Red Sox: Three up, three down from the month of June
We’re nearing the trade deadline and the mid-way point of the season. It’s time for contenders like the Red Sox to take stock of what they have.
As the calendar once again turns, this time from June to July, it’s time to take a look at those members of the Boston Red Sox who’ve stood out from their peers, either for good or for ill. As we draw ever nearer to the All-Star Break, and therefore to the trade deadline, the Red Sox front office will intensify its scrutiny of the current roster.
Those who wind up on management’s naughty list by the time Baseball Christmas rolls around may find themselves re-gifted to other teams. Others, though disappointing, will remain. There’s always hope that they’ll one day live up to their enormous value.
Some players, of course, have made themselves untouchable. The likes of Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Chris Sale, and Craig Kimbrel will obviously remain right where they are. Some have more recently joined that group and though they don’t enjoy the same level of job security. They should consider themselves valued contributors.
The name of the game is October, and it’s all about convincing those in charge that you’ll be of use when that most sacred month finally arrives. So, with that in mind, let’s take a moment to examine who’s pushed themselves further into keeper territory, and who has left many wondering exactly how useful they actually are.
Up: Brock Holt
Brock Holt started off the season with many wondering why he was still on the major league roster. Fans, myself included, wanted to see Tu-Wei Lin or one of the other fan-favorite prospects we felt would contribute more off the bench. We ignored Holt’s strong past performances. We poo-poo’d his propensity for clutch hits. And we yawned at his versatility.
We were all very, very wrong. Wildly so. Holt has been invaluable for most of the season. His versatility, and strong defense at each of his positions has helped the Red Sox weather injuries to Dustin Pedroia and Betts, and the comparatively poor defense of Eduardo Nunez.
Yet, Holt has been much more than a warm body with a glove. Holt is hitting .294 on the season, and finished with a solid .276 average for the month of June. He collected 10 of his 19 RBI last month and perhaps most importantly continued getting on base at a strong clip. His .358 June OBP served as an encore to a .375 number, which itself followed up a .392 April OBP. He’s been making the most of his limited plate appearances, even when he doesn’t get a hit. In doing so he is giving the rest of the lineup more RBI chances.
We were certainly far too harsh on Holt, a career .269 hitter, this offseason. An abysmal 2017 was nothing more than an anomaly. His .200 batting average fell 55 points below his second-worst season since 2013. His OBP and slugging percentage were both similarly unusually depressed. It should have been more surprising if Holt had continued his poor form into 2018 rather than return to being the valuable bench piece he has, more or less, always been.
Up: Rafael Devers
Rafael Devers, on the downside of this list just last month, has turned things around in a big way. In May, Devers recorded an anemic .212 batting average and a disheartening .672 OPS. Though his raw talent remained undeniable, his adjustment to the big leagues was, at times, painful to watch.
In June, Devers proved the organization was right to have patience. His five home runs on the month matched his output from May, but he raised his RBI total from seven to 18. He finished June with an .815 OPS and a .284 batting average, and capped the month with a historic performance. On the 30th facing the New York Yankees, Devers became the youngest player since at least 1908 to go 5-5 with a grand slam.
He also drastically improved his fielding in June. He still has a miscue every now and then, but routine plays finally started to look routine for him, and he had some truly outstanding moments at the hot corner. One month does not make a career, of course, but June gave us a glimpse of what Devers might one day be. The future is bright for the young slugger.
Up: Matt Barnes
Brandon Workman and his 0.75 ERA could easily have been in this spot, and he certainly deserves recognition for the outstanding work he turned in over the month of June, but we need to recognize another reliever who has been just as good over a longer period of time. Matt Barnes, once thought of as a future member of the Red Sox starting rotation, has reinvented himself as a dominant reliever and key member of the bullpen.
On the year, Barnes owns a 2.45 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP, and 50 strikeouts. Those numbers are mostly the result of his outings in May and June, but he’s been pretty darn good all year long. Two months ago, he really broke out his good stuff. He gave up just three runs in 12.2 innings, struck out 17 while walking just four. He didn’t miss a beat as June rolled around.
Last month, he made 11 appearances and allowed runs in just two of them. He pitched 11.2 innings, 9.2 of which were scoreless. Barnes also tallied 16 more strikeouts, giving him a total of 33 over the past two months and his past 34.1 innings. He should be celebrated for his consistency and reliability, two qualities that will prove invaluable in the high-pressure playoff innings he’s sure to see.
Down: David Price
First things first: David Price has mostly pitched very well this season, and deserves recognition for that. Second, there is no chance at all he gets moved at the trade deadline. None. Zip. Nil.
With that said, his placement on the downside of this list is more than well-earned. Yes, it’s based on one start, and one that technically came in July and not June. Yet it was an all-important outing for him, and I, therefore, feel I must break the rules. Like it or not, he had something to prove, not only to the fans but to himself. I am, of course, referring to his July 1 start against the Yankees.
Price has, deservedly or not, garnered an unfortunate reputation for not performing against the one team you absolutely have to perform against if you play for the Red Sox. We all remember that he could not make his previous start against New York because of an injury. Fair or not, due to said unfortunate reputation, many wondered if the injury was real and if he was simply looking to avoid the Yankees. That he was able to make his next start, and pitch well, only added fuel to the fire.
Coming off an admittedly strong June, Price needed to continue his good work against New York. He needed to prove to fans, and perhaps even more to himself, that he could face the Sox bitter rivals and come out on top. Unfortunately he failed that test miserably, and in doing certainly provided his critics with more ammo. His reputation for crumbling in big games and every game against New York is big, remains solidly intact. Dominant performance out of the bullpen in last year’s playoffs notwithstanding, Price still needs to show he can start a game when the pressure is on and deliver like he does in most other starts. Fair or not, that’s a standard he’s yet to reach.
Down: Joe Kelly
There is little chance Joe Kelly gets moved at the deadline, though it would be less surprising than seen seeing Price traded. However, Kelly has done nothing but earn his spot on this list for over a month now.
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Jim Buchanan, as he’s otherwise known, became a fan favorite over the course of 2017 and the first few months of 2018 both for his dominant pitching and for his domination of one Tyler Austin. Whereas Price seems to roll over against New York, Kelly brings the fire that Red Sox fans love to see against their bitter rivals.
Unfortunately, Kelly has been nothing short of awful since allowing two home runs on June 1; he hadn’t given up a long ball this season until that appearance. He tossed 8.2 innings in June and allowed eight runs. His strikeout numbers fell dramatically, from 17 in May to just six in June, and he surrendered two more walks in 5.2 fewer innings.
It should be said that Kelly still had more good outings than bad ones. He made six scoreless appearances, totaling 5.2 scoreless innings, and five in which he allowed a run. His velocity hasn’t dropped in any significant way, so we can probably rule out injury. He’s been used a lot this season, due in large part to his general reliability, so we’re probably just looking at a mild case of mid-season fatigue. He’s already thrown 35.1 innings this season, after working 58 across all of 2017. Tyler Thornburg should be ready soon and should take a good deal of the load and the pressure off of his shoulders. The Red Sox will need Kelly at his best when October rolls around.
Down: Jackie Bradley Jr.
This, unfortunately, has been a long time coming. Honestly, Jackie Bradley Jr. could have been on this list at any point in 2018. He hit a bleak .213 for April and a dismal .203 for May. Somehow, unbelievably yet predictably, he found a new low in June.
Though Jackie did manage four home runs, his batting average for June sank to a new low of .202, while his OBP plummeted to .284. Even his normally stellar defense abandoned him for stretches. When a player’s defense is the justification for keeping him in the lineup, it’s hard to watch that quality vanish, even for short periods of time.
JBJ is probably still the best outfielder in baseball defensively and has some ability at the plate. We saw that in 2016 and at various points throughout his career, and have even seen brief glimpses of it this year.
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At this point, however, even his glove might not be enough to justify keeping his bat in the lineup. The Red Sox have needs; the bullpen could do with some bolstering and the catcher position might warrant an upgrade. JBJ, for all his struggles, still has a good deal of value and could help land some of those pieces. It’s never easy to say a team should trade a player with such rare ability, but it’s getting to that point for Jackie. If he can’t find a way to turn things around quickly, he might be wearing a different uniform in August.