AL East Positional Rankings: Center Field an Uneven Field
By Nate Wardle
3. Boston Red Sox – Jackie Bradley Jr., Andrew Benintendi
JBJ spent most of the Red Sox time in center field, starting 131 games there. Benintendi picked up 27 more, and the other few games were spread around. The problem is that 2017 brought back concerns about his offensive ability.
Bradley Jr. batted .245/.323/.402 with 17 home runs, 19 doubles, 63 runs batted in, 48 runs scored and eight stolen bases. His offensive WAR was 1.9, and his defensive WAR was 1.3, coming out to a 2.8 average.
So, it wasn’t a terrible year for Bradley. But, the problem is that teams are used to performance from center fielders in this division. See the names listed above. Bradley didn’t really do that offensively.
He also had four errors defensively, and his range was below league average, although not bad.
Now, he only made $3.6M, is just now arbitration eligible, and won’t be a free agent until 2021. So, now it is time for the Red Sox to see if he will rebound and be the player they have expected him to be.