3 players who need to step up for Red Sox to make playoffs

1. OF Jackie Bradley

Now 30 years old, it’s worth wondering if Bradley will ever put it all together again. He rebounded in the home run department with 21 last year, but he fell to -2 in Defensive Runs Saved as his once top-level defense in center field continues to fade (-1 DRS in 2018). He has posted a .400 slugging percentage every year of his career since 2015, with at least 28 doubles in three of the last four seasons (30 or more twice).

But Bradley’s batting average fell to .225 in 2019, spurred by plenty of strikeouts (155), too few walks (56, .317 on-base percentage) and maybe a shade of bad fortune (.281 BABIP). The lots of strikeouts and not enough walks profile has never changed, but the all-or-nothing template extends further for Bradley. According to FanGraphs, 83 percent of his batted balls last year were either fly balls (33.4 percent) of ground balls (49.6 percent) as his hard-hit rare dropped almost perfectly in line with an increase in soft contact compared to 2018.

The Red Sox have been shopping Bradley, but they are probably stuck with him at this point. He’s making the prorated portion on $11 million this year, his final year of arbitration eligibility before hitting free agency in the offseason. With the void left by Betts, Bradley has to find consistency at the plate and ideally, he’d provide positive value defensively again this season.