Boston Red Sox: Who was the team’s most-dangerous hitter in 2017?
The Boston Red Sox had another great season in 2017, winning the AL East title once more. That said, who was the team’s most-dangerous hitter?
The Boston Red Sox had another incredible run to the postseason in 2017, only to see their World Series hopes crushed by the red-hot Houston Astros. While many of us believed this team could go-the-distance, it was clear they didn’t have enough pitching to get through the ALDS – as they gave up an average of six runs per game.
Needless to say, that kind of run production is extremely hard to overcome, especially for some of the best hitting teams in baseball – something Boston proved themselves to be throughout the 2017 regular season.
Now that we have a chance to review the entirety of the Red Sox season, we take a look at which player was their most-dangerous hitter all year long. Sure – it’s easy to make an argument for many of the guys in their line-up, but there was one player who stood out above the rest and it was outfielder, Mookie Betts.
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Why is Betts the easy choice for this label you may ask? Not only has he shown the consistency of a great MLB hitter, but he practically led the Sox in every major batting category imaginable. Just take a look at his team-leading, hitting statistics from 2017 below – courtesy of MLB Stats:
- 24 home-runs
- 102 runs-batted-in
- 46 doubles
- 166 hits
- 101 runs-scored
- 77 walks
Not to mention, Betts also led the Red Sox in stolen-bases with a total of 26.
In only his fourth season in the big-leagues, Betts has proven himself to be the future of this Boston organization and one of the best outfield hitters in the game. There’s not too many times you see a 5-foot-9, 25-year-old lead his team in almost every hitting category, but it’s become clear Betts is no ordinary player.
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That said, it should be no surprise that Boston’s most-dangerous hitter of 2017 is a guy who has been in two All-Star games, won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger in under five seasons in the league.