Major League Baseball's best hitter over the last several weeks has been Boston Red Sox utility man Mickey Gasper. I don't necessarily blame you for having that question, as we're talking about a guy who has been optioned twice this season and wasn't able to secure a full-time spot in the lineup until injuries struck designated hitter Masataka Yoshida and first baseman Willson Contreras. It's also the same guy who has slashed .354/.516/.938 with eight home runs and four doubles since being recalled for the second time on Aug. 17, finding himself in the same conversation as guys like Ted Williams and Barry Bonds.
Gasper, 30, finished with the fifth-highest OPS in a calendar month since the turn of last century with his 1.671 mark in August, slotting in below Williams (2.314 in September 1957), Bonds (1.828 in April 2004) , Carlos Peña (1.754 in August 2005) and Bonds again in August 2003. It's an absurd run, which has the attention of a certain Hall of Famer. Gasper wasn't aware of the post until he was informed prior to Sunday's matchup with the Baltimore Orioles, which drew a hilarious reaction from the man who grew up hearing of the local legend in Merrimack, N.H.
It’s just a guy with the epitome of a good approach, a complete hitter, a complete player. And that means a lot for somebody of that caliber to compliment who I am in the box. He’s just somebody who represented the Red Sox so well, somebody that represented the game of baseball so well, and just played in the era of baseball where it’s hard not to say that was the Golden Era of baseball.
Those guys strapped it on day in and day out. Social media wasn’t a thing then. You just didn’t really hear about a whole lot of stuff other than those guys going out and playing the game the right way.
I’m very appreciative and humbled.” Gasper should continue to earn opportunities, even with the expected return of Contreras. If he keeps swinging it the way he has over the last three weeks, there won't be much of a choice.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
