The Boston Red Sox didn't exactly have the campaign they were hoping to have in 2022. After making it all the way to the ALCS in 2021, the Sox completely fell apart in 2022. They struggled with injuries, regression to the mean, and a front office that had seemingly no desire to build off of their encouraging playoff run from the season before.
This offseason, things didn't go much better for the Sox. They watched key members of their championship core in Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez head for the exit door, which was even worse when considering the team likely overpaid for free agents such as Masataka Yoshida and Kenley Jansen. The only saving grace was that Boston finally managed to sign Rafael Devers to a long-term extension.
Boston has been dealt a series of body blows over the past year, and a big reason for their 2022 struggles was due to players taking huge steps back from their successful 2021 campaign. While there has been a ton of turnover for the Sox on their roster this offseason, let's take a look at three players who have stuck around that need to put together bounce back seasons if Boston wants to change their fortunes in 2023.
3. Alex Verdugo
It was always going to be tough for Alex Verdugo to fully appease Red Sox fans after he was the primary prospect coming back from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the ill-fated Mookie Betts trade, which looked bad at the time and even worse now that Jeter Downs was released by Boston this offseason. Being the main piece of that deal, Verdugo's expectations have always been sky-high during his time with the Sox.
Verdugo wasn't necessarily bad in 2022 (.280 BA, 11 HR, 74 RBI, .732 OPS) but his play left a lot to be desired. Verdugo was expected to be a solid outfielder who could hit for a .300 average along with about 20 home runs a season, while playing strong defense. But Verdugo simply failed to make any sort of real impact last season, and it killed Boston's hopes of making it back to the playoffs.
Verdugo's charismatic personality has helped him buy time to figure things out from an irritated fanbase, but he's going to have to be better in 2023, especially considering all the talent that ran for the exits this offseason. If he produces at the same rate he did in 2022, it may not be long before Verdugo finds himself suiting up for a new team.
2. Enrique Hernandez
During Boston's surprise run to the ALCS in 2021, Enrique Hernandez was an absolute madman. During that stretch of action, Hernandez was arguably the hottest baseball player in the world (.408 BA, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 1.260 OPS) and it looked like after being a utility player for much of his career, he had finally proven himself to be a starting-caliber player.
Then 2022 came around and Hernandez came crashing back down to earth. He admittedly missed a decent chunk of the season with injuries, but Hernandez's 2022 numbers (.222 BA, 6 HR, 45 RBI, .629 OPS) were wildly disappointing after his standout postseason performance. His failure to produce forced Boston to piece together their outfield for pretty much the entire season.
In 2023, Hernandez is shifting to shortstop now that Bogaerts is with the San Diego Padres and Trevor Story (another bounce back candidate) is going to be out for most of the season. While he won't be expected to reach the heights of the 2021 playoffs, Hernandez is going to have to be much better if Boston doesn't want to finish in last place in the American League East in 2023.
1. Chris Sale
Chris Sale might be the player in most need of a bounce back season not just on the Red Sox, but in the entire MLB. Ever since signing his five-year, $145 million contract with the Sox after their 2018 World Series championship, Sale has been either ineffective or not on the field entirely for Boston. Nobody is more willing to admit this than Sale himself.
Sale was not himself in 2019, and has only pitched 48.1 innings of action over the past three seasons. Sale took the hill three times in the 2021 playoffs for Boston, but he struggled mightily when he did, posting an ERA of eight over just nine innings of work. Since signing his big money deal, nothing has gone right for Sale.
Not only will Sale have to stay healthy, but he's going to have to be the ace of a Red Sox rotation that lost Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha, and Rich Hill over the offseason. Sale doesn't necessarily have to be the pitcher he once was, but he needs to be better than he's been over the past four seasons. If he can, maybe the Sox can surprise folks in the AL East this season. But if he can't, it will be another long season in Boston.
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