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As David Ortiz approaches the end of his Hall of Fame-caliber career, the Boston Red Sox slugger made his feelings known regarding a number of subjects Tuesday, including presidential candidate Donald Trump’s comments on Latinos. 

In a Spanish-speaking interview with Jorge L. Ortiz of USA Today, Big Papi had the following to say about Trump, who has taken a hard-line immigration stance complete with a plan to build a wall on the United States-Mexico border:

When you speak like that about us, it’s a slap in the face. I walk around sometimes, and I see Mexican people trying to earn a living in an honest way. And to hear somebody make those kinds of comments, it hits you. I think as Latin people we deserve better. Things have gotten much better in that regard. … As Latin people we deserve respect, no matter where you’re from. And especially our Mexican brothers, who come here willing to do all the dirty work.

Latin people here in the United States are the spark plug of the country’s economy. Whoever opposes that is going to lose. And not just Latin people but immigrants. I’m talking about people who come from Africa, from Asia, other places. All those people come here with one goal, to realize the American dream, and you have to include them in our group.

The 40-year-old Ortiz was born in the Dominican Republic, and he has carved out a 20-year MLB career, complete with 10 All-Star appearances, three World Series titles and one World Series MVP award.

Despite everything Ortiz has accomplished on the field—including hitting 534 career home runs—he cares more about leaving a lasting legacy from a character perspective and setting a positive example for his children:

That matters to me more than any home runs I’ve hit. It may inspire some of the young players coming up to try to emulate the things I’ve done right. … If [my kids] ever get up [to Major League Baseball], I want people to say to them, ‘I knew your dad, and he was a guy with huge power. But there was something better about him. He was a good person, a good guy.’ That’s what I care about the most.

The legendary designated hitter is in the midst of one of his best seasons in years, as he enters play Tuesday with a .318 batting average, 31 homers and 107 RBI.

Even though he shows no signs of slowing down, Papi has remained steadfast in his insistence that he intends to retire following the 2016 campaign.

Before he does that, though, a fourth career World Series ring is a real possibility with the Red Sox in playoff position.

Regardless of whether he caps off his career in ideal fashion, however, Ortiz has sealed his legacy as an all-time great slugger and a beloved personality in Boston and across the baseball world.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

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The Boston Red Sox will recall their top prospect, second baseman Yoan Moncada, from Double-A on Friday, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal on Wednesday. 

The 21-year-old isn’t just the Red Sox’s No. 1 prospect, but he was also rated as the top minor leaguer by MLB.com. 

He agreed to a minor league deal with the Red Sox in February 2015 worth $31.5 million, per MLB.com. 

Viewed as a multitool player with power, speed and above-average fielding ability, MLB.com expected huge things from the Cuban:

Few middle infielders can match Moncada’s huge offensive ceiling, which earns him comparisons to Robinson Cano with more speed. He’s a switch-hitter with outstanding bat speed who makes consistent hard contact from both sides of the plate. Moncada doesn’t have much loft in his swing, which could cap his home run production at 15 annually, though he has the potential for 20-25 per season if he alters his approach.

He exhibited that power at the Futures Game during All-Star weekend, via MLB Network:

In 106 games in the minor leagues this season, Moncada has lived up to the billing, batting .294 with 15 home runs, 62 RBI and 45 stolen bases. 

He’s also displayed solid composure at the plate, with 72 walks contributing to his .407 on-base percentage. 

These kinds of intangibles can provide a huge boost for the Red Sox, who are fighting for their playoff lives heading into September. 

While they hold a two-game lead for the top American League wild-card spot, they are just two games behind the AL East division-leading Toronto Blue Jays. 

Red Sox manager John Farrell told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe that there is a possibility Moncada could see a lot of time at third base given the lack of production from Travis Shaw and Aaron Hill:

We’ve talked about Yoan, and not just as a pinch-runner. That’s an exciting young player, an extremely talented guy, there’s all positive reviews and evaluations of him. When that major league experience will initiate, time will tell that, but in terms of playing the position of third base, yes, that conversation has been had.

The combination of Shaw (.248 batting average) and Hill (.194) is a glaring weak spot in a powerful Boston lineup featuring David Ortiz, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts. 

Bringing in a fresh face with so much promise like Moncada can invigorate the clubhouse for the stretch run of the regular season and, more importantly, make the Red Sox an even more dangerous team. 

Stats courtesy of MLB.com.

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The day the Baltimore Orioles first called up Manny Machado, they were in a three-way tie for the American League wild-card lead, and third base was a problem. Wilson Betemit and Robert Andino were splitting the job, and they weren’t getting the job done.

Machado was a shortstop who was one of the best prospects in baseball. He had just turned 20, but the Orioles arranged for him to play two games at third base in the Double-A Eastern League. And then they called him up and handed him the position in the major leagues.

Machado had two hits that first day and two home runs the next. He ended up hitting just .262, but the Orioles went on a 33-18 run that got them into the playoffs.

Four years later, people are comparing Machado to Brooks Robinson.

“He might be better than Brooks,” said one AL scout who watched Machado last week.

Yoan Moncada doesn’t need to be that good to help the Boston Red Sox. But he might be.

Moncada turned 21 in May. He’s a second baseman who is one of the best prospects in baseball, but the Red Sox just moved him to third base in the Double-A Eastern League. The Red Sox are leading the AL wild-card race, but third base is a problem. Travis Shaw and Aaron Hill are splitting the job, and they’re not getting the job done.

Now, Moncada will have his chance with the Red Sox announcing his promotion late Wednesday night after Boston’s 8-6 win over the Rays. 

I’ll trust the Red Sox are making the right move, because Dombrowski has never been shy about pushing talented young players to the big leagues and giving them a shot. He did it already this month with 22-year-old outfielder Andrew Benintendi, who rewarded the Red Sox’s faith with an .850 OPS and outstanding defense after they promoted him Aug. 2 from Double-A Portland.

The Red Sox needed help in left field, and they needed a spark. Benintendi gave them both, but then he got hurt. He went on the disabled list Aug. 25 with a sprained left knee, and while the injury isn’t as serious as feared, he can’t spark them right now.

Perhaps Moncada can.

An AL scout who has seen Portland quite a bit said in an ideal world, Moncada becomes a major leaguer next year. In the world the Red Sox live in, it’s worth a shot now.

“If I was the Red Sox, I would do it,” the scout said. “Look what the Yankees did with [Gary] Sanchez.”

There are no guarantees, but when Baseball America ranked the top 100 prospects in the game last winter, Moncada was third. He was behind Corey Seager and Byron Buxton but well ahead of Benintendi (15) and Sanchez (36).

Moncada ranked first in the same magazine’s midseason update, ahead of Benintendi, Sanchez and a few other players already having success in the big leagues in Alex Reyes, Alex Bregman and Trea Turner. Moncada was the Most Valuable Player of the All-Star Futures Game.

Moncada is younger than all those guys, and the rankings are based on future potential, not instant readiness. But given his speed and baserunning ability—his 45 steals are the most of anyone in the Red Sox organization, including on the big league team—Moncada is an obvious choice for a 40-man September roster.

The question is whether he can be more than that. The Red Sox think there’s a chance, given the recent decision to move him to third base. He wasn’t going to come up and displace Dustin Pedroia at second, but Boston’s third basemen have been among the least productive in the majors.

While the Red Sox have been baseball’s highest-scoring team, their third basemen ranked 27th in the majors with a .712 OPS entering play Tuesday. The recent numbers have been worse than that. Shaw had a .176 batting average and .572 OPS in August; Hill, acquired July 7 from the Milwaukee Brewers for two minor leaguers, had a .194 batting average and .512 OPS in his first 32 games with the Red Sox.

When I wrote about Moncada for Bleacher Report last winter, I reported he wouldn’t be ready for the big leagues this year and might not be ready next year, either. But I also used something Moncada said to reporters then: “I have one goal, and that’s getting to the big leagues.”

Players arrive at their own paces, but they show up faster when they make big progress and their teams have big needs. Both those things appear true now with Moncada, just as they did four years ago with Machado.

“I just wanted to play in the big leagues,” Machado said then, in a story I did for CBSSports.com. “If it would have been catching or playing the outfield, I’d have tried to do the job.”

Machado quickly looked like a natural at third base. Moncada, according to scouts who have seen him, isn’t likely to be as much of a defensive star.

“He’s not going to be a 75-80 fielder [on a 20-80 scouting scale] like Machado is,” the AL scout said. “At second base, he had 60-65 range. But his bat is where his money is.”

The bat and the potential have made Moncada money already, with the Red Sox paying $31.5 million to sign him after he left Cuba. It looks more and more like that investment will pay off.

It might start paying off this week.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

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Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz moved up another notch on the all-time home run list in Sunday’s 10-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals, joining former Red Sox slugger Jimmie Foxx in a tie for 18th place at 534 career home runs, per ESPN Stats & Info.

The 40-year-old smacked a 420-foot solo shot to center field off Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura in the fourth inning, cutting an early lead to 2-1 in a game Kansas City would eventually run away with.

Held hitless in his other three at-bats, Ortiz grounded into a pair of double plays that killed rallies in the first and fifth innings.

The aging slugger has recovered nicely from an early-August slump, though, now boasting a .314 batting average, six home runs and 16 RBI in 26 games this month.

Interestingly enough, Ortiz and Foxx are both ahead of Ted Williams (521) on the all-time home runs list, but it’s the latter who owns the franchise record, as Ortiz and Foxx both hit some of their long balls for other teams.

Ortiz, who plans to retire after this season, is second on the franchise list with 476 homers, followed by Carl Yastrzemski (452) in third place, with Foxx (222) all the way down in ninth place.

Though remembered just as well for his seven years in Boston, Foxx hit more home runs (302) in his 11 seasons as a member of the Philadelphia Athletics.

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We’ve talked plenty about David Ortiz, for reasons that amount to “duh.” We’ve talked about Mookie Betts, who’s an MVP candidate. We’ve had good things to say about Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr., too. And about the entire Boston Red Sox offense, for that matter.

But Dustin Pedroia is the one Red Sox star we really haven’t singled out yet. Let’s change that.

It’s the least we can do after the veteran second baseman came this close to making a bit of baseball history at Fenway Park on Saturday. Pedroia entered the Red Sox’s evening tilt against the Kansas City Royals with seven straight hits dating back to Thursday, and he added four more in his first four at-bats of an eventual 8-3 win. 

If Pedroia could have added one more hit, he would tie the all-time record for consecutive hits. That was not to be. He ended his hit streak (and his evening) by grounding into a double play in the bottom of the eighth.

But judging from how he heard that he was closing in on history, he’s probably not too shaken up about it. From Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal:

OK, so, Pedroia doesn’t hold a record that’s somewhere below 762 home runs and 511 wins on the scale of baseball importance. Boo and/or hoo.

What he does have, though, is a .320 batting average. That ties Pedroia with Betts for tops on the Red Sox, and it puts him behind only Jose Altuve in the entire American League. That’s pretty good company, and it can’t just be me that feels like Pedroia has joined these ranks out of nowhere.

It’s not that he’s been a bad player. Pedroia undeniably peaked with his American League MVP season in 2008, a year in which he was every kind of great. But he’s been consistently good ever since then. Despite a fair number of games missed with injuries, he put up a .294 average and an .803 OPS between 2009 and 2015, adding three more Gold Gloves to his collection in the process. And this year, he’s been a rock-solid presence in an outstanding Red Sox lineup from day one.

Rather, Pedroia‘s under-the-radar act to this point is more a matter of optics. 

He’s surrounded by players who boast both great numbers and great narratives. Big Papi is a larger-than-life character in any year, and he’s making life look especially puny with a farewell season for the ages. Meanwhile, Betts, Bogaerts, Bradley and, recently, Andrew Benintendi have been cementing themselves as the Red Sox’s stars of the future.

Pedroia is neither a legendary slugger in his final season nor a young up-and-comer gearing up for many great seasons still to come. He’s just…well, he’s kinda just Dustin Pedroia. Same as he ever was.

But while it may indeed be difficult to appreciate Pedroia as a story unto himself, it’s as easy as ever to appreciate him as a player.

If nothing else, the fact that he’s been healthy throughout 2016 has allowed him to be his usual self on an everyday basis. That’s been rare in recent years. However, you don’t go from being a .290-ish hitter to a .320 hitter without at least one new trick. Pedroia knew what his was going to be before 2016 even started.

“He told me, ‘I’m going to use the whole field this year. I’m going to be a better hitter this year,'” Red Sox hitting coach Chili Davis told John Tomase of WEEI.com, referencing an offseason conversation. “And he stuck with it in practice. He stuck with it in spring training. And he’s sticking with it now.”

The proof is in Pedroia‘s opposite-field hit rate. FanGraphs had it at 32.9 percent heading into Saturday, the highest of his career. Because visual aids are fun, this leads us to a pretty-looking spray chart from Brooks Baseball:

Matt Collins of Baseball Prospectus posited this could be related to how Pedroia has changed his approach against breaking balls. It’s a fine theory, as Pedroia has indeed been hitting more breaking balls the other way.

These aren’t earth-shattering changes, but they’re really all Pedroia needed to go from being a good hitter back to being a great hitter. He could already work pitchers, posting above-average walk rates and below-average strikeout rates. And his swing itself has always been made for line drives and generally harder contact than you’d expect from a guy who would look right at home in the cubicle next to you.

As the Red Sox get closer to what they hope will be a return to the postseason, Pedroia‘s well-rounded hitting is only looming larger. He was doing fine as a No. 2 hitter. He’s been doing a lot better than fine since manager John Farrell moved him to leadoff on August 10, batting .459 in 18 games. Not so coincidentally, the Red Sox’s offense has experienced an uptick in the last two weeks.

Meanwhile, what Pedroia is doing on the other side of the ball is not to be overlooked.

The defensive metrics aren’t right all the time, but their poor ratings for Pedroia in 2015 did reflect what was a strangely off year with the glove. But this year, he’s once again looking and rating as arguably the best second baseman in the sport.

With all this in mind, let’s check in on the latest Red Sox wins above replacement rankings from FanGraphs:

1. Mookie Betts: 6.5
2. Dustin Pedroia: 4.6
3. Jackie Bradley Jr.: 4.2
4. Xander Bogaerts: 3.9
5. David Ortiz: 3.8

He’s not on Betts’ level (few are), but Pedroia is the next best thing the Red Sox have. Getting 11 straight hits has sure helped his cause, but getting it done day in, day out and as good as ever is a much greater influence on why he’s there.

It’s been hard to notice until now, but you know what they say about late being better than never.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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Boston Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi was removed from his team’s game on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays with a knee injury and had to be helped from the field.

The Red Sox initially diagnosed him with a knee sprain and placed him on the disabled list. It is uncertain when he will return to the lineup.

Continue for updates.

Benintendi Not Ruled Out for Remainder of Season

Friday, Aug. 26

MLB.com’s Ian Browne reported that the “Red Sox medical team finds no structural damage with Benintendi. Team remains optimistic he will play again this season.”

Red Sox manager John Farrell told reporters Thursday that it’s too early to tell if Benintendi’s injury will prematurely end his season, adding that team doctors are still reviewing the MRI.

Benintendi Placed on DL

Thursday, Aug. 25

Tom Caron of NESN passed along news of the roster move, noting Marco Hernandez was promoted in his place.

Benintendi Spotted in Clubhouse

Thursday, Aug. 25 

Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reported that Benintendi was walking gingerly in the clubhouse with a brace on his knee.

Benintendi Sprains Knee vs. Rays

Wednesday, Aug. 24

After reaching second base on a double in the seventh inning, Benintendi got caught in between bases and was tagged out trying to return to second. MLB.com shared video of the play:

Benintendi Emerged as Valuable Player After Promotion to Roster

While this was only the outfielder’s 21st game in the majors, he had been one of the best players on the team in his short run. 

Through Wednesday’s game, Benintendi had a batting average of .324 (22-for-68) with six doubles and 11 runs. He has also displayed some impressive defense in the outfield during this stretch. His presence provided the Red Sox with a major boost since he was called up on Aug. 2, and the team remains in a battle with the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East.

Before reaching the majors, Benintendi was considered the No. 9 prospect in baseball, according to Baseball America’s midseason list. He hit .295 with eight home runs in just 63 games in Double-A after beginning the season in Single-A.

It’s clear the outfielder has plenty of potential with the confidence to help Boston this season and beyond, but the team better hope this turns out to be a minor injury.

With Benintendi out, Chris Young and Brock Holt should earn some starts in left field in his place.

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The Boston Red Sox need pitchers. On Tuesday, Clay Buchholz looked like a pitcher.

It doesn’t erase a season that can only be classified as rough, but it surely put smiles on faces in Beantown.

Buchholz mostly baffled the Tampa Bay Rays, scattering five hits and allowing just one earned run over 6.1 innings while striking out nine in a 2-1 Red Sox win.

The victory kept Boston (71-54) in a first-place tie with the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East. More essentially, it teased a dangerous new/old weapon as the Red Sox angle for a deep October run.

A first-round pick by Boston in 2005, Buchholz twirled a no-hitter in his second big league start in 2007. By 2010, he was an All-Star and top-10 Cy Young Award finisher.

Injuries and inconsistency diminished his stock, however. In 2014, he posted a 5.34 ERA in 28 starts. Last season, he bounced back with a 3.26 ERA and even more impressive 2.68 FIP in 113.1 innings, though he missed significant time with a flexor strain.

For most of 2016, Buchholz has been a mess. After his ERA ballooned to 6.35 on May 26, he was bumped to the bullpen. He’s made a handful of starts since, but his ERA has hovered around 6.00.

He slipped back into the starting mix Aug. 13, and on Tuesday he filled in again for injured knuckleballer Steven Wright.

Wright could be back as soon as Friday, per Rob Bradford of WEEI.com (via Darren Hartwell of NESN.com), so the Sox will have some decisions to make. It’s possible, though, that Buchholz will get another turn after his gem against the Rays.

For the season, Red Sox starters own a pedestrian 4.29 ERA. They’re a strong postseason contender thanks to a high-octane offense that paces baseball in runs scored and OPS. To succeed into late October, however, you need reliable arms.

Sinkerballer Rick Porcello has authored a compelling comeback story with his 3.22 ERA and 17-3 record. And Wright, when healthy, has been exemplary, posting a 3.01 ERA and holding opposing hitters to a .227 average.

David Price, Boston’s big free-agent addition, has won his last three decisions and appears to be trending in the right direction. Still, the left-hander and former AL Cy Young Award winner sports a 4.00 ERA and hasn’t been the stalwart rotation anchor the Red Sox hoped for.

Eduardo Rodriguez is sidelined with a tight hamstring. Trade acquisition Drew Pomeranz has yielded mixed results since arriving from the San Diego Padres and wears a 4.23 ERA in a Red Sox uniform.

There are a lot of ifs, in other words, and precious few certainties in Boston’s rotation.

But one good start doesn’t make Buchholz a savior. If he can string together a few more, though, it could tip the scales in baseball’s most wide-open division.

“That’s probably as good a fastball as he’s had in quite some time,” Boston manager John Farrell said of the 32-year-old right-hander, per Sam Blum and Bill Chastain of MLB.com. “He got down and underneath some left-hander’s swings. He was never really challenged with a long pitch count in a given inning. It was an outstanding job on his part.”

Again, Buchholz could be bumped to the ‘pen when Wright returns. That’ll be a tough call, however, as the Boston Herald‘s Jason Mastrodonato noted:

That, as they say, is a good problem to have.

For most of the season, the Red Sox have scrambled to find adequate starting pitchers. Now, they have a guy who’s doing exciting things, and they might not have room for him.

“This has been a strange year. I’ll be the first one to say that,” Buchholz said Monday, per Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. “But here we are, and I’m still pitching.”

A few months ago, Buchholz was all but buried. Now, he looks like a pitcher.

Boston, no doubt, will take it.

All statistics accurate as of Aug. 23 and courtesy of MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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The days Rick Porcello doesn’t start for the Boston Red Sox, they’re barely a .500 team.

It’s true. The Sox are 19-6 in Porcello‘s 25 starts, after their 10-2 win over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night. They’re 49-47 in their other 96 games.

So maybe that four-year, $82.5 million contract wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

The Red Sox have a real chance to go worst to first. Their win Friday alongside Toronto’s stunning loss in Cleveland left the Sox just half a game behind the first-place Blue Jays in the American League East.

Porcello has already made just as dramatic a turnaround, going from “What were they thinking?” to “Where would they be without him?” in the space of a year.

A year ago Friday, he was still on the disabled list with a 5-11 record and 5.81 ERA. In 33 starts since then, he’s 21-7 with a 3.20 ERA. He’s tied with J.A. Happ for the major league lead with 17 wins this year, and while that has a lot to do with Porcello and Happ also being one-two in the American League in run support, it’s a reminder of how important his starts have been to Boston.

As the Red Sox were pulling away from the Tigers on Friday night, bouncing back after Thursday’s tough loss, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweeted another way to look at it:

Yes, it helps that the Sox score a lot of runs when Porcello pitches. They’ve been in double digits his last two starts, and they’ve scored eight or more in eight of his 17 wins.

But it helps just as much that Porcello has seven starts in which he has gone at least seven innings while allowing no more than two earned runs. He’s done it in each of his last three starts, helping spark a run in which the Red Sox have won seven of their last eight.

Their starting pitching has been outstanding this month, with David Price improving and Drew Pomeranz starting to look like the pitcher they thought they traded for last month. But Porcello is the one who has been most consistent, the one who has most resembled an ace.

He’s also the one who has been spectacular at home, with a 12-0 record and 2.96 ERA in 13 Fenway Park starts.

Friday’s start was sort of at home, too, because Porcello spent his first six major league seasons with the Tigers. He hadn’t pitched at Comerica since 2014, before the Tigers traded him away because they didn’t want to give him the contract he eventually signed with the Red Sox.

“I think the one thing was that we weren’t sure as time went on if he would take the jump to be a top-of-the-rotation guy once we had him,” Dave Dombrowski told Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. “We looked at him maybe as a middle-of-the-rotation type.”

Dombrowski was the Tigers general manager who traded Porcello away, and now he’s the Red Sox GM who has watched Porcello take over that top-of-the-rotation role.

That’s one thing that gave Friday’s start added significance. The other was that Porcello was matched up with Michael Fulmer. As Mario Impemba pointed out on the Fox Sports Detroit telecast, the Tigers basically traded Porcello for Fulmer in December 2014, because they got Yoenis Cespedes and two minor leaguers for Porcello and later traded Cespedes to the New York Mets for Fulmer and Luis Cessa.

Fulmer gave up the first six Red Sox runs Friday, but he’s been a minimum-salary bargain and a strong Rookie of the Year candidate. He’s also just 23 years old.

But Porcello is only 27.

People tend to forget that, because he debuted with the Tigers when he was 20 and already has 233 major league starts and 102 big league wins. In fact, as a Fox Sports Detroit graphic showed, Porcello has the most career wins of any major league pitcher 27 or younger, ahead of Madison Bumgarner (97) and Chris Sale (71).

Among those not on the list are Stephen Strasburg and Jacob deGrom, not just because they have fewer wins but also because they’ve already turned 28. Porcello‘s 28th birthday isn’t until December.

By that time, he will likely have pitched in his fourth postseason. The first three came with the Tigers, who only used him as a starter for two games, both in 2011. His last postseason appearance came in relief in Game 2 of the 2013 ALCS, against the Red Sox at Fenway.

Assuming the Red Sox get there this year, you can bet Porcello will be a starter. He might not be the Game 1 starter, but the way he has pitched this season, that might not be the worst idea.

You know what else wasn’t the worst idea: Trading for Porcello and immediately signing him to a $20 million-a-year contract.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

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In the American League MVP race, one undersized dynamo is now being hotly pursued by another undersized dynamo.

The latter is Mookie Betts, who you’ve probably noticed in your news feed recently. It’s well and good he singled and made a goofy catch in the Boston Red Sox‘s 3-2 win over the Cleveland Indians on Monday. But that’s not as cool as what Betts did in Sunday’s 16-2 drubbing of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In that one, Betts went yard not once, not twice, but thrice. As proof, I submit these moving pictures:

That was Betts’ second three-homer game of 2016. Among Red Sox hitters, only he and Ted Williams have trodden that ground. Good company. Betts also became the first Red Sox player to collect three homers and eight RBI in a game since Bill Mueller in 2003. Less good company, but still cool.

“I mean, I was just swinging at good pitches and was finally able to just swing the bat right,” Betts said afterward, via Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. “The last couple of days, I hadn’t been swinging it right and hadn’t been swinging at good pitches. I had just been late. So today I came in early and got back in that little groove.”

Betts can be as modest as he wants, but his numbers entitle him to as much arrogance as he wants. Through 114 games, he’s batting .313 with a .914 OPS, 26 home runs and 18 stolen bases. To boot, there’s no ignoring the 23-year-old’s defense in right field. Defensive runs saved and ultimate zone rating both place him as an elite defender. He’s right up there with Jason Heyward and Adam Eaton.

In a related story, this is why Googling “Mookie Betts MVP” will return a large number of recent posts.

Betts indeed deserves his place in that conversation. If his surface-level statistics aren’t evidence enough, there’s always the go-to statistic in modern MVP discussions: wins above replacement.

Entering play Monday, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs agreed on the American League’s top four players in that department: 

Of course, WAR is merely a guideline for which players should be considered for MVP. If it was as simple as giving the award to the dude with the highest WAR, Mike Trout would be on track for his fifth-straight AL MVP. 

There are other things at work in MVP discussions. The award gravitates toward players with big offensive numbers, especially if they’re in service to winning teams. If said player is the glue that holds said winning team together, even better.

This is why, as R.J. Anderson argued at CBSSports.com, Jose Altuve is the man to beat for the AL MVP today. He’s hitting an AL-best (and patently absurd) .362. He also leads in on-base percentage (.427) and hits (167). Further, he has a career-high 19 homers to go with 26 steals on the side. Without all this, a mediocre 61-57 Houston Astros team would be downright bad.

We’re not here to take anything away from Altuve. If the season did end today, his award would be well-earned. Maybe he’s no Mike Trout, but he bears all the usual features of an MVP. More power to him.

But if anyone can loom large enough down the stretch to overtake the 5’6″ Altuve, why not the 5’9″ Betts?

There’s a pretty good case to be made for Betts now, after all. His excellent production has been in service of a 65-52 Red Sox team that, though only a tad better than the Astros, is on track to emerge from a brutal AL East race with a ticket to the postseason. 

And while Betts has been helping the cause all season, he’s now flat-out leading the charge. Not counting Monday, he’s a .374 hitter with a 1.113 OPS and 10 home runs in 35 games since July 1. He’s been as hot as anyone. That includes Altuve, who’s hit .373 with a .991 OPS since July 1.

This is nothing Betts hasn’t done before. It’s reminiscent of last season, when a slow start gave way to a red-hot finish around mid-June. But this time, Betts’ hot hitting comes with a slightly different flavor.

As Brooks Baseball shows, these were his power zones before July:

Betts, a right-handed hitter, was mostly dangerous against middle-in pitches. That’s to be expected. He’s not the kind of hitter who can reach out and poke balls over the fence to right field. His M.O. was to use his lightning-quick wrists to turn on pitches and blast them to left field. If a pitcher kept the ball away, he was generally safe from Betts’ power.

But since July, Betts’ power zones look like this:

Suddenly, that outer part of the plate doesn’t look like much of a safe space. As he demonstrated by pulling one of Zack Greinke’s breaking balls over the Green Monster on Sunday, Betts is suddenly capable of reaching out and punishing pitches away from him. It’s a new trick, and it hasn’t robbed him of his tried-and-true trick of punishing inside pitches.

With this taken care of, you now have to dive pretty deep to find flaws in Betts’ game. Maybe he can’t stay this hot, but him staying some level of hot for the rest of the season is in the cards.

For the Red Sox, that could be the difference between finishing their run to October and falling short. They didn’t need Betts to carry the load in the first half. Literally everyone was hitting then. It’s been a different story in the second half. The Red Sox’s offense has been less dominant, in large part because mainstays like David Ortiz, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. have gone cool.

Due to Trout’s general existence and Altuve’s seemingly endless supply of hits, there’s a good chance Betts won’t finish 2016 as the American League’s best player. But if he stays hot and boosts the Red Sox into the postseason, it’ll be hard to argue he’s not the American League’s most valuable player.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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The Boston Red Sox (65-52) bring a four-game winning streak into the first game of a two-game series with the Baltimore Orioles (66-51) on Tuesday at Camden Yards.

The Orioles lead the Red Sox by one game for second place in the American League East, and they are listed as small -108 favorites (bet $108 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark with veteran Yovani Gallardo (4-4, 5.17 ERA) on the hill.

Baltimore is just 15-15 since the MLB All-Star break and opens a key eight-game homestand with this game against a Boston team that has gone 16-14 during the same stretch.

Gallardo is 1-3 in the second half for the Orioles with two no-decisions, both of which eventually resulted in wins. This will be Gallardo’s first home start since July 25, when he allowed two runs and five hits in 6.2 innings of a 3-2 victory against the Colorado Rockies.

Gallardo was a tough-luck loser last time out on the road against the Oakland Athletics, giving up only one run and four hits in six innings of a 1-0 defeat.

The Red Sox will look to 23-year-old southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez (2-5, 5.43 ERA) to try to get them their fifth win in a row after a fairly solid month. Since getting pounded for nine runs and 11 hits in 2.2 innings of a 13-7 road loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, Rodriguez has surrendered three runs or fewer in each of his last six appearances.

Rodriguez’s last victory came on July 16 against the New York Yankees, as he has gone 0-2 with three no-decisions in his past five outings. He pitched great versus the Yankees in his last start on Thursday, allowing one run and three hits in seven innings of an eventual 4-2 loss.

Boston has lost four of the previous five meetings with Baltimore after winning three straight in the series, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database. In the 10 meetings overall this year, the over has a slight edge at 5-4-1.

The Red Sox closed last season with three consecutive shutouts of the Orioles, all of which went under the total.

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