Red Sox Strut: Jackie Bradley heats up, Drew Pomeranz in a groove
The weekly article series where we examine two players who deserve to strut their stuff for the Boston Red Sox. This week – Jackie Bradley, Drew Pomeranz.
If you want to fully understand what the Red Sox Strut is, it means to have reason to walk with a confident, proud air around you. Some people mistake it for vanity, arrogance, or being pompous. This incorrect assumption is not what we mean. The Strut is about knowing that your deeds showed off your amazing skills to the baseball-loving public.
The Boston Red Sox have won four of their last six games, including splitting a four game series in Baltimore against the Orioles.
Any bad blood from the previous encounters between these fierce division rivals didn’t seem to carry over into this weekend series. No batters were beaned by pitchers with revenge on their minds, so that’s good news. Better news is that the split kept Boston ahead of Baltimore in the standings by a game and a half. The Red Sox remain two games behind the division leading New York Yankees, who are treading water with five wins in their last ten games.
Overall it was a solid week for the Red Sox with several noteworthy performances, although only two players get to Strut.
Position Player Candidates
Sam Travis continued the impressive start to his big league career by going 5-for-9 (.556) at the plate last week. He picked up the first two doubles of his career but is still seeking his first RBI. He also struck out three times, giving him four K’s in his first 14 career at-bats. His lofty batting average is bound to come crashing down if his strikeout rate keeps flirting with the 30 percent mark.
More from Red Sox News
- Bizarre trade deadline comes back to haunt Red Sox after Nathan Eovaldi departure
- Red Sox’ Moneyball-style offseason continues with Corey Kluber contract
- Rich Hill’s Red Sox departure puts him within striking distance of unique MLB record
- Red Sox offseason takes another nasty hit with Nathan Eovaldi departure
- Why Red Sox fans should be rooting for Carlos Correa’s Mets deal to go through
Is the return of Pablo Sandoval actually a good thing for the Red Sox? He picked up three hits and drove in the winning run in his first game back from the disabled list and added a home run two days later. He’s hitting .313 with a .915 OPS in the five games since he’s been back. His atrocious defense nearly cost them Sunday’s game but as long as he keeps hitting then he’ll have a spot in the lineup against right-handed pitching.
Can we still call it a good week for Xander Bogaerts even though going 9-for-28 (.321) actually lowered his season average to .330? I’m going to say yes, considering he’s still tied for fourth in the batting title race. Bogaerts also hit his second home run of the season, so perhaps his power is finally coming around.
Another week goes by with no signs of Christian Vazquez cooling off. After going 5-for-16 last week he’s now hitting .344 for the season. How is he doing it? His average is inflated by an unsustainable .423 BABIP that is over 100 points above his career average and league average. He also rarely walks, so his OBP will suffer when his average inevitably dips. At least he’s not striking out a ton, which may indicate his average won’t plummet too much. His career-low 2.9% walk rate is less than half of his career average, although this is also a sign that he’s being more aggressive at the plate. So far that seems to be working for him.
Position Player who gets to Strut
Don’t look now but Jackie Bradley, Jr. is heating up! The maddeningly inconsistent outfielder drifted through an extended slump that lasted over a month. It’s now safe to say he has busted out of that slump.
Bradley is riding a six-game hitting streak. Over the past week he’s hitting .364 with a 1.182 OPS, two home runs and 11 RBI. No other Red Sox hitter drove in more than five runs during that span, making Bradley the clear choice to Strut.
If you glance at his overall numbers you would assume Bradley is having a terrible season that makes last year’s All-Star selection seem like a fluke. Dig deeper and you’ll find there are some promising signs. His strikeout rate has decreased to a career best 20.8 percent, while his walk rate is up to a career-high 12.3 percent.
Bradley’s .233 batting average may convince some that he’s reverted to his early days of being an offensive liability. That’s simply not true. Bradley is the victim of a well below-average .253 BABIP and owns a .203 ISO that puts him slightly behind Mookie Betts for the team lead. Bradley is hitting the ball hard, the ball just hasn’t been falling in for hits.
At least until now. Bradley’s fortunes were bound to turn around and it seems they finally have. Factor in his elite defense and you still have a player capable of performing at an All-Star level.
Pitching Candidates
David Price is back in the rotation and made it through a couple of starts with his arm intact. That alone is something to Strut about. After mixed results in his debut, Price came back to toss seven innings on Saturday, limiting the Orioles to one run on three hits to earn his first win of the season. He’s now 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA and 0.67 WHIP. It took nearly two months for Price to join the rotation but it was worth the wait.
More from Red Sox News
- Bizarre trade deadline comes back to haunt Red Sox after Nathan Eovaldi departure
- Red Sox’ Moneyball-style offseason continues with Corey Kluber contract
- Rich Hill’s Red Sox departure puts him within striking distance of unique MLB record
- Red Sox offseason takes another nasty hit with Nathan Eovaldi departure
- Why Red Sox fans should be rooting for Carlos Correa’s Mets deal to go through
Heath Hembree delivered 3 1/3 shutout innings out of the bullpen and continues to be the team’s top choice to handle multiple innings in middle relief. He recorded at least four outs in both appearances last week, which he’s now done eight times this season. Hembree’s 3.58 ERA remains well above last year’s breakout season. However, his strikeout and walk rates have both improved. His biggest problem is that he allows far too many hits, which is no fluke given his track record.
The Red Sox bullpen had a great week, collectively making them a candidate. Every reliever used last week posted an ERA no higher than Craig Kimbrel‘s 2.45 while giving up one run or less. Except for Matt Barnes, who gave up two runs in three innings. If Bostons’ bullpen ever gets healthy then you have to wonder if Barnes is heading for mop-up duty.
Pitcher who gets to Strut
Fans continue to lament last year’s mid-season deal that brought Drew Pomeranz to town but the lefty is starting to round into form.
Pomeranz has strung together consecutive quality starts for the first time this season. He followed up an 11 strikeout gem against Texas with his longest outing of the season – a seven inning effort in which he limited the Chicago White Sox to one run on seven hits. He struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter for the first time all year.
His overall numbers are inflated by a couple of rough outings but the good outweighs the bad. Pomearnz has allowed two runs or less in eight of his ten starts this season, including four straight. Failure to go deep into games prevented his ERA from dropping to a more palatable level. That hasn’t been an issue lately with Pomeranz pitching at least six innings in each of his last two starts.
Pomeranz owns an 11.29 K/9 that ranks third in the league among starting pitchers. He also has posted a solid 3.76 K/BB ratio that ranks 14th. If he keeps up those rates while continuing his recent trend of lasting at least six innings then he’ll be an excellent back of the rotation starter.
Next: Time for a Farrell exodus
The Red Sox need to be able to rely on Pomeranz with Eduardo Rodriguez on the disabled list and questionable rotation depth in the organization. Lately he’s proving up to the challenge. Let’s see if he can keep it going.