It?s been an up and down season for the Red Sox. Some days we look good, some days we look like we couldn?t compete with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats of double-A ball. But, nonetheless, the Sox have a 26-16 record at the end of the first quarter of regular season baseball. I decided to dish out some grades for the team based on their performance so far.
Name | Pos. | Grade | Comments |
Josh Beckett | SP | B+ | Stats: REC 6-1 | SV 0 | ERA 4.19 | WHIP 1.12 A strong start with a few bad outings mixed in, but has been dominant for the most part. |
Matt Clement | SP | D+ | Stats: REC 4-3 | SV 0 | ERA 5.36 | WHIP 1.57 Off and on talent, but mostly off. He struggles with control but can still K anyone. |
Alex Cora | INF | D | Stats: AVG .242 | HR 0 | RBI 4 | OBP .342 | SLG .303 Need to see some more of Cora, but offense and defense has lacked. |
Lenny DiNardo | SP | D+ | Stats: REC 1-2 | SV 0 | ERA 7.11 | WHIP 2.05 Succeeds with location, but hasn't been able to find it this season. |
Keith Foulke | RP | B | Stats: REC 2-1 | SV 0 | ERA 4.81 | WHIP 1.11 Confidence is high again, letting Foulke to get much-needed outs. |
Alex Gonzalez | SS | B- | Stats: AVG .197 | HR 2 | RBI 14 | OBP .276 | SLG .299 No offense, but great defense has led Sox to number one ranked defense. |
Willie Harris | OF | C- | Stats: AVG .154 | HR 0 | RBI 1 | OBP .258 | SLG .154 Defense and base running speed is valuable, but offense has suffered since first day called up. |
Mark Loretta | 2B | B+ | Stats: AVG .295 | HR 1 | RBI 19 | OBP .342 | SLG .369 Is lighting it up in May with .394 batting average. Tough to strikeout. |
Mike Lowell | 3B | A+ | Stats: AVG .333 | HR 6 | RBI 27 | OBP .388 | SLG .607 Hits to all fields, result being the league-leader in doubles. |
Doug Mirabelli | C | C | Stats: AVG .154 | HR 0 | RBI 1 | OBP .233 | SLG .205 Doing a great job for why we got him back: catching the knuckler. Not much more, though. |
Dustan Mohr | OF | C | Stats: AVG .194 | HR 2 | RBI 3 | OBP .256 | SLG .389 Solid defense, hits for power, but not average. Solid off the bench. |
Trot Nixon | OF | A | Stats: AVG .300 | HR 3 | RBI 21 | OBP .418 | SLG .442 Hitting on all cylinders with no injury to speak of. |
David Ortiz | DH/1B | A | Stats: AVG .280 | HR 14 | RBI 41 | OBP .366 | SLG .602 Average isn't the norm, but power and plate vision have been excellent. |
Jonathan Papelbon | Closer | A+ | Stats: REC 0-1 | SV 15 | ERA .40 | WHIP .63 The rock of the bullpen. His stuff has been amazing and he continues to deliver. |
Wily Mo Pena | OF | B | Stats: AVG .327 | HR 4 | RBI 18 | OBP .374 | SLG .505 Still striking out some, but his presence in the lineup has helped boost the offense. |
Manny Ramirez | OF | A- | Stats: AVG .294 | HR 8 | RBI 22 | OBP .428 | SLG .503 Power's down, but everything else is still clicking including great plate vision. |
Curt Schilling | SP | A- | Stats: REC 7-2 | SV 0 | ERA 3.80 | WHIP 1.07 Returned to excellence versus Yankees and continues to K opponents. |
Rudy Seanez | RP | C | Stats: REC 0-0 | SV 0 | ERA 6.60 | WHIP 1.60 Started slow, but in May has been a decent RP. Striking people out with regularity. |
J.T. Snow | 1B | C- | Stats: AVG .261 | HR 0 | RBI 2 | OBP .414 | SLG .261 Defense is strong like always, but hasn't had the ABs to produce. |
Julian Tavarez | RP | B- | Stats: REC 0-0 | SV 0 | ERA 4.76 | WHIP 1.47 Better as of late, but is still giving up walks. |
Mike Timlin | RP | A | Stats: REC 3-0 | SV 0 | ERA .96 | WHIP 1.13 Great setup man for Papelbon. Continues to be Mr. Reliable. |
Jason Varitek | C | C+ | Stats: AVG .230 | HR 4 | RBI 19 | OBP .326 | SLG .393 Has been in a season-long slump, but hasn't effected his defense and game-calling. |
Tim Wakefield | SP | B- | Stats: REC 3-5 | SV 0 | ERA 4.17 | WHIP 1.32 Another off and on pitcher, but opponents are still hitting only .239 against him. |
Kevin Youkilis | 1B | A | Stats: AVG .311 | HR 4 | RBI 22 | OBP .424 | SLG .483 Great defense and offense has been very strong at the top of the lineup. |