Pablo Sandoval had high expectations coming into the season, but once again, underachieving is the main word to describe his performance. He had made it a goal to lose weight, which he did. He made it a goal to gain his starting position, which he partially did by default since we traded Travis Shaw for Tyler Thornburg this past offseason. We put all our eggs into the basket, and once again, that basket has been completely smashed.
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Sandoval is only batting .212 and only slugging .352. While his offense has regressed, so has his defense as well with both his Rtot and Rdrs, which stand for Total Zone Total Fielding Runs Above Average and Defensive Runs Saved Above Average.
To put it sweetly, Sandoval has been more than a disappointment. He is making the front office regret signing him for $90 million three years ago.
While he had a bounce back year last year, Hanley Ramirez has regressed back into the position he was in two seasons ago. Last year, he really proved a lot of people wrong that he could not play first base, but this year, even though he is not even playing in the field much, his offense has regressed.
As a designated hitter, he was supposed to provide some much needed pop, especially since David Ortiz retired. But he has done the complete opposite. He is only batting .241 and his slugging is incredibly low for a designated hitter, which is .406.
Next: Top 5 David Ortiz moments
I think it is safe to say that if it were not for the massive contracts that both Ramirez and Sandoval received, they would both on their way out of Boston and away from Yawkey Way.