Boston Red Sox players who can’t miss and did
By Rick McNair
Number Eight
Jackie Gutierrez – SS (1983-88)
MLB Stats: 356 G, 957 AB, .237/.262/.285, 4 HR, 63 RBI
Gutierrez, a right-handed hitter, had a decent introductory season with Boston in 1984 hitting .263 in 151 games, but had 31 errors. Excellent range, but blunders with the glove – just think of Xander Bogaerts in 2014. My perception was Jackie would have a long career as a utility player. Glove and arm killed that.
Number Seven
Mike Nagy – RHP (1969-74)
MLB Stats: 20-13 W/L, 87 G, 418.2 IP, 210 W, 170 K, 4.15 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 4.51 FIP
Nagy burst on the scene in spring training of 1969 with a huge jump from A league into the Boston rotation and a 12-2 record. Nagy finished second in the Rookie of The Year voting and looked like a potential force with a nasty sinker. More career walks than strikeouts gives a clue. Eerily similar to Don Schwall in 1961. I had him down for a future 20 game winner. Some arm issues didn’t help.
Number Six
Mike Garman – RHP (1969-78)
MLB Stats: 22-27 W/L, 303 G, 433.2 IP, 202 W, 213 K, 3.63 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 4.10 FIP
Twenty years old and beating the Yankees in your first start. That was Garman’s intro to MLB and it was impressive, but he never reached the potential that I thought he had. A recurring theme among pitchers is walks and Garman just walked too many. I thought Garman and Nagy would key the staff for a decade.
Number Five
Dick Pole – RHP (1973-78)
MLB Stats: 25-27 W/L, 122 G, 531 IP, 209 W, 239 K, 5.05 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 4.48 FIP
A successful and longtime pitching coach at the MLB level who never quite brought his early promise to the surface. Pole may have had complications from a horrendous line drive to his face that shattered his cheekbone. Maybe that derailed him? Appeared in game five of 1975 WS without getting an out.