Red Sox Rankings: Top 5 Surprises of 2016 Season
You can’t predict baseball is an old adage and this season has proven that point. There are many surprises to choose from.
From injuries to surprising performances, the first two weeks of the 2016 has been full of unexpected developments. Fans always hope their players do well, maybe even want some of them to fail so their favorite can step in and try to do the job.
Let’s take a look at the top five surprises, though feel free to comment about something not on this list.
Next: 1. After two weeks, Steven Wright is the best starting pitcher
1. After two weeks of play, Steven Wright is the best starting pitcher
When Eduardo Rodriguez hurt his knee on February 29, the smart money was not on Steven Wright to take his place until Rodriguez could return some time in May to the rotation. A 2.66 Spring ERA by Wright sent phenom Henry Owens to Pawtucket to start the season. Facing one of the most fearsome lineups in baseball a week ago in Toronto, fans were likely thinking this decision was going to blow up in Manager John Farrell‘s face. One earned run allowed in 6.2 innings made people think twice about how they feel about Wright’s ability to retire major league hitters.
After the Red Sox decided to push Wright back to Sunday, a week between starts, it was to keep David Price on a more regular turn of pitching once every five days. Wright did it again to the Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon, allowing just two runs on six hits over six innings. In 12.2 innings on the season, Wright has allowed just three earned runs for a sparkling 2.13 ERA. So far, the Red Sox have not been able to get any runs for him, scoring a single run in the 12 innings he has been on the mound. Two starts is too soon to mark Wright as the guy they don’t get runs for, but that is not Wright’s fault. Though he is 0-2, that 2.13 ERA is less than half of Price’s 4.50 which is the next best for a starter on the team.
When Rodriguez is ready to re-enter the rotation, will Wright be the one to lose his spot after such effectiveness?
Next: 2. Sandoval has started one game at third base this season.
2. Sandoval has started one game at third base this season.
When the news broke that Travis Shaw was competing with Pablo Sandoval for the third baseman job in Spring Training, fans could scarcely have believed how this would turn out. Shaw won the third base job with his stellar hitting and fielding. Sandoval managed to lose that job, committing four errors and not hitting with much authority (.204/.231/.408. two homers and seven RBI in 52 plate appearances). The Panda said and did all the right things but they had a $19 million a year player sitting on the bench, that really couldn’t last could it?
It can, and has lasted. After playing one game over the first week and a half of the season, Sandoval came up with a shoulder injury that immediately landed him on the disabled list even before an exploratory MRI. Apparently he woke up with soreness that day. Yesterday it was revealed that Sandoval cannot be examined for another two weeks because of swelling. This was attributed to all the extra hitting he has done to keep himself ready when he is not playing every day.
The two week delay is troubling. It would be shocking if the Red Sox gave up on Sandoval and traded him away and paid part of his contract to get rid of him. Considering their moves this Spring and early season regarding payroll, it is not out of the realm of possibility Sandoval would be traded and that Travis Shaw will be the starting third baseman for the foreseeable future.
Next: 3. Rusney Castillo is in the minors
3. Rusney Castillo is in the minors
The Cuban-born Castillo should probably have sent a thank you note to his countryman, the White Sox’ highly successful and well-paid slugger Jose Abreu for his Castillo’s $72 million, seven year contract he signed in August of 2014. He should also thank ex-General Manager Ben Cherington for putting together a terrible team that needed a boost by signing a player in a splashy way to try to please its fan base. In his 40 plate appearance introduction to the majors that year, he posted a .333/.400/.528 batting line, slugging two homers and stealing three bases in ten games. Fans figured he would blossom in 2015 once he started playing a bunch of games.
After nagging injuries slowed him in 2015, in August he posted an encouraging .338/.369/.525 batting line with three homers. Once Jackie Bradley, Jr. started hitting last August, it appeared the Red Sox would be set for 2016 with Castillo in left field, Bradley Jr. in center and the blossoming Mookie Betts in right field. September was a regression for Castillo, though, as his August OPS of .894, plummeted to .489 in 110 plate appearances.
When the Red Sox signed outfielder Chris Young and brought veteran David Murphy into camp for insurance, perhaps Castillo felt the pressure. The Cuban signee hit just 183/.246/.200 over 65 plate appearances in the Spring and in the last 10 days of camp the left field job was given to Brock Holt. This was another big salary on the bench for the win-now 2016 Boston Red Sox. Fortunately, after one start in eight games, the Red Sox realized that Castillo needed to play so they sent him down to Pawtucket. This move made the release of David Murphy all the more puzzling.
Hopefully, Castillo will tear up AAA and show the Red Sox they should give him another opportunity at the big league level to really earn that $72 million.
Next: 4. Blake Swihart is replaced by Christian Vazquez
4. Blake Swihart is replaced by Christian Vazquez
When the Red Sox brought Swihart to the majors last season after Ryan Hanigan‘s injury on May 1, it was out of necessity. This season, perhaps for the same reason Swihart was sent back to the minors in the second week of the season. While the move might not be much of a surprise to some fans, the quickness with which it was done after the start of the season was something of a panic move. At least it appeared that way, but if you consider the win-now attitude around Fenway Park, it makes a lot of sense.
While A.J. Pierzynski was a solid hitting veteran signing at catcher, he was far from a defensive whiz in 2014. By the time the Red Sox made the move to cut ties with Pierzynski in late July, it was too late to salvage that season. Once Vazquez came up and everyone saw the effect he has on the opponent’s running game people realized the change should have been made sooner. He threw out 15 of 29 potential base stealers.
The surprise to this writer is that the team did not give Vazquez more time in the minors to play considering he is recovering from Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow. Good for the Red Sox that it has worked out thus far, the team has allowed just nine runs while Vazquez has been catching in his last three starts. Swihart’s last two starts, the pitchers gave up nine runs in each game. While the move itself was a surprise less than two weeks into the season (and six starts by Swihart), it was the right one.
Next: 5. Travis Shaw has the best average on the team
5. Travis Shaw has the best average on the team
The Red Sox win-now attitude that has permeated their recent decisionmaking has been the result of two years out of the playoffs, finishing in last place. At the end of last season, with the team reeling from its poor record and John Farrell’s cancer diagnosis, it was time to give young players a chance. Mike Napoli ($16M salary) was shipped off to the Texas Rangers and a big corner infielder named Travis Shaw was given a chance to show what he could do.
After hitting just five homers in 322 plate appearances at Pawtucket in 2015, Shaw socked 13 homers in 248 plate appearances playing mostly first base (five starts at third base). After the Hanley Ramirez outfield disaster last season, he was converted to first base for this season and has taken to it remarkably well. This seemed to leave Shaw without a position, but returning to that win-now philosophy, Shaw was given the third base job over the scuffling Sandoval at the end of Spring Training.
Not only is Shaw making all the plays at third base, committing no errors at third so far this season, he is tearing the cover off the ball in the middle of the Red Sox batting order. On the morning of April 19, Shaw had a batting line of .342/.432/.553 to lead the team in batting average. According to baseball-reference.com, Shaw is tied for second in the major leagues with a 1.1 WAR (wins against replacement) for the 2016 season, already matching his number for the 55 games played in 2015. While that batting average number is not sustainable (currently .455 BABIP, batting average on balls in play, last year it was .304), he has put up that slugging percentage while only hitting one homer so far this season.
Next: Pablo Sandoval diagnosis delayed
It is likely that Xander Bogaerts or Mookie Betts will end up leading the team in hitting by the end of the year, but Shaw’s performance so far shows he has a very bright future in the major leagues in whichever corner of the infield he plays.
Stay tuned to BoSoxInjection.com as next week we will take a look in the weekly Rankings article at the best players the Red Sox will face in the month of May.