Red Sox Breakout Candidate: Kiké Hernández
Ever since long-time Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts left for the Padres in free agency this offseason, the Boston Red Sox have seemed to be lost and leaderless. One player on the team who could fix their lack of leadership is their utility guy, Kiké Hernández, who also just so happens to be primed for a breakout 2023 campaign.
Hernández had a rough and also very injury filled 2022 season that can best be summed up by his 75 OPS+. Last season, Kiké Hernández had a .222 batting average, 6 home runs, 45 runs batted in, and a 0.9 Baseball Reference WAR. Hernández also provided his usual brand of versatile and above average defense, with his 6 defensive runs saved while playing second base, shortstop and center field.
Most of, if not all of the aforementioned stats were above average for Hernandez, and a lot of times after a bad season, lots of players find ways to do some very special stuff the next year. Sometimes bounce-back seasons are luck, but if Hernández has a remarkable 2023 season, then his spectacular underlying statistics would back it up .
To put it simply, Kiké Hernández hits baseballs very hard, as evidenced by his 84th percentile max exit velocity rating. He’s also in the 72nd percentile for limiting strikeouts, as well as in the 62nd percentile for his walk rate. Hernández’s lowest defensive statistic out of the three listed is his arm strength, which remarkably is in the 85th percentile.
Kiké Hernández has the potential to be a great player in 2023 and beyond, but if nothing else, he can be the glue that holds the Red Sox clubhouse together after getting broken by the loss of their shortstop, Xander Bogaerts.
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