The 2017 Player Shirt Power Rankings: One Month In

We’re a month in and some things have changed.

By Phil Neuffer@philneuffer May 7, 2017, 10:00am EDT

Back before the season started I provided guidance on the order in which you should get player shirts from the 2017 Boston Red Sox. The Player Shirt Power Rankings, as they are known around my apartment, are a living document and need to be updated from time to time. With a little more than a month of the season in the books, here’s a look at the updated rankings.

Note that the tiers have changed to better reflect the rankings after one month.

MLB: Spring Training-Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Rays

The Freddy Sanchez Fill-Ins Division

Throughout the season, there will be players who come up to play a game or two, pinch run here and there or make a spot start. Some may be somewhat important prospects and others will just be journeymen looking to eat up innings. These are those players.

36. Kyle Kendrick

35. Deven Marrero

34. Brian Johnson

33. Noe Ramirez

32. Brandon Workman

31. Ben Taylor

30. Steve Selsky

The Clay Buchholz DL Division

Some of these guys haven’t even played yet so it’s tough to grab a shirt with their name on it. After all, who knows when you will see them play for the first time or again this season. For some (Steven Wright) you will have to wait until next season, but they get a boost for past performance.

29. Carson Smith

28. Tyler Thornburg

27. Steven Wright

26. Brock Holt

25. Pablo Sandoval

24. Marco Hernandez

MLB: Boston Red Sox at Baltimore Orioles

The Curtis Leskanic Back End of the Bullpen Division

These guys aren’t going to move a ton of units but the non-closer, non-setup man relievers play an important role, eating up innings and providing depth. Every team has them and every fan should at least consider a purchase once they’ve picked up the stars.

23. Robbie Ross

22. Fernando Abad

21. Heath Hembree

20. Robby Scott

MLB: Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays

The Jarrod Saltalamacchia Misfit Toys Division

Did I name this after a catcher who had flaws because Sandy Leon and Christian Vazquez are in it? Yes. Yes I did. These are players who run the gamut from big upside (David Price), fan favorite (Sandy Leon), defensive wizard (Christian Vazquez) and Josh Rutledge.

19. Sandy Leon

18. David Price

17. Josh Rutledge

16. Christian Vazquez

The Mike Timlin Set-Up Men

Joe Kelly throws absolute gas and Matt Barnes has a lock on the eighth inning. Plus Chris Young is the set-up men of batters, especially when you get him in against a lefty.

15. Chris Young (honorary member)

14. Joe Kelly

13. Matt Barnes

The Josh Beckett Underperformers We Still Believe In

These guys can be dominant but they have been shaky at times. But we still have relatively high hopes for them, with the obvious caveat that some players have higher ceiling than others. For example, Mitch Moreland’s ceiling is 20 home runs and a 2.0 WAR while Rick Porcello’s is a Cy Young campaign. Perhaps none of these guys (or all of them) will reach the heights they’ve attained before, but we shouldn’t be overly worried about them and therefore an investment in one of their shirts is still fine.

12. Drew Pomeranz

11. Mitch Moreland

10. Jackie Bradley Jr.

9. Rick Porcello

8. Dustin Pedroia

The Kevin Youkillis Doing Just Fine

Never an MVP, Kevin Youkillis was a consistent bat in the Red Sox lineup. These guys below have done exactly what we expected of them, with the exception of Eduardo Rodriguez, who has been striking out a ton of batters and standing in as the second-best starter on the roster.

7. Eduardo Rodriguez

6. Hanley Ramirez

5. Xander Bogaerts

The Pedro Martinez Dominant Ones

Chris Sale has already gotten the approval of the namesake of this division and is the closest thing we’ve seen to Pedro since, well, Pedro. He and the others on this list have been fantastic and are young enough and under team control for a long enough that buying their player shirt will pay dividends for years.

4. Craig Kimbrel

3. Mookie Betts

2. Andrew Benintendi

1. Chris Sale