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Red Sox left-hander Aroldis Chapman once again ranks among the top closers in baseball this year. (Nancy Lane\/Boston Herald)\nChapman among AL\u2019s top relievers<\/p>\n
As the MLB season enters the home stretch, the big award races are coming into focus as well.<\/p>\n
With about two weeks to play, Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez remains the favorite to end Aaron Judge\u2019s two-year reign as American League MVP, and New York\u2019s Cam Schlittler looks to have a slim but decisive edge over Toronto\u2019s Dylan Cease in the AL Cy Young Award hunt. Those figure to garner the big headlines, but numerous Red Sox players should be in the running for year-end honors as well.<\/p>\n
Here is where things stand with the club\u2019s top award candidates.<\/p>\n
Gold Glove favorites<\/p>\n
If the publicly available metrics are any indication, the Red Sox have three starters who should be strong contenders \u2014 if not heavy favorites \u2014 to win Gold Glove awards.<\/p>\n
Wilyer Abreu looks like a lock to win his third consecutive Gold Glove in right field. Entering Saturday, he led all MLB players \u2014 not just right fielders, all positions \u2014 with plus-26 defensive runs saved, according to FanGraphs. His Statcast fielding metrics are also bright red across the board, including an arm strength grade that registers 98th percentile.<\/p>\n
Ceddanne Rafaela should be a heavy favorite to repeat as Gold Glove winner among AL center fielders. Rafaela leads all MLB center fielders with plus-20 defensive runs saved, and his Statcast metrics are off the charts. His Fielding Run Value and Range both grade as 98th percentile or higher, putting him within the top-five in the sport, and he obviously passes the eye test with highlight-reel grabs seemingly every other game.<\/p>\n
Caleb Durbin has also solidified himself as a top candidate to win his first career Gold Glove at third base. The second-year infielder leads AL third baseman with plus-11 defensive runs saved, which ironically ranks second in MLB behind only the man he replaced, former Red Sox and current Chicago Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman. Durbin\u2019s Statcast metrics are also strong, including a Range grade that comes in at 89th percentile.<\/p>\n
Anecdotally it\u2019s often felt like Willson Contreras should be a strong contender at first base, too. The first-year Red Sox slugger has flashed some impressive leather and made a habit of making some incredible throws, a tool many first baseman don\u2019t bring to the table. But the metrics don\u2019t support Contreras\u2019 candidacy, as he surprisingly only has an even zero defensive runs saved and Statcast metrics that can be described as good but not great.<\/p>\n
For reference, Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads AL first basemen with plus-10 defensive runs saved, followed by Kansas City\u2019s Vinnie Pasquantino (plus-seven). Contreras also ranks eighth in Fielding Run Value among AL first basemen.<\/p>\n
Red Sox left-hander Aroldis Chapman once again ranks among the top closers in baseball this year. (Nancy Lane\/Boston Herald)
\nChapman among AL\u2019s top relievers<\/p>\n
Many of the major awards fans are familiar with \u2014 including MVP, the Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, etc. \u2014 are not actually awarded by MLB. They are awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America, and this year for the first time the BBWAA will hand out a new award recognizing each league\u2019s top relief pitcher.<\/p>\n
Aroldis Chapman will be a strong candidate to win the AL\u2019s inaugural honor.<\/p>\n
Chapman, who won MLB\u2019s version of the AL Reliever of the Year award last fall, has remained the among league\u2019s top closers in his second season with the Red Sox. The veteran left-hander entered the weekend with 33 saves, a 2.03 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 48 2\/3 innings, ranking among the AL\u2019s leaders in all four categories among closers, and he also recently became the ninth pitcher in MLB history to reach 400 career saves.<\/p>\n
Few have been as dominant as Chapman this season, but if there\u2019s one thing that hurts his candidacy it\u2019s been his relative lack of usage.<\/p>\n
So far Chapman has only appeared in 50 games, significantly less than the other AL relievers who have topped 30 saves. That list includes Tampa Bay\u2019s Bryan Baker (39), Cleveland\u2019s Cade Smith (36), Toronto\u2019s Louis Varland (33) and New York\u2019s David Bednar (33), all of whom have thrown more innings and in most cases tallied more strikeouts.<\/p>\n
It hasn\u2019t been an issue of lack of availability, the Red Sox have just had long stretches without a lot of save opportunities, especially early in the season.<\/p>\n
The biggest challenger to Chapman looks like it will probably be Smith, who has not just shouldered a heavier workload but exceeded Chapman in posting some outstanding rate stats, too. His 95 strikeouts over 66 innings equates to 13.0 strikeouts per nine, beating out Chapman\u2019s 12.0 mark, and he\u2019s also allowed fewer baserunners on average, posting a 1.045 Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched compared to Chapman\u2019s 1.130 WHIP.<\/p>\n
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Veteran Red Sox right-hander Sonny Gray is enjoying one of the best seasons of his MLB career. (Stuart Cahill\/Boston Herald)
\nGray\u2019s case for Cy Young finalist<\/p>\n
Sonny Gray probably won\u2019t win the AL Cy Young Award. Unless something extraordinary happens, the award will almost certainly go to either Schlittler or Cease, but after the season he\u2019s had, Gray certainly has a case to finish as a finalist alongside those two.<\/p>\n
Despite being inexplicably snubbed for an All-Star nod, Gray has been one of the American League\u2019s most consistent starters all season long. Gray leads all AL pitchers with 17 wins, ranks fourth in ERA (2.76), fifth in Wins Above Replacement for pitchers (4.0) and has stepped in as the Red Sox\u2019s ace after Garrett Crochet went down early in the season. He is among the biggest reasons why the Red Sox are likely to make the playoffs and will probably start Game 1 of the club\u2019s first series.<\/p>\n
This has also been among the best seasons of the 36-year-old\u2019s career. His ERA is the lowest since he became a full-time starter in 2014, and his ERA+ of 149 \u2014 which equates to 49% better than league average \u2014 is the third highest trailing only his All-Star seasons in 2019 and 2023.<\/p>\n
Gray\u2019s top competitors for the last AL Cy Young finalist spot include Guardians rookie Parker Messick, who currently leads Gray in most major categories, as well as guys like Kansas City\u2019s Michael Wacha, Los Angeles\u2019 Reid Detmers and Tampa Bay\u2019s Drew Rasmussen.<\/p>\n
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Red Sox left-hander Payton Tolle probably won’t win AL Rookie of the Year, but he’s been one of the league’s top young pitchers and should finish near the top of the vote. (Matt Stone\/Boston Herald)
\nYoung arms among top rookies<\/p>\n
Similar to Gray, Payton Tolle and Jake Bennett probably won\u2019t win AL Rookie of the Year, but both have a good argument to finish inside the top five.<\/p>\n
Tolle has been remarkable in his first full season as a big leaguer, posting a 3.15 ERA over 137 innings while striking out 159, the second-highest total by a Red Sox rookie in a season behind only Daisuke Matsuzaka\u2019s 201 in 2007. His innings and strikeout totals both rank second among AL rookies behind only Cleveland\u2019s Messick and Tolle is likely to start a playoff game for the Red Sox come October.<\/p>\n
Bennett got shelled in his last start, but generally speaking he\u2019s been fantastic for the Red Sox and has played a huge role in keeping the club\u2019s rotation afloat. Since making his big league debut, Bennett has made 18 starts, posted a 3.69 ERA in 105 innings while limiting opposing batters to 1.6 walks per nine innings, by far the lowest rate among AL rookies with at least 50 innings pitched.<\/p>\n
Neither Tolle or Bennett has an argument over Messick, who as noted above might finish as high as third in the Cy Young vote, and even he isn\u2019t a shoe-in to win AL Rookie of the Year. Detroit third baseman Kevin McGonigle is currently the betting favorite, leading all AL rookies with 6.1 WAR along with a .271 average, 16 home runs, 62 RBI, 12 stolen bases and a .788 OPS.<\/p>\n
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Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy has helped engineer a remarkable turnaround since taking over in late April. (AP Photo\/Scott Marshall)
\nTracy for Manager of the Year?<\/p>\n
Since taking over as Red Sox interim manager in late April, Chad Tracy has done a remarkable job, first helping stabilize the club after a disappointing start and eventually helping engineer one of the most dramatic second-half turnarounds in franchise history.<\/p>\n
Tracy hasn\u2019t yet been awarded with the full-time gig, but could he soon earn a different kind of reward?<\/p>\n
At this stage of the season the AL Manager of the Year is likely down to three contenders. In addition to Tracy, White Sox skipper Will Venable will draw strong consideration for his role in helping elevate the South Siders from a perennial laughingstock to the AL Central favorites.<\/p>\n
Coming into the season, the White Sox had posted three consecutive 100-loss seasons and were only two years removed from a historically woeful 121-loss campaign. The club wasn\u2019t expected to be quite that bad this season, but they certainly weren\u2019t on anyone\u2019s radar for a playoff spot, so Venable deserves a lot of credit for helping get his young team ready to compete.<\/p>\n
Tracy\u2019s other main competitor will be Tampa Bay\u2019s Kevin Cash, who has already won the award twice and might take it home for a third this fall.<\/p>\n