We’ve already touched on under-the-radar Boston Red Sox to watch this spring as well as hyped prospects to keep an eye on. The natural progression of things now leads us to breakout candidates.
First, let’s define who is eligible to “break out” in spring training. If you were arguably Boston’s best player for one-third of last season, then you’re not a candidate. I don’t care that you’re only 22 years old, Mookie Betts. You’re crossed off.
If you batted .296 in 12 playoff games with a .412 on-base percentage en route to a World Series title, then you already broke out. You can’t do it again, Xander Bogaerts.
Part of me can see a post-hype Jackie Bradley Jr. emergence this March. Then again, is there anything he can really do in exhibition baseball to make fans buy in? He’s hit .196 in 164 MLB games since he batted .419 (.507 OBP) in 28 games during the spring of 2013.
To those who have made an MLB All-Star game in their career, their struggles a season ago are irrelevant. Justin Masterson, Clay Buchholz and Alexi Ogando are all worth watching, but they can’t burst onto the scene with proven track records already to their names.
So who are we left with? The following six Boston players with legitimate breakout potential.