Underrated Player of the Year: 2019

In this series, I look at one player per year from 1991-the present who came out of nowhere or had a great year that no one really noticed or expected.

This one was close.  I strongly considered going with Christian Vazquez.  He quickly became one of my favorite players of the year with his out-of-nowhere 23 home runs.  But Vazquez had a very good season in 2017.  Brandon Workman on the other hand shocked everyone.

Workman was a second-round draft pick by the Red Sox in the 2010 draft.  He kind of went unnoticed for much of his minor league career, never really achieving any sort of top prospect status but he had some solid numbers.  He made the jump to the Majors in 2013 and put together a decent season.  He even pitched in the postseason, appearing in seven games (including three in the World Series) without giving up a single run.  It was anticipated that he would be a big part of the 2014 staff.

Things did not work out for Workman in 2014 though.  He was in the starting rotation, but went just 1-10 with an unsightly 5.17 ERA.  His strikeout rate collapsed.  Then he was injured for the entire 2015 season.  Not much was expected from Workman from that point on, but he made it back to the Majors in the bullpen in 2017, becoming a reliable arm again.  2018 was more of the same, but no one could have predicted the year he would have in 2019.

The Red Sox did not do much to improve their bullpen prior to the 2019 season, even though the team lost both Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel to free agency.  Workman quickly became the most reliable arm in the bullpen and eventually worked his way into the closer role.  He only saved 16 games, but he did two rare things for a reliever: he won ten games without starting a single one and he struck out over 100 batters.  His final numbers were surprisingly great, one of the better relief seasons for the team in recent years.  Workman finished the year 10-1 with a 1.88 ERA and 104 strikeouts compared to 45 walks in 71.2 innings.  He will start the 2020 season as the favorite to be the team's closer.  

Cracks are Showing

Boston has started to stumble a little bit lately.  Hopefully the ship will be righted soon, but the way Tampa Bay has been playing lately, it may not happen while they are still in first place.  This week was a scheduled four game set at Fenway against the Rays, but the last game was rained out.  When the clouds cleared, Boston was clinging to a half game lead after losing two of the three against the Rays stellar pitching.

07/22:  Rays 3 Red Sox 0 (60-41)
Matt Moore completely shut down the Red Sox.  Brandon Workman pitched well, but the offense completely stalled.  The only hits were from David Ortiz and Mike Napoli.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

BRANDON WORKMAN:  6 innings, 7 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts, Loss.

07/23:  Red Sox 6 (61-41) Rays 2

Boston's only win of the series came on the strength of Jon Lester's arm as he pitched as well as he has in weeks.  The Red Sox did execute a rare double steal of second and home with Pedroia taking second and Victorino taking home on the throw, which included an error.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

JON LESTER:  6.1 innings, 7 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 8 strikeouts, Win.

07/24:  Rays 5 Red Sox 1 (61-42)
Boston again had a strong starting pitching performance, but the Rays again had a better one.  Mike Napoli homered off David Price, but that was all the offense could muster against the reigning Cy Young Award Winner.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

FELIX DOUBRONT:  6.2 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, Loss.

Red Sox Drop 2 of 3 in Oakland

The last series before the All Star break found the Red Sox losing two out of three.  It was an exhausting West Coast trip that is thankfully over.

07/12:  Red Sox 4 (58-37) Athletics 2
John Lackey continued to pitch well in his redemption season and took the win.  Shane Victorino got hit in the wrist with a pitch but remained in the game.  Mike Napoli managed to hit a triple.  He is not the fastest guy in the world.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

DUSTIN PEDROIA:  2 for 4, 2 RBIs.

07/13:  Athletics 3 Red Sox 0 (58-38)
Jon Lester pitched well for the first time in awhile but was victimized by a non-existent offense.  Boston had seven hits, but only one for extra bases and could not scrape together a run.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

JON LESTER:  6.1 innings, 6 hits, 3 earned runs, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, Loss.

07/14:  Athletics 3 Red Sox 2 (58-39)
Brandon Workman made his first Major League start and flirted with a no-hitter, giving up his first hit in the 7th inning.  It was an impressive debut, but former Red Sox Bartolo Colon shut down the offense again.  Boston lost in the 11th when new Red Sox Matt Thornton gave up the winning run.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

BRANDON WORKMAN:  6.1 innings, 2 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts.