Mookie Betts, Second Baseman (Again) is a Misstep that Didn’t Need to Happen
It’s a big deal that the Red Sox will have to play JD Martinez in right field instead of Mookie Betts when playing in Los Angeles in this World Series. Statistically speaking, the Red Sox are replacing the best defensive right fielder over the past three years with the worst. We have way more on the Red Sox outfield, but the point is that plays like the one Mookie Betts made throwing out Tony Kemp on a base hit down the right-field line in the 8th inning of game 4 of the ALCS will not be made without the super talented Betts roaming right field. That play potentially saved the game and the series for the Red Sox. But fans who watch the Red Sox play almost every night for the past six months will know that Betts makes even extraordinary plays look routine. Martinez will not. Mookie Betts, Second Baseman could swing the series away from the Red Sox, and it didn’t need to happen
Over a three-game span, there’s no guarantee that Martinez will miss out on a ball that Betts would have caught. It’s almost a certainty, however, that some 50/50 balls, ones that Betts comes up 100% of the time, will fall in for base hits or extra bases with JD out there. Betts is better covers more ground in the gaps and down the line than JD will. Outs turning into singles and singles into doubles could be disastrous for a Red Sox pitching staff that has lived on the edge and stranded tons of runners this postseason.
The point of this blog is not to advocate for JD to come off the bench while the team plays in LA, but rather to point out the fact the Red Sox defense will suffer significantly unless luck is on their side and JD isn’t forced to make any difficult plays. Furthermore, if Betts isn’t moved to 2B, the position he played throughout the minors before being blocked by Dustin Pedroia, Jackie Bradley Jr. the ALCS MVP is likely the odd man out in the outfield. Losing him hurts the lineup depth and defense of the Red Sox as well and will make for some interesting substitution decisions late in games for Alex Cora. The first-year manager has pulled nearly every string correctly this postseason, but this is a new challenge.
With no easy solution to this situation for the Red Sox, I look to what I had hoped the Red Sox would do with Martinez from the beginning of the season. Many still wish they integrated him at first base in preparation of this very scenario. While one can argue against sacrificing the teams’ performance throughout the regular season (by playing Martinez out of position at first base) amidst a heated division race with the New York Yankees, success in Boston is measured by World Series titles, not division titles, I think it would have been entirely possible to trot JD Martinez out at first base, the easiest defensive position to play in baseball, at least once a week without costing the team more than a win all season. The counterargument, of course, is that it’s overzealous and foolish to spend the regular season concerning yourself over three (maybe four) games you might never reach.
October baseball is a game of inches and this series could be decided by a run or two the Red Sox might relinquish because their superstar right fielder isn’t in right field. Luckily for us Sox fans, our pitching, hitting, and heart are all still far superior to the Dodgers’. And we’re up 2-0.
-John Madsen
