If this team was a player, which player would it be?
A fun but ultimately meaningless exercise I like to do sometimes is compare the collective statistical performance of an entire team to one individual player. I do this to personify group performance and make things more fun for discussion purposes. It’s one thing to point out that opposing batters put up an OPS of .865 against the Red Sox bullpen in the month of August; it’s another thing to point out that Red Sox relievers in the month of August turned every hitter they faced into Cory Seager.
So if the 2024 Red Sox hitters were an individual player from recent Sox history, who would they be?
Let’s start by looking at the 2024 numbers. The Sox slashed .255/.321/.430 as a team, good for an OPS+ of 106. If you think that looks pretty good, you’re right! That’s the second-highest batting average and the third-highest OBP and SLG in the American League. The Red Sox had seven hitters put up an above-average OPS this year, not counting Triston Casas. This was a perfectly fine lineup, albeit one that struggled against lefties (though it’s worth noting that the Sox .727 OPS against lefties was still better than the league-wide OPS of .711).
So, in looking through post-1967 Red Sox players, which hitter best represents the 2024 Red Sox? In terms of production at the plate, the Sox were pretty damn close to Tom Brunansky overall. In his four years with the Red Sox, Bruno slashed an eerily similar .252/.331/.430, good for an OPS+ of 105. I was but a wee lad when he played in Boston, but I like this comparison. I remember Brunansky as a middle of the order bat who had his moments (like when he hit 31 doubles and 15 homers in 1992) but who ultimately underwhelmed. Sounds like the 2024 Sox to me!
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But that’s just looking at the bat. A major storyline of the 2024 Red Sox — particularly the early-season version of the team — was the bad defense. The Red Sox’s 108 errors are the worst in the league. As measured by Fangraphs, the team collectively has put up -11.4 Defensive Runs Above Average, good for just 23rd in the league. Once again, Tom Brunansky is a pretty good fit here; in Bruno’s last full season with the Sox in 1992, he put up -10 Defensive Runs Above Average in right field.
But there’s still one more piece of the puzzle to consider here: base running. The Sox ran wild on pitchers and catchers this year, as the team’s 133 stolen bases are good for third in baseball. Unfortunately, the vast majority of those 133 steals were produced by just three players: Jarren Duran (32), David Hamilton (33), and Ceddanne Rafaela (19). And, outside of stolen bases, the Sox were actually a poor base-running team. By FanGraphs Ultimate Base Running, which essentially measures how good a team is at taking the extra base and avoiding outs, the Sox finished a dismal 23rd, with an overall UBR of -.1.4. The Brunansky comparison kind of falls apart here. Bruno never stole as many as 20 bags in a season and, over the course of his career, was actually caught-stealing more often than he successfully stole a base; he didn’t have the speed that the 2024 Red Sox have.
So, in the totality, the Sox were good hitters who played terrible defense and were fast but poor base runners overall. Is there a recent Sox hitter who fits this profile? How about….
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Hanley! Now this one really feels right to me.
Hanley Ramirez slashed .265/.326/.450 during his tenure with the Sox. That’s a little more power than the 2024 team, but his OPS+ was actually a tad lower at 103. Defensively, he was famously a butcher, even after they moved him back to the dirt following his ill-fated attempt at playing left field; in his three full seasons in Boston he put up -18.1, -10.8, and -12.6 Defensive Runs Above Average. And while he had plenty of speed, having stolen 281 bases throughout his career, he was rarely actually a very good baserunner overall, and put up negative UBR numbers in each season with the Sox. In fact, in his last season with the Sox he perfectly matched the 2024 team with a -1.4.
So there you have it. The 2024 Red Sox hitters are late-career Hanley Ramirez, a tantalizing disappointment. Sounds right to me.