Red Sox outfield prospect Devlin Granberg
I’m going to say something a little controversial here. I’m not really all that excited about the Red Sox possibly re-signing Kyle Schwarber. To be fair, I wouldn’t be upset about it. It’s really not something that I’m hoping for though.
What were the biggest complaints about Boston last year outside of anything to do with pitching? The defense (especially in the outfield), the play of the first basemen, and inconsistent and streaky hitting.
Schwarber is terrible defensively in the outfield. He struggled mightily when they tried to move him to first base too. His offense was great overall in the 41 games he played with the Red Sox. But he’s still a career .237 hitter. Last season was the first time he hit over .250. He hit .205 in the postseason and was 3-for-25 in the ALCS.
Maybe focus your money somewhere else. Especially with J.D. Martinez coming back, that’s some bad defensive combos.
So with that in mind, you look to the minors. And the issue there is that there aren’t many players close to the minors that you could count on immediately. Devlin Granberg comes to mind though.
After proving to be a consistently good at-bat in the past, the right-handed hitter had a phenomenal 2021. Now not only is he a reliable bat, but he’s legitimately dangerous at the plate if you ask me.
Granberg slashed .297/.355/.515 between High-A and Double-A. He smashed 23 doubles and two triples with five steals – while posting career-highs in home runs (17), RBI (74), and runs scored (69).
Granberg isn’t very fast. His defense in the outfield isn’t going to hurt you though. He doesn’t have great range but everything else is very solid. Most importantly, Granberg also plays first base. And he does that very well.
2022 will probably start with the 26-year-old in Double-A. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if he found his way to Triple-A pretty quickly. He didn’t look out-of-place at all when he was moved up to Portland last year so he might not need much more time there. Boston might want to have him in Worcester as soon as possible, because he might be a solid option if needed.
The issue with Granberg is that the Red Sox might not have the most defensively inclined outfield, but they have a lot of names. At first base you’ve got Bobby Dalbec, and Triston Casas isn’t far away. Meanwhile, the outfield currently holds Kiké Hernandez, Alex Verdugo, J.D. Martinez, and Jackie Bradley Jr. (I don’t know what the plan is with him though). Jarren Duran can be thrown in there too. That’s five right there.
And that’s with the Red Sox making no other moves at the positions this offseason, which doesn’t seem very likely.
For Granberg it’s going to have to be a combination of stellar play that makes them notice you more, and maybe an injury or two. It’s not impossible, but the meter isn’t really moving for the Dallas Baptist product, sitting on room temperature.