Boston Red Sox Hot-Hitting Utility Man Continues to Make Franchise History
Mickey Gasper has been one of the hottest hitters on the planet over the last two weeks.
Video Transcript
What's up everyone?
Zach Coe here for Roundtable.
Red Sox fell to the Seattle Mariners nine to six on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.
But despite the loss, it was another night, another home run for utility man Mickey Gasper, as he continued his torrid stretch since being recalled on August 19th.
He's played 13 games since that recall, where he's hitting .394 with a 1.660 OPS, hitting seven home runs.
In the process, he became the sixth Red Sox player in history to record seven or more home runs and a 1.650 or higher OPS in any 13-game stretch, joining J.D.
Drew, Fred Lynn, Lou Clinton, Ted Williams, and Jimmy Fox.
And that's not Gasper's only entry into the history books.
As noted by Tuesday's NESN broadcast, he became the third player in franchise history to hit six home runs, work 10 walks, and strike out two or fewer times in a 12-game span, joining Fox and Williams in accomplishing that.
And a little crazy side note on that, that the NESN broadcast touched on, Ted Williams did that a ridiculous 29 times during his 19-year Major League career.
And this is all coming on the heels of a month of August in which he posted a 1.671 OPS, which is the fifth highest OPS of any batter with at least 30 plate appearances in a calendar month in Major League Baseball history, dating back to 1898.
He trails only Barry Bonds, who was on the list twice, Carlos Pea, who did so in August of 2005, and Ted Williams, September of 1957.
It's been a long journey to Major League success for Gasper.
He's been up and down in two organizations, the Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins.
And I think everybody remembers in 2024 down the stretch when Gasper was first promoted for his Major League debut.
His parents made the trip down from New Hampshire to Fenway Park, nearly every Red Sox home game that Gasper was playing in, just waiting for him to get that first hit, and ultimately it never came.
He went o for 23 in that 2024 season with the Red Sox.
Now, after spending a year with the Minnesota Twins, he's back with his hometown team, hitting .279, .378 with a 500 slugging percentage and an .878 OPS, and seven of his nine career home runs.
So really cool story to see the New Hampshire native finally starting to contribute to winning in a meaningful way back home with the Red Sox
