Jarrod Dyson isn’t going to hit the ball out of the ballpark too many times (only five all of last season) but he gives the Red Sox speed, athleticism, fielding and stolen bases. Those were the traits Boston thought they were getting with Rajai Davis when general manager Dave Dombrowski acquired the veteran late last season.
Davis failed to have much impact with the opportunities he was given, but Dyson, 33, is coming off a solid year for the Seattle Mariners hitting for .251 average with five homers and 30 RBI. Dyson also added 28 stolen bases. The speedy outfielder can provide the Red Sox the spark off the bench they thought Davis could be. The lefty slap hitter went 4-7 with a double and a stolen base at Fenway last season.
The stat that should pop out at the Red Sox is 28 stolen bases. Boston was ranked sixth in Major League Baseball last year with 106 stolen bases, and adding about 30 more could make this team deadly on the base paths.
Sure, Dyson won’t fix Boston’s power problem, but stealing bases can produce more scoring opportunities and runs — something the Red Sox can counter the Bronx Bombers with. But it will take some negotiating from Dombrowski to convince Dyson of a fourth outfielder role. He nearly had 400 plate appearances last year and hasn’t had less than 300 since 2015.