Red Sox player power rankings: Craig Kimbrel has been rock solid
COMMENTARY
When we left off with the Red Sox Player Power Rankings back in mid-April, things were going swimmingly. The team was in the midst of a winning streak, and they had just conquered the flu bug. Things were looking up. The reality of these past two weeks was not nearly as kind. The team has lost six of its last 10 games, and at the end of April the Red Sox find themselves looking up at both the Orioles and the Yankees. At least the month ended on a positive note, as the team took two of three from the defending World Series champion Cubs. That had to feel good for anyone who felt like every time they opened the internet, there was another fawning Theo Epstein story.
30. Roenis Elias (Last: 29): Laid up since the start of the season with a rib cage injury, Elias is nearly healthy, but with the big league rotation starting to round into shape and David Price pitching simulated games, there may not be any room at the inn for him.
29. Chase d’Arnaud (Not Ranked): Ostensibly the fifth outfielder, d’Arnaud is firmly planted behind the “break only in case of emergency” glass.
28. Josh Rutledge (31): He is healthy and on the active roster again, but his position has been usurped by Marco Hernandez, and rightfully so. In the one game Rutledge played, he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
27. Pablo Sandoval (22): He didn’t even last a month before landing on the disabled list, and now there is no timetable for his return. Couple Marco Hernandez playing well with Sandoval’s recurring injuries, and it’s fair to wonder if we’ve seen the last of Sandoval.
26. Brock Holt (27): The All-Star utility man landed on the disabled list with vertigo. He is already out on a rehab assignment with Pawtucket. Hopefully he’ll be able to make it back soon. So far his season has been tinged with sadness.
25. Fernando Abad (28): In a bit of a stunning move, the team chose to send down Robbie Ross Jr. instead of Abad. Abad has pitched slightly better as of late, but he still ends the month with the worst ERA (5.06), and WHIP (1.69) in the Red Sox bullpen.
24. Tyler Thornburg (26): As of Saturday, Thornburg had been throwing for 17 days but still hadn’t progressed to a bullpen session. I suppose this is better than him getting hit by a bus on his way home, but that’s about it.
23. Sandy Leon (19): He’s been on the bench to start four of the past six games, and he hasn’t had an extra-base hit since April 9th. It’s a miracle he didn’t drop further down the rankings.
22. Joe Kelly (24): He’s as confounding as ever. He was given two chances to pitch in meaningful situations against the Cubs. He succeeded the first time, but not the second, though the second time was odd. On Sunday, he coughed up the lead without giving up a hit.
21. Ben Taylor (NR): He’s back from the minors and pitching well. For the season he now has eight strikeouts in 7.2 innings pitched.
20. Chris Young (21): He has been used sparingly lately. Since April 21st, he’s only tallied six plate appearances, but he reached base in three of the six, so at least he’s making the most out of his playing time.
19. Steven Wright (23): He had a better outing last time out than his stat line would indicate. Through six innings, Wright had held the Cubs to three runs on five hits and a walk, which is a pretty good day. But then manager John Farrell let him start the seventh and he coughed up a homer and a double, and suddenly he was tagged with another loss. Don’t give up on Wright just yet though.
18. Heath Hembree (17): It’s hard to tell sometimes who is in Farrell’s good graces and who isn’t, but when he’s been called upon, Hembree has kept runs off the board. He has thrown eight straight scoreless appearances, and for the season has only allowed runs in one of 11 appearances.
17. Jackie Bradley Jr. (9): He’s still not hitting. He only has two extra-base hits for the season, and none since April 22nd. But he’s still playing exemplary defense, and after his injury scare, appears totally healthy. He’ll get right at the plate again soon.
16. Matt Barnes (20): He came off his suspension and fired a quick 1-2-3 eighth inning on Sunday to set up the Red Sox’s big four-run rally. That’s about as emphatic a statement as one could have hoped for from Barnes.
15. Robby Scott (13): The first two games of the Cubs series were not kind to him (he allowed two runs while only recording one out) but he came back in the finale to help put out a seventh-inning fire and preserve a 2-2 tie.
14. Marco Hernandez (15): He’s filled in ably for both Sandoval and Dustin Pedroia, and may now be a permanent fixture in the lineup. He’s reached base safely in seven of his last eight games, and scored the go-ahead run on Sunday night on a wild pitch.
13. Rick Porcello (12): Porcello’s season stat line to date is tainted by the eight runs he allowed in 4.1 innings on April 14th. He earned a quality start (six innings or more, three earned runs or fewer) in each of his other four starts.
12. Drew Pomeranz (14): Pomeranz’s 21.7% K-BB% is a step forward from last season, which was a step forward from the season before that. If he can maintain that rate all season, that 4.15 ERA will come way down.
11. Dustin Pedroia (8): He slumped for most of the month, but came alive during the Cubs series – he reached base in eight of his 11 plate appearances (plus once on an error). Perhaps this is the start of a hot streak.
10. Hanley Ramirez (11): After not hitting any homers in his first 14 games of the season, he has now homered in three of his last six.
9. Mitch Moreland (2): We knew the hot start wouldn’t last forever, but with just one hit in his last five games, he’s cooling off quite a bit faster than fans would have liked.
8. Christian Vazquez (5): This season has had plenty of surprises, but Vazquez wrestling the starting job away from Leon ranks right at the top of the list. He won’t hit .391 all season, but if he can hit .300 and play his standard excellent defense, he might even get All-Star consideration. He might even get that consideration if he hits .280 – his defense is that good.
7. David Price (7): The first simulated game is in the books, with no problems reported. It’s still possible that Price could be back in the rotation by Memorial Day.
6. Eduardo Rodriguez (16): In his first outing of the season, Rodriguez allowed four runs in five innings. Since then, he’s allowed just four runs in 18.1 innings, with 26 strikeouts to boot – in his last three starts, he’s struck out eight, seven and nine batters.
5. Xander Bogaerts (3): He’s getting on base, including three times on Sunday, but he’s hitting for such little power that his on-base percentage (.375) is higher than his slugging percentage (.356). That doesn’t happen too often. That’s still a pretty good OBP though – it’s third-best on the team and it ranks 21st in the American League.
4. Craig Kimbrel (10): Kimbrel was awesome in April, and with so many moving parts — in the bullpen and elsewhere – his performance was more meaningful than what the stat line shows.
3. Andrew Benintendi (6): He has quickly become dependably good, if not great. Hard to believe he’s still a rookie.
2. Mookie Betts (4): He finally did strike out, but he still has more walks than strikeouts for the season. This is a hard ratio to maintain, so it’ll be fun to track throughout the season to see if Betts keeps it up.
1. Chris Sale (1): He’s been so much better than advertised. With 52 strikeouts in 37.2 innings pitched and a shiny 1.19 ERA to match, he was easily the best pitcher in baseball in the month of April.
