2013 Red Sox community projections: Jonny Gomes did things

Jonny Gomes filled a strange role for the 2013 Red Sox. More than anything he did at the plate or in the field, his presence as a piece of the team seems to stand out more than anything else. Whether he was punting his batting helmet or donning a military one, Gomes was one of the various characters the team rallied around so often this year.

That being said, he was not a glorified mascot. For better or worse, Jonny Gomes wasn't even just the lefty-masher he was brought in to be. As the year progressed, Shane Victorino's injuries would pull Gomes into games against same-handed pitching, and come late October John Farrell even began to slot him into the lineup in place of Daniel Nava, no matter how much it drove some of the fans insane.

It drove us completely insane, for what it's worth. But all's well that ends well.

All told, Jonny Gomes cuts a nebulous figure. His numbers were decent, particularly for a 4th outfielder. And whether you want to call it fortune or clutch, he often seemed to add to those numbers in big moments. Maybe had he been strictly that short end of the platoon his impact would be more apparent in his season numbers, but even with half his plate appearances coming against righties, Jonny Gomes managed to contribute.

More or less than expected? Well, that's up to interpretation.

Gomes was predictably difficult to predict. That's always going to be the case when the player in question's role on the team is as uncertain as Gomes' was back before the season began. Even our best guesses are kind of all over the place. PriceJD came in with three near-misses, but very much overestimated his power and playing time. Theartolater was dead on in one category and just off in another, but was well off on the picture of the season as a whole based on those rate stats. My favorite of the bunch is probably Soxdude7, who had the same dead-on/just-missed combo as Theartolater, but really was only significantly off on playing time.

So let's say Soxdude7 is the winner vs. RHP, Theartolater vs. LHP, and PriceJD vs. that one switch pitcher from the Yankees who never really turned into a thing. You all win John Farrell's undying and entirely unconditional love.

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