Here is this year's Factory Team Set. The 2019 team was a disappointment after the team won the 2018 World Championship convincingly.
2. Xander Bogaerts. The shortstop won his third Silver Slugger and made his second All Star team with the best season of his career thus far. Bogaerts hit .309/.384/.555 with 33 home runs and 117 RBIs. He scored 110 runs, knocked 190 hits and had 52 doubles.
3. Andrew Benintendi. Benintendi disappointed in 2019, hitting just .266/.343/.431 with 13 home runs and 68 RBIs. He is at a crossroads in his career in 2020.
4. Christian Vazquez. Where did his power come from? Vazquez, whose previous career home run high was five, knocked 23 homers and hit .276/.320/.477. The question is whether that performance is sustainable.
5. J.D. Martinez. Martinez's numbers were down from his 2018 level, but that speaks more to how great he was then than any real marked decline in 2019. .304/.383/.557 is still a terrific batting line, and so is 36 home runs and 105 RBIs. Martinez was also an All Star for the third time.
6. Team Card. These are kind of annoying. I wish Topps would just include more players. There are certainly more players they could include. There are no new acquisitions in this set. I know Verdugo was acquired too late (though it is notable that neither Mookie Betts nor David Price appear here), but they could have had Jose Peraza or Martin Perez.
7. Jackie Bradley Jr. JBJ was not great in 2019. He did hit 21 home runs, but his line was just .225/.317/.421. His defensive metrics also slipped a bit.
8. Michael Chavis. Chavis made his Major League debut in 2019 and for the first few weeks was an utter monster. Then he crashed and finally missed a chunk of the season due to injury. He ended up hitting .254/.322/.444 with 18 home runs and 58 RBIs.
9. Brandon Workman. Holy crap, what a season Workman had. Ostensibly taking over the closer's role, he only saved 16 games, but he had a 10-1 record, a 1.88 ERA and 104 strikeouts versus 45 walks in 71.2 innings.
11. Dustin Pedroia. It was another lost season for Pedroia as he appeared in just six games. At this point, it is hard to imagine him ever being able to come back. Which is sad.
12. Eduardo Rodriguez. The de facto ace of the staff in 2019, E-Rod set career bests in wins (19), ERA (3.81) and strikeouts (213). He also received some down-ballot Cy Young votes.
13. Chris Sale. Despite injuries and a number of really bad games, Sale still struck out 218 in just 147.1 innings. He was 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA though.
14. Wally the Green Monster. I may be in the minority, but I really do not care for mascot cards. I keep them in my collection, but I do not seek them out.
15. Nathan Eovaldi. After a massively impressive 2018 postseason, Eovaldi was injured most of the season in 2019. He started just 12 games and was 2-1 with a 5.99 ERA, striking out 70 and walking 35 in 67.2 innings.
16. Darwinzon Hernandez. Hernandez also made his Major League debut and the southpaw gave the team another high-strikeout arm, notching 57 in just 30.1 innings. His other numbers were not as impressive, but he was just 22.
17. Tessie. Two mascot cards and a team card. That's three additional players we could have gotten. Among the missing players who are still with the team are: Mitch Moreland, Marcus Walden, Ryan Brasier, Colten Brewer and Josh Taylor. Any of whom would have been welcome additions.
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