The Boston Red Sox have one of the most destructive offenses the MLB has seen in a long time. They are truly elite across the board, with no weakness to attack. The have the depth to have a lineup that can score at any point, and bring in pinch hitters that could be regular starters.
The best part has been the balance. They have the extreme power of Mookie Betts and J.D Martinez this season, while knowing that their strength is still getting on base. Those two will compete with any top hitting duo in the MLB, and this season they should be coming out on top.
Their timing has been ideal, because they are crushing teams with runners in scoring position. They are creating more opportunities on offense than anyone else, and they are doing a better job of taking advantage of those opportunities than anyone else.
When you look at their roster, Betts and Martinez are clearly the top offensive players. Their games are rounded out in a way that Betts is the biggest reason why Martinez is not in a great position to capture a triple crown. They have been doing everything this season, and they are doing it better than any of their opponents.
For their offense to be the best, those two need to be killing it, because they will do the majority of the damage on the scoreboard. That being said, the players around them are a big help to their success, and they need to be there making sure pitchers cannot avoid them.
Right now, the Red Sox have Andrew Benintendi batting after Betts, and Xander Bogaerts batting after Martinez. They may not be quite as important as the hitters ahead of them, but they are essential to making sure the top two can be their most effective. They are also both balanced, with consistent hitting and enough power to really make sure there is continually a home run threat at the plate.
Betts is cruising to the batting average title this season, giving the Red Sox the best lead off man in the MLB. The reality is that Betts misses out on many opportunities at RBIs, because he is so often the first one on base.
In order to get the most out of Betts, the Red Sox need to make sure they are not leaving him on base. Stranded runners can kill any offense, and Benintendi is the man the Red Sox need to look to in order to make sure that Betts’ efforts are not wasted.
Bogaerts is in a similar position behind Martinez, but there are different reasons for his importance. Martinez is the cleanup man, so there is less of a concern about bringing him home. What Bogaerts needs to do is make sure it is impossible to pitch around him.
Benintendi is there to make sure the Red Sox get the most out of Betts’ ability to get on base in so many different ways, and Bogaerts is there to make ssure they get the most out of Martinez’ power.
There are going to be many occasions where there will be an open base with Martinez at the plate, but having a player of the caliber of Bogaerts behind him puts the opposing pitcher in a bind every time.
Bogaerts is the one that needs to make sure you cannot pitch around the best player on this team, without suffering consequences. Ideally, Bogaerts will be good enough to make sure Martinez sees every single pitch possible.
If, however, teams start taking their chances with Bogaerts, he could be in the best position on the team to rack up a lot of RBIs, because Martinez will make sure he is continually batting with players on base.
The Red Sox have a special offense because of how many different pieces they have, and having such a wide range of ways for them to attack. In order for this offense to be good enough to get that world series, the secondary hitters are going to be just as important as those top hitters.
The standards for offense, especially in the AL, are massive right now. It is not going to be enough to have two MVP candidates producing behind the plate, because they need the batters behind them to make sure the Red Sox are capitalizing on everything that they are able to create.
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