The Red Sox have a pair of MVP candidates and they are going to need both of them if they want to play deep into October.
The Boston Red Sox surprised a lot of people in 2018 when they surged to a remarkable 108 wins, the best record in baseball by far.
The reason they were able to get to this point was thanks to an absolute powerhouse of an offense. The Red Sox have a handful of guys in their lineup, such as Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi, who are capable of doing serious damage at the plate.
But the biggest reason why they have the league’s most dangerous offense is because of two guys: Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez, two candidates for the American League MVP award.
It makes you wonder: if the Red Sox end up winning the World Series, will Betts or Martinez play a bigger role?
Martinez was a new face in Red Sox Nation in 2018, having signed with Boston in free agency during the offseason, but it didn’t take long for him to become a beloved figure in an extremely tough sports town.
The Red Sox haven’t seen a pure slugger since the retirement of David Ortiz in 2016, but the arrival of Martinez changed all of that.
For months, Martinez led all of baseball in home runs and finished second with 42 total long balls. On a more important note though, Martinez led the majors with 130 RBIs (because we all know RBIs are more important than home runs, even though they are less exciting).
Only Oakland’s Khris Davis came relatively close to Martinez, finishing second with 123.
But while Martinez has been Boston’s MVP in the slugging department, Betts has been Boston’s MVP in just about every aspect of the game. He led the league with a .346 batting average. For months, he was neck-and-neck with his teammate Martinez for the home run lead.
The neat thing about Betts is that you rarely ever see him go through a slump. Any time you need a clutch at-bat with the game on the line, you want to see Betts at the plate every single time.
If you need a clutch hit, you know Mookie is going to get it for you.
If the Red Sox win it all this year, ultimately, it’s not going to be an either/or situation. It’s not going to be because of any one player.
In order for the Red Sox to even advance past the New York Yankees in the division series, they are going to need big contributions all the way down their lineup, especially from Betts and Martinez.
But after back-to-back defeats in the ALDS the last two years, this is why Boston went out and signed Martinez. This is why they drafted Betts way back in 2011.
It’s not about whether Betts or Martinez will play a bigger role this October. It’s about the fact that the Red Sox need them both to play a big role.
And you know they will.