Red Sox Prospect Watch: The month of May begins
By Mike El-Far
Boston Red Sox
As mentioned earlier, Theo Epstein can be attributed to the current success of the Boston Red Sox. Epstein was the man who pulled off one of the best drafts in recent memory, the 2011 draft. Matt Barnes, Jackie Bradley, Henry Owens, Blake Swihart, and Travis Shaw were most of the highlights of that draft. The other highlight? Getting Mookie Betts in the 5th round.
After Epstein left Boston to go to the Chicago Cubs, he had his eye on a young, upstart pitcher named Felix Doubront. Ben Cherington found a valuable asset in the Cubs system, and the deal was done. Currently, this player is a top 10 prospect for the Red Sox, and is currently sporting a better batting average than Betts.
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That would be Marco Hernandez. Now, before I get into how great Hernandez has been, this is a disclaimer. Under no circumstances is Hernandez a better player than Betts. With that being said, Hernandez currently has the 3rd best average on the team (.291). Marco has done that while playing in only three fewer games than Betts.
With the injury to Pablo Sandoval, and Brock Holt also battling a case of vertigo, Marco seems to be in the right place at the right time. If Sandoval and Holt miss extended periods of time, and he keeps his offensive production, Hernandez could turn into the everyday third baseman for the rest of the year.
With that being said, Hernandez still has to improve. He has already struck out (14) almost as many times as he has gotten a hit (16). Also, he has not stolen a base, but has been caught stealing. These are minor flaws, but hopefully Hernandez can figure it out and be an important piece to this roster.