Boston Red Sox: 4 Positive takeaways from the 2021 season

Positive takeaways from the 2021 Boston Red Sox season

While the Boston Red Sox fell short of their ultimate goal of winning the World Series, the 2021 season was still a success.

Last Friday, the Red Sox season came to an end. A disappointment for sure for many Red Sox fans. Rightfully so as it seemed this team was capable of more. Like many Red Sox fans, as I watched Game One of the World Series between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros, I couldn’t help but think that had a couple of bounces, as well as a couple of calls, gone differently, the Red Sox would’ve been playing in that game.

However, while the team came up short in the American League Championship Series against the Astros, this year was objectively a successful one. Boston surprised many by contending this season and made many important strides in ensuring this success continues into the future as well.

Here we will discuss four positive takeaways from this Red Sox season.

The Red Sox exceeded their low expectations

Last year’s season was a disaster. The Sox finished with an abysmal record of 24-36 over 60 games. Their winning percentage of .400 was the club’s lowest since they finished the year with a .383 in 1965.

To put these numbers into context, their winning percentage last season was worse than it was in 2012, one of the most infamous seasons in recent memory.  Unlike the 2012 Red Sox, last year’s team did not have the excuses of a universally hated manager in Bobby Valentine, David Ortiz missing most of the second half of the season due to a torn Achilles, or one of their starters from their rotation, Josh Beckett, and two of their everyday position players, Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, being sent away as part of a blockbuster trade with a month and half left to go in the season. They were just really bad.

Needless to say, the expectations were low from many heading into this season. Prior to the season, most analysts had the Red Sox projected for around 80 wins. Certainly an improvement from 2020, where had they played a full 162 games with that same winning percentage they would have finished with around 65 wins, but certainly not enough to make the postseason.

The attitude heading into this season was that while this team would be better than last year and would be respectable, they were still a rebuilding team and probably another year or two away from being playoff contenders.

However, this team shocked everyone, going 92-70 in the regular season and securing home field advantage in the Wild Card game. They did this despite a massive COVID-19 outbreak that occurred in September that could’ve easily derailed their season.

Once they got into the postseason they continued to defy expectations. Despite having home field advantage, most had chosen the Yankees to win the Wild Card game. The Red Sox not only beat the Yankees, they embarrassed them, winning the game 6-2 and knocking their ace Gerrit Cole out in the 3rd inning.

Following their Wild Card game victory, the Sox were once again the underdogs. Everyone, including most Red Sox fans, were expecting the Rays to finish them off in the ALDS, especially following their win in Game One of the series. But once again, the Sox used this as motivation, winning the next three games in a row to win the series. Throughout the season this team proved those who doubted them wrong, may they continue to do that next season.

Hunter Renfroe became a key contributor to the Red Sox

Our next three slides have one thing in common. They are all about relatively young, cost-effective players acquired by Chaim Bloom this past offseason who emerged as major contributors this season and will be back for at least one more season.

Let’s start with Hunter Renfroe, who signed a very team-friendly one-year, $3.1 million contract.

Renfroe was a very productive player for the San Diego Padres, hitting for a .788 OPS and 89 home runs between 2016 and 2019. However he struggled with the Rays in 2020, slashing .156/.259/.501 leading to his release from the Rays and his low paying contract with the Red Sox.

Due to this, expectations were not high for Renfroe heading into 2020. He was expected to serve as an everyday outfielder until Jarren Duran received his call-up to the big leagues and then would transition to a platoon role.

Renfroe would soon smash those expectations in 2021. After a slow start in April where he slashed .167/.235/.250 with 1 home run, Renfroe would emerge to have a career year at the plate posting a career high .816 OPS and belting 31 home runs.

In addition to his bat, Renfroe would also add value in the field, leading the Major leagues in outfield assists. According to baseball reference, Renfroe was the 8th most valuable member of the 2021 Red Sox, sporting a WAR of 2.4. And despite what you might have heard from Dave O’Brien on the NESN broadcast repeatedly throughout the season, Renfroe is not a free agent following the 2021 season, he has two more years of team control.

The Red Sox believed Kike Hernandez had untapped potential

Kike Hernandez, after signing a two-year, $14 million contract with the Red Sox, also greatly exceeded expectations in 2021.

In 2020, the Red Sox received the worst production from second basemen offensively in all of the majors. To rectify this they brought in Hernandez to give them a dependable option at second base while also occasionally filling in at center field.

Some questioned this move at the time, noting that for most of his time with the Dodgers Hernandez had served as a platoon option against left-handed pitching as he had struggled against righties throughout his career. The Red Sox argued that Hernandez’s best season with the Dodgers came in 2019 when he had the most at bats of any season in his career. The Sox believed that all Hernandez needed was the opportunity to play everyday and he would tap into that potential he had shown in 2019.

While Hernandez would not hold down the second base position, as he would move to center field early on in the season, he would have a year to remember at the plate. Like Renfroe, Hernandez got off to a slow start hitting only for a .683 OPS through June 1st, but from there he would kick it into another gear, hitting for a .825 OPS and 15 home runs the rest of the way. According to baseball reference Hernandez was tied with Xander Bogaerts for being the most valuable player on the 2021 Red Sox with 4.9 WAR.

Hernandez has one year remaining with the Red Sox, giving Duran another year to develop in Worcester.