23 SBs for Gonzalez
New Red Sox shortstop Alex Gonzalez comes with the good glove-no stick reputation. Might as well as add ‘no run’ to that as Gonzalez possesses a mere 23 career stolen bases in eight major league seasons, including a scary five in 2005.
Granted, that’s not why the Boston Red Sox picked him up. You can’t steal first and his career batting average of .245 and on-base percentage of .292 might somewhat explain his Red Sox-like SB numbers. Still you would not expect your starting shortstop to have the same number of career steals as your starting catcher (Jason Varitek also has 23).
That puts a lot of pressure on Gonzalez to live up to his reputation in the field. There, he’s committed 16 errors a year in each of the past three seasons. That’s Nomar or Renteria by the All-Star break, folks.
Still, it makes you wonder how patient Red Sox nation will be with a guy who offers so little offense. Red Sox fans loved Pokey. Guess it’s only a matter of time to see whether Sox fans share that sentiment for Gonzo.
Granted, that’s not why the Boston Red Sox picked him up. You can’t steal first and his career batting average of .245 and on-base percentage of .292 might somewhat explain his Red Sox-like SB numbers. Still you would not expect your starting shortstop to have the same number of career steals as your starting catcher (Jason Varitek also has 23).
That puts a lot of pressure on Gonzalez to live up to his reputation in the field. There, he’s committed 16 errors a year in each of the past three seasons. That’s Nomar or Renteria by the All-Star break, folks.
Still, it makes you wonder how patient Red Sox nation will be with a guy who offers so little offense. Red Sox fans loved Pokey. Guess it’s only a matter of time to see whether Sox fans share that sentiment for Gonzo.
posted by Joe D' at 5:33 AM
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