The 2024 Boston Red Sox have come to rely on veteran Rob Refsnyder for consistent offense and quality defense. When he fell into a slump during Boston's Wild Card push, the whole team felt it.
Refsnyder batted well into the .300s for much of the beginning of the campaign, but his production slowed down in July and August. He batted .230/.277/.443 over 12 games in August, which coincided with the Red Sox's recent skid back down to around .500.
But Refsnyder broke out of his slump in a big way against the Orioles, who have been notoriously tough for the Sox to beat lately. The outfielder posted a four-hit, two-homer, five-RBI night on Sept. 9, his best offensive game of the season. Refsnyder and Tyler O'Neill knocked back-to-back homers in the third and eighth innings to demoralize Baltimore's pitching.
Refsnyder has been a deeply underrated part of Boston's outfield, which hasn't gotten the hype it deserves. Refsnyder, O'Neill, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and, occasionally Ceddanne Rafaela have posted stellar defense and consistent offense almost all season, aside from some individual slumps at the plate. Refsnyder's play was instrumental to the Red Sox's heavily injured roster early in the year, and he maintained his high-caliber offense all season, at a level he's never reached before.
Rob Refsnyder has been key to Red Sox's offensive success 11 years after he was drafted by Yankees
This is NOT a replay.
— MLB (@MLB) September 10, 2024
Rob Refsnyder and Tyler O'Neill go back-to-back for the @RedSox for the second time tonight! pic.twitter.com/nsCBJ6fIIs
Refsnyder was once a prospect in the Yankees organization — they selected him in the fifth round of the 2012 draft. He played 94 big-league games with New York from 2015-17, during which he batted .241/.312/.332.
Refsnyder has also played for Toronto, Tampa Bay, Cleveland and Texas, but the best years of his career have come in a Red Sox uniform — although he's never played more than 94 games for another club. Maybe all they had to do was give him a chance.
If Refsnyder's dominance in a Red Sox uniform stings any Yankee fans, it's a great year for it. Many members of Yankee Universe have been quite upset with former Sox Alex Verdugo after they were high on him at the start of the year.