Underrated Player of the Year: 2023

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.

Going back through my posts, I realized that I missed the 2023 season for this post.  It was probably due to the fact that I was holding out to do Chris Martin, because he is the best option for this post.  And he did not have a card in 2023.  For some stupid reason.

Martin has had a long career and pitched for a lot of teams.  This was actually his second stint with the Red Sox, though he did not pitch in the Majors during the first one.  Martin was originally signed by the Red Sox in 2011 from an independent league.  He was traded to the Rockies along with Franklin Morales for Jonathan Herrera after the 2013 season.  He was brought back to the Red Sox for the 2023 season and did not disappoint.

Martin was an excellent setup man, appearing in 55 games and throwing 51.1 innings.  He finished 12 games and even picked up three saves.  He had a record of 4-1 with an incredible 1.05 ERA with a 1.032 WHIP.  He struck out 46 and walked just eight.  Martin was so good that he finished 12th in the Cy Young vote.  Not bad for a middle reliever. 

Mailday Roundup

Rather than trying to figure out how to put a big spin on things and divide up the maildays, I figured I would just do one big catchup post.  There's quite a bit of stuff in here, mostly Rafaela cards, but after this post I will be caught up through yesterday (I am not at home to collect the mail today, so there might be another post tomorrow for mail).

Up first is the Ceddanne Rafaela Presidential parallel from Donruss and this is serial-numbered to 46.  The border features profiles of the various presidents.  I have not done a deep look to see which ones I can recognize. 

This one is pretty cool.  I bought this from a guy on Twitter.  This is the 2023 Bowman Platinum Patch card.  I am not sure what uniform this would be from.  It looks more like one of the City Connect jerseys, but for a 2023 product, it would be strange if they got a hold of one of those since he made his Major League debut late in the season.  It seems more likely to be from a minor league uniform.  At any rate, this is my first true 1/1 of Rafaela.  I am not counting that Leaf Pre-Production Proof.

This is the black parallel of Connor Wong and I got this for just over a dollar.  I was shocked by that.  But that is how far down Wong's cards have fallen in popularity.  He has been much better in recent weeks.

Up next is one of several TCDB trades in this post:

1.  Fred Lynn.  There was a 10-card insert set in last year's Heritage High Numbers devoted to Fred Lynn.  That makes sense since the design was based on the 1975 Topps set and that was the year Lynn made history by becoming the first player to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season, a feat only matched once.  I need to try to grab all of these, this is my first.

2.  Naoyuki Uwasawa.  Yet another Uwasawa card.

3.  Ceddanne Rafaela.  Yes, this was the card that started this trade.  This is the Topps 206 card.

4.  Mike Lowell.  I finally got the base card of this, which I have been trying to do for some time.  Lowell was in the Josh Beckett trade purely so the Marlins could get rid of his salary, but he turned into a valuable member of the team and won the World Series MVP in 2007.  

1.  This is the Dark Green parallel from this year's Heritage and it arrived in a one-for-one trade on TCDB for a Don Mattingly parallel from this year's Donruss.

2.  This is the 2023 Leaf Special Release Draft Silver and I have no idea the context for its release.  Some kind of special multi-sport set I guess.

1.  I tried to get this A&G Gold Border parallel in a big trade with several Rafaelas, but the member on TCDB just declined the trade without a word even though we matched up on a lot of stuff.  I hate that when it happens.  I usually try to work something out with people if I can, and if I can't usually will write a note.

2.  This is the Halloween parallel from last year's Update featuring the pumpkins.  I like this Halloween parallels a lot more than the other ones.

3.  Here we have the 2022 Leaf Metal Snakeskin Crystal parallel.  I think these are pretty cool with the animal skin patterns.  This was later taken up by Leaf Exotic.

1.  Wade Boggs.  This was a make-up package.  The original trade had a Jarren Duran parallel and a Roman Anthony card, but the envelope arrived and had been clearly sliced open and the cards removed.  The other party graciously sent me some replacements, but I really wanted that Roman Anthony.

2.  Conrad Cason.  A lot of teams are experimenting with two-way players now that Shohei Ohtani has been so successful, not that I think anyone will match him.  Cason is Boston's attempt and he was an eighth-round pick last season.  He made his professional debut this year, but has only played in a few games before getting hurt.  He is just 18, so there is time to see what happens.

3.  Franklin Arias.  Currently Boston's top prospect, I think there is a reasonable chance Arias gets dealt for pitching or maybe some offense this offseason.

1.  This is the Dark Yellow parallel from Heritage this year.

2.  This is the base Holiday parallel from last year's Topps.  I still have no idea what this design is supposed to be.

1.  Jimmie Foxx.  This is a short-print from 2022 Diamond Kings.

2.  Ted Williams.  A nice Williams shot that has not been over-used yet.

3.  Garrett Crochet.  Crochet will almost certainly be the runner-up in the Cy Young vote this year.  He had been neck and neck with Tarik Skubal until the last couple of weeks, but Crochet had never thrown this many innings before and he seems a bit tired down the stretch.

4.  David Ortiz.  I never get tired of getting Ortiz cards, still one of the greatest Red Sox players of my lifetime, and probably the most likable as well, unless you're a Yankees fan.  I have a friend, one of the prosecutors I deal with frequently, who is a Yankees fan and even he says that watching Ortiz on baseball games is fun because he is so likable.

5.  Brayan Bello.  Bello has also started to tire down the stretch, but he has put together the kind of season Boston envisioned when he was signed to his extension last year.  Hopefully he keeps building on this success.

My 2024 Predictions

I was looking back at previous posts and remembered that I made some predictions about the 2024 team.  I guess out of lack of anything better to do tonight, let's re-visit those and see how I did:

WILYER ABREU

2024 Prediction: Abreu will turn out to be the best player Boston got in the Christian Vazquez deal, becoming the regular right-fielder by mid-season.

WELL?: Yep, I got this one right.

CHASE ANDERSON

2024 Prediction: Anderson will not even be with this team by May 1. He will only have a couple of mop-up appearances and a bloated ERA.

WELL?: Not quite. Anderson did okay for a little while and was a mop-up man for awhile. Injuries slowed him down and he was eventually released, but not until August.

BRAYAN BELLO

2024 Prediction: Bello will make big strides toward becoming a potential ace and win 15 games.

WELL?: Not really. He did win 14 games, but he did not look like a potential ace.

ISAIAH CAMPBELL

2024 Prediction: Campbell will turn out to be the best under-the-radar pick-up for the team in 2024 and be a valuable member of the bullpen.

WELL?: Not even close. He started okay, but ended up in just eight games with a 16.20 ERA.

TRISTON CASAS

2024 Prediction: Casas will have his first season with 30 home runs.

WELL?: Nope. Injuries happened. He ended up with just 13.

KUTTER CRAWFORD

2024 Prediction: Crawford will become Boston's #2 pitcher, finishing with 12 wins and an ERA below 3.50.

WELL?: Sort of? One could make the argument he was the #2 pitcher, but he did not have 12 wins or an ERA below 3.50.

BOBBY DALBEC

2024 Prediction: This year is the end of the road for Dalbec in Boston, and possibly very early.

WELL?: I don't get any joy out of this, but I was right this was it for Dalbec in Boston. He did make it through the year though.

RAFAEL DEVERS

2024 Prediction: Ho-hum, just another 30 homer/100 RBI season for Devers.

WELL?: Close. 28 home runs and 83 RBIs.

JARREN DURAN

2024 Prediction: Duran will steal the second-most bags in a single season in Red Sox history. The number to beat is 54.

WELL?: Nope. He had a great year, but in a completely different way than I was expecting. He only stole 34 bases though.

TANNER HOUCK

2024 Prediction: Houck will be the closer by the end of the season.

WELL?: No. I was not expecting an All Star season as a starter.

KENLEY JANSEN

2024 Prediction: Jansen will be traded at the Trading Deadline, but will be an All Star before he goes.

WELL?: Wrong on both accounts, but he had a fine season.

CHRIS MARTIN

2024 Prediction: Martin has another ridiculously good season and actually gets his first card since 2020.

WELL?: Yes, mostly. I wouldn't call it a ridiculously good season, but it was good and he did get his first card.

REESE MCGUIRE

2024 Prediction: McGuire's numbers continue to slide and he is released by the end of the season.

WELL?: Another one I don't feel good about, but I was correct. McGuire had a 63 OPS+ and was set loose in September.

TYLER O'NEILL

2024 Prediction: O'Neill has a renaissance season in 2024, but is traded at the deadline.

WELL?: He did hit 31 home runs, but he was not traded, so half credit.

NICK PIVETTA

2024 Prediction: Pivetta has another solid season, but is also traded at the deadline.

WELL?: I really thought Boston would move more players than they did. Wrong on that, but he did have a solid season.

CEDDANNE RAFAELA

2024 Prediction: Rafaela contends for the A.L. Rookie of the Year and wins a Gold Glove in his rookie season.

WELL?: Nope. A cold stretch in the second half and spending half the season at shortstop kept him from doing either one. Oddly Abreu did both of these.

PABLO REYES

2024 Prediction: Reyes will be a valuable utility infielder.

WELL?: Reyes did not play well and was released, so no.

JOELY RODRIGUEZ

2024 Prediction: Rodriguez will be the first player to be dropped from the roster and Brennan Bernardino will be brought back.

WELL?: Yes. After 14 games and a 5.93 ERA, Rodriguez was cut.

JUSTIN SLATEN

2024 Prediction: Slaten, a Rule 5 pick, will stay on the roster all season and gradually work into more of a trustworthy arm out of the bullpen.

WELL?: This is probably the most random one I was correct about. Slaten had a great rookie season, when he was healthy.

TREVOR STORY

2024 Prediction: Story has a 20/20 season and wins a Gold Glove.

WELL?: Looks like I was a year early. Story spent most of the season on the IL again.

ENMANUEL VALDEZ

2024 Prediction: Valdez hits well, but his defensive problems make it impossible to keep him on the roster and he is eventually traded.

WELL?: He did not hit well, but he was traded away in the offseason.

GREG WEISSERT

2024 Prediction: Weissert becomes a fan favorite and makes the Verdugo trade worthwhile.

WELL?: This was basically correct. Weissert had a good season.

GARRETT WHITLOCK

2024 Prediction: Whitlock solidifies his place in the rotation and wins 12 games.

WELL?: He started off well with a 1.96 ERA in four starts, but then hit the IL and never made it back. He only won one game.

JOSH WINCKOWSKI

2024 Prediction: Winckowski becomes one of the team's setup men with another strong season.

WELL?: Nope. He was okay, but a 4.14 ERA is not getting it done.

CONNOR WONG

2024 Prediction: Wong is an All Star in 2024.

WELL?: This was optimistic, but Wong was hitting .307/.367/.443 with eight home runs and 32 RBIs at the break, so he certainly COULD have been an All Star.  So, even though I was wrong, it wasn't the worst prediction.

MASATAKA YOSHIDA

2024 Prediction: Yoshida contends for the batting title in 2024.

WELL?: He hit .280, while the leader hit .332. Yoshida was not in the top ten.

So, I am probably not in any danger of starting a psychic hotline.  I got most of the guys who got released correct, which is not exactly positive.  My best guesses were Chris Martin, Wilyer Abreu, Greg Weissert and Justin Slaten.  The worst prediction was probably Isaiah Campbell.

Red Sox With No Cards: 2022

After the surprisingly successful 2021 season, the Red Sox stumbled in 2022, finishing 78-84 and missing the postseason.  Injuries were an issue as only five position players appeared in more than 100 games.  There was a lot of player movement.  Short-term players who made it onto cardboard included Eric Hosmer and Eduard Bazardo.  John Schreiber appeared in the 2021 post which was posted before the 2024 season when he finally appeared in a Red Sox uniform on a card, so he will not appear here.  Then there were the players below:

ABRAHAM ALMONTE

The definition of a journeyman, Almonte played for the Mariners, Padres, Indians, Royals, Diamondbacks, Padres again and Braves before appearing with the Red Sox.  Then he played with the Mets the next season.  He also never played more than 82 games in a season.  Almonte has his contract purchased in July of 2022 from the Brewers (who he never actually played for).  He made it into 15 games with the Red Sox and hit .257/.297/.400 with a homer, two doubles and two RBIs.  He also stole a base.  He played reasonably well for Worcester, hitting .291 with seven homers.  He signed with the Mets the next season.  He has not played in the Majors since.  

YU CHANG

There was a time when Chang looked like a potential regular player.  In 2021 with the Indians, he hit .228/.267/.426 with nine homers and 39 RBIs in 89 games.  The next season he appeared in games with four teams: the Indians, Pirates, Rays and the Red Sox.  Chang's strength was always his versatility as he appeared at every infield position, designated hitter and even pitcher.  The Red Sox snagged him off of waivers from the Rays in September and he played in eleven games.  He hit .150/.346/.250 with two doubles and an RBI.  He played shortstop in every game for the Red Sox.  Chang will also appear in the 2023 post, so that is all I will say for now.

TYLER DANISH

Danish had kind of an odd career.  A second-round draft pick of the White Sox in 2013 out of high school, he made his Major League debut at just 21 years of age in 2016.  He bounced back and forth between the Majors and Minors for the next three seasons with the White Sox, pitching seven games in 2018.  Then, he moved around a lot, appearing in the systems of the Angels and Mariners before finally making it back to the Majors in 2022 with the Red Sox.  Danish appeared in 32 games with the Red Sox as a middle reliever.  He threw 40.1 innings with a 5.13 ERA and a record of 3-1.  He struck out 32 and walked 12.  That was the last time Danish appeared in the Majors, but he did some more moving around, going to the Yankees, Nationals and Rockies organizations.  He has not appeared in a game in 2025, but is just 30 years old.  Danish does have a minor league card in the Red Sox organization.

AUSTIN DAVIS

This is Davis's second appearance in one of these posts.  He was acquired in a mid-season deal in 2021 in which Boston gave up former first-round pick Michael Chavis to the Pirates.  Davis was a weapon down the stretch in 2021.  He was not as good in 2022 though.  The southpaw appeared in 50 games for the Red Sox, throwing 54.1 innings, but his ERA ballooned to 5.47.  He did notch 61 strikeouts, but also gave up 29 walks.  His struggles increased as the season went on and he was waived at the end of August.  He caught on with the Twins and made it into two more games.  Davis did not appear again in the Majors until pitching seven games with the Padres in 2024, and that has been it to date.

JAYLIN DAVIS

Davis was a 24th-round pick by the Twins in 2015, but didn't make his Major League debut until 2019 with the Giants.  He was part of the trade for the Twins to acquire Sam Dyson in 2019.  Davis made it to the Majors for a handful of games in each of the next two seasons after 2019 with the Giants.  He was placed on waivers in April of 2022 and the Red Sox snagged him.  He spent most of the season in the minors, but made the most of his opportunity when he was in the Majors.  Davis played in 12 games with Boston and hit .333/.407/.375.  He had eight hits, four runs scored, a double and two RBIs.  His numbers in the minors were not as impressive.  Davis hooked on with the Mets organization in 2023, but never appeared in the Majors again.  Davis does have a minor league card in the Red Sox organization in 2022.

JAKE DIEKMAN

The Nebraska-born southpaw Diekman had the longest career out of any of the players in this post, spanning 13 years and nine teams.  He also pitched for the Phillies, Rangers, Diamondbacks, Royals and Athletics prior to 2022 with the Red Sox and has since pitched for the White Sox, Rays and Mets.  Diekman was once a part of the deal that sent Cole Hamels to the Rangers.  Diekman signed as a free agent with the Red Sox during Spring Training.  He had a fast start, striking out Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Joey Gallo to save a one-run game against the Yankees early in the season.  Unfortunately, that success did not continue the entire season.  Diekman appeared in 44 games with a 5-1 record, throwing 38.1 innings with a 4.23 ERA.  He struck out 51, but walked 30 and picked up a save (the one I mentioned against the Yankees).  Diekman was traded to the White Sox on August 1 in the deal that brought Reese McGuire to Boston.  He has not appeared in a game in 2025 after being released by the Braves in Spring Training.  

JEURYS FAMILIA

Probably the biggest "star" in this post is Familia, who is the only player in this post who has ever been named to an All Star team.  Familia was an All Star in 2016 with the Mets when he led the league with 51 saves and had a 2.55 ERA.  Familia had been a terrific closer with the Mets, saving 124 games with them, primarily between 2015 and 2016.  After he lost the closer role, he was sent to the A's to finish out the 2018 season then returned to the Mets in 2019.  He started the 2022 season with the Phillies, but had a 6.09 ERA and was released in August.  Boston took a flyer on him, but he did not improve in his ten games with them, going 1-2 with a 6.10 ERA in 10.1 innings, striking out eight and walking seven.  He pitched for the A's again in 2023, but has not appeared in the Majors since.  

MICHAEL FELIZ

Like Austin Davis, Feliz is in his second appearance in one of these posts.  Feliz appeared in four games during the 2021 season, before finishing the season with the A's.  After the season, the Red Sox re-signed him and he started the 2022 season in the Red Sox organization.  He made it into one game with the Red Sox, throwing 3.1 innings with one earned run (2.70 ERA).  He struck out four and walked two.  He was released in a roster crunch afterwards and appeared in the Twins and Yankees organizations, but never made it back to the Majors.  Feliz pitched for eight years in the Majors for the Pirates, Astros, Red Sox, A's and Reds.  Feliz does have a minor league card in the Red Sox organization.   

ZACK KELLY

Kelly is the most likely possibility in this post to join Rich Hill and John Schreiber as players to eventually get cards with the Red Sox after appearing in one of these posts.  This is due to the fact that Kelly is actually still active with the Red Sox and in his fourth season with Boston.  2022 was his debut season and he pitched in just 13 games.  Kelly started his professional career after being signed as an undrafted free agent with the Athletics, then moved on to the Angels before being signed as a minor league free agent by the Red Sox before the 2021 season.  As such, he was 27 when he made his debut.  He threw 13.2 innings, striking out 11 and walking four and had a 1-0 record with a 3.95 ERA.  Kelly has often had trouble finishing batters off and limiting hard contact and that has made it difficult for him to stay on the Major League roster.  He will be talked about more, barring Topps finally making a card of him.  He does have minor league cards in the Red Sox system.

KALEB ORT

The righty Ort is another player who is in one of these posts for the second time.  2022 is a more egregious miss for him though.  He appeared in just one game in 2021, in 2022 he appeared in 25.  Ort was originally an undrafted free agent by the Diamondbacks in 2016, then moved to the Yankees organization.  The Red Sox selected him in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft (I have no idea what the rules are for that phase) prior to the 2021 season.  In 2022, he had a record of 1-2 with an ugly 6.35 ERA.  He threw 28.1 innings, striking out 27 and walking 15.  He notched the only save of his Red Sox tenure when he finished off a game against Baltimore.  Ort will be talked about again, though it is worth mentioning that he had a successful 2024 season with Houston and is still with the Astros today.  Ort does have minor league cards in the Red Sox organization.

HANSEL ROBLES

Yet another player who appeared in the 2021 post is Robles, who was one of Boston's better mid-season trades during the 2021 season.  The Red Sox traded for Robles at the 2021 trading deadline, sending minor leaguer Alex Scherff to the Twins.  Robles had been a closer at times with the Angels and Twins and had been a serviceable middle reliever with the Mets previously.  His inconsistency has largely been his downfall throughout his career and led to him moving in and out of the closer role for the Red Sox in 2021.  2022 was mostly just bad for him though.  He came into the season as a setup man/closer option, but struggled.  He appeared in 26 games, throwing 24.2 innings with a 5.84 ERA.  He struck out 21, but walked 14.  The Red Sox released him in July.  Robles has not appeared in a Major League game since, though he has been in the Dodgers and Mariners systems.  

YOLMER SANCHEZ

Once a regular second-baseman with the White Sox, Sanchez had fallen on some hard times by the time he appeared in a Red Sox uniform.  A slick fielder, he won a Gold Glove in 2019 and could once hit enough to justify his place on the diamond.  He led the league in triples in 2018 and had a line of .245/.300/.360 in parts of seven seasons with the White Sox, four of which were as a regular.  He had occasional pop and could steal the occasional bag too.  He started having injury issues that limited him in 2020, then spent the entire 2021 season in the Braves minor league system.  The Red Sox signed him as a free agent prior to the 2022 season and he spent most of his time in their minor league system.  He did make it into 14 games though, hitting an anemic .108/.214/.108 with four hits, a run, two RBIs and was caught stealing both times he attempted.  He played exclusively second base, other than one appearance as a pitcher, his second time doing that.  Sanchez pitched the final inning of an ugly 28-5 loss to the Blue Jays and gave up a run and three hits for a 9.00 ERA.  He was waived in August and played a few games for the Mets.  He has not been in the Majors since.  He does have a minor league card in the Red Sox system. 

PHILLIPS VALDEZ

We close on a player who is on his third appearance in one of these posts.  Valdez looked like a promising pitcher during the 2020 season when he had a 3.24 ERA in 30.1 innings over 24 games after the Red Sox grabbed him off waivers from the Mariners.  He slipped in 2021, raising his ERA to 5.85, but still pitched in 28 games.  He spent time in the minors with the Red Sox organization for the first part of 2022, though he did pitch in 13 games in Boston.  He had an unimpressive stint, going 0-1 with a 4.41 ERA in 16.1 innings pitched, striking out 13 and walking seven.  He was waived in July and caught on with the Mariners organization.  He has not appeared again in the Majors since.

As usual with these posts, there are a lot of relievers, though there were a handful of position players.  A former All Star (Jeurys Familia) and a former Gold Glove winner (Yolmer Sanchez) appear to make things kind of interesting.  Several of these guys had somewhat lengthy careers.  Jaylin Davis probably had the best numbers for the Red Sox, but the player I would have most wanted to see get a card is undoubtedly Jake Diekman.  There are very few Nebraska natives in the Major Leagues, much less ones that play for the Red Sox, so I would like to add them when I can.  For some reason a lot of the Nebraska players who play for the Red Sox never get cards with them (Buddy Hunter and Kip Gross are a couple of examples).  So yes, Diekman it is.

2001 Fleer Red Sox 100th Pt. 17: Doc Cramer

NAME:  Doc Cramer

POSITION:  Center field

WHY IS HE HERE?  The center fielder spent five seasons in Boston and was an All Star in four of them.  He led the league in at-bats twice and hits once (200 in 1940).  He hit over .300 in four of the five seasons and had a cumulative line of .302/.349/.378.  He did not have much power or speed, but he didn't strike out much either (99 strikeouts versus 207 walks during his Boston tenure).

WOULD I PUT HIM IN IN 2001?:  Probably.

ANY BETTER CHOICES IN 2001?:  All of the better choices are already here.

WOULD I PUT HIM IN NOW?:  Maybe.

ANY BETTER CHOICES NOW?:  Several center fielders would deserve a place over Cramer since 2001, including Johnny Damon, Jacoby Ellsbury, perhaps even Jackie Bradley, Jr.