Fact No. 41-50
41. The Red Sox brought in the right-handed bat of Chris Young to be a fourth outfielder, valued primarily for his production against lefties. Last year he mashed left-handed pitching to the tune of a .327 average and .972 OPS.
42. The starting outfield trio of Betts, Jackie Bradley and Rusney Castillo all hit over .300 against lefties last season. So did Holt, who is also capable of playing in the outfield.
43. One area that Blake Swihart struggled at the plate as a rookie was against lefties, who limited him to a .225 average. Meanwhile, veteran Ryan Hanigan hit .364 in 44 at-bats against left-handed pitching.
44. Betts, a converted infielder, was 7th among major league center fielders with 9 defensive runs saved last season.
45. This year Betts will be pushed over to right field to make way for Jackie Bradley becoming the primary center fielder. Bradley, a defensive wizard widely considered to be one of the top outfield gloves in the game, had 8 defensive runs saved last year despite playing almost half as many games as Betts.
46. Ortiz has blasted 30+ home runs and driven in 100+ RBI in each of the past three seasons.
47. Ortiz is now 40 years old as he enters the final season of his career. No hitter age 40 or older has hit 30 home runs or driven in 100 RBI in a season since Darrell Evans (34 HR, 90 RBI) in 1987.
48. Ortiz enters the season 27th on the all-time home run list with 503.
49. Of those 503 career home runs for Ortiz, 445 of them have come wearing a Red Sox uniform, giving him the third most in franchise history. Carl Yastrzemski hit 452 for the Red Sox, while Ted Williams set the bar high for the franchise with 521.
Next: Prediction: Vazquez will be starting catcher
50. The Red Sox have finished last in the AL East in three of the last four years, yet are primed to jump back into contention with a reloaded roster in 2016. Fine, that’s not a fact, but there is enough talent on this team to turn those dreams into a reality.