April 20, 2017

What Can Moreland Do

Mitch Moreland hit his 11th double of the season in the Red Sox 4-1 win over the Blue Jays Thursday afternoon. Two thirds of the way through the month, it’s an impressive total. The likely record for the for doubles by the end of April is 15 by Mike Lowell in 2002. I say likely, since until the 1970s, the season didn’t start until the middle of the month. Moreland has ten days to catch Lowell.

Did the Red Sox see this coming? Moreland hits a lot of fly balls to deep leftfield. A lot of those leave the park, but a lot come down in a fielder’s glove for an out. Deep fly balls at Fenway often turn into long hits, however. I looked at Moreland’s career stats and saw him as someone who did a poor job of getting on base. The Red Sox might have seen him as a wall scraper, a very useful hitter.

On the other hand, only four of his 11 doubles came at home this season. Maybe getting off to this good a start, and a swing that should produce doubles at Fenway will help him lead the league.

1 thought on “What Can Moreland Do

  1. Ptodd

    He had a 15 game stretch early in 2011 where he hit 8 doubles and a triple. He hit 14 doubles the next 117 games. AL east parks should help his doubles production though. Red Sox need someone who can hit HR. Somewhere Big Papi is planning a comeback

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