Sports Final: Biggest Surprises, Biggest Disappointments Of 2016 Red Sox
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Red Sox hit the All-Star break with a 49-38 record, percentage points ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays for the American League's first Wild Card spot and just two games back of the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East.
Five members of the Red Sox will take part in Tuesday night's mid-summer classic in San Diego, with Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and David Ortiz each being named All-Star starters. Knuckleballer Steven Wright is also set to come out of the bullpen (Boston closer Craig Kimbrel made the squad, but landed on the DL last week with a knee injury).
While Boston's three B's are tearing the cover off the ball and Ortiz continues to amaze in his final MLB season at the age of 40, the 10-5 Wright remains one of the biggest surprises on the 2016 Red Sox. He tops Tony Massarotti's list, as Mazz explained on Sunday night's Sports Final on WBZ-TV.
"The way [the rotation] was coming out of camp, nobody knew who would be the fifth starter for a while. He got the job, and has been their most consistent starting pitcher," Mazz said of Wright, who owns the American League's best ERA at 2.68. "In a lot of ways, he's been their staff saver."
As for the biggest disappointment, Mazz says it's ace David Price, who is 9-6 with a 4.34 ERA in his first year of a seven-year, $217 million contract.
"I gave consideration to Eduardo Rodriguez, because of all the things that had to happen to them this year; he's the youngest guy on the staff with the biggest upside. They needed him to go in the right direction. They don't have any pitching in the minors, anybody that is close, so they needed Rodriguez to develop," explained Mazz.
"But in terms of this team, this year, David Price has been the biggest disappointment," he said. "I thought in year one, we would get a better David Price than we've seen."
Mazz also discussed Clay Buchholz's disappointing season so far, how much the Boston bullpen will miss Kimbrel and whether or not Ortiz will get consideration for the MVP award. Check out the full segment in the video above, and tune in to Sports Final and Sports Final OT every Sunday night at 11:35pm on WBZ-TV!
