Grading All Relevant Red Sox Players From the 2021 MLB Season
As a big Red Sox fan, I have followed the team throughout the 2021 MLB season. This season was very memorable, since this team exceeded my expectations. After every season, I like to give each relevant player a grade. Although this list does not contain every player who appeared in a game, this list contains the players who had a major impact on the team. Here are the rankings of the players:
Kike Hernandez: B
He had stretches where he was ice cold, but made up for them in the second half. Especially in the playoffs. His defense was really good, especially in the outfield. When he is hot, he is extremely good. He has made himself into a solid leadoff hitter this season. The reason he did not get an A was because of his really cold stretches.
Alex Verdugo: A
Aside from a few bad mistakes, he has proved he has the tools to hit .300. He has good defense and has come in the clutch a lot this season. He is such a good all around player and has a bright future ahead of him in Boston.
Xander Bogaerts: B
Although he had a great first half, he did struggle offensively in the second half, hitting just .255. But this is not to say he didn't have a good season. He had a great season overall. He is a great shortstop that is not exciting defensively, but will make all the throws to first when he gets a ground ball. Just by his standards, he underachieved.
Rafael Devers: A
He did not have as good of a season as 2019, but he has shown he is an emerging young third baseman on the team. He had some clutch hits, like in game 162. He racked 38 home runs on the season, which is really good for someone his age. His defense improved a whole lot throughout the season.
J.D. Martinez: B
By JD standards, he definitely underperformed. He was a major reason why the Sox had such a good first half, but his offensive numbers pummeled down after the All Star Break. This was attributed to him playing in the outfield more because of the addition of Kyle Schwarber. JD has shown he is not as good of a hitter when he plays in the outfield as he is compared to a DH. Still, a really big threat at the plate for the whole season.
Nathan Eovaldi: A
He showed he was Boston’s number one ace, as well as their most consistent starter. Even though he had a few horrible games that inflated his ERA, he had so many quality starts for this team and has shown he can get the job done.
Garrett Whitlock: A
Nobody saw this emerging star reliever becoming what he became this season. He was by far Boston’s best reliever and was the “go to” guy for the majority of the season. He was very fun to watch as well. He attacked really good hitters and always bounced back in the count whenever he was down. If he can become a starter, Boston has got a second ace in their hands.
Hunter Renfroe: A
This is very generous, but he has shown when he is hot, he can get very hot. His Defense was great, even though he committed 12 errors on the season (which is very fixable to say the least), and hit .259. Very much a career year for him. He very much lived up to his contract, and he was probably one of the biggest surprises (if not, THE biggest surprise) on the team.
Nick Pivetta: B
He has shown he has the talent to be a solid starter, but has not been the most consistent player on the team. When he had command issues, they were really bad. On the plus side, he is not a bad option for a number 3 or 4 starter on the team. At the beginning of the season, he seemingly came out of nowhere, but he proved he is really good throughout the season.
Eduardo Rodriguez: D
He was a starter who came off a heart condition in 2020, but that is really his only excuse. He had a similar year to 2018, who had some good outings, but when he got shelled, he got absolutely shelled. He seemingly backtracked from his progress in 2019, and was not a player worth re-signing/extending in the offseason.
Bobby Dalbec: C
He was outstanding in August and September, but this should not fool you. He had an awful first half, and could not find a rhythm offensively. Although he was a rookie, he did have amazing stretches when he was hot, but when he was cold, he could not hit a ball seemingly. His only success was against lefties, but his numbers against righties were not good at all, hitting only .212.
Christian Vasquez: C
Although he has shown he could be an outstanding defensive catcher, his bat went into a regression compared to 2019. His decisions on the bases were definitely questionable, like where he got caught stealing in a strike-em out throw-em out double play in game 2 of the double header at Rogers Centre. His number of errors were the second highest in his career, but to his advantage, he caught more innings this season than previous ones.
Kyle Schwarber: B
He was THE story of the second half for Boston. He picked up right where he left off before his trip to the IL. He brought a big bat to the team and was a guy who would take ball 4 a lot, which was something this team was lacking before the deadline. The big problem with him was he was hard to fit into defensively. He was a defensive liability, especially at 1st base, and it definitely showed in the postseason, where he committed numerous errors and plays that came VERY close to becoming ones.
Kevin Plawecki: B
He did show he was a great backup catcher. He hit for average and contact and a decent option behind the plate. But he was definitely worse than Vasquez defensively. His arm is definitely not as strong as Vasquez, but solid enough to be a good backup catcher.
Chris Sale: B
With the exception of the postseason, he pitched great when Boston needed him to. He showed he still has plenty left in the tank. However, some of his outings towards the end of the season were not good at all, which were against quality opponents. But considering his road to recovery from Tommy John surgery, he was a really good addition to the team at the time.
Jose Iglesias: A
The only reason he came to Boston was because of the big COVID outbreak in late August. He showed he was a great hitter and a great defender. Whenever they needed a big hit, Iglesias delivered it to them, and he is a big reason Boston secured the number one wild card spot, despite being ineligible for the postseason roster.
Garrett Richards: F
He could never find a rhythm this season. He struggled big time after the whole “sticky stuff” crackdown. Even before that he was not that good. He only had one good start against the Mets where he pitched 7.0 innings and gave up only 1 run. He pitched well at first when he got assigned to the bullpen, but was awful at the end of the season. He relied on many double plays throughout the season.
Martin Perez: F
Very similar to Richards, but seemed to not be affected by the “sticky stuff” crackdown. He was Boston’s number 5 starter when he started for them this season and only had one good outing against Houston, where he went 7.2 innings pitched and gave up no runs. His appearances in the bullpen were ones to be forgotten. The only reason he pitched on this team in the second half was because of the fact he is a left-handed pitcher and brought depth.
Matt Barnes: C
He had an outstanding first half of the season. He proved when his act is together, he is one of the best closers in the league. His second half was very much similar to the one he had in 2019, where he was constantly dealing with traffic on the bases and kept getting into big jams. It showed in the series in Toronto, where he could not get that third out. COVID ruined all chances of him saving his season. He can be a great closer in 2022, but he needs to work on his second half struggles.
Adam Ottovino: C
He was a very streaky player. He got off to a rough start in April, but he had an outstanding middle of the season. However, he had a horrible September. He looked gassed and overworked during that time. A big factor was because he was the most used arm all season. It showed when he gave up 5 home runs in the month of September alone, which were all of Ottovino’s home runs given up all season. It also does not help when September was such a crucial month for Boston’s playoff run. This all balances to an average season.
Josh Taylor: B
He was streaky at times, but he proved he can be a good and reliable left-hander. The only cold stretch that was memorable was right after he snapped his 20 game scoreless appearance streak. Opposing left handed batters only hit .146 against him. You could put him in tough situations and he would get you out of them. Overall one of the better relievers in the Boston Bullpen.
Hirokazu Sawramura: C
He seemed like he was not always 100% when he pitched. It seemed like nothing came easy for him. He had control issues with his splitters throughout the season. He was never consistent at anypoint in the season. When he got hit hard, he got hit really hard. He walked 32 hitters in 53 innings pitched, which is good for a 5.4 BB per 9, which is really high for a pitcher. He was a big victim of giving up a ton of long balls as well. He has good stuff, but was not able to utilize it that well.
Darwinzon Hernandez: C
Similar to Sawramura, he has good talent, but nothing came easy for him. He was put into some of the worst moments of the season. An example of this is when he gave up a grand slam to Giancarlo Stanton. He provided some depth as a leftie to the Red Sox bullpen, but became less reliable as the season progressed.
Austin Davis: D
He was one of the pitchers Boston traded for that never lived up to why they traded for him. He never got better and was a main reason Boston lost some big games, like the time he gave up 3 huge runs in the bottom of the 8th in Cleveland that lost Boston the game. His lack of control and command were a big factor as well. He was never a reliable arm when he took the mound.
Hansel Robles: C
He got off to a rocky start, but found a rhythm in late August to early September. He was your average reliever, where he lacked consistency and was not reliable at times. However, the times where he was good, he was really good. Similar to many of Boston’s relievers, nothing came easy for him and you never knew what to expect from him.
Tanner Houck: B
He showed that he has the stuff to become a really good starting pitcher for the team. However, he struggled with his control and command a lot this year, especially towards the end of the year. Another huge reason he was unsuccessful at times was his 3rd time facing the order. Hitters were consistently getting hits off of him when they faced him a 3rd time. If he can solve those issues, Boston has got a clone of Chris Sale as a righty.
Team as a whole: A
This team exceeded expectations and fought hard in the playoffs. There were definitely more highs than lows this season. The thing that stands out about this team is that they proved they have a good team not just for the time being, but for the next few years to come.
Top 3 best wins of the season (excluding postseason):
Game 162 VS Washington: This punched them a ticket to the postseason, but more importantly, got them the 1st wild card spot, and led to them sending their rivals home early.
8th inning comeback VS NYY: Reminder, the Sox were getting no-hit through 7 innings this game. It was looking like a bad game for them. However, they were relentless, racking up 5 consecutive hits with no outs. It didn’t just win them the game, but the season series.
Walk off Win VS the Rays in April: This sparked the big first half that the Sox had. Without that walkoff win, the Sox might have had no momentum for their big winning streak.
Top 3 worst losses of the season:
Labor Day: This was by far the worst loss of the season. The Sox had a 7-1 lead at one point. Tampa Bay came storming back and won the game, 11-10 in 10 innings. The play that got most people’s attention was Alex Verdugo’s drop in the outfield. It led to 4 runs scoring and Tampa getting back in the game. If you score 10 runs, you should win the game. Not the case here. This got Boston out of the division race and they had to settle for a wild card spot.
Springer Dinger: Another horrible loss. The Sox had a 7-2 lead in this game. The highlight of this was the go ahead HR by George Springer in the Bottom of the 8th inning off of Matt Barnes. This was a must win game at the time and Barnes and Ottavino came in and blew the game.
Stanton game (final game vs the Yankees in September): This one is different from the previous 2. The Sox had a 2-1 lead in the top of the 8th. The Yankees took the lead that inning, but took a commanding lead when Giancarlo Stanton hit a go-ahead 3-run home run off of Adam Ottavino. This was a series where the Sox needed to take at least 1 out of 3 to stay in first place of the 1st wild card. They lost that game and got swept, which was the worst thing the Sox could have done.