Martinez, and Michael Wacha, Bloom was able to bring in a handful of veteran leaders - and winners. While the Red Sox lost some key free agents like Bogaerts, J.D. He's had three pretty unique offseasons since coming to Boston, beginning in 2020 when he not only had to deal with a pandemic, but also had to trade away Mookie Betts. It will either mark the start of something special, or a long summer for Boston baseball fans.īloom is excited for what lies ahead though. The 162-game grind starts Thursday when the Red Sox open the season at Fenway Park against the Orioles. The team's 84-loss campaign in 2022, and the offseason departures of some key figures including Xander Bogaerts, doesn't inspire much hope for 2023.īut Bloom has an incredibly optimistic view of the team that he's built, one that he believes can compete this season. He has a 92-win season and a trip to the ALCS under his watch in 2021, but that's been sandwiched between a pair of last-place finishes. Just look at Chaim Bloom's three seasons as Chief Baseball Officer of the Red Sox. The team has either made a run at a World Series, or finished in last place in their division. But if the Red Sox want to be competitive this season, they’re going to need the leadoff hitter do a great job.BOSTON - Watching the Red Sox has been a roller coaster the last few years. We know what to expect from Kiké when he’s leading off the game and we can bet on him doing a good job. The thing about Kiké leading off is that there are no surprises since we’ve seen it so often. Since Betts left, Kiké has hit out of the leadoff spot the most out of everyone on the Red Sox with 161 games. He doesn’t need to hit bombs over the monster of doubles into the right-center gap, because he’s so good at tracking pitches he’s just as likely to draw a walk from a seven pitch at-bat as he is to hit a line drive single to left field.Ĭasas being in the one spot of the lineup wouldn’t be a horrible thing in my opinion and I think he is another stellar choice for that position. The rookie is good at a lot of things when he’s standing in the batters box, but what impresses me the most is he always seems to find a way to get on base. Plate appearance after plate appearance, Casas is making the opposing pitcher work, often working a full count even if he’s down 0-2. He’s picking up where he left off last year in really showing us his discipline at the plate. However, he is not the only player on this Boston Red Sox team that could bat leadoff for the Sox.Ĭasas is another great option for the leadoff spot. ![]() When Yoshida first arrived in Boston, many thought that he was going to be the leadoff guy and many still believe that as it could be the case. Not to mention his OBP is sitting pretty at 1.189. 400 batting average and his 10 RBI to go along with that. The 4x NPB All-Star is currently helping lead his Japanese squad to WBC victories with his. While I don’t believe he is an overpay, he still very much as to prove that he is worth that contract. This offseason, Boston went out and signed the 2x Pacific League batting champion to a hefty contract that most were calling an overpay. I like Duran and it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw him with the team at some point in the season, but I don’t think picking him as a leadoff hitter candidate would be smart with Tapia tearing it up with the team down in Fort Myers. With the emergence of Ramiel Tapia this spring, I don’t even know if Duran is poised to crack the opening day roster, let alone the leadoff spot. If you came to me just five/six games intro spring training and asked if I thought Duran was going to be the leadoff hitter for the Sox, I probably would’ve said no, but I would’ve hesitated. Boston Red Sox have many different options for the leadoff spotĭuran came up and had his time with the Boston Red Sox as their lead off hitter. Twenty-two different players have assumed the role of leadoff hitter and even though they have some big shoes to fill with Betts being their comparison, none have come close to his type of production. ![]() Since the trade of Mookie Betts the Boston Red Sox have not had a consistent, dependable leadoff hitter.
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