Boston Red Sox: Five biggest bright spots from 2020 season
By Sean Penney
Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr.
Jackie Bradley Jr. quietly put together one of the best performances of his career at the plate. He set a career-high with a .284 average and .364 OBP while boosting his OPS above the .800 mark for the first time since 2016.
Bradley has always been a streaky hitter so the truncated schedule this season may have helped since one hot streak can give a boost. He finished the year strong with a .326 average in September and he went 12-for-28 (.428) over his final seven games.
Naturally, he also continued his stellar defensive play by piling up a highlight reel’s worth of amazing catches in the outfield. Bradley ranked fifth among major league center fielders with 6 defensive runs saved and tied for second with three outfield assists.
Bradley will take this strong performance into free agency for the first time in his career. The Red Sox never appeared to make much of an effort in negotiating an extension so the belief is that they are prepared to let him go. It’s possible they simply want to give him the opportunity to test the market and he could come back on a cheap deal if he doesn’t find the money he’s expecting. However, we very well may have seen the last of Bradley in a Red Sox uniform.