Ranking the Red Sox after their sweep of the Yankees
Heath Hembree makes a big jump.
COMMENTARY
The weekend began with the Red Sox looking to fortify their position atop the American League East, entering a quartet of head-to-head confrontations with a four-game lead over the Yankees in the loss column, and aiming to hold serve in the division if not make a loud statement of supremacy.
The weekend ended with Wally the Green Monster strutting in front of the dugout with a broom high in the Monday morning air.
With a walloping and a walk-off sandwiching a pair of masterful pitching performance, the Red Sox pulled off an emphatic sweep of their rivals that could well be a death-knell in the division race — and further certified Boston’s claim that it is the best team in baseball this season.
Not only are the Sox now ahead of the Yankees by 9.5 games in the East, they’re also up 8 games on the Astros for the best record in the AL. And as remarkable as a 78-33 record is in the aggregate, just as impressive has been the consistency.
They were best team in baseball over the season’s first month. And the season’s first half. They were, entering Monday, baseball’s best team over the last 10 games (8-2). Last 20 games (15-5). Last 30 games (24-6). They were also baseball’s best home team (42-15), its best against teams at or above .500 (31-20), and its best against losing teams (48-14), too.
With all that, the Sox have played themselves to the point the gap between themselves and their division’s worst team is so wide that Boston could — and likely will — eliminate the Orioles from contention by the end of their visit to Baltimore this weekend. At which point the Sox will still have 42 games to go.
October will be the ultimate arbiter for this club, but after this weekend there aren’t a lot of questions that can be asked regarding this Red Sox team anymore — including whether or not they’ll wear the AL East crown for a third consecutive year.
On to the power rankings:
30. Tony Renda (Not ranked last week): The player diving head-first into home plate in the 10th inning of Sunday’s game was Tony Renda, a utility man who was a second-round pick in 2012 and has torn it up in Portland and Pawtucket this season. It’s difficult to see him getting much of a chance with the Sox if they get healthier, though his promotion indicates he’s at this point ahead of ex-All-Star Brandon Phillips, currently at Triple-A, on the organizational depth chart.
29. Dan Butler (NR): The 31-year-old won’t likely be counted on too often while the Sox wait for Blake Swihart and Christian Vazquez, but the long-time minor-league catcher is at least familiar enough with the organization and its pitchers to serve a purpose in a pinch.
28. Hector Velazquez (28 last week): When the pitching staff is working effectively, Velazquez doesn’t get on the mound much — so it’s a credit to the rest of the Red Sox hurlers that the big righty hasn’t worked on improving his 2.57 ERA since the final night of July.
27. Brandon Workman (27): Back in the big leagues after being sent down, he entered Thursday’s 15-7 win over the Yankees with a six-run lead, and allowed just a solo homer over two innings. It was the third straight appearance in which he’s been scored upon, but he’s still yielded only 20 baserunners in 20.2 MLB innings this season.
26. Blake Swihart (17): His hamstring injury was ill-timed, not only because it left the Sox shorthanded behind the plate, but because Swihart was swinging the bat well. The expectation is that he won’t need more than the 10-day minimum before returning; the hope is that he hasn’t lost the momentum he’d built with a surge in opportunity.
25. Drew Pomeranz (25): The lefty is increasingly looking like he could be a nonfactor for the Sox this season. His ERA is 6.56, his velocity is down, and he’s walking too many (5.2 per nine innings) to project as a reliable bullpen option. He had success as a reliever earlier in his career, so it might be something Boston tries, but Pomeranz hasn’t exactly earned that opportunity through his performance.
24. Tyler Thornburg (26): The righty pitched around a pair of walks Sunday night to extend his scoreless appearance streak to six straight games. Over that span he’s faced 18 hitters, allowing only one hit in addition to those two walks, and in only one of those contests has the margin been more than three runs in either direction when he was summoned.
23. Brock Holt (19): As has been the case in other seasons, Holt seems to have hit a skid around the same time his role has increased. In 12 games since the All-Star break he’s 4-for-34, and his only two extra-base hits came in the same tilt. His OPS is .372 in that span, and he made his first error of the season over the weekend. The Sox will be better when he can slide back into his super-sub role.
22. Ryan Brasier (21): Dave Dombrowski put confidence in Brasier, among others, by saying that he wasn’t sure the bullpen offerings available at the trade deadline were a significant upgrade on what the Sox had in-house. And, to his credit, Brasier has made good on that faith by giving up just two runs and seven hits in 12.2 innings as he continues moving toward a more prominent position in the pen.
21. Rafael Devers (23): He has had some big hits, and provides some pop in the latter part of the lineup. But it will be interesting to see if Devers’s role changes when he returns from a hamstring injury later this week. His defense remains something of a liability, and when Ian Kinsler returns the Sox could conceivably have Eduardo Nunez and Brock Holt as hot-corner options as well.
20. Joe Kelly (20): The eighth inning of a 15-7 game isn’t where Kelly would’ve been projected to find work while he was dominating back in May, but a fourth straight scoreless appearance represented another building block as he builds toward regaining his status in the back of the Sox’ bullpen.
19. Eduardo Nunez (22): It’s a much smaller sample size, though while Nunez is rated as a negative defender at second base, as a third sacker he’s actually played like a positive. Over the past four weeks he’s hit .292 with a .700 OPS, which is an encouraging sign if the club envisions Nunez competing with Devers for time at third.
18. Brian Johnson (24): After limiting him to a max of 84 pitches in his previous four starts, Johnson was rewarded for fighting through some early issues to get to 104 pitches and five innings against the Yankees on Thursday. That allowed him to get a win to go with his 11 strikeouts, and improved the team to 4-2 in his starts this season.
17. Mitch Moreland (13): He’s 7-for-39 (.179) with a couple of walks since his trip to the All-Star game in Washington, but he did slug his second homer since June 24 to jumpstart the Sox in Saturday’s win over the Yankees. Moreland hit .186 in July. Last year he hit .145 for that month, but followed it up with a .342 average in the best August of his career. Can he repeat that rebound this year?
16. Eduardo Rodriguez (15): The lefty has been aggressive in attempting to get back from injury, and that work has already brought him to the bullpen. The team has yet to announce plans for his next steps, but if he can ready himself for the big leagues by Labor Day he should be in the mix to start Game 2 of a playoff series.
15. Jackie Bradley Jr. (10): The center fielder deserves credit for running hard on a ground ball to third late in Sunday’s game, because when it bounced out of the first baseman’s glove Bradley was able to come all the way around from second and score without a play. Had he been slow, or stopped at third, extending the game would’ve been up to Moreland — who subsequently struck out, rendering him 0-for-5 on the night and 0-for-7 (with four strikeouts) lifetime against Aroldis Chapman.
14. Nathan Eovaldi (16): In two starts with the Red Sox, Eovaldi has faced 50 hitters. Eight have reached base, and three of those were eliminated via double plays. He’s given up a lone double in each start, and completed his 15 scoreless innings in an average of 11.7 pitches per frame. Friday night he induced five popups to the infield, and according to the game score calculation that night equaled the fourth-best start of the season for the Sox. Meanwhile, Jalen Beeks has surrendered 10 earned runs through his first two appearances with Tampa Bay.
13. Sandy Leon (11): The lone survivor among Boston’s three-headed catcher combination also reached base in the seventh, ninth, and 10th innings on Sunday night, making his bat (and batting eye) a key part of the comeback. He walked with attitude in the seventh, took three close heaters just off the plate in the ninth, then started the fun in the 10th with a two-out single to center.
12. Ian Kinsler (14): It took Kinsler less than three full games to show his potential impact, collecting four hits, a couple of RBI, a pair of stolen bases, and two sensational defensive plays as an introduction to Boston. He is currently among those healing a hamstring, though he could be back by the end of the Sox’ upcoming road trip.
11. Heath Hembree (18): The righty’s emerging role as the Red Sox’ go-to arm with men on base and trouble brewing got a high-profile test on Sunday night – and Hembree stumbled this time. Yes, his efforts were upset when a potential double-play ball instead cost Boston a couple of runs when Xander Bogaerts booted it, but before that Hembree walked a batter who was attempting to give himself up with a bunt, then he allowed Giancarlo Stanton a roped single to left that furthered the damage. It’s hardly cause for Cora to run from him in those spots, so long as it proves to be more of a hiccup than a harbinger.
10. Steve Pearce (12): He was five for his previous 25 when he stepped to the plate in the third inning last Thursday and swung himself into Red Sox lore. With three homers that night, and another the next, Pearce tilted a pivotal series by twice giving the Red Sox leads they wouldn’t relinquish — and probably took more playing time from Moreland in the process.
9. Rick Porcello (9): After Friday night’s complete-game one-hitter, he’s the owner of a 2.53 ERA and 0.656 WHIP against the Yankees this season. His 2018 resume also shows a performance in which he was charged with two runs and five hits while pitching into the seventh inning at Houston. The Sox’ best start of the season only affirmed that Porcello is one the Sox will lean on in October.
8. David Price (8): His struggles against the Yankees have been well-documented, so give the lefty credit for grinding his way into the seventh inning Sunday night. Things could’ve slipped away from him when he loaded the bases in the first, but he worked out of danger, and turned things over to the bullpen with a 1-0 lead. He was ultimately charged with a couple of runs, but confidence may be building in a starter whose ERA is 3.26 against everybody from outside the Bronx.
7. Xander Bogaerts (6): It’s been a struggle lately for Bogaerts, who’s hitting .204 with a .631 OPS since his walk-off grand slam on July 14. He’s bopped just one homer with three RBI, and Sunday his reliable defense faltered in a fashion that cost the Sox in a key spot. He’s enjoyed a solid, consistent season — but after seeing his bat sapped by a hand injury last season, Boston will be looking for signs that the fastball he took off the hand last week will not be a lingering concern.
6. Matt Barnes (7): He is the player who may hold the verdict of Dombrowski’s decision not to add bullpen help at the trade deadline, and the fate of this Red Sox season, in his hands. If Barnes continues to be the caliber of reliever who has a 2.25 ERA and 1.10 WHIP while averaging 14.1 strikeouts per nine innings, he could factor prominently in a long postseason run. If he returns to forms of previous seasons, though, Boston could have a giant eighth-inning hole to fill.
5. Craig Kimbrel (5): The closer has worked just once since July 29, and it was an adventure. Despite entering with a 4-0 lead, two hits and two walks brought the go-ahead run to the plate Saturday before he prompted a lazy flyout. Kimbrel has been his best this season (.103 batting average and .405 OPS against him) when working on the second of back-to-back days, but his recent respite could help keep fresh a righty that was on pace to make his most appearances in seven years.
4. Andrew Benintendi (4): The left fielder had a pair of three-hit games in the Yankees series, driving in three runs on Thursday night, then the walk-off winner in the finale. His 40 multi-hit games rank as the 6th-most in the big leagues this season, and he’s had a hit in his last dozen games against New York.
3. Chris Sale (1): He won’t start in Toronto, which was the initial hope, but the Sox say Sale is still lined up to return in Baltimore this coming weekend. That would enable him to skip an interleague series in Philadelphia, which makes sense. If he’s not on the mound by next Monday, though, it might be time to start wondering if the inflammation in his left shoulder is something more than mild.
2. J.D. Martinez (3): The leader in home runs (33) and RBI (93) ranks fourth in batting average (.324) — otherwise he would be leading the majors, not just the AL, in all three Triple Crown categories. Add that to the work he’s been credited with doing behind the scenes in helping his teammates with their plate approaches, and Martinez’s impact on the lineup has been worth way more than his $23.75 million salary.
1. Mookie Betts (1): Per the Baseball-Reference calculation, Betts has been 7.1 wins above replacement-level this season, bringing him to 31.4 for a career that’s in its fourth full major-league season. According to the site, the average hall-of-fame right fielder totals 42.9 WAR in the seven best seasons of his career. That suggests Betts could be on a path to Cooperstown. Potentially after he wins the 2018 AL MVP award.
