Boston Red Sox: Are the 2018 Red Sox the best team in franchise history?
The 2018 Boston Red Sox have the most wins in franchise history, but are they the best Red Sox team ever?
With a 6-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Monday, the 2018 Boston Red Sox won their 106th game of the season. This gave them the most wins by any team since the 2001 Seattle Mariners tied the MLB record with 116 wins. Since the Mariners’ record-tying season, the most wins by any team was the 105 victories put up by the 2004 St. Louis Cardinals. If the 2018 Red Sox can win four of their last five games, they’ll be one of only seven teams in baseball history to win 110 games in a season.
The Red Sox’ 106th victory this season also moved them to the top of the single-season wins list in franchise history. The previous leader was the 1912 Red Sox, who went 105-47-2 in a 154-game season. The best position player on that team was Tris Speaker, a fleet-footed centerfielder who won AL MVP honors. They also had ace starting pitcher Smoky Joe Wood, who went 34-5 with a 1.91 ERA in 344 innings pitched.
This year’s Red Sox team has its own AL MVP candidate. Mookie Betts is battling Mike Trout for the AL lead in multiple versions of Wins Above Replacement (WAR). He leads Trout 9.9 to 9.4 in Fangraphs WAR, with Jose Ramirez in third place, at 8.0. He also leads Trout 10.7 to 9.9 in Baseball-Reference WAR, with Matt Chapman in third place, at 8.1. Baseball Prospectus has them flipped, with Trout at 9.0 and Betts at 8.8. Alex Bregman is third, at 7.7.
A more traditional voter might be swayed by J.D. Martinez, who has 41 homers and leads the AL in RBI. Those two categories are about the only things he’s done better than Betts, though, as Mookie leads him in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs scored, stolen bases, and is much better on defense. It would be a shame if voters shifted MVP votes from Betts to Martinez.
Other top hitters on the Red Sox include shortstop Xander Bogaerts (21 HR, 96 RBI, .286/.357/.509) and left fielder Andrew Benintendi (100 R, 21 SB, .285/.363/.460). Center fielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. has been a below average hitter, but his defense has made him an above average player overall. Since coming over in a trade with the Blue Jays in late June, Steve Pearce has hit .283/.400/.504 with the Sox. Overall, the Red Sox have the third-best collection of position players in the AL, per Fangraphs WAR.
Chris Sale has been the Red Sox best pitcher. He’s pitched less than half the innings that Smoky Joe Wood pitched in 1912, but his 2.00 ERA is comparable. If Sale had enough innings to qualify for the ERA title—he’s 8.7 innings short—he would have the highest single-season strikeout rate by a starting pitcher in MLB history. He’s struck out 38.5 percent of the batters he’s faced this year. Another Boston Red Sox pitcher, Pedro Martinez in 1999, has the record, at 37.5 percent.
Along with Sale, the Red Sox rotation has David Price (15-7, 3.53 ERA), Rick Porcello (17-7, 4.33 ERA) and Eduardo Rodriguez (12-4, 3.73 ERA). Red Sox starting pitchers are sixth in the AL in WAR, per Fangraphs. The bullpen, led by Craig Kimbrel and his 2.21 ERA, ranks eighth of the 15 American League teams.
How do the 2018 Red Sox compare to the best Red Sox teams in franchise history? They have the most wins, but have also played more games than the other top Red Sox teams. Their .675 winning percentage is tied for second with the 1946 squad, behind the 1912 Red Sox team that had a .691 winning percentage. The 1912 team also had the best run-differential in franchise history. We know what the 2018 team looks like. Now let’s take a look at the other top teams fielded by the Red Sox.