Remember when the Red Sox had a leadoff hitter? Or an everyday second baseman?
The first question is easily answered. That would be when Mookie Betts sat atop of the batting order. From 2015 until Alex Cora experimented with Andrew Benintendi in the No. 1 spot in 2019, Betts was the no-questions-asked guy.
Last season Alex Verdugo served the role, getting 104 more plate appearances than the second-most-used leadoff hitter. But while Verdugo performed admirably in the spot (hitting .304 with an .804 OPS), his presence is most likely best suited elsewhere.
This is where Kiké Hernandez comes in.
The new Red Sox second baseman/outfielder is probably the leader in the clubhouse when it comes to manning the Red Sox' leadoff spot in 2021. It's not something Alex Cora has come out and flatly proclaimed, but did hint at the possibility.
"This is a guy, that when you play him, at second, he's a above average second baseman. Numbers-wise he was actually the best defender at this level last year. at shortstop, he can play good defense. in any three of the spots in the outfield he's a plus defender," Cora said Thursday. "As a hitter, I still believe there's something more there. We've been talking a little bit the last few weeks. About how I'm gonna use him, what I expect, and challenge him to do certain things and we'll do that in spring training. And I do believe that you know what we do in April 1, he's gonna dictate that. I believe he can hunt fastballs. And he can hit them for extra base hits. And as you guys know, that's something, you know, I liked a few years ago, and he's very dynamic, he's a good athlete. He's coming from an organization that they, they live, you know with the extra base hit, and trying to get on base, which is good so we'll see what happens there lineup wise but I'm gonna challenge him. And he's gonna let me know you know with his performance where are we going to hit him, and where we go lineup wise."
For his career, Hernandez has only hit leadoff in 89 games, totaling a .775 OPS with 14 homers in 290 plate appearances.
As for where he will play, that's another luxury Hernandez could possibly offer the Red Sox they haven't had since Dustin Pedroia's injury.
In the past three seasons the list of second basemen is long: Brock Holt (116 games), Eduardo Nunez (105), Michael Chavis (53), Jose Peraza (27), Tzu-Wei Lin (18), Jonathan Arauz (16), Christian Arroyo (13), Chris Owings (12).
Get the picture?
Now, with Hernandez, the Red Sox at least have the option to possess someone is perceived as a player who can man second base on an everyday basis.
“You know, if everything goes well on a nightly basis, he'll play second at one point during the day," Cora said. "If he starts in the outfield probably he'll end up playing second base because defensively, and the numbers show it, he’s the best defender at second base. But like I said before, he's a plus defender in center, he's a plus defender in left field he's a plus defender at shortstop so that's the beauty of this team this year. We're going to be very versatile. We can move people around, and they're gonna do the job defensively and that's something we have to do a better job. I do believe that for how great we were in ’18, we had our lapses defensively. in 19, obviously, we sucked defensively. And, last year, just watching from afar, the organization was a step behind so we have to be better defensively, as a unit, and he's gonna bring that to the equation, every single day.”
