By: Harold Klapper
Jackie Bradley Jr. was rumored to have a breakout year in 2019. A solid postseason performance, impressive spring training performance, and offseason trips to see J.D. Martinez’s hitting coach, many thought this might be Jackie Bradley Jr.’s year. They were wrong. 41 games into the season he has been the worst player on the Red Sox and isn’t showing any signs of a turn around. After years of mediocrity at the plate, this season Bradley Jr. is having one of the worst offensive seasons the Red Sox have seen in recent memory. However, many turn to his defense as a reason he should stay in the lineup. As one of the best center fielders in the MLB and a player prone to making highlight reel catches, the Red Sox have continued to play him. This is a decision that might be changed soon, and it’s more than justified.
One doesn’t have to dig deep into statistics to see how awful Bradley Jr’s numbers have been this season. With 114 at bats he’s managed to have a .149 batting average, .184 SLG, and an OPS of .436. These numbers are truly reflective of a horrible offensive player. Among all qualified hitters, Jackie Bradley Jr. has the worst SLG in the MLB as well as the worst OPS in the MLB. Furthermore, he has the second lowest batting average in the MLB, behind Kansas City’s Chris Owings. A low batting average can sometimes indicate that a player gets a lot of extra base hits, just in less quantities than other players get singles. In Bradley Jr.’s situation this is far from accurate as he has 4 doubles, zero triples, and zero home runs. When he is getting hits, which is seemingly not often, they’re almost always singles. This is why no one in the MLB has a worse SLG or OPS, and this is another reason why his plate appearances are holding the Red Sox back.
The only reason Jackie Bradley Jr. is put into the lineup is for his defensive presence. Over the past couple of years he has made catches that topped highlight reels and saved games. However, if you look past the few obscure catches, Bradley Jr. is simply an above average outfielder whose defense shouldn’t be enough for the Red Sox to keep letting him take at bats. Bradley Jr’s fielding percentage this year has been .986, just .01 above the average for all center fielders. He has made two errors and has had one outfield assist. These numbers don’t jump out, and they shouldn’t. His fielding is slightly above average, and definitely doesn’t justify his spot in the lineup. It’s easy to get carried away with amazing catches made twice a year but if you look past them you see a player who is good defensively and a liability offensively. Above average defense does not make up for some of the worst hitting in the MLB and the Red Sox need to catch on.
Taking out Jackie Bradley Jr. could also open up spots for other players to see more playing time. Talents such as Michael Chavis should remain in the lineup when the Red Sox get back some injured players and Bradley Jr. should be the first one to go. Mookie Betts is more than capable of playing center field and the absence of Bradley Jr. in the lineup opens up offensive possibilities the Red Sox don’t have right now. Any hole in the lineup of a team is bad but what the Red Sox have is close to an automatic out. Jackie Bradley Jr. shouldn’t be kept in the lineup because of a few good catches and if he continues to hit like this, the Red Sox should definitely make some changes to their lineup.
It’s time for the Red Sox to look past the SportsCenter catches and look at Bradley Jr’s numbers.
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