Countdown to Sox Spring: Mookie Betts is best Boston has to offer in OF

This is part of a new BSJ series, designed to get you ready for spring training. Each day, we’ll take a look at a particular position and examine it from the major league level, evaluating depth at the position and looking ahead to some prospects in the minors.

TODAY: Right Field

OVERVIEW: It would be hard for the Red Sox to be in a more enviable spot than they are with right field. In Mookie Betts, the Red Sox have not only their best player but also one who enters this season at just 25-years old. What’s more, the Sox have him under control for three more years, though the team’s inability to negotiate one-year deals with him in each of last two off-seasons – to say nothing of a failed proposal for a multi-year deal last spring – is more than a bit troubling. Nevertheless, Betts is athletic, powerful and probably not yet at his full potential. Depth here is relatively thin, but that’s not an issue – for now, at least.

STARTER: Mookie Betts
CONTRACTUAL STATUS: Betts won his arbitration case and will be paid $10.5 million for '18.
ELIGIBLE FOR FREE AGENCY: After the 2020 season.
NOTABLE 2017 STATS: .344 OBP/.459 SLG./.803 OPS
ASSESSMENT: Betts finished sixth in the AL MVP voting, and that came in a season which some deemed an “off-year.’’ Indeed, compared to his 2016 season, when he finished second in MVP voting, Betts did regress some. He failed to match his homer and RBI totals and saw his batting average drop by some 54 points. That said, he still led the team in virtually every significant offensive category (doubles, homers, RBI, runs scored, stolen bases, extra-base hits and walks). And he managed to finish second in all of baseball in defensive runs saved. The remarkable thing about his emergence as the best right fielder in the game is, of course, that he was drafted as an infielder and didn’t play the outfield professionally until 2014.



BACKUP: Bryce Brentz
CONTRACTUAL STATUS: Not yet eligible for arbitration; 2018 salary TBD.
ELIGIBLE FOR FREE AGENCY: After 2023 season.
NOTABLE 2017 STATS: (at Triple-A Pawtucket): .336 OBP/.518 SLG/.854 OPS
ASSESSMENT: This is Brentz’s make-or-break year. He’ll be given every opportunity to win the fourth outfielder spot on the major league roster, serving as a right-handed power bat off the bench as well as the primary backup for the two outfield corner spots. As noted previously, the biggest challenge for Brentz will be learning how to stay sharp on the bench and hit when called upon. That can be a tough adjustment for someone who’s been an everyday player in the minors.

DEPTH: Jeremy Barfield 
NOTABLE 2017 STATS: (Double-A Portland): .359 OBP/.594 SLG/.943 OPS
SCOUTING REPORT: Barfield is an unusual case. First, he’ll turn 30 next summer, hardly typical of someone who spent most of last season in the Eastern League. But Barfield has kicked around a few organizations, transitioning at one point (unsuccessfully) to pitcher, and was signed out of an independent league last year. He’s a big physical specimen (6-5, 240) with power and a strong arm in right. And yes, he is the son of former major league outfielder Jesse Barfield.

THE FUTURE: Trenton Kemp
NOTABLE 2017 STATS: (High-A Salem) .369 OBP/.504 SLG/.803 OPS
SCOUTING REPORT: Kemp was the Red Sox’ 15th-round pick in the 2014 draft. He missed the first part of last year with an undisclosed injury and when he returned to the lineup, didn’t show the power he had displayed the season before a Low A. Profiles more as a speed guy, which is somewhat unusual for right field, which typically is more of a power position.

Previous positional breakdowns:

Catcher
First base
Second base
Shortstop
Third base
Left field
Center field