Mookie Betts emerges as not just an MVP candidate but a front-runner, picking a pitcher for a one-game playoff and a minor league notebook. A look back at Boston’s week:
While the usual suspects Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera and Manny Machado were appearing in plenty of award-prediction columns during spring training, Mookie Betts was only making headlines for crashing a golf cart into a pond in Florida.
Of 30 ESPN analysts to turn in preseason predictions, just Tristan Cockroft picked Betts to take the AL MVP. The dynamic 23-year-old outfielder only recently forced his way into the discussion after his second three-home run game of 2016. Those three home runs in a 16-2 win over Arizona last Sunday put him up there with Ted Williams as the only Red Sox to do that twice in one season.
Betts has just one hitless affair in the month of August, with nine multi-hit performances. He hasn’t struck out in consecutive plate appearances since June 16, hitting .352 with 244 plate appearances in that time.
Betts is a softer-spoken rising star in the Sox clubhouse, so you won’t hear him boasting much about his MVP resume. He even referred to himself as “still a work in progress” after Sunday’s three-home run, eight-RBI day.
One thing is certain. Red Sox fans are lucky to be watching Mookie Betts take the field every night, and even luckier that he seems to be more effective with a bat in his hands than a steering wheel.
I’m not the only one saying that Betts is the front-runner of the American League race:
“He’s been great all year. He’s a great player. There’s nothing on the field he can’t do. He can take over a game in a lot of ways.”
– 2008 American League MVP Dustin Pedroia to reporters after the 16-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks a week ago.
“It doesn’t matter whether Manager John Farrell bats him leadoff, as he did for most of the season, or drops him last week into the run-producing No. 3 spot … the 23-year-old is as dynamic as any player in the majors.”
– Scott Lauber, who covers the Red Sox for ESPN
“It’s a real possibility. … right now, I’d say he’s probably the leader with six weeks to go.”
– WEEI radio personality and former major leaguer Lou Merloni, on Betts’s chances of winning AL MVP
“There’s no one really taking hold of the (AL MVP race) … So he’s certainly in the conversation. It would help if this team makes the playoffs … He’s not Willie Mays but he’s got skills to hit the long ball, he’s such a good defender, he’s still so young. It’s all in front of him.”
– Dan Shaughnessy, columnist/writer at the ‘Boston Globe’
As Rick Porcello continues to do Cy Young-like things, and David Price forges on in a sub-par season, I think now is the perfect time to play a game of pick-your-pitcher. Hypothetically, if the Red Sox were to find themselves in a one-game playoff, who would be your pick to take the mound?
Price’s case: Boston signed the man to a $217 million deal this offseason. If he makes 32 regular-season starts, he will have made $937,500 per start. That’s more than Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, Brock Holt, Eduardo Rodriguez, Sandy Leon, Jackie Bradley Jr., etc., etc., will make for the entirety of the 2016 season. In a one-game playoff, with everything on the line, the money says you have to start this guy, regardless of what he’s given you this season.
Porcello’s case: Coming off the worst statistical season of his eight-year career, Porcello has developed into the most reliable pitcher on the Red Sox staff. With all the offseason hubbub around Price and young star Eduardo Rodriguez, Porcello has quietly pitched his way to a 17-3 record, improving on a 9-15 record from a year ago. His ERA is a career-best 3.22, a year after he tied a career worst with a 4.92 ERA. We’ve all seen what Price can do in the postseason. (Spoiler: If you haven’t seen it, you’re not missing much.) Maybe it’s time to see what Porcello can do.
Get in touch with me on Twitter @MonitorMichelle) or via email (mberthiaume@cmonitor.com) to weigh in.
The major leagues are great, but we all know the real fun is had in the minor leagues. Here’s a few notes to know:
Boston’s No. 1 draft pick this season is finally set to make his professional debut. LHP Jason Groome will start for the Gulf Coast League Red Sox on Monday. Groome, who signed for a $3.65 million bonus on July 15, will be limited to 35 pitches or two innings, whichever comes first. The 17-year-old has drawn early, very premature comparisons to Clayton Kershaw.
RHP Michael Kopech, famous for hitting 105 mph in July, continues to stun the radar gun regularly with the Advanced-A Salem Red Sox. Kopech is 3-0 in his last four starts with 39 strikeouts. The 20-year-old from Texas touched 99 mph in his last start Thursday, pitching six innings and striking out 11, both career highs, with no walks.
After suffering an ankle sprain Aug. 5, Yoan Moncada returned to the Portland lineup Saturday, making his second professional start at third base. The 21-year-old phenom, listed as day-to-day, could still join the big league club this season. It’s unlikely Moncada gets called up before he’s fully healthy, though.
(Michelle Berthiaume can be reached at 369-3338, mberthiaume@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @MonitorMichelle.)