Homegrown stars buoy Red Sox
2011 draft class, including Bradley, Betts, carries load
With their own regional sports network, a nationwide following and the presence of big-ticket free agents such as David Price and Hanley Ramirez, the Boston Red Sox display all the characteristics of the large-market team they are.
Their roster, however, sends more of a mixed message.
In contrast to the New York Yankees, owners of the majors’ largest payroll as well as an opening-day roster nearly bereft of homegrown players, the Red Sox have bounced back from their last-place finish of 2015 with a team full of products from their farm system.
Chief among them have been brilliant young shortstop Xander Bogaerts and three members of their vaunted draft class of 2011, outfielders Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. and third baseman Travis Shaw. They account for four of the top five RBI totals on the majors’ most prolific offense, which has propelled Boston to a 34-25 record.
“On any given night, we’ve had as many as nine of the 10 guys in the lineup as original signees of the Red Sox,” manager John Farrell said. “I think that’s a tremendous endorsement of so much scouting and player development that has gone into the makeup of this team.”
Though the 2011 draft was Boston’s final one under then-general manager Theo Epstein — now with the Chicago Cubs — key figures from that haul, such as current general manager Mike Hazen and vice president of amateur and international scouting Amiel Sawdaye, were among those making decisions when this year’s draft began Thursday.
They will be hard-pressed to replicate what might go down as one of the greatest collections of talent garnered in one class.
Betts and Bradley appear on the way to All- Star status this year. Shaw has delivered a .810 on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) in taking over at third for injured Pablo Sandoval. Reliever Matt Barnes, the club’s highest selection in 2011 at No. 19 overall, has a 2.93 ERA in 23 games. Three other classmates — catcher-turned-outfielder Blake Swihart and pitchers Henry Owens and Noe Ramirez — have seen action with the big club this season.
“Looking back on it, it is kind of special being part of that, because you see all the impact players who have come up and had success up here from that class alone,” said Shaw, a ninth-round pick. “To be in the same group as those players is pretty cool.”
And it might be beneficial for their development. Farrell thinks players carry an increased sense of responsibility when they rise through the system of the team that drafted them or signed them as amateur free agents.
Many of them also establish a camaraderie and sense of purpose through the trials and tribulations of life in the minors together.
“We got used to each other; we became friends in the minors,” said Bogaerts, signed out of Aruba in 2009. “The friendships are very valuable. Jackie came up before I did, so if there’s anything we don’t know, you tend to go to guys like him because you’re a little afraid of the veterans.”
The Red Sox’s reliance on homegrown talent has become more pronounced in the last couple of years as Bogaerts, Betts and Bradley have found their footing in the majors.
After a rocky rookie season in 2014 — when he lost confidence after the Red Sox shifted him from shortstop to third base upon acquiring Stephen Drew — Bogaerts finished second in the AL batting race with a .320 average last season and has further elevated his game this season.
He is batting .340 with a .880 OPS and ranked atop AL All-Star vote-getters at his position in the tabulations released this week. Bogaerts, 23, had a 26-game hitting streak that ended last Friday and was the majors’ second longest of the season, after Bradley’s 29-game surge, the fourth longest in Red Sox history.
Bradley’s long-awaited emergence — he’s batting .315 with nine homers and 38 RBI — has come after three seasons of frustrating ups and downs that saw him shuttling between Boston and Class AAA Pawtucket (R.I.).
Always an elite defender in center field, Bradley has finally found success at the plate after batting a combined .213 — with an alarming 221 strikeouts — in 238 games spread from 2013 to 2015. Last year’s big August has carried over into sustained production, and Bradley has settled on a stance after repeated tinkering. What worked?
“Going back to the basics,” said Bradley, 26. “Going back to what made me feel comfortable, and staying athletic with it.”
Bradley and Betts said the Red Sox’s emphasis on learning how to win in the minors — not just putting up numbers to attract at- tention — translates into playing the game correctly and eventually getting promoted. Shaw also pointed out the club is adept at preparing its prospects for the fan- and media-stoked caldron that is Boston.
Betts, an infielder in his first two full pro seasons before switching to the outfield in 2014, has found a source of fielding advice and a close friend in Bradley, a fellow Southerner who played collegiately at South Carolina. Betts’ path to stardom has been much more direct.
A fifth-round pick out of high school in Brentwood, Tenn., Betts was persuaded by a $750,000 signing bonus to forsake college (Tennessee), then defied projections inspired by his wiry 5-9 frame by belting 15 homers at Class A in 2013.
He proved that production was no fluke by banging out 18 homers and putting up a .820 OPS last season, his first full one in the majors, and has 14 home runs and 45 RBI — both tops among leadoff hitters in the majors — and a .879 OPS this season.
In a stunning power display May 31 and June 1, Betts tied a major league record with five home runs in two games.
“I’m somehow able to get a lot out of a small package,” said Betts, 23. “It’s a blessing God gave me, I guess.”
He was also blessed with excellent speed, a trait the Red Sox have exhibited more frequently than in the past as a way to diversify their attack and put pressure on opponents’ fielders. Boston’s 43 steals rank second in the league.
Farrell says that’s the result of an aggressive baserunning mindset trickling down through the organization, in much the way a sense of comfort has spread through the homegrown players.
“When you’re homegrown in an organization, everybody kind of knows you and you’re comfortable wherever you go, every stop you make,” Betts said. “You know the guys, especially here. I’ve played with half these guys.”
And was drafted along with many of them.