Welcome to Volume 3, Edition 1 of Red Sox power rankings, a wide-ranging excuse to write about the best and worst performers of the previous month as a new one begins. The only rule of the power rankings is that there are no rules to the power rankings. Prospects, suspects, Jim Rice, pine-tarred necks, Steve Lyons, front-office personnel -- anyone and everything is fair game. It's a measure of the exceptional and the unacceptable, with the middle ground unacknowledged. The top five are ranked; the bottom five are not since our pool of candidates is innumerable. Enough ballpark chatter. Let's get to it ... <\/p>\n
TOP FIVE 1. Mike Napoli's bat <\/p>\n
There's probably an overwhelming consensus of Red Sox fans (and New Englanders in general) who can't wait to flip the calendar to May tomorrow. Heck, we're capping the Red Sox' mediocre April (they'll get to .500 with a win over the Rays tonight) a day in advance just to put it behind us. But individually, at least, Napoli has to be one of the few Red Sox who are satisfied with how the season has begun. It's traditionally one of The Bearded One's better months -- he's a .253\/.348\/.517 hitter with 33 homers in 148 career March\/April games. In 2013, he punished the ball right out of the gate, driving in 27 runs with an .850 OPS before May. This year, he's been similarly as good, with five homers and a .932 OPS. He'll be streaky, but he's more than worth it for the good times. <\/p>\n
2. Jake Peavy <\/p>\n
The small sample-size of the first few weeks of a season tends to result in some strange numbers. That particularly applies to Boston's favorite Duck Boat owner. He's made five starts and won just one. His ERA (2.87) is of ace-quality, but his FIP (fielding-independent pitching) is at 4.88, suggesting he's been something less than ace-quality. The Red Sox actually won his worst start -- a 6-5 victory over Baltimore in which he got a no-decision after allowing 10 hits and 5 runs in 5.2 innings. In the other four starts, he was brilliant, allowing 17 hits and 5 earned runs in 25.2 innings. For the second year in a row, he's picked up the slack for Clay Buchholz, and he's justifying the trade with the Tigers and White Sox even more this year than he did a season ago. <\/p>\n
3. Mookie Betts <\/p>\n
Well, what do we have here? A 21-year-old coming off a breakthrough season at two levels of Single A (.314, 15 homers, 38 steals) who is carrying it over and then some during his first foray in Double A? A plus-defender at second base who happens to be hitting .422\/.471\/.689 with four homers and 10 steals and who has active streaks of 15 games with a hit and 55 in which he's reached base? Don't wait for him to get to Fenway; get up to Portland to get a look at this dynamic young player now. And don't worry about the kid being blocked. He'll have super-sub positional versatility if he's not the centerpiece of a mega-trade. <\/p>\n
4. Koji Uehara <\/p>\n
I suppose he hasn't been quite as dominating as last year. After all, his 0.93 ERA is 0.66 higher than his ERA in the second half last year. He's collapsing before our eyes, Mike! Actually, he has given up a few more hits rate-wise than last year -- eight in 9.2 innings. But he's walked one while whiffing 17, a ratio even better than his 11.2 in 2013. Most importantly, he looks like himself after his shoulder scare. Exhale. <\/p>\n
5. Jackie Bradley Jr.'s glove <\/p>\n
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See the article here: <\/p>\n
Red Sox Power Rankings: April<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Welcome to Volume 3, Edition 1 of Red Sox power rankings, a wide-ranging excuse to write about the best and worst performers of the previous month as a new one begins. The only rule of the power rankings is that there are no rules to the power rankings. Prospects, suspects, Jim Rice, pine-tarred necks, Steve Lyons, front-office personnel -- anyone and everything is fair game Continue reading