HEAT CHECK
Which JBJ will Red Sox get?
Twelve days.
That’s how long Jackie Bradley Jr. needs to keep the consistent, opposite-field stroke he’s shown in intrasquad games thus far.
He’s got 12 days until the Red Sox begin their quest to sneak into the playoffs with a pitching staff that shouldn’t be anywhere within sniffing distance of October baseball.
Queue the cute “Angels in the Outfield” kid who looks up with a twinkle in his eye and says, ‘It could happen.’
Production from the big-three — Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez — along with a monster 60-game (12 starts?) showing from Nathan Eovaldi will give the Red Sox a chance.
The great separator, though, the true wild card of this Red Sox season, is the streaky nine-hole hitter with a career .236 batting average.
“I guess every game is going to matter a little more now,” Bradley said last week.
Intrasquad games started last Thursday. On Sunday, Bradley was still swinging the bat like a man on fire. Going against left-hander Kyle Hart, a seven-year minor leaguer who has been on the periphery of the big leagues the last two years, Bradley unleashed a pretty stroke on what looked like a fading breaking ball and launched it off the Green Monster for a double.
He added three hits in total before the day was done. It’s hard not to imagine what he’s capable of if this hot streak continues into July 24, when the Sox open up against the Orioles.
“He’s swinging the bat so well right now that I think he’s just confident in the whole game,” manager Ron Roenicke said. “He’s going the other way and I think the last few years when I was here, the difference between his first half and second half was when he started hitting the ball the other way. And soon as he started going opposite field, the average started going up and the power started showing up.”
How many times throughout Bradley’s career has he put up zeroes for such an extended period the Red Sox have had to seriously wonder if he was meant to be a big leaguer? How many times did former managers John Farrell and Alex Cora have to give him a week out of the starting lineup to reset from one of his signature cold streaks?
Yet after each one, Bradley seems to bounce back. He’s put together five straight seasons with an average of 17 homers and a .765 OPS while playing Gold Glove-caliber defense in center field.
The cold streaks don’t seem to matter. The numbers are always there in the end. The hot streaks have been just as impactful.
Bradley could offer nothing in the 2020 season. He could also carry the Red Sox to a playoff spot they probably don’t deserve.
In the last three years alone, Bradley has put together 60-game stretches to drool over.
Last year was his most consistent, with the fewest highs and lows, but over a 60-game stretch from May 20 through July 30 he hit .278 with an .896 OPS and 17 doubles, two triples and 11 homers.
Bradley had a similar 60-game stretch in 2018, hitting .277 with an .852 OPS and 16 doubles, three triples and nine homers from June 16 through Sept. 1 (and won the ALCS MVP that October).
And how about this 60-game stretch in 2017, from May 13 through July 21: .302 average, .897 OPS, 16 doubles, one triple and 10 homers.
Put it all together and he’d average 43 doubles and 27 homers over a 162-game season if he was hot all year. That’s MVP caliber when taking his defense into account.
In the years prior, he’s had even better streaks. But as he’s started to get more consistent with age, Bradley remains the kind of dynamic player capable of taking over games.
“If we keep him where he’s at,” Roenicke said. “With Jack, you can see the confidence he has. I think most everybody, you can see that confidence.
“It took me a while probably to get to know Jackie. The first year I was new and trying to get to know everybody. Last year I felt really good with communication with him, opening up and telling me where he’s at. He’s at a really good spot right now. He’s always got a smile on his face. And he knows he’s at a point right now where if we open the season, he’s really confident where he’d be.”
Bradley will likely open the season hitting eighth or ninth, Roenicke said.
“I still like that,” the skipper said. “I’m not going to say he’s ninth, but I like eighth, ninth, getting people on base and getting to your good offensive one-two-three in your lineup… I think it’s really important when you like your first and second hitters in your lineup to have a good eighth and ninth, guys that can get on base.”
“We have guys that are locked in. We know we’re going to miss Mookie (Betts), of course. But if Alex Verdugo can come in and swing the bat like we think he’s capable, along with other guys who have proven they’re capable, we can have a very nice offensive team.”