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Romy González

 Romy González is a Key Piece of the Boston Red Sox.

By HB


January of 2024 the Red Sox claimed Romy González off of waivers after he was Designated for Assignment by the Chicago White Sox, who would go on to lose a record setting 121 games. Signing the 27-year-old González who had slashed .222/.239/.361 across 239 plate appearances in his three seasons with the White Sox, would go onto be one of the most underrated moves the Red Sox would make in the 2024 and 2025 seasons. And no, it is not just because my cat is named after him. González’s 2024 season with the Red Sox saw a rise in his exit velocity, launch angle, batting average and slugging. González posted a .723 OPS, a .138-point increase from his .585 in 2023 with the White Sox. Although González’s ops+ sat at 100, making him an exactly average hitter, his 90th percentile speed led him to 11 stolen bases on 14 attempts and his defensive versatility allowed him to play seven positions across the field, for a team which had struggled to fill defensive holes. 

In the 2025 season González has taken another jump. Although he has only seen 76 plate appearances, González has posted not only an all-around OPS of .854, but additionally he has .882 ops, and .348 average with runners in scoring position. González has also fared particularly well against left-handed pitching, posting a .975 OPS in his 30 at bats. The success against lefties has led for González to be valuable as a pinch hitter, pinch hitting being one of the few things the team has excelled at in the past two seasons. In fact, this season when pinch hitting, the Sox are second in at bats, trailing only the Minnesota Twins, although the Sox lead the Twins in both hits and RBIs. 

Despite the disappointing start to the season, González has been one of the few bright spots, especially when it came to filling the first base position, following the injury to everyday first basemen Triston Casas. González’s defense at first has been far from flawless but considering the amount of time he had spent at first prior to this season, it is hard to call it disappointing. González will enter arbitration next year but will remain under team control until 2029. 
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Location: Boston, MA, USA

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