Boston Red Sox spring training worry list of players to watch

Spring training has begun for the Boston Red Sox and that means storylines of players with some question marks. I have my own watch list and what I am looking for in the spring games.

Spring training is starting up for the Boston Red Sox and with it comes the various questions marks of which may connect back to the previous season. This is the spring caution flag or the players who will get a bit more special attention to see just how they may perform in 2018.

Last season, the item of interest was Pablo Sandoval and Panda looked much improved after a lost season to surgical intervention with a spring slash of .338/.348/.677 and five home runs and 20 RBI.  We know how that turned out.

Steve Selsky made the roster out of spring training with an impressive slash of .356/.431/.689 and provided promising right-hand power with four home runs and 12 RBI. After a dismal start in April, hitting just .111, Selsky was gone to Pawtucket.  This season he is back as a Non-Roster Invitee.

So, the spring can promise a world of hope only to see it quickly crushed when it really counts. The sensation of camp can become a total bust just as Jackie Bradley did a few years back. Despite that, there are a few players I will watch with the idea that it will give an indication of just how 2018 may play out for them.

What’s not to like about Rafael Devers?  Well, for me it is just what Devers does in the field. Devers’ fielding competency has followed him through the system and questions regarding his ability became evident with Boston. The Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) of -3.5 may not appear that horrendous, but 14 errors in just 507.2 innings at third is unacceptable.

Devers is approaching Butch Hobson territory with errors and they come in all shapes and sizes from errant throws to kicking a routine grounder, but the youngster is also capable of making excellent plays and decisions. Devers has never avoided putting in the effort and this spring with more tutelage progress may be forthcoming. His glove work is on my watch list.

Where Devers will make his mark is with that thunderous bat and the lefty hitter whacked .400 against southpaws in a small sample in 2017.  Devers’ calling card will be the line drive. Expect home runs and extra base hits this spring and hopefully, it will segue into the regular season, but for me, the concentration will be on his glovework.

Was it the injury or is Xander Bogaerts or a player who simply has regressed and will continue to do so? The first order of business is defense and one particular metric stands out and that is Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). Last season Bogaerts was -11 and for his career, it is now -29 DRS. Couple that with a -1.5 UZR and a questionable Devers at third and Red Sox pitchers may wish to decrease their groundball percentages.

Bogaerts is adequate with his glove work, but adequate won’t cut it when you hit .273 with just 10 home runs. That is a significant drop from 2016 when Bogaerts won a Silver Slugger Award, became an All-Star and hit 21 home runs. Now just 25-years-old will Bogaerts finally show the power-hitting so many expected?

Bogaerts has admitted that he should have taken some down time to get healthy but attempted to play through his wrist injury. A second half that produced just a .235 average after a .303 first half. Bogaerts does have a history of statistically slipping as the season wears on, but this was one that combined low average with little power.

My eye on Bogaerts as with just about all observers will be his hitting and by hitting will power be there? If Bogaerts is not hitting his defense must step up and after four full seasons what you see is what you get defensively.

Eduardo Nunez was a signing that had to happen.  With Dustin Pedroia possibly unavailable into May the Red Sox needed the energetic Nunez as a fill in.  Last season, Nunez started 25 games at second with a -4 DRS and a -1.8 UZR. Forget a Gold Glove for the versatile Nunez, but he will make the plays, give speed and make up defensive shortcomings with his bat.

Nunez was a pleasant surprise when the Red Sox traded with the Giants for the soon to be a free agent. Nunez provided a much-needed offensive jolt with a Boston slash of .321/.353/.539 with another surprise being eight home runs and 27 RBI in just 38 games for the 30-year-old right-hand hitter. Nunez also sipped 24 bases in 31 attempts between Boston and the Giants. So, what is the worry?

Watching the gritty Nunez being carted off the field in trying to play through a damaged knee is the concern. Nunez game relies on quickness and speed – how will that be affected? The knee is “repaired” but being repaired and up to earlier standards is another issue.

Nunez is a dirt dog and showed his grit attempting to play through an injury – an injury that may have been a key ingredient of Nunez not getting a longer contract with Boston or elsewhere. If Nunez has lost some mobility then Boston may be taking a long look at Marco Hernandez, Tzu-Wei Lin, and Brock Holt.

And the next in the conga line of knee injuries is a 32-year-old right-handed knuckleballer, Steven Wright. The first issue facing Wright is a potential suspension to be meted out by baseball enforcement for a domestic dispute with his spouse. The question is not if, but for how long?

Wright was having an exceptional 2015 until he was put in harm’s way by manager John Farrell. Farrell confused Wright with Usain Bolt and placed him in the game as a pinch-runner. One shoulder injury later the season was slipping away for Wright.

In 2017 his knee gave out in April and that put the season for Wright quickly to bed. Is his knee healthy? Much of the Red Sox season may hinge on just that body hinge. Wright can be Tim Wakefield part deux with an ability to start and work any bullpen role. So, my concern will be just how his pitching mechanics respond to post-surgery training? Will Wright look comfortable tossing his mex of floaters, curves and mid-80s fastballs?