Darnelll McDonald has been raking during Spring Training. In fourteen games, he’s hitting .467 with five doubles, one triple, and two home runs. He has a .515 OBP, a .900 SLG, and 1.415 OPS. Even a limited amount of “practice” games, that’s still pretty impressive.
Darnell McDonald is in his third year with the Red Sox, and he’s always been one of my favorite players to watch. He’s one of those guys who can come off the bench and make a difference, and he always seems to have a good attitude. In 2010, he seemed to come out of nowhere to help with the outfield (remember, we had holes for Ellsbury, Drew, and Cameron, who were all injured at some point that season).
Last year, McDonald had a less-than-impressive year. In 79 games, he had a .236 BA, a .303 OBP, a .401 SLG, and a .704 OPS. Because of these numbers, he lost the right-field position (when Drew was hurt… again) to Josh Reddick. Reddick seemed to carry the team when he won the position, though he did cool off as the season continued.
In 2010, McDonald’s truly breakout season, he batted .270 with a .336 OBP, a .429 SLG, and a .766 OPS in 117 games. He had nine home runs, nine steals, and three triples. I always seem to find the triple stat the most interesting, since it seems like only a select number of hitters can get a triple, most of the team there needs to be speed involved.
*A quick note, David Ortiz is one of only three American League players to have at least one triple in each of the past eleven seasons…A stat that seems pretty remarkable.*
The Red Sox are going to start the season with essentially two holes in the outfield, right and left field. From various reports, it appears that right field is going to be platooned by Ryan Sweeney and Cody Ross, who are both deserving of the position, in my eyes at least. Left field is vacant because of Carl Crawford’s injury.
I think Darnell McDonald deserves to start in left field at the start of the season. Not only has he earned it based off his Spring Training, but he has been a member of this club for the past two seasons. He has the hot bat at the moment, it seems as well. I, for one, would like to start the season with a win, and I think McDonald can be one of those players who can carry the team at the start of the season.
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