Unheralded Role Players Justifying Red Sox’s Lineup Approach
Two part-time players showed why Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora keeps playing the matchups.
Sunday’s lineup may not have looked like a lethal batting order at first glance, but Rob Refsnyder and Romy González continued to pulverize left-handed pitching. The platoon players each homered off 2021 American League Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray during the fifth inning of a 9-5 loss.
Some fans may prefer to see rookie Marcelo Mayer get full-time reps, but it’s hard to argue with results. In the short end of a timeshare, Refsnyder and González are the team’s most productive sluggers.
Following Sunday’s game, González is batting .364/.440/.636 in 50 plate appearances against lefties. Refsnyder wieds a .315/.418/.611 slash line in that split, leading the Red Sox to hold MLB’s third-best weighted on-base average (.346 wOBA) against lefties behind the Houston Astros and New York Yankees.
Cora has recently doubled down on that early success by moving them up the batting order versus lefties. Refsnyder led off Sunday, with González batting third after Roman Anthony. Jarren Duran had slotted first in every start this season before hitting fifth or sixth in his past three starts against fellow lefties.
“We’re gonna maximize Romy and Ref,” Cora said earlier this month, via WEEI Sports. “Against righties, we’ll go the way we’ve been doing it. Against lefties, with the personnel that we have, this makes sense.”
Skeptics may warn of reading too much into relatively small sample sizes, but these results are nothing new for the veterans. González and Refsnyder have a career .364 and .358 wOBA with the platoon edge, respectively. To put that performance into perspective, the recently traded Rafael Devers has a career .361 wOBA off all takers.
Refsnyder and González will likely sit when the Red Sox oppose Los Angeles Angels righty Jack Kochanowicz on Monday, but expect them to bat at the top of the order when Boston closes the road series against Tyler Anderson and Yusei Kikuchi.