I'm not sure this warrants its own thread. But I wasn't sure where else to put it.
Going into the postseason there was little doubt that the Sox were close to a complete team, but the two concerns for me were the bullpen and the precipitous drop off in home runs. September was a rough month for the Sox big three home run hitters but they got some surprising power contributions to stay afloat in the early part of the month, and by the end they were in cruise control a little.
Still, going into the playoffs it was a bit concerning that they had dropped from right around 2d and 3d all year to 9th, especially given how significant the lack of power compared to the other teams in the playoffs seemed in last year's playoffs. Mookie, JD and Xander had 11 home runs combined in September and after starting the year with 16 Beni really wasn't close to having home run power for two months. The Yankees and the Dodgers hit by far the most home runs of the year of any team and the Astros were right at the same level as the Red Sox but were trending better. The Sox really had to keep those teams in the park and to find power of their own, somehow. And they did. Against the Yankees, they matched them home run for home run with the final tally being four to four. Against the Astros, it was five to six. And they actually ended up outhomering the Dodgers 8-6.
JD came around in the postseason but by and large the lull of the big three was almost perfectly matched by power surges from players that hit home runs at a better rate in September and October than their yearly totals. Anyway, I though it would be interesting to look at the numbers. Here are the total home runs per player starting September 1 and ending with last night's game. Keep in mind that during the regular year, JDM, Mookie and Xander accounted for nearly half (47 percent) of the team's home runs.
Bradley Jr. 8
JDM 7
Rafi 6
Holt 5
Xander 5
Pearce 5
Mookie 4
Nunez 2
Swihart 2
Moreland 1
Kinsler 1
Phillips 1
Lin 1
Travis 1
Vaz 1
Beni 0
It seems like there are around about thousand ways that you could try to make the case that this was a true team every sense. This is certainly one of them.
Going into the postseason there was little doubt that the Sox were close to a complete team, but the two concerns for me were the bullpen and the precipitous drop off in home runs. September was a rough month for the Sox big three home run hitters but they got some surprising power contributions to stay afloat in the early part of the month, and by the end they were in cruise control a little.
Still, going into the playoffs it was a bit concerning that they had dropped from right around 2d and 3d all year to 9th, especially given how significant the lack of power compared to the other teams in the playoffs seemed in last year's playoffs. Mookie, JD and Xander had 11 home runs combined in September and after starting the year with 16 Beni really wasn't close to having home run power for two months. The Yankees and the Dodgers hit by far the most home runs of the year of any team and the Astros were right at the same level as the Red Sox but were trending better. The Sox really had to keep those teams in the park and to find power of their own, somehow. And they did. Against the Yankees, they matched them home run for home run with the final tally being four to four. Against the Astros, it was five to six. And they actually ended up outhomering the Dodgers 8-6.
JD came around in the postseason but by and large the lull of the big three was almost perfectly matched by power surges from players that hit home runs at a better rate in September and October than their yearly totals. Anyway, I though it would be interesting to look at the numbers. Here are the total home runs per player starting September 1 and ending with last night's game. Keep in mind that during the regular year, JDM, Mookie and Xander accounted for nearly half (47 percent) of the team's home runs.
Bradley Jr. 8
JDM 7
Rafi 6
Holt 5
Xander 5
Pearce 5
Mookie 4
Nunez 2
Swihart 2
Moreland 1
Kinsler 1
Phillips 1
Lin 1
Travis 1
Vaz 1
Beni 0
It seems like there are around about thousand ways that you could try to make the case that this was a true team every sense. This is certainly one of them.