Record: 96-66, 2nd AL East (8 1/2 GB)
Postseason: --
Ballpark: Fenway Park (104 hits, 104 HR)
Runs scored: 693 (3rd)
Runs allowed: 575 (T-2nd)
Pythag record: 95-67 (+1)
Recap: The Sox tried valiantly to turn their "Impossible Dream" 1968 season into a dynasty but fell short to a Cleveland team that came from out of nowhere. Boston fought valiantly to the very end, although a 9-10 April put them in the backseat for the entire season. They did finish the year 38-21.
History: The Red Sox actually improved upon their 1968 pennant winning record of 93-70 that included winning a one-game playoff against the Twins only to lose to the Dodgers in the World Series. Their only other pennant was a World Series championship all the way back in 1948 and there was a whole lot of losing in between.
Outlook: This team is very good, young, and frankly Cleveland is bound to bounce back to the median a bit this year. The Red Sox are the favorites to make this two out of three, or at least get to the Championship Series.
Rotation
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+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Michael | Pesco | 14 | 15 | 0.483 | 0 | 2.38 | 34 | 34 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 275.2 | 1083 | 228 | 86 | 73 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 68 | 3 | 241 | 11 | 2 | 7.4 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 7.9 |
| Franklin | Davila | 15 | 10 | 0.600 | 0 | 3.36 | 31 | 31 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 230.2 | 931 | 233 | 90 | 86 | 24 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 43 | 4 | 105 | 6 | 2 | 9.1 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 4.1 |
| Justin | Kindberg | 20 | 6 | 0.769 | 0 | 3.37 | 33 | 31 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 224.1 | 910 | 193 | 89 | 84 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 73 | 5 | 153 | 3 | 1 | 7.7 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 6.1 |
| Marco | Sanchez | 15 | 4 | 0.789 | 0 | 2.63 | 30 | 27 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 205.2 | 830 | 193 | 68 | 60 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 54 | 3 | 116 | 9 | 2 | 8.4 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 5.1 |
| Chris | Messina | 9 | 10 | 0.474 | 0 | 3.94 | 28 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 176.0 | 752 | 180 | 92 | 77 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 62 | 6 | 73 | 5 | 1 | 9.2 | 1.0 | 3.2 | 3.7 |
| Dylan | Hamilton | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 4.15 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.0 | 61 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12.5 | 1.4 | 3.5 | 8.3 |
| Terrance | Bryant | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0 | 2.61 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10.1 | 43 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7.8 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 7.0 |
| Pat | Holmgren | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 21 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7.5 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 4.5 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
In the modern era, and I'm sure if I'd have left it up to the AI to decide, Michael Pesco would have won the Cy Young. Pesco, who is already a 2-time Cy Young award winner, led the league in complete games and finished 2nd in ERA and strikeouts. However, this is 1969 (well, 1970 now) and we do care about wins and winning percentage. It's called leadership, people. Teammate Justin Kindberg took home the CYA instead thanks to a 22-6 record. He arrived in Boston in an April trade with the Indians that also brought C Jeremy Dolak and SP Chris Messina over in exchange for 2B TJ Pritchett and SP Dylan Hamilton. Would these teams have made this deal if they knew in advance Cleveland would be so good? Probably not (ed: yes actually they would have).
The rotation is rounded out with Marco Sanchez, who at 22 years of age has gone 29-9 in his first two seasons and needs only to prove he has the stamina to keep it up over the long haul, Franklin "Dirty" Davila, who would have Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana" as his walk-up music if he played in.... a very particular stretch of seasons in the 90s and early 2000s, and the newly arrived Sandy Hinojosa, whom the Red Sox acquired via a trade with the other Sox in exchange for LF Josh Wade and a pitching prospect. Hinojosa is Chicago's all-time leader in wins and strikeouts but the Chisox felt they needed to upgrade their offense and dealing their own 2-time CYA was the best way to do so. Hinojosa was as durable as ever last season, starting 37 games but his ERA climbed by more than a run from 2.65 to 3.86 and he seemed to fade down the stretch, with ERAs of over 4 in August and September. Boston's hope is that they can get the 37 year old to return to recent form by not leaning on him quite as hard as the White Sox did in 1969.
Bullpen
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+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Matt | Brock | 13 | 8 | 0.619 | 26 | 2.11 | 72 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 98.1 | 394 | 82 | 26 | 23 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 88 | 4 | 0 | 7.5 | 0.6 | 3.2 | 8.1 |
| Luis | Flores | 3 | 2 | 0.600 | 3 | 2.17 | 42 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 66.1 | 271 | 59 | 21 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 27 | 2 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 8.0 | 0.3 | 3.7 | 3.8 |
| T.J. | Matson | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 1 | 2.72 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 49.2 | 198 | 35 | 21 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 1 | 36 | 3 | 0 | 6.3 | 0.5 | 3.3 | 6.5 |
| Omar | Ramirez | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 0 | 3.83 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 42.1 | 178 | 46 | 18 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 9.8 | 1.1 | 2.6 | 5.1 |
| Alex | Covarrubias | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 0 | 7.33 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 23.1 | 118 | 32 | 29 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12.3 | 0.8 | 7.3 | 1.5 |
| Lamar | Boyce | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 2.40 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15.0 | 65 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9.6 | 0.0 | 6.6 | 6.0 |
| Aaron | Gebhardt | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 2.40 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15.0 | 57 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 4.8 |
| Danny | Castillo | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 1.69 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5.1 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 0.0 | 5.1 | 3.4 |
| Juan | del Valle | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 1 | 23.14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4.2 | 30 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 21.2 | 5.8 | 9.6 | 7.7 |
| Bruce | Britt | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 2.25 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.3 |
| Eddie | Steinman | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 3.0 |
| Byron | Pratt | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 4.50 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.0 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 22.5 | 0.0 | 4.5 | 13.5 |
| Greg | Pollak | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| George | Rosson | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13.5 | 0.0 | 6.8 | 6.8 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
The Red Sox' bullpen was relatively speaking their weak point but only because their starting rotation was so amazing in 1969. Matt Brock earned his first-ever trip to the All-Star Game with an electric first half that included 17 games, 20.1 innings pitches, and a 1.31 ERA in July. If anything he was even more dominant in the 2nd half, which the Sox needed badly, as he wound up leading the AL in pitching games. His primary setup man was Luis Flores, who led the league in ERA in 1967 but was deemed to not really have the stamina to stay in the starting rotation. Last year he was as good as ever, although the giant drop in K rate (5.2 down to 3.8) might worry one a bit. With the rotation as set as hard as it is at least to open the year, expect Chris Messina to have a big role in the bullpen, at least until/unless someone gets hurt.
Catcher
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| C | Jeremy | Dolak | 82 | 264 | 23 | 64 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 37 | 14 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0.242 | 0.280 | 0.299 |
| C | Mike | Schultz | 71 | 190 | 12 | 41 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 21 | 3 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.216 | 0.296 | 0.258 |
| C | Chris | Campbell | 42 | 96 | 15 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.260 | 0.342 | 0.375 |
| C | Joe | Laymance | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 1.250 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Jeremy Dolak proved to be just what the doctor ordered last year. He probably deserved the Gold Glove, which he won with the Indians in 1968. He was a calming presence working with a tremendous young staff and he also might have the best throwing arm in all of baseball. His acquisition allowed their old, grizzled veteran Mike Schultz to be more of a locker room presence in his final year on the team. Schultz played his entire career, a career that began in 1953, in Beantown and while he won't be making it into the actual Hall, he'll be in the Red Sox HOF for sure. Going into 1970 the backup will be Chris Campbell, an indie league free agent in 1967 who was signed and then released by the Astros but found new life in Boston.
Infield
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| 1B | Mike | Miller | 162 | 606 | 93 | 189 | 26 | 2 | 34 | 94 | 100 | 9 | 107 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 0.312 | 0.421 | 0.530 |
| 1B | Ramon | Puig | 71 | 67 | 8 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.269 | 0.307 | 0.522 |
| 2B | Dwayne | Fraser | 70 | 260 | 31 | 73 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 25 | 22 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 0.281 | 0.341 | 0.381 |
| 2B | Jesus | Martinez | 72 | 216 | 29 | 48 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 32 | 49 | 3 | 39 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.222 | 0.366 | 0.324 |
| 2B | Jonathan | Ward | 37 | 81 | 9 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 15 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.235 | 0.351 | 0.420 |
| 2B | T.J. | Pritchett | 9 | 34 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.324 | 0.400 | 0.382 |
| 2B | Mike | Runfola | 11 | 36 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.250 | 0.300 | 0.361 |
| 3B | Mauro | Magoni | 151 | 587 | 71 | 138 | 20 | 2 | 17 | 68 | 50 | 0 | 88 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 29 | 0.235 | 0.299 | 0.363 |
| 3B | John | Daughtry | 21 | 44 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.318 | 0.340 | 0.477 |
| 3B | Troy | Carmer | 4 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.200 | 0.333 | 0.500 |
| SS | Oniji | Handa | 155 | 690 | 83 | 200 | 21 | 0 | 17 | 67 | 23 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 0.290 | 0.312 | 0.394 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Mike Miller was looking like the odds-on favorite to repeat as AL MVP until a September swoon - .276, 3 HR and 10 RBI in 98 ABs - brought him down to earth. It was still an incredible year, especially considering that this kid is just 25 years old. One bit of hardware that he did pick up was the Gold Glove, which we expect will be the first of many he receives at the position. He's Keith Hernandez-esque out there.
Second base was never really a settled position after the team traded TJ Pritchett away - in retrospect it looks like they traded stability at one position for another (and also traded one very good young pitcher for another - man, that was a big trade). Neither Dwayne Fraser nor Arturo Jaquez look like they can field well enough to keep playing there as they move out of their primes but for now at least both are... somewhat passable at the keystone and whoever wins this spring training fight is sure to provide solid offense.
Mauro Magoni followed up a breakout 1968 (.293 BA, 10 HR and 63 RBIs, and a 128 OPS+) with a disappointing '69 season. He opened the year by hitting .203 for the month of April and never quite got on track. He's a solid defensive contributor at third, so the Red Sox can live with the mediocre bat, but it's a make or break year for both the team and for Magoni coming up in 1970.
Oniji Handa is not just a superlative hitter for a shortstop, he's also a monster fielder. By ZR (which, okay, didn't really exist in 1969 but how do you compare these guys!?) he saved 32.8 runs compared to the average player (tbh I don't think I've ever seen a guy with ratings that extreme - in game terms this was a new MLB record, passing Ryan Dietrich's 29.6 set in 1964) and set a new record for assists at the position, breaking the previous record by 27 (Chris Adams of the California Angels also surpassed the old record this season, although he had "only" 544 to Handa's 568). Also he set a new league record for at-bats with 690 but that's more of a function of the facts that a. he never left the field, b. he hit 2nd all season long for a very good offensive team, and c. he puts basically everything that comes within 10 feet of the plate into play.
Outfield
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| LF | Josh | Wade | 119 | 492 | 61 | 159 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 43 | 14 | 0 | 57 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 0.323 | 0.350 | 0.404 |
| LF | Cody | Miller | 59 | 185 | 28 | 47 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 24 | 0 | 24 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0.254 | 0.346 | 0.319 |
| LF | Josh | Pitt | 58 | 159 | 19 | 42 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0.264 | 0.308 | 0.314 |
| LF | Jon | Berry | 21 | 85 | 16 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0.282 | 0.371 | 0.424 |
| LF | Jon | Baldwin | 57 | 53 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.170 | 0.366 | 0.302 |
| LF | Brandon | Kane | 13 | 20 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.250 | 0.346 | 0.400 |
| CF | Ryan | Johnston | 84 | 320 | 50 | 83 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 37 | 53 | 5 | 63 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 0.259 | 0.366 | 0.381 |
| CF | Jon | Glynn | 79 | 282 | 26 | 75 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 30 | 32 | 8 | 45 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 0.266 | 0.338 | 0.365 |
| RF | Josh | Teague | 90 | 362 | 61 | 113 | 10 | 2 | 25 | 69 | 18 | 1 | 71 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 0.312 | 0.347 | 0.558 |
| RF | Dave | Guerra | 20 | 28 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.143 | 0.265 | 0.179 |
| RF | Jon | Fath | 11 | 21 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 | 0.391 | 0.333 |
| RF | Carlos | Rodriguez | 3 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.444 | 0.444 | 0.444 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Josh Wade started most of the year in left for the Sox but he didn't quite fit into their fielding profile so he was sent off to the White Sox in the aforementioned Hinojosa deal. That means that Josh Teague will move into left, where he's much more comfortable. The Red Sox have no problem with his bat, of course, and just hope that he can avoid the injuries he was constantly fighting last season that tore into his playing time if not his effectiveness. Should he fail to go, longtime Red Sox OF Josh Pitt can step into that void. Pitt, a starter throughout the 60s for these men, played in just 58 games last season, his lowest total since 1960, and even spent a couple weeks in the minors on a rehab assignment. There's also Jon Baldwin, who was inadequate as a pinch-hitter last season but who hit a deceptively good .243 (with 14 HRs and a 128 OPS+) for the Angels the year before.
Center field is likely the weakest spot on the team going into 1970. Jon Glynn is a solid defender who has the speed to hit leadoff if he can figure out how to take a proper lead. He actually went 33/37 for AA Pittsfield (weirdly, Boston's highest affiliate - they had no AAA team in 1969) before getting caught 14 times in 28 attempts. After him, the cupboard's a little bare. Cody Miller hits like a center fielder but fields like a corner outfielder. 24 year old Mike Runfola is heading into spring training as the backup CF; he looks like a good utility player but might be a year away from sticking around.
The other big add the Red Sox got in that Hinojosa trade was RF Jun Kim. The South Korean national took home his 4th Gold Glove and played stellar defense but his offensive output was frankly not up to snuff for a Chicago team who, pundits claimed, fell short due to a lack of offense. On Boston he'll bat towards the bottom of the lineup; they've got the offensive firepower to deal with a guy like this.