Better Off Now?

I often wonder how the teams that are doing well or not so well in today's game stack up to how they were doing 3, 5, or 10 years ago.

I remember the year I got most into baseball was 2016. The Red Sox team was looking better than they had in years, maybe even back to the '07 season. Furthermore, my 2nd favorite and my Dad's favorite team, the Cubs, were looking like they could actually win it all, and they did.

I've been comparing the 2018 Red Sox to the 2016 Red Sox quite a bit recently, but I realize those 2 teams are too close in history to one another. So, I decided to test out an idea for a new post series by comparing the 2018 Red Sox typical starting 9 to the 2013 World Series-winning Red Sox's lineup.

To determine which players I compare, I take the World Series lineup for the 2013 Red Sox and put it against the typical 2018 Sox starting lineup. If I choose to continue this, I may have to iron out a few kinks and avoid using lineups when players were injured, etc.

Anyways, I'm starting with DH which was a very tough call and frankly, a toss-up. Don't get me wrong, David Ortiz's 2013 season was one of the best all-around seasons of his career. He hit over .300 with 30 homers and over 100 RBI. However, J.D. Martinez's historic start to 2018 has been astonishing. He just hit his 21st home run an hour or so before I wrote this post, and he has over 50 RBI and it's only June 9th. I'm not saying J.D. is the better player, but from what I've seen of him so far, I'd have to give him the edge.

DH Position; Advantage 2018 Red Sox

Despite my extensive searches through my Red Sox binders and boxes, I was unable to find a card of 2013 catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Despite me not having any cards of him, which is quite surprising, I still consider him the far superior catcher in comparison to Christian Vazquez and Sandy Leon. Of all the teams he played for, Salty played the best in Boston, and 2013 was by far his best season. He reached his career high for batting average in a single season and quickly became a fan-favorite, hitting 40 doubles as well.

C Position; Advantage 2013 Red Sox 

Comparing the 2013 Red Sox to the 2018 Red Sox who have barely played a third of their games can be tricky. You never quite know if players such as Mitch Moreland will stay as good as they are right now for the remainder of the season. So, I'm simply assuming that these players will continue to put up similar numbers for the rest of the 2018 season. Therefore, if Mitch Moreland can continue to hit around .295 this year which matching his impressive totals in RBI and doubles, he'll beat out the 2013 Red Sox's first baseman, Mike Napoli. 

1B Position; Advantage 2018 Red Sox

Eduardo Nunez has done a fair job playing second base for most of the 2018 season given that Dustin Pedroia returned to the DL just 11 at-bats and 2+ months into the season. The only remaining starter from the 2013 team, Pedroia garnered multiple MVP votes in 2013 and had the 2nd most RBI he's ever had in a single season, even surpassing his 2008 AL MVP totals. He did all of that while hitting .301 and reaching the All-Star game which he has not been to since. 

2B Position; Advantage 2013 Red Sox

Let me be clear, Stephen Drew was not a big part of the reason why the 2013 Red Sox won the World Series. Sure, he had 67 RBI, but he also hit just .253 and wasn't thought to be the best teammate. On the contrary, Xander Bogaerts, from what I've heard, is a pretty good teammate and has been putting on a show for much of the 2018 season. While he hasn't hit the stride he reached before his ankle injury, which was unfortunately expected, Bogaerts is still hitting .283 with 34 RBI and has been playing a solid defensive shortstop. He'll probably be in the final All-Star game vote position where he's been numerous times before, given the strong shortstop competition in the AL.

SS Position; Advantage 2018 Red Sox

Neither Will Middlebrooks nor Rafael Devers impressed people with their batting averages in their respective seasons. Middlebrooks hit .227 in 2013 which was far worse than I originally thought he did. Devers hasn't fared much better, hitting .229 so far this year. The reason I give Middlebrooks the edge is that not only has he played a better 3rd base, but a lot less was expected of him. Rafael Devers was stellar after being called-up last season, and he's certainly been pulled down to Earth after his strong April to begin the 2018 season.

3B Position; Advantage 2013 Red Sox

Over the last month or so, Andrew Benintendi has been one of the best players in baseball. Over the last 30 days, Benny is hitting an unbelievable .345 with 10 homers and 28 RBI. Jonny Gomes played pretty well in LF for the 2013 Red Sox and made solid offensive contributions. However, he did not play at the level Benintendi is currently playing at. And if he keeps this up, I'll have no reason to think twice about choosing Andrew over Jonny.

LF Position; Advantage 2018 Red Sox

2 years removed from his historic 2011 season, Ellsbury followed up with a fabulous 2013 and an end to his time as a Boston Red Sock. Ellsbury hit .298 for the Sox in 2013 and stole an MLB leading 52 bases that year. He additionally provided 53 RBI and a good defensive job in centerfield. While Jackie Bradley Jr. is the best defensive centerfielder in the game, his offense is nothing short of mediocre, hitting just .194 as of today. To me, there's no debate. In his last season with Boston, Ellsbury shined and easily beats out Bradley on this ranking.

CF Position; Advantage 2013 Red Sox

We're currently tied 4-4, meaning it comes down to the RF position. You can probably guess how this is going to go.

Unless he has a horrible performance when he comes back from his injury early next week, Mookie Betts easily beats out Shane Victorino for the RF position, ultimately giving the 2018 Red Sox the      5-4 win over the 2013 squad. He's leading the league in batting average as I speak, and will certainly make an effort to climb the ranks in all sorts of other categories once he's back. Victorino was good in 2013, don't get me wrong. But few players over the last few years, even in all of baseball, could match how Mookie Betts is doing right now.

RF Position; Advantage 2018 Red Sox

Final Results; 

2018 Red Sox 5 

2013 Red Sox 4