Position Player Candidates
Sandy Leon only appeared in three of the six games last week but he made the most of his playing time. The Sandyman went 5-for-8 (.625) with two doubles and a home run. His six RBI led the team last week despite playing in only half the games.
Rookie outfielder Andrew Benintendi is heating up, going 7-for-20 (.350) with a double, triple and a home run. Those hits didn’t all come in the same game, so he doesn’t get credit for hitting for the cycle, but it’s a solid week nonetheless. Five of the 10 home runs Benintendi has hit this season have come in June, a month where he’s hitting .307 in 21 games.
Xander Bogaerts added another home run, his third of the month and fifth of the season. He hit .333 last week while adding a pair of doubles and four RBI. Bogaerts produced three multi-hit performances last week, but an 0-for-4 day on Sunday dropped him into a tie for fifth in the batting title race.
Mitch Moreland tallied only four hits for a putrid .211 average last week. At least he made his hits count, with two of them clearing the fence for home runs. Both were solo shots that came in the weekend games that Boston lost to the Angels, but the homers from Moreland gave the team a chance to climb back into the game.