As disappointing as the Red Sox have been this year, arriving around .500, you wouldn't know it from their quality of play against the New York Yankees. They won one game against the Sox and then the Sox kept shutting them up, eventually jumpstarting their scoreless run. And they did it, ironically, with a lot of former Yankees. Their closer right now is Aroldis Chapman, who's been excellent in the ninth again. They're getting a healthy season out of Garrett Whitlock, who's been one of their more crucial bullpen arms. Their hero bench bat continues to be former Yankee prospect Rob Refsnyder, who's once again hitting .300 off the bench, harkening back to fellow utility bench guys like Lou Merloni and Brock Holt.
And of course, you have one of their biggest triumphs this season, former Yankee prospect Carlos Narvaez. Narvy was a perennial Rail-Rider, and while he made the majors for 6 games last year, we had no room for him between Wellsy and Trevino. Trading him and then immediately dealing Trevvy must have been cruel. But Narvaez not only found a nice home in Boston, but was able to ride a great spring showing to a roster spot, and outdid usual starter Connor Wong for a starting spot. And then, first Yanks-Sox series of the year, Narvaez gets to be the hero. Funny how that works out.
Narvaez is the Sox's surest catching option since they traded Christian Vazquez. Not only is he great defensively, but he's hitting .276 with 6 homers and 23 RBIs. Definitely an upgrade from the comparatively lopsided Wong. I think if he keeps this up he could be a pretty sure piece for the Sox moving forward, and it's insanely fortuitous that he showed up here right after the Sox traded their biggest catching prospect, Kyle Teel, to Chicago. Teel's struggling in the majors right now while Narvaez is surging.
Jumping off on that point, Teel, even if he's out of Boston, has still picked up on the Sox' products trend of completely cratering this season. Campbell is already back in the minors, Anthony and Mayer are hitting around .150, Dobbins is already hurt, and even Duran, Houck and Casas have been disappointments. The thought was that Boston was gonna show the world their next generation was ready this year, and they went ahead with the rollout, even trading Devers to make room, and...these guys just aren't ready. Campbell had a hot start but was hitting .223 when he was sent down. Mayer's hitting .186, Anthony .128. These guys clearly can wreck the ball in the minors, but it's just not working at the MLB level yet, which is kinda heartbreaking. The stage was set, the road was paved, and yet...we're still here.
The Sox have time for these guys to grow into stars, but the hope that it could happen this season is beginning to dissipate. Now there's rumors the Sox might try to get rid of Alex Bregman, or even Duran, and...I dunno, I just saw this going much differently for them. I'm personally fine if they don't compete, but with everything they had going for them at the top of the season it'd still be heartbreaking.
Coming Tomorrow- He's been back for 28 games and he already has a higher WAR than like 90% of the team.
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