Baseball is a team sport, but watching players strive for and reach significant milestones can be as thrilling as the season itself.
Fans probably don’t remember much about the 2015 Red Sox, who went 78-84 with a finish at the bottom of the division, but David Ortiz’s odyssey to the 500 Club is unforgettable.
Rafael Devers has already spent years putting his name all over the pages of the franchise record books, and he’s still only 26 years old. The 2017 ALDS ended in disappointment, but he become the youngest player in MLB history to hit an inside-the-park home run in a postseason game. Amidst the unsatisfactory 2022 campaign, he set a Red Sox record for extra-base hits before turning 26.
Of course, the overall, collective results matter. But why not appreciate the parts as well as their sum? Ted Williams was one of the greatest hitters the world has ever known. Does the fact that he never won a ring change that? It shouldn’t.
This is a team full of players on the cusp of impressive individual achievements. Here are some of the personal, franchise, and MLB milestones to keep an eye on throughout the year:
When isn’t Devers nearing another milestone? He needs nine homers to get to 150, 10 doubles to get to 200, and 41 RBI to get to 500. Since 2019, he’s led MLB in extra-base hits, and is only 12 away from 350. Last September, he surpassed Lou Gehrig and Stan Musial on the list of doubles by left-handed hitters before turning 26.
How will Trevor Story fare when he returns from UCL brace surgery? Twenty-six home runs feels like a stretch, given that he hasn’t even started a rehab stint, but that’s how many he needs to reach his 200th.
Kiké Hernández is one homer away from 100, Alex Verdugo is five away from 50.
Justin Turner is seven doubles away from 300. Adam Duvall needs 10 more doubles to reach 150, and he’s 10 runs from scoring his 400th, and 10 RBI from 500.
Over on the pitching side, Nick Pivetta should make his 150th career start by midsummer, and Chris Sale is five starts away from 250. His old college teammate, Richard Bleier, is 26 strikeouts away from 200.
Kenley Jansen is closing in on 600 career games and 400 saves.
With his first home run of the season, Devers tied Dustin Pedroia for 19th in franchise history. His second homer, on April 6 in Detroit, gave him sole ownership of the spot; he needs nine more to overtake Reggie Smith (149). It will be bittersweet to see him hit No. 157; that one will put him ahead of Xander Bogaerts.
Devers is also 10 doubles from 200, which would catapult him ahead of Johnny Pesky (196), Ira Flagstead (196) and Mo Vaughn (199). He doubled 42 times in 141 games last year; if he finishes this year with 40, he’ll pass Mookie Betts.
Ryan Brasier has made 205 relief appearances, which ranks 21st in franchise history. He’s close to surpassing Alan Embree (211) and Tom Burgmeier (212) in the Boston history books. His 206 games (he made one start) are tied with Clay Buchholz and Dick Drago for 47th.
If not for all of the injuries over the last few years, Sale would already be miles ahead of his 2018 rotation-mates in the strikeout column. His 833 regular-season Ks rank 14th in franchise history, behind Rick Porcello (852) and Eduardo Rodriguez (892). If he stays healthy, he could surpass Porcello by the end of the month.
There are only 10 pitchers with 900 or more strikeouts in a Red Sox uniform. Will Sale become the 11th this year?
Sale (115) and Corey Kluber (113) are neck-and-neck in active pitcher wins, ranked 12th and tied for 13th, respectively. It’s an outdated stat in today’s bullpen-heavy game, though.
Sale’s 2,077 career strikeouts rank 76th all-time. On Thursday, he surpassed Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela (2,074), 2013 champion Ryan Dempster (2,075), and his former teammate, David Price (2,076). The veteran lefty is only four K’s from overtaking Tim Hudson, and a strikeout-heavy start next week could vault him up to 73rd, currently held by Kevin Millwood (2,083).
Yu Chang only has 201 career games in the majors, but that’s already enough for third on the list of games played by players born in Taiwan. His 220th game will break former Orioles and Marlins pitcher Wei-Yin Chen’s record.
Jansen earned his first Red Sox save in the series opener against the Tigers. His 392 career saves rank eighth all-time, and he only needs two more to tie Craig Kimbrel.