note that their ranking here reflects a mixture of the past two weeks as well as the season as a whole.
51. Brandon Workman (Not Ranked, lists made: 2, average rank: 40.0): When the season began, Workman was on the 15-day disabled list, but his 40-man roster spot was needed soon thereafter, and he never pitched this season. He’s now missed two straight seasons, but hope springs eternal for 2017.
50. Roenis Elias (NR, 1, 50.0): One of three players who played this year but weren’t on the active roster when it came time to do the rankings, Elias was the most disappointing of the three, as he was expected to compete for a rotation spot but ended up only making one start.
49. William Cuevas (NR, 1, 49.0): Another of those who never made one of these lists, Cuevas managed a 3.60 ERA in five innings pitched, but he walked six batters against three strikeouts.
48. Mike Miller (NR, 1, 48.0): In his fifth pro season, the 26-year-old made his major league debut, and got a solitary plate appearance. It’s more than most, and the story of his call-up was pretty sweet.
47. Pat Light (NR, 2, 36.5): Traded for Fernando Abad, Light was a good depth prospect but probably won’t be missed. He throws really hard though.
46. Deven Marrero (35, 4, 35.5): In a season where third base was constantly in flux, Marrero was never seriously considered as an option to start long-term, which tells you all you need to know about his future with the team.
45. Pablo Sandoval (NR, 3, 34.0): A lost season still has a glimmer of hope of being resuscitated, but it’s most likely that we won’t see him until 2017, when he will once again be a mystery.
44. Carson Smith (NR, 6, 24.7): We eagerly anticipated his season debut until it came and it was clear that he wasn’t right. After undergoing Tommy John surgery, he’ll probably miss at least half of 2017 too.
43. Noe Ramirez (32, 4, 29.5): For a hot second, he flashed promise. Of the 19 pitchers who tossed at least 10 innings, Ramirez’s 24.6% K% was seventh-best on the team. He was also part of the very first Ramirez to Ramirez putout in major league history.
42. Henry Owens (36, 4, 32.5): He is who he is at this point – a depth starter.
41. Rusney Castillo (NR, 3, 29.0): He only tallied nine plate appearances this season, and the Red Sox have only got 337 plate appearances and 1.3 WAR for their $72.5 million thus far. That’s not how they drew it up.
40. Ryan LaMarre (NR, 3, 29.7): He was the only position player on the team to pitch, and he tossed a scoreless inning. Not too shabby.
39. Sean O’Sullivan (NR, 5, 29.4): He made four starts, and they weren’t all great, but he made them nonetheless.
38. Michael Martinez (NR, 3, 30.0): Acquired in mid-July, having Mini-Mart around let the team send down Marco Hernandez so he could see regular playing time in Pawtucket, so he served a good purpose for the team in that respect.
37. Josh Rutledge (NR, 7, 25.9): There was a brief time he was hitting .400, and while that didn’t last, his season stats are respectable enough given his role.
36. Bryan Holaday (33, 4, 31.8): Holaday appeared in 14 games and tallied seven hits.
35. Ryan Hanigan (34, 13, 27.8): Despite not doing much, Hanigan hung around all season. Since 1947, the Red Sox have had 145 catchers tally at least 100 PAs in a season – only 11 of them were less valuable than Hanigan was this season.
34. Yoan Moncada (31, 3, 25.3): He reached the majors in his second professional season, and the sky is the limit for the 21-year-old. Expect to see much more of him next season.
33. Bryce Brentz (NR, 4, 24.3): Brentz’s second cup of coffee with the big league team included his first major league home run. Given the team’s outfield depth, he might not get the chance to hit another one for Boston, but not many people can say they have hit even one.
32. Blake Swihart (NR, 6, 23.0): One of the most bitter pills of the season is how Swihart was treated. Once he gets healthy, he is likely Triple-A depth until he can force a trade.
31. Robby Scott (23, 3, 28.0): The lefty might not make the crowded postseason bullpen, but he’s put himself in position to be a contributor in 2017.
30. Aaron Hill (28, 6, 23.3): Simply put, Hill has not been what the team needed him to be. In 137 PA, he hit .218/.287/.290, and didn’t play particularly good defense either.
29. Tommy Layne (NR, 10, 23.7): Never really trusted, Layne did his job more than adequately when he was called on.
28. Fernando Abad (30, 4, 26.5): Never really trusted, Abad has not done his job more than adequately when he has been called upon. He gets the nod over Layne by simple virtue of still being on the team.
27. Marco Hernandez (27, 7, 23.0): He could be a decent player, but there isn’t much of a role for him on this team.
26. Christian Vazquez (29, 10, 21.2): His inability to hit eventually caught up to him, but he’s still a top-notch defensive catcher.
25. Junichi Tazawa (18, 13, 15.8): The man who tamed Miguel Cabrera in the 2013 postseason might not have a spot on the 2016 postseason roster. While that shows just how deep the bullpen is right now, it is a little sad that Tazawa might end up on the outside looking in.
24. Drew Pomeranz (25, 6, 14.5): He arrived to much fanfare, but it turned out he wasn’t 100 percent healthwise. But he might be healthy enough to pitch out of the bullpen in the postseason. If you’re confused by this, it’s OK, I am too.
23. Travis Shaw (22, 13, 14.2): One of just seven players to place first in an installment of these rankings, Shaw tailed off rapidly once the calendar flipped to June. His future with the team will be one of the most interesting offseason stories.
22. Heath Hembree (24, 11, 18.5): He didn’t pitch when the game was in the balance as often as many of his bullpen mates.
21. Matt Barnes (20, 13, 20.8): The walks remain a concern, especially as the Red Sox gear up to face an Indians team that is as patient as they are at the plate.
20. Joe Kelly (11, 8, 22.9): A failure as a starter (he posted a 5.00 ERA in 218 innings pitched as a starter in his Red Sox career), Kelly might just be the team’s not-so-secret bullpen weapon in the postseason.
19. Brock Holt (26, 13, 17.1): It just hasn’t been his year. After collecting five hits in the three games from Sept. 22 to Sept. 24, it looked like he might be heating up, but he reached base in just four of his last 16 PAs – three walks and a single.
18. Chris Young (16, 13, 18.5): His time missed lowered his standing, but Young still fills his role remarkably well. He’s one of the team’s three best hitters against lefties, along with Hanley Ramirez and Sandy Leon.
17. Clay Buchholz (21, 13, 22.8): We just can’t seem to quit him, and vice versa. Buchholz actually pitched in a career-high 37 games this season, and made 20 starts for just the fourth time in his career.
16. Robbie Ross Jr. (19, 13, 16.6): He was fine.
15. Sandy Leon (14, 9, 15.6): He burned bright and quick, but he hit just .216 in September, and his best asset offensively – hitting lefties – will be moot against Cleveland, who won’t be starting any left-handed pitchers.
14. Brad Ziegler (12, 6, 14.7): The side-armer helped stabilize the bullpen, and can be counted on to close games in a pinch.
13. Koji Uehara (6, 13, 15.1): When he went down toward the end of July it looked like the end. He returned on the night the team claimed first place, and with him back in the fold, they wouldn’t relinquish it.
12. Steven Wright (17, 13, 8.1): I struggled the most with his final ranking. On the one hand, he’s a non-factor right now. But for most of the season, he was one of the best 10 players on the team, and that mustn’t be forgotten. Hopefully, he’s not asked to pinch run next season.
11. Andrew Benintendi (15, 4, 13.8): The unflinching rookie has inserted himself into the everyday lineup, and proved he’s capable of succeeding in any situation. He’s hit 20 percentage points better than league average in his 118 PAs with the team thus far, and figures to be a starter in the Red Sox outfield for a long time.
10. Eduardo Rodriguez (13, 12, 13.7): His 3.24 second-half ERA was 19th-best in the majors and the 12th-best in the American League. The team is going to need that level of performance from him in the postseason if they want to play all month.
9. Craig Kimbrel (2, 13, 10.1): He’s losing his command at the worst possible time, but he’s too talented to pitch poorly for a long period of time.
8. Hanley Ramirez (1, 13, 8.0): He’s cooled off in the past couple of weeks, but he’s still a dangerous hitter as we enter the postseason, and has come a long way since his disastrous 2015 campaign.
7. David Price (10, 13, 8.3): Last season, Price struck out 225 batters and walked 47 in 220.1 innings. This season, Price struck out 228 batters and walked 50 in 230.0 innings. He gave up more homers, and didn’t fare as well when the ball was hit in the field of play (.290 batting average on balls in play in 2015, .311 BABIP in 2016) but he still has command of the strike zone.
6. Jackie Bradley Jr. (9, 13, 7.8): At this time last year, we were hopeful that Bradley was for real. Now, we know resoundingly that he is, and it’s a credit to the organization that they didn’t give up on him.
5. Xander Bogaerts (8, 13, 5.0): After hitting .329/.388/.475 in the first half, he only hit .250/.315/.411 in the second half, but he rebounded ever so slightly in September, and the last time he played in October he was one of the biggest reasons the team took home the World Series trophy. Don’t count out Bogaerts just yet.
4. Dustin Pedroia (5, 13, 4.7): It was a vintage Pedroia season. Pedroia was one of just 17 American League players to put up a 5.0 WAR season.
3. Rick Porcello (3, 13, 6.5): His Cy Young candidacy went from a passing thought to a constant talking point over the last six weeks of the season. He hasn’t walked more than two batters in a game for three months.
2. David Ortiz (4, 13, 2.8): His average ranking was the highest all season, and while I’ll cop to a bit of sentimentality in those rankings, Ortiz has been remarkably consistent for a man in his 40s with bad feet. So much ink has been spilled on Ortiz this week that I won’t waste your time with more. Make sure you read Chad Finn’s celebration of Ortiz from Sunday.
1.Mookie Betts (7, 13, 5.1): WIN. DANCE. REPEAT.
Betts has proven to be one of – if not the most – electric players in baseball. You can count on him to do something exciting nearly every night. He contributes in all three phases, and while he’s still not Mike Trout, he is perhaps the best young player the Red Sox have had since Nomar Garciaparra, and if voters were unwilling to vote for Trout for AL MVP because of the Angels’ poor showing this season, then Betts was the next-best choice. When the biggest problem you have in your season is that you ran out of victory dances, you know you had a damn good year.
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