Red Sox Strut: Mitch Moreland catches fire, Craig Kimbrel throws fire
By Sean Penney
Position Player who gets to Strut
No hitter in the Red Sox lineup is hotter than Mitch Moreland right now. The first baseman went 8-for-18 (.444) with a 1.434 OPS last week. Moreland led the team over the last six games with two home runs and seven RBI.
Moreland also added a pair of doubles. The Fox announcers for Saturday’s nationally televised game even dropped the Mitchy Two Bags nickname, which was certain to please Jared Carrabis. He’s no longer leading the league in doubles but Moreland still resides in the top-five in that category. His 18 doubles have already nearly matched last year’s total and he seems to be a lock to top his career-high of 27.
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The home runs haven’t been as plentiful, with the two he hit last week bringing his total to eight this season. However, both of those home runs proved meaningful. The first broke a fourth inning tie with the Yankees on Tuesday, with Moreland and Hanley Ramirez going back-to-back to give the Red Sox a lead they would not relinquish.
Moreland ignited a rally when he homered again on Friday against the Tigers to put Boston on the scoreboard. He also knocked in the tying run with a base hit in the eighth and was on base for Bradley’s game-winning homer later that inning.
Those two home runs put Moreland on pace to top 20 for the fourth time in the last five years. His current .279/.378/.485/.863 slash line would represent career highs in each category and his 1.3 WAR puts him more than halfway to reaching his career high with plenty of season left to play.