Boston Red Sox: Top 10 memorable moments of 2016
By Sean Penney
Sandyman breaks out
Not a singular moment, per se; however, Sandy Leon‘s breakout year became one of the best stories of the season for the Red Sox.
The light-hitting backup catcher was known more for his defensive skills behind the dish. Leon entered the season with a .186 career average over 209 at-bats, including a .184/.238/.202 slash line in 41 games for Boston in 2015.
Not much could be expected given his track record, but when Boston’s depth at the catcher position became depleted by injury and ineffectiveness, Leon was given a shot. The 27-year old stunned the league by hitting a blistering .467 with a 1.062 OPS over sporadic playing time in June.
Unable to ignore this massive spike in production, the Red Sox turned the bulk of the catching duties over to Leon. His numbers did tail off with the increased workload, but he still hit well above .300 over the next two months. A September swoon spoiled a tremendous season, but there is a large enough sample size of top-notch productivity to suggest this improvement was no fluke.
While we shouldn’t expect Leon to turn into the next Mike Piazza at the plate, he’ll at least be given the opportunity to begin next season as the starting catcher to see if he can carry over this year’s success.