Red Sox power rankings: How does Ian Kinsler rate for Boston?
The beat goes on for the Sox, who’ll finish July with a fourth consecutive month of at least 17 wins.
COMMENTARY
His hamstring strained, the starting third baseman (Rafael Devers) was headed to the disabled list for a second time in a season when the starting second baseman (Dustin Pedroia) has missed all but 11 at-bats because of injury, the starting shortstop (Xander Bogaerts) missed a couple of weeks with a cracked bone in his ankle, and Opening Day’s starting first baseman (Hanley Ramirez) was designated for assignment before the end of May.
So, the Red Sox took the field Sunday with Blake Swihart – their third-string catcher most of this season, and now their backup backstop because of an injury – making his first career start at third base. Joining him on the infield were a couple of career journeymen in Steve Pearce and Eduardo Nunez, and the jack-of-all-trades Brock Holt, all in support of righthander Nathan Eovaldi. He was making his first start for Boston after being acquired in a trade necessitated by the fact three of Boston’s starting pitchers have spent a significant chunk of the campaign dealing with various ailments.
No worries, though. The Sox handled the Twins, 3-0, to make it three straight wins. Sixteen of 20. Twenty-three of 30. Thirty-five of 50. And 74 wins for the season, a total that began Monday as seven more than any other team in the major leagues.
The beat goes on for the Sox, who’ll finish July with a fourth consecutive month of at least 17 wins and a winning percentage of .621 or better – even while repeatedly dealing with potential bumps along the way, like losing Devers. Here’s a look at how the individual Red Sox rate at this point, including newcomer Ian Kinsler, who Dave Dombrowski acquired from Los Angeles late Monday night to help fortify his infield:
30. Steven Wright (27 last week): Leading into the All-Star game there had been some hope that Wright could be back shortly after the break – but the knuckleballer has since experienced more soreness in the knee that cost him all of last season, and isn’t considered close to a return. Anything from Wright is a bonus the rest of the way.
29. Christian Vazquez (26): It’s been three weeks since Vazquez had pinky surgery that was projected to sideline him for six to eight weeks. Since his last appearance, the Sox are 14-4, and their pitchers are allowing roughly half a run less per game.
28. Hector Velazquez (24): He’s 7-0 after an effective 13th inning earned him a win Monday night, and he continues to be solid in long-inning situations.
27. Brandon Workman (20): The righty gave up three hits and a homer on July 22, throwing 23 pitches (his most in more than a month), then was summoned to work the eighth inning the next day. He allowed another homer, and two more runs, and now he’s back in Pawtucket. Before those 36 hours he’d given up three runs and one blast in 16.2 innings at the big-league level, but his demotion would seem to diminish the chance that one of 2013’s late-inning horses could yet reprise that role in 2018.
26. Tyler Thornburg (25): Monday signified the righty reliever’s fifth straight scoreless outing. He’s got a strikeout in each, without surrendering a walk, and has surrendered just a single hit in 4.1 frames. Could Thornburg emerge as the bullpen help the Sox seemingly need?
25: Drew Pomeranz (22): The potential exists for Pomeranz to be a major piece of Boston’s postseason plans, whether that’s in a starting role or as a lefty out of the bullpen – but there’s a lot of work to be done if he’s going to travel the bridge from a 6.91 ERA to those types of responsibilities.
24: Brian Johnson (23): The lefty’s ERA as a starter is 1.80, with his average outing featuring five innings, one run, and four strikeouts. He’s constantly working around baserunners, but, with lefties hitting just .210 against him, Johnson continues making a case he belongs in Boston’s plans down the stretch.
23. Rafael Devers (14): The second half was off to a good start for the third baseman, who crushed a game-tying homer in the ninth inning last Friday before pulling up lame while running the bases on Saturday. When he returns, it will be interesting to see how the Kinsler injury impacts Devers’s playing time, particularly if Nunez thrives at the hot corner in the interim.
22. Eduardo Nunez (19): Defense has been a struggle at second base, and Nunez hasn’t been the same dynamic offensive threat he was a year ago, either. However, with Devers on the DL and Kinsler taking over everyday duties at second base, Nunez could have a chance to find consistency at a position that appears to be more comfortable, and with Kinsler aboard some of the offensive pressure comes off of him, too.
21. Ryan Brasier (Not ranked last week): There were a couple of important developments for Brasier in the past week. First, when a roster spot was needed, Workman was the reliever who was sent down. Then, with a two-run lead in the seventh inning, Brasier got the call from Cora. He allowed two hits and his first run at the big-league level this season, but both indicate the manager is at least intrigued by the possibility of the right-hander being a late-inning answer out of the bullpen.
20. Joe Kelly (11): Since taking a 1.73 ERA into June he’s posted an 8.83, his 17.1 innings of work resulting in 17 earned runs. His walks (14) are essentially as frequent as his strikeouts (15) in that stretch, which is an unreliable ratio for a reliever once counted on to get outs in big spots.
19. Brock Holt (17): Even after a couple of doubles on Monday night, Holt was hitting just .233 with a .283 slugging percentage and .617 OPS for July. That slip coinciding with more regular opportunities for him, Dombrowski noted that among the benefits of adding Kinsler was sliding Holt back into more of a utility role.
18. Heath Hembree (18): Four of the last six times Cora has summoned the righty it’s been with the Sox holding a one-run lead; the others have come with Boston ahead by three (in the eighth), and tied (in the 12th). Based on that, and his performance, it looks as though Hembree is behind only Matt Barnes and Craig Kimbrel in the bullpen pecking order – with Hembree the guy the manager trusts with runners on base and troubling brewing.
17. Blake Swihart (21): He extended his hitting streak to 10 games with Monday’s walk-off double, a day after acquitting himself well at third base. Since the All-Star break he’s posted a 1.233 OPS, albeit in just four starts and five games. The Sox have committed all season to keeping him on the roster when his role wasn’t obvious – and now the time may be right to see if he can really help on a more regular basis.
16. Nathan Eovaldi (NR): As good as his Red Sox debut might’ve been, don’t overreact to that one start. Look at what he’s done in his last six appearances, instead: Since June 26, Eovaldi has a 2.86 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP, and that stretch even includes one stinker in which he was tagged for eight runs and nine hits in 2.2 innings. If he can continue to throw quality strikes, and stay healthy, he has a chance to be a legitimate factor.
15. Eduardo Rodriguez (10): The lefty’s ankle rehab has progressed to running on a treadmill, and reporters spotted him playing catch without his walking boot. He hasn’t resumed baseball activities, but if Rodriguez can return and start getting ramped up by the start of September, he should be ready to take a spot in the October rotation.
14. Ian Kinsler (NR): His prime may be in the past, but at 36 his post-break surge shows he still boasts the ability to hit the ball out of the park and to play above-average defense. Those were two shortcomings of Boston’s existing options at second base, so acquiring Kinsler for a nominal pair of prospects is a no-brainer, especially given that the Angels are reportedly paying half his remaining salary. It’s a better option, too, than hoping Brandon Phillips could show himself viable at Triple-A.
13. Mitch Moreland (9): “Mitchy Two Bags” hasn’t doubled since June 28, and has homered only once during that span. He entered the final day of the month hitting .200 for July, and has recently experienced some knee soreness. After an All-Star worthy first half, things are trending in the wrong direction for Moreland.
12. Steve Pearce (12): With Moreland fading, Pearce becomes even more important – but he has had trouble getting restarted since the break, as well. He enters Tuesday with a hit and a walk in his past 13 plate appearances.
11. Sandy Leon (15): The catcher has been a waste offensively of late, starting the second half with a 2-for-24 spell, and taking a monthly average of .159 into the final night of July. However, Leon’s primary function is as a receiver, and the Sox’ 3.37 staff ERA for July entered Tuesday as easily the best in the American League (Oakland was second at 4.00). The catcher deserves some credit.
10. Jackie Bradley Jr. (16): Bradley’s offensive production reached a low point on May 19, though over the 57 games that followed he posted a .762 OPS – which is 29 points higher than the American League average of .733. Add in breathtaking catches like the one he added to an expanding highlight reel on the warning track Sunday and for two months Bradley has been a positive piece of the puzzle.
9. Rick Porcello (8): The righty has settled in to the role of a classic third starter-type. His ERA is 4.03, he’s good for six or seven innings almost every night, when he keeps the ball in the yard he gives his team a chance to win, and occasionally he mixes in a gem. The Sox will take it.
8. David Price (13): With eight innings of one-run ball Monday night, Price’s ERA dropped to 2.21 in the 10 starts he hasn’t been tagged for a home run. In the 11 starts where he was bitten by the long ball, his ERA is 5.72. He’s kept the ball in the park during both of his outings since the All-Star break, and with those 14.1 excellent innings his season ERA is back below 4 (at 3.97).
7. Matt Barnes (7): Any talk of the Sox needing a power arm at the back of the bullpen is based on a hesitance to fully embrace the idea of trusting Barnes – because the numbers suggest he’s exactly what the Sox would be seeking. In 46 innings he’s given up only 26 hits, only one homer, and his rate of 13.9 strikeouts per nine innings ranks fifth in the AL, behind only the likes of Dellin Betances, Aroldis Chapman, Edwin Diaz, and Andrew Miller.
6. Xander Bogaerts (5): When he won his second Silver Slugger award in 2016, Bogaerts finished with 34 doubles, 21 homers, 89 RBI and an .802 OPS. He begins Tuesday on pace for 45 doubles, 24 homers, 96 RBI and an .852 OPS – while playing an above-average shortstop. At age 25, he’s right where the Red Sox hoped he would be: enjoying the best season of his career.
5. Craig Kimbrel (4): Since June 22, Kimbrel has appeared in 13 games – and only once has he escaped without allowing a baserunner. His ERA over that span is 1.97, though he’s walked eight and hit another batter in 14 innings, and last week blew his third save of the season. His numbers remain excellent overall, but if the Sox create space between themselves and the Yankees they might consider limiting the workload on their closer as October draws nearer.
4. Andrew Benintendi (6): Baseball-Reference offers a calculation called Offensive Win %, which offers a perspective on the most productive and valuable offensive players in the American League. Benintendi is seventh, lending further perspective to the notion that as good as Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez have been, the Sox’ lineup doesn’t have merely two elite hitters.
3. J.D. Martinez (3): Two-thirds of the way through his first season in Boston, Martinez is on pace to pile up 371 total bases – which is more than Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski or David Ortiz ever had in a single season. In club history, only Jimmie Foxx and Jim Rice (twice) have surpassed that total, with those seasons yielding two MVP awards and a fourth-place finish. Martinez, meanwhile, may not be the most valuable position player on his own team.
2. Mookie Betts (1): Friday night’s walk-off home run was another signature moment in his ongoing MVP campaign – and hardly an aberration in terms of Betts’ propensity in the big spots. Going into Tuesday, his OPS was highest (1.760) when hitting with two outs and runners in scoring position, was higher in high-leverage situations (1.263) than those with less pressure, and 19 of his 25 homers had come with the score within a run in either direction.
1. Chris Sale (2): He’s allowed just one run in his past 39 innings, working those six starts with an ERA of 0.23. He’s made it look easy, too, not needing to exceed 110 pitches in any outing despite racking up 67 strikeouts, and allowing baserunners to reach at a .206 clip. Now comes the point in the season where trouble has historically crept in for Sale – but the club has managed his workload carefully, and at this point there’s no indication that he’s about to hit a wall.
