Boston Red Sox
87-68, 2nd AL East, 7 1/2 GB
1972 Outlook: There is no curse in this save! Well there wasn't one anyway since the Sox won in 1948. But there's double no curse, as they won 102 games and the entire World Series enchilada. And let's be honest here: this team was largely the same from one year to the next so things were looking really, really good. If anything the Sox could expect a bounceback offensive season from Oniji Handa.
1972 In Review: Instead, they fell off. At least, the offense did. The pitching, especially the front-line starters, was as good as it every was in 1971. The offense struggled, finishing only 5th in the AL in runs scored and 7th in HRs. They were "only" 20-14 to start the season but that alone got them 2 1/2 games behind the Tigers as of the end of May and then a really and truly bad June (12-15) got them 5 1/2 back, a deficit they'd never recover from.
1973 Outlook: There are still of course a lot of good parts on this team. They won the 2nd most games in the American League last year! They just need the hitting to rebound; a lot more of it fell apart last year than they expected, even given the leaguewide dip. If they get all that, they're still poised to contend. 7 1/2 games is nothing.
Pitching
Michael Pesco
LHP No. 44
LL, 5'12" 199 lbs.
Born 1943-12-01 in Westland, MI
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 LOU AAA 0 1 0 4.26 1 1 0 6.1 4 3 3 1 9
1970 BOS MLB 5 2 0 2.37 9 9 5 64.1 53 18 17 19 56
1971 BOS MLB 20 14 0 3.20 41 41 15 309.0 287 117 110 119 254
1972 BOS MLB 24 10 0 2.62 39 39 15 298.1 207 94 87 134 245
I haven't run the algorithm yet but, even as I've said "hey this guy could be the Cy", one look at Pesco's statline says "oh right, this is the pitcher of the year". The buggest argument I can make against him - maybe the only argument - is that he's won it twice already, in '66 (20-8, 1.92) and '68 (17-8. 2.00). Pesco led the league in wins, was 2nd in Ks, and was 8th in ERA. Show me someone who was closer to the Triple Crown. Oh yeah, and he also led the league in complete games (well, he tied) and shutouts (8); in fact the shutouts were 1 off the all-time record that was made by teammate Justin Kindberg in 1970 and tied this year by Houston's Tony Rivera.
Pesco has that weirdo Sid Fernandez (who?) profile of getting mad strikeouts without throwing all that hard. His (cut) fastball tops out just over 90 when everything is working right. More often, he doesn't have to rely on it like that except to set up old Mister Snappy, his curveball, or the change-up that's practically a forkball itself. The latter pitch gets grounders as often as it gets Ks and it gets Ks a goodly amount. Pesco did have some issues controlling his pitches, leading the league in walks last year. That walk rate has climbed precpitously since he missed almost all of 1970 with a partially torn labrum in his throwing shoulder and then, when he tried to come back on it, a torn flexor tendon in the same elbow. Pesco's altered his delivery since that point and while his pitches still move all over the place he can't always direct them to the right place like he used to.
At least stamina-wise, Rivera has been every bit the player he was pre-surgery. Let's hope this keeps up! He's fun to watch.
Justin Kindberg
LHP No. 18
LL, 6'3" 201 lbs.
Born 1944-11-29 in Elizabeth, PA
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 BOS MLB 23 13 0 2.42 38 38 12 289.1 263 92 78 105 257
1971 BOS MLB 27 6 0 2.05 41 41 18 319.1 247 80 73 97 230
1972 BOS MLB 18 13 0 2.72 37 37 12 287.0 221 95 87 113 226
18-13 with a 2.72 ERA can only be considered an "off" year by Justin Kindberg himself. After picking up 17 shutouts the previous 2 years, he had "only" 2 last year and was bailed out of jams a few times by newly minted closer Sandy Hinojosa. Let's keep this real though: Kindberg was still 3rd in the AL in strikeouts and had the 7th lowest HR rate (7th). If there was any real difference between this year and last it's that he got less support (3.1 RSG, his lowest support since 1968) and the existence of Pesco as well as the team deciding that they were going to trust in Hinojosa and company more than they'd entrusted Matt Brock with late leads.
Kindberg is also not a hard thrower; really, in spite of good K rates, none of this pitches are really outstanding beyond a half-forkball, half-fastball pitch he throws called the "split fingered fastball" (which I'm sure I've mentioned other pitchers having in passing but shut up about that OK). He's the very model of consistency with 63 quality starts over the past two seasons. Nothing and I mean nothing fazes him. People talk about good NFL quarterbacks having bad memories, meaning that they won't stop throwing into tight windows when they give up a costly interception. Kindberg is the same way with his pitches: if he leaves a fastball up or hangs a curve, you can expect to see that pitch again soon.
In just under 4 years with the Red Sox, Kindberg is 88-38. The only reason he's not set to be the Opening Day starter next year is the return to form by Pesco. He'd be the #1 for any other team in the league.
Marco Sanchez
RHP No. 31
LR, 6'3" 190 lbs.
Born 1947-06-29 in La Romana, DOM
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 BOS MLB 12 11 0 3.21 29 29 8 213.0 207 89 76 48 193
1971 BOS MLB 16 10 0 2.40 30 30 13 235.2 195 68 63 38 153
1972 BOS MLB 11 11 0 2.60 28 28 13 210.2 160 62 61 53 165
With three pitchers like this, all good to great at their craft and all under 30, it's easy to see this team contending throughout the decade. They remind me a lot of the 90s Braves with Maddux (who?), Glavine (who?), and Smoltz (who?). The one thing Sanchez has to worry about is injury risk: his throwing motion doesn't look especially terrible or anything but he did miss 5 weeks with a strained oblique muscle in his back, an ailment that also limited him to 29 games in 1970 (I'm not sure hwy he didn't play as much in '71). Ignore the wins and losses 2 of the last 3 years: that's purely poor support... well, maybe in 1970 he was very up and down, with only 17 quality starts in 29 outings, but he's a better pitcher now.
Sanchez is the hardest thrower of the Three Bostenors, reaching the mid-90s on the gun. He mixes that pitch with a 12-to-6 curve, a nice slider, and a show-me change he says he learned from Pesco which, if I'm being honest, he's still learning. He gives up more flies than the other guys, a lot more this year (his GB rate was only 45%) but so far that's mostly resulted in a lot of loud outs. Sanchez could stand to work on his throw to first: runners were 13/17 on him last year and with 2 lefties ahead of him in the rotation sometimes he's the only chance teams get to run.
Sanchez, like Kindberg, would be the staff ace most anywhere else. It's a little amazing that anyone got past this Big Three in 1972.
Brian Osborne
RHP No. 14
RR, 6'1" 195 lbs.
Born 1943-12-23 in Portsmouth, OH
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 TUL AAA 13 7 0 3.31 30 30 6 217.1 179 91 80 72 148
1971 MIL MLB 8 17 0 3.45 32 32 10 221.1 210 100 85 107 101
1972 BOS MLB 13 10 1 3.65 31 28 4 197.0 184 83 80 91 102
Speaking of "staff aces anywhere else", Osborne even was the staff ace in Milwaukee, or at least the staff primary workhorse. In Boston he was the back of the rotation 6 inning guy; in fact, as the Red Sox' chances dwindled to zero in the final month, he was kicked into long relief in favor of the old hand Sandy Hinojosa. Nothing against Osborne on that; there are just only so many starts available for non-Big 3 guys on this team.
Osborne actually throws about as hard as Sanchez does but his pitches don't have the same life. He got decent Ks in AAA in 1970 but so far that hasn't translated to the majors and, as he's 28 now, what you see is what you get. He also has more than a little problem controlling them, with a decidedly below average 4.1 BB/9 rate - his 91 walks in fact were 9th most in the AL. It all adds up to an average to below average starter who nevertheless kept his team in games through the first 5 1/2 months of the season.
Osborne is really a pretty interchangeable part and has a very vulnerable position heading into 1973. I'd love to say "if he could just learn to corrall his curve" or "if he could pick up tips on the change from Pesco" but that's asking a bit too much.
Sandy Hinojosa
RHP No. 5
RR, 6'2" 197 lbs.
Born 1934-11-01 in Cali, COL
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 BOS MLB 21 11 0 2.87 36 36 10 275.2 263 117 88 77 211
1971 BOS MLB 14 11 0 3.33 37 37 6 272.2 238 114 101 94 179
1972 BOS MLB 6 4 17 3.67 55 9 1 125.0 103 54 51 48 62
When Hinojosa, a 15 year veteran of both Sox teams (Chicago and Boston) and a 20 game winner as recently as 1970, was asked to replace Matt Brock as the team's closer, he was happy to heed the call, and he was pretty effective at it, too, with a 17/20 record in save opportunities and 18 shutdowns to just 8 meltdowns. When the Red Sox asked him to move back into the rotation at the end of the seaosn, he was happy to do that as well, although he held a 4.88 ERA in 9 starts and more walks than Ks (although somehow a 4-1 record). Now... what?
Hinojosa doesn't have the kind of world-beating stuff you normally expect out of your bullpen stopper but it was good enough; the overall stats are brought down by the frankly bad job he did in the rotation. When he's in relief it's basically his high-80s fastball plus whichever of the straight change or knuckle curve happens to be working on that particular day. As a starter, all three pitches need to be "on" for him to be the stud he once was, which is no longer something he or the Red Sox can depend upon. Not having to depend on not-working pitches also meant his walk rate was much lower in relief (3.0) than as a starter (4.0).
All signs point to Hinojosa moving back to the bullpen and perhaps even taking on a co-closer role with David Bly. He had pretty severe reverse splits last season: righties hit just .179 against him vs. .266 from left-handers, although it should be noted that he was often brought in expressly to face tough lefty hitters. In his career he has no career splits. OK so maybe a platoon situation isn't the greatest...
Tom Brumfield
RHP No. 29
LR, 5'12" 174 lbs.
Born 1947-06-06 in Rowlett, TX
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 GRN A 6 0 5 1.08 23 0 0 33.1 26 4 4 6 21
1970 LOU AAA 1 0 2 2.25 12 0 0 16.0 17 4 4 4 9
1970 BOS MLB 0 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 3.1 4 4 0 1 1
1971 PAW AA 0 0 0 0.00 2 1 0 5.2 4 0 0 2 4
1971 LOU AAA 1 7 10 3.56 35 0 0 58.0 54 24 23 30 22
1972 BOS MLB 3 6 0 4.03 37 4 0 71.1 75 36 32 18 21
Brumfield didn't celebrate his 25th birthday until June and probably could have used another season in the minor leauges. However, the Sox decided they needed him to round out their bullpen. For the first half of the season, he was able to stay active enough to still be effective: in fact, following a rare start and a 4-3 win, he was 3-1 with a 2.34 ERA the evening of July 22nd. His next outing, another start, didn't come until 8 days later and was a bad loss at Detroit and that's where the wheels started to come off. From July 30 to the end of the season he posted an 0-5, 6.51 record, culminating in 4 losses in relief in September.
Brumfield has a decent cut fastball that doesn't hit 90 on the gun but moves around well. Hitters were increasingly able to time that pitch over the second half of the season and when he tried to mix in a curve and a circle change, all that happened was he threw a lot of walks. Walks had been an issue in AAA as well. Long flies were not though and Brumfield allowed 12 HRs in just 71.1 IPs last season, 7 of them from August 1 on.
On some teams, Brumfield would get another year in the minor leagues to try to get it right. On others, he wouldn't have bene left up in the first place. On the Red Sox, it's a make or break year unless he's already broken their trust.
Dave Bly
RHP No. 57
RR, 5'11" 184 lbs.
Born 1947-04-23 in Cincinnati, OH
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 PAW AA 1 1 0 7.71 3 0 0 2.1 3 2 2 1 3
1970 MAN AA 3 0 10 0.59 21 0 0 30.1 16 3 2 10 15
1971 PAW AA 1 2 2 1.18 28 0 0 30.1 31 8 4 6 28
1971 LOU AAA 3 0 8 2.52 17 0 0 25.0 22 7 7 10 13
1972 LOU AAA 2 3 14 3.50 40 0 0 51.1 44 21 20 28 48
1972 BOS MLB 1 3 8 2.07 22 0 0 26.0 26 8 6 12 22
With Hinjosa sent into the rotation and Brumfield imploding, the Red Sox called Dave Bly up at the end of July, first to bolster the 'pen and then to take over as the closer over the final month of the year. Bly did a crackerjack job in this role with 6 saves in 7 opportunities and a 0.67 ERA in the month of September.
Bly throws absolute smoke, a high-90s fastball that he mixes with a mid-90s 2-seamer that is practically a change of pace pitch. He whiffed almost a batter an inning at both levels he pitched at in 1972 - for an inning or so an outing, there's no reason to expect anything but more of the same in the big leagues. Sometimes the fastball gets away from him but that's part of its charm: it's never been fun to sit in the box against a heater that fast that could go literally anywhere (not that By is a headhunter: he hit all of 1 batter last year and that was in AAA). He'll speak his mind to reporters, a trait which, let's be honest, Bly can do all he wants if what he says is "yeah, I throw smoke and they didn't hit it".
If anyone can move Hinojosa into a setup role, it's Bly. The more I look at this guy the more I realize that yes, he has to be their new stopper.
Infield
Jeremy Dolak
C No. 3
RR, 6'0" 209 lbs.
Born 1938-11-02 in Washington, DC
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 BOS MLB .279 95 330 31 92 17 0 5 39 22 28 0
1971 BOS MLB .249 119 394 37 98 24 1 6 45 21 38 0
1972 BOS MLB .214 72 215 10 46 9 0 1 24 14 32 0
Dolak has been the starting catcher for his team ever since his rookie year of 1971. He spent 8+ years in Cleveland and the last 4 in Boston. Then the faucet turned off, Dolak opened the year hitting .194 in April, he didn't even get it over .200 until May 24th, and he never really did get untracked. Eventually Sid Bartoszek (coming up next!), no spring chicken himself, took over, and in the longer term they've got a 25 year old kid with the demeanor of a TV dad in Alan Thicke who could be ready to take over.
For whatever reason OOTP seems determined not to give me any 80-grade catchers but Dolak is, all told, pretty good at his job, not like amazing or anything but a solid defensive catcher. He's slow to get out of his crouch at age 33 but if runners think they can steal on him, they've got another thing coming: he threw out 16 of 40 attempts last season, which would have been the top mark in the league if he qualified (I use 80 GS as the cutoff for catchers). He's always been a bit of a free swinger at the plate which was fine when that had him hitting in the .270s or even the .240s but with a .214 average it just means a lot of popups and groundouts.
Dolak's 33, so no spring chicken, but he's the best defensive catcher on the roster so that right there points to him having a future here still.
Sid Bartoszek
C No. 20
RR, 5'10" 194 lbs.
Born 1940-10-04 in Thousand Oaks, CA
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 BOS MLB .183 34 104 5 19 5 0 1 6 11 37 0
1971 BOS MLB .259 53 139 17 36 10 0 9 33 21 30 0
1972 BOS MLB .235 86 251 27 59 11 1 8 33 36 67 0
Bartoszek has been a backup his entire career, first backing up John Stuart in Philadelphia and over the past 4 years caddying for Dolak. In 1972 he had that unfortunate occurrence that happens to backup catchers a lot where the starter stopped hitting (or, those guys get hurt) and everyone realized that whatever they wanted, he ain't it.
Sid's got good pop and pitchers throw around him down in the order enough that he draws his fair share of walks. The larger role exposed some big holes in his swing. Defensively he gets out in front of the plate to chase down bunts and wild pitches better than Dolak but lacks the incumbent's arm. He's not really a guy who's interested in improving his game: he's a backup catcher and that's what he'll remain.
With the possible emergence of Thicke (which, the kid hit .178 in 45 at-bats; let's just say that the world may not be ready to beat to just his drum), Bartoszek might be out of a job in Beantown. Which, someone else could surely use him.
Mike Miller
1B No. 15
LL, 6'2" 208 lbs.
Born 1944-07-05 in New York, NY
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 BOS MLB .301 158 615 96 185 42 4 31 93 79 96 1
1971 BOS MLB .292 155 599 87 175 39 2 20 90 78 101 0
1972 BOS MLB .260 151 562 78 146 25 4 17 68 74 97 0
What is going on with Mike Miller? If you like NERD stats, his RC/27 has dipped every year since a career high 8.6 in 1969, to 7.5, 6.2, and now 5.3. At that, it took a September surge to get him even where he is, as he stuuuuuuunk in April (.186, 8-43, just 2 HR), seemed to rebound with a .318 May, and then had a .217 June that left him hitting .233 as late as the 23rd. Things were so bad that Miller missed the All-Star Game for the first time in his career and his .260 average was by far the lowest of his career.
The power seemed to exit stage right in 1971 and Miller seems to have spent the first half of 1972 chasing it. He's always been, at best, a line drive hitter whose power comes when he hits those liners into the shorter alleys or down the line - down Fenway's short porch in right, for example. This year saw a big drop in those hits to the alleys and with it that big drop in average. He's still good at stretching an at-bat until he sees a pitch that he likes. He's not fast at all on the bases but isn't at least super slow at getting to first. He's perhaps the best regular first baseman in the AL defensively, with 2 Gold Gloves in the last 3 years and most likely his 3rd coming soon.
The big September gives us hope that this was just a long slump. Also, in context a .260 year in a .236 league is like a .290 year in a .260 league or something like that. We'll just keep telling ourselves this: mostly, we want the old Mike Miller back.
Brian Long
2B No. 39
RR, 6'1" 198 lbs.
Born 1942-02-07 in Minneapolis, MN
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 CHW MLB .271 152 632 66 171 43 6 7 74 33 107 0
1971 BOS MLB .283 127 505 65 143 30 1 9 46 47 67 0
1972 BOS MLB .259 135 509 62 132 27 4 5 47 41 57 0
Long, like Miller, had an up-and-down year that was only partially saved by a red-hot September - in Long's case he hit 298/362/394 for the month and lifted his average from .251 as of August 25. Like Miller as well, he missed the All-Star Game for the first time in years, in his case this was his first omission since 1969, and unlike Miller, Long, who's a bit of an RA, had a couple of well-publicized explosions towards the end of the year.
Long is your prototypical #2 hitter, especially since cutting down on the walks a couple seasons ago. Doubles were down throughout the league but he still finished 8th in the league in that category. He goes with the pitch well, specifically can get that outside pitch into right field on the hit-and-run, and is one of the better bunters in the league; in fact, he led the AL with 22 sacrifices last season. I guess the one thing he doesn't have as a 2-hole hitter is speed: now 30, Long hasn't been successful on a steal attempt since 1968 and has only attempted to steal a single base during that time. He's a solid defender who plays second primarily because he doesn't have the arm to play SS or 3B.
There's no reason why Long won't be back in the lineup every day in 1973. If anything, the strained oblique that caused him to miss 3 weeks last year served to remind Boston that, slump or no slump, he's still better than most of what is out there.
Chris Moore
2B No. 34
RR, 6'0" 203 lbs.
Born 1940-04-18 in Garland, TX
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 OKC AAA .342 58 190 24 65 13 0 5 33 24 39 0
1970 OAK MLB .228 90 364 41 83 18 2 11 42 31 74 1
1971 MIL MLB .200 14 45 2 9 2 0 0 3 4 11 0
1972 BOS MLB .207 61 111 8 23 5 0 4 17 16 17 0
...or for that matter the people on his own team. Chris Moore was a former starter with the Astros in the 60s and just about the weirdest choice ever for the 1970 All-Star Game (I think he had a big start to the year, got called up, played well for a month, and then went all to crap in the 2nd half) who missed almost all of 1971 with a broken kneecap. He seemed like a good choice to back up Brian Long and so that's what he did. Moore stayed healthy all year, which is the good side, but he barely hit over .200, a number kind of made worse by the fact that the Red Sox used him 26 times as a right-handed pinch hitter with some success (.273, 6-22, 4 walks, 3 HRs, 9 RBI). That also meeans he hit .205 with a 613 OPS in a starting role.
Moore still hits for good power, maybe not as good as he thinks he can, but good, and unlike a lot of guys who try to hit it hard on every swing he's happy to send a would-be HR (let's face it, usually a flyout) to right field on an outside pitch. He's never had any kind of speed, either on the bases or in the field. Last year he had issues with his range. He's also not the surest handed of players and sometimes forgets the right base to throw to.
Would Moore have a place on a different team or is his career just over? It seems unlikely he has much more to say in Boston.
Kristian Schneider
3B No. 4
LR, 5'11" 193 lbs.
Born 1940-06-07 in Hamburg, GER
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 CAL MLB .316 97 361 55 114 21 4 6 55 35 60 4
1970 WAS MLB .222 15 54 3 12 0 0 0 3 5 12 1
1971 BOS MLB .278 106 403 50 112 23 1 8 58 30 48 2
1972 BOS MLB .262 132 473 61 124 23 7 14 75 36 74 0
1972 was a comeback year for Schneider, just not in the way the team expected. After hitting .307 in 1969 for Washington and .304 combined between Washington and Cal the next year, Schneider fell to a still-pretty-good .278 last year. The average dipped for the second straight year but the drop came the return of his power, 1 HR shy of his career high of 15 he hit in '69. In fact, clutch-wise, the 75 RBIs was a career high for the German native and was even the 6th highest total in the entire AL.
Schneider loves that high inside fastball and pitchers understand this enough to not throw that his way. Some of them must have forgotten that lesson last year. He did develop a big hole in his swing last year chasing for the longball that, weirdly enough, right-handed pitchers were able to exploit with offspeed stuff. In some ways the Red Sox' attempts to spell him with youngster Edwin Madriles, then, did more harm than good at times, as Madriles is a right-handed hitter. Schneider's got a plus arm - why else would he be at third? - but has been tormented at times in the past by it being off the mark when he tries to rush throws. He's had 20+ errors 5 times in his career, although with the weird ability for all fielders to glom onto baseballs last season he only had 10 in 1972.
Schneider was, in spite of the loss of average, if anything better in '72 than he was in '71. He's settled into that 400-500 AB range for the past 4 of 5 years but honestly there's no reason he can't do more. Oh yeah. It's because he gets hurt a lot.
Edwin Madriles
3B No. 9
RR, 5'11" 176 lbs.
Born 1946-12-23 in Caracas, VEN
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 LOU AAA .278 37 133 22 37 10 1 8 25 14 27 2
1970 BOS MLB .262 65 210 27 55 19 0 7 33 25 54 1
1971 LOU AAA .205 52 195 24 40 8 3 5 28 35 27 1
1971 BOS MLB .179 13 28 6 5 1 0 1 3 3 5 0
1972 LOU AAA .245 52 192 29 47 14 1 4 12 19 38 4
1972 BOS MLB .245 46 110 13 27 5 2 4 19 16 21 0
Madriles hasn't exactly come through with the potential the past couple years and yet he's still getting that playing time. As recently as 1970 he looked like he could be a major-league regular at 3rd but now it's been 2 straight years since he's been that guy. Last season he didn't appear on the major league roster until late June. He came up pretty much entirely to platoon with Schneider, although as noted with Schneider he doesn't really have big splits that would make sense of such a move. Instead, following a .256 July he basically filled in whenever Schneider was hurt or just needed a day off. He had just 10 starts from August on and only 3 in September.
Scouts still rate Madriles as a little above average in four of the five tools: contact, power, defensive range, and arm. The power has never quite translated to the majors but maybe it would if he had more playing time, perhaps with another team. He's got only average speed and he has only attempted one steal at the major league level the last 2 years but he's fast enough to avoid being a guy who clogs up the bases. He's a good enough third baseman that he started 3 games at short in AAA Louisville.
The Red Sox' farm system is very thin and the starter is injury-prone and as such Madriles might find himself staying with this team just to provide insurance. It's not the worst job in the world, although this guy deserves to start somewhere.
Oniji Handa
SS No. 8
RR, 5'9" 190 lbs.
Born 1943-10-26 in Gyoda, JPN
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 BOS MLB .289 155 662 97 191 35 3 24 91 23 48 0
1971 BOS MLB .243 154 584 55 142 34 0 4 54 31 63 2
1972 BOS MLB .239 140 481 39 115 21 1 9 44 25 47 1
Handa was basically the same player in '72 that he was in '71, which on the one hand is good in that he didn't have a second big drop-off but on the other hand he looked like a potential middle of the lineup guy in 1970 and that's not a thing anymore. Still, there are hopes that maybe he'll return to some of that form: Handa opened the season poorly, hitting .200 through the end of May and still sitting at the Timonem line as late as June 10 before picking it up in the second half. Handa hit .245 in July - not great but better - and saved the best for last, hitting .287 with a year-high 12 RBIs in September.
There are two types of balls in play in the NL: balls that Handa can make a play on and fouls. He's a 7 time Gold Glove and is still basically an 80 grade fielder, basically the Ozzie Smith (who?) of this save (what? this is real life man). Voters seem to not be as big of a fan of defense and so he missed his 2nd straight All-Star Game this year. He's plenty fast in the field but he has never been able to translate that into baserunning skills and following going 2/5 in steals last year the Red Sox mostly nailed his foot to the bag last year. I don't have much else to say about the offense except to say that his K rate went back down in '72 after ballooning in '71 and ironically a lot of his power came back too.
So yeah, in conclusion I'm still high on Handa. As a fielder, even with the bat in its current state he's one of the best if not the best shortstop in the AL (as a side note, I try to avoid looking at this but even with the 78 OPS+ Handa was worth 4.9 wins above replacement last year - yeah, the glove is that good). I'd like to see him get off to a better start just to get back into the Midsummer Classic. Otherwise, though, he's the Red Sox' shortstop, period, end of story.
Outfield
Bruce Springsteen
LF No. 23
LL, 6'0" 189 lbs.
Born 1949-07-29 in Long Branch, NJ
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 NEW S A .286 20 70 9 20 2 1 3 10 8 24 7
1970 CLI A .318 58 211 26 67 8 3 5 33 34 46 6
1970 POR AAA .130 6 23 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 3 0
1971 DAN A .275 64 236 32 65 9 1 7 27 39 43 8
1971 MIL MLB .290 32 124 16 36 4 0 9 21 10 25 2
1972 BOS MLB .306 103 369 48 113 30 4 10 59 39 49 3
Springsteen came back in the Jun Kim / Matt Brock trade, a rare occasion where a contending team trades veterans away in exchange for youth. For these kinds of deals to work out the youth has to be close to major league ready and... Springsteen totally was. The 23 year old rock star put together a nice first full year in the bigs, finishing 2nd in the league in doubles in spite of missing the end of July and half of August with a sprained ankle. That ankle was still clearly hurting him when he came back but he rallied in September to hit .340 with a third of those doubles and 20(!) RBIs as the Red Sox staged their way-too-late rally.
"The Boss" hasn't quite filled out just yet although I'm pretty sure the real-life Springsteen isn't 6', 190. What I'm saying is, there's probably still power in there. He doesn't strike out a huge amount and he's quick enough out of the box that while scouts think he projects to around a .270 average I think it might be a bit more. He hit a lot in the 5th and 6th slots in the lineup. He probably doesn't have the speed to lead off and the team has Brian Long to bat 2nd so even if the .306 average isn't a fluke that's closer to his true place in the order. Springsteen doesn't always seem to "get" baseball and sometimes it shows when he's asked to shag flies in center in practice: he doesn't make good angles on the ball and his future is likely in the corners.
Still, Springsteen is a real gem for the Red Sox to have picked up. Already he looks like he's pretty well replaced Jun Kim in the lineup for now and the forseeable future.
Matt Wilson
PH/RF No. 7
LL, 5'10" 192 lbs.
Born 1935-12-23 in Bolingbrook, IL
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 STL MLB .291 32 55 6 16 5 0 0 4 8 8 0
1970 BOS MLB .265 55 196 32 52 13 0 4 26 22 27 1
1971 BOS MLB .353 46 51 9 18 2 0 2 11 9 10 0
1972 BOS MLB .200 86 85 4 17 3 0 0 6 12 17 0
Where Springsteen is the young up-and-comer, Wilson's a guy who's most likely on his last legs. I'd be quite surprised if I see his name in these reports next year. Wilson's always, with the exception of one season, really, been a part-time player who picks his team up with the bat and, in his better years, outdoes the damage he does with his glove. The last 2 seasons that role has scrunched down to a pure pinch-hitting role and in '72 he stopped doing the one thing he always has been able to do. Balls Wilson used to crack into the gaps for extra bases wound up as easy fly outs last season.
As of this writing, the Red Sox have room on their 40 man roster but Wilson will need to impress in spring training to keep his job.
Jon Glynn
CF No. 27
RR, 6'1" 190 lbs.
Born 1945-09-19 in Colleyville, TX
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 BOS MLB .246 123 483 63 119 17 5 6 37 30 77 27
1971 BOS MLB .268 146 612 98 164 29 8 13 53 38 80 37
1972 BOS MLB .229 94 393 48 90 19 3 6 22 25 68 20
1972 was a lost year for Glynn but, the Red Sox being in the position that they're in, they have little room to wait for hum to start hitting. Glynn got off to a slow start with a .222 April and was hitting only .231 in May when a severe hip strain sent him down for more than a month. During that time, Brian Johnson had come up and had done a solid enough job in a "rock and roll outfield" with Springsteen that Glynn was given a pretty short leash. In fact, after his average dipped back down to .234 on August 9, Johnson took over the lion's share of CF appearances and Glynn started only 16 games the rest of the way.
Glynn's greatest asset is his speed. He's always a threat to steal when he gets on base; indeed, even in 1972 he finished just out of the top 10 in the AL with 20 steals in 23 tries. He hit 13 HRs in 1971 but that might have been the worst possible thing to happen to him as too often he tries to pull everything and won't lay off the high heat, even as his power returned to historical levels. He's a good, solid center fielder thanks to that speed and if asked to lay down a bunt he's pretty good at it, both in terms of sacrificing others (he had 5 SHs last year) and bunting for a hit. He'd help himself out a lot more if he learned to take a few pitches.
Too much of Glynn's value is in the field to even think about DHing him. He'll be in a fight for the starting CF job with Johnson come March.
Brian Johnson
OF No. 21
LL, 6'2" 188 lbs.
Born 1947-10-01 in Durham, ENG
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 GRN A .316 117 452 91 143 21 9 4 65 58 55 33
1971 GRN A .455 14 55 11 25 1 2 3 8 4 6 5
1971 PAW AA .293 93 338 40 99 12 3 5 43 37 25 10
1971 LOU AAA .297 12 37 6 11 4 0 1 5 13 7 1
1972 LOU AAA .384 36 138 20 53 8 0 4 27 18 6 3
1972 BOS MLB .294 49 170 23 50 14 2 1 14 18 17 7
Even if Glynn hadn't gotten himself hurt last year, Johnson, a pop/rock singer in his spare time (note: this is the guy who joined AC/DC as their lead singer after Bon Scott died), would have gotten a call up. What else can you do when you hit .384 in 36 games? He kept the hot hitting going in the major leagues and by season's end he was effectively platooning with Glynn in center and at the leadoff spot.
Johnson does not have the power stroke that Glynn does and so will not ever con himself into thinking he's a middle of the lineup hitter. Instead, he specializes in line drives into the gaps and otherwise getting his bat on anything near the strike zone. When he's on, nothing gets past him for long. He's about as fast as Glynn in a footrace but as a native Englishman who is unaccustomed to theft, he doesn't have the same instincts on the bases: both of the double-digit steal seasons you see on that line came with a lot of caughts: at AA Pawtucket he was 10/22 and at A ball he was caught 22 times in 1970. He also gets caught out in the field trying to go a bit further than he should and this can lead to some bad errors.
In spite of a still raw approach to the game, scouts breezily proclaim that Johnson is a potential .330 hitter. With that kind of contact potential and given his willingness to work on everything, it's going to be really, really hard to keep him out of the lineup.
Goodwill Zwelithini
CF No. 6
LR, 5'9" 170 lbs.
Born 1948-07-15 in Nongoma, RSA
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 W-S A .385 6 26 3 10 0 0 0 1 1 2 3
1970 WH A .272 41 158 17 43 3 1 0 12 12 25 6
1971 GRN A .296 80 304 34 90 9 6 4 36 15 37 12
1971 PAW AA .273 53 198 21 54 8 3 1 22 14 20 1
1972 PAW AA .301 21 83 16 25 4 1 1 5 5 6 2
1972 LOU AAA .304 86 342 50 104 15 3 8 48 15 45 4
1972 BOS MLB .271 31 96 14 26 4 2 4 12 6 6 1
Zwelithini is currently the king of the semi-independent nation of KwaZulu. He seems enthusiastic and ready to play but it's a weird issue with royalty: when are affairs at home going to force them to retire?
Zwelithini is the 3rd out of 3 center fielders on the team and so seems like a good trade chip to perhaps acquire a slugging DH type. Prior to his August call-up he showed pretty OK power in AAA Louisville and wound up getting double digits in HRs for the first time in his young career. He's got speed but hasn't figured out how to steal bases or read outfielders to take extra bases on defense yet, and in the field he has similar issues with Johnson where he's got decent range but is known to misplay the ball at times.
The king of KwaZulu's future probably looks like more of a 4th outfielder role, although if the Red Sox ship him to the right team he could very well get a chance to start.
Tom Brown
RF No. 33
RR, 5'12" 201 lbs.
Born 1938-11-21 in Sterling Heights, MI
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 CHW MLB .273 150 604 85 165 29 5 23 91 41 85 15
1971 BOS MLB .301 150 607 81 183 32 7 17 89 41 73 11
1972 BOS MLB .273 142 567 72 155 25 11 11 71 36 71 20
With Mike Miller and John Glynn struggling in the first half of last year, Tom Brown sometimes seemed like the only good bat in the Red Sox' lineup. He was hitting .287 at the All-Star Break, good enough to win him his 5th trip to the game, and followed up with a .309 August. Then a .228 September/October, mostly, let's be honest, in meaningless games, brought all of his stats down so his season looks like it's a little off from '71. But make no bones about it: Brown was and is a key member of this lineup.
Brown's power dipped for the 3rd straight year after hitting, let's be honest, an uncharacteristic 23 HRs his last year with the White Sox. He's much more of a line-drive / gap hitter and last year his speed allowed him to finish 3rd in the league in triples. Brown has plus speed and if it wasn't for his hitting prowess he could bat at the top of a lineup. That speed shows out in the field, where he's won 2 Gold Gloves as a left fielder (one of them before I took over the award voting - the game has this weirdo thing where it considers LF its own position... still, Brown was worth a combined 15.2 ZR in '71 so he still won a GG then too). Although he transitioned to right last year, runners who thought they'd be able to advance on him were sorely mistaken, as he got double-digit baserunner kills for the first time since 1968.
Brown will be in the middle of the lineup for this team next year and at 33 he shows no signs of letting up.
Mario Fernandez
OF/1B No. 2
RR, 5'11" 189 lbs.
Born 1946-09-10 in Guayabetal, COL
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 CHR AAA .312 82 298 29 93 13 2 3 33 12 50 10
1970 PIT MLB .227 27 44 4 10 2 0 0 3 1 8 1
1971 DAN A .322 28 118 17 38 6 1 1 15 12 12 0
1971 EVA AAA .284 22 88 8 25 2 1 0 11 11 7 0
1971 MIL MLB .368 10 19 1 7 1 0 0 5 1 0 0
1972 BOS MLB .281 57 135 21 38 7 0 0 15 8 12 0
Fernandez, a throw-in in the Jun Kim / Matt Brock trade, found himself on his 3rd team in 3 years. He hit .281, which is nice and all, but it was an empty .281 and he really only got playing time because the Red Sox didn't have anyone else who could match his skillset: good enough corner outfielder, not a guy who will necessarily embarrass you with his bat. Perhaps because he just didn't play much, Fernandez avoided getting hurt last year. He missed the first half of 1971 with a torn calf muscle and may have lost a step from that.
It's hard to see a solid role for Fernandez on this team going forward. It also seems mean to move him around for the 4th straight season. We'll see what the offseason holds.