Red Sox MVP Race: Quarter season mark
Ryan MacLeod
Contributing Writer
It seems like just yesterday that the Boston Red Sox opened their season against the New York Yankees in the Bronx. But now the team has played 40 games and are going to pass the 1/4 season mark with their game tonight against the Tampa Bay Rays. I have taken the information from the 3 stars of the game that I have written all season and currently the MVP race is between 5 members of the Red Sox. They are, in no particular order; Jon Lester, Daniel Nava, Clay Buchholz, Mike Napoli, and David Ortiz. Let us now look at their year to date stats that they currently have.
Jon Lester:
Lester is off to a great start on the year so far, he is currently 6-0 in 9 starts and is one of 2 undefeated starting pitchers on the starting rotation. He has pitched 59.2 innings so far, including a complete game one hitter earlier this year. Lester has been very efficiant this year, striking out 50 batters while he has only walked 15 and has a 1.01 WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched). He has an ERA of 2.72.
Daniel Nava:
Nava has been a very solid Left Fielder for the Red Sox this season. He has played in 33 games and is hitting .286 for the team. He has 24 RBI's on only 30 hits, 5 of them being home runs. Nava has been solid defensively as well this year, splitting time in both right and left field. In his time in the outfield he has had 37 total chances to record and out and he has recorded every one for a fielding percentage of 100%.
Clay Buchholz:
Buchholz entered the season as the #2 starter for the Red Sox, the teams second ace but has been pitching like their #1 starter all season. He started the year off with a 6-0 record and has recorded 2 consecutive no decisions since then. In his 8 starts he has pitched 58.2 innings giving up only 11 runs. He has struck out 60 batters and walked only 21. His WHIP is 1.04 and his ERA is 1.69. If Buchholz had been given better run support his last two starts he could be the only 8 game winner in the major leagues right now.
Mike Napoli:
Napoli has started the season off on a hot streak, providing the power that the team hoped they would see from him with his previous statistics with the Texas Rangers. He has played in all 40 games so far this year and has 41 hits. He has hit 7 home runs, 18 doubles and 1 triple so far this year. He has scored 22 runs and has a team high 34 RBI's.
David Ortiz:
Ortiz missed the start of the season due to injury but since coming off the disabled list he has been on a mission to prove to his critics that he is still a fantastic baseball player. Ortiz has only played in 21 games this year but is hitting .325 in that span. He has hit 5 home runs and 12 doubles driving in 21 RBI's and scoring 13 runs. A more impressive stat is that he has only struck out 12 times in 83 at bats, while he has walked 5 times.
After looking at all this information who deserves to be the quarter season MVP? The most consistant player has been Mike Napoli but he has not been at his best lately. My Red Sox MVP is Clay Buchholz, he has been great in every start that he has had. In the 8 games he started in the Red Sox are 7-1 and the loss is because of the bullpen. Do you agree with my selection for MVP? Let me know who you think should be the MVP in the comments below or on twitter @ryanthahawaiian.