“He’ll win us six games off the bench.”
Red Sox Video
Manager Don Zimmer was so enthusiastic about Bob Bailey and named him the first player to make the club during Spring Training.
Rob Refsnyder was a consensus great pickup for the Mariners in the off season.
Both Bailey and Refsnyder bat right-handed and predominantly face left-handed pitchers with the platoon advantage.
Rob Refsnyder now has the same number of plate appearances at this point in the 2026 season as Bob Bailey had in all of 1978.
Bob Bailey hit .191 for the year, hit .130 in the 2nd half and did not have a hit in September and October.
Rob Refsnyder is hitting .133.
Bob Bailey was the first player to hit 100 career home runs for the Montreal Expos and joined the Red Sox at the end of 1977. For Bob Bailey, his final appearance was a 3-pitch strikeout to Hall of Famer Goose Gossage in the Oct 2, 1978, winner take all game.


Bob Bailey Career Stats
| Season | Age | Team | Lg | WAR | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ |
| 1962 | 19 | PIT | NL | 0 | 14 | 50 | 42 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 0.167 | 0.271 | 0.262 | 0.533 | 44 |
| 1963 | 20 | PIT | NL | 2.7 | 154 | 640 | 570 | 60 | 130 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 45 | 10 | 9 | 58 | 98 | 0.228 | 0.303 | 0.328 | 0.632 | 82 |
| 1964 | 21 | PIT | NL | 2.5 | 143 | 582 | 530 | 73 | 149 | 26 | 3 | 11 | 51 | 10 | 8 | 44 | 78 | 0.281 | 0.336 | 0.404 | 0.74 | 109 |
| 1965 | 22 | PIT | NL | 1.7 | 159 | 702 | 626 | 87 | 160 | 28 | 3 | 11 | 49 | 10 | 14 | 70 | 93 | 0.256 | 0.33 | 0.363 | 0.692 | 95 |
| 1966 | 23 | PIT | NL | 2.9 | 126 | 433 | 380 | 51 | 106 | 19 | 3 | 13 | 46 | 5 | 3 | 47 | 65 | 0.279 | 0.36 | 0.447 | 0.807 | 124 |
| 1967 | 24 | LAD | NL | 0.1 | 116 | 372 | 322 | 21 | 73 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 40 | 50 | 0.227 | 0.31 | 0.301 | 0.611 | 83 |
| 1968 | 25 | LAD | NL | 0.5 | 105 | 365 | 322 | 24 | 73 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 39 | 1 | 2 | 38 | 69 | 0.227 | 0.308 | 0.348 | 0.656 | 104 |
| 1969 | 26 | MON | NL | 1.1 | 111 | 405 | 358 | 46 | 95 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 53 | 3 | 3 | 40 | 76 | 0.265 | 0.337 | 0.419 | 0.756 | 111 |
| 1970 | 27 | MON | NL | 4.4 | 131 | 429 | 352 | 77 | 101 | 19 | 3 | 28 | 84 | 5 | 3 | 72 | 70 | 0.287 | 0.407 | 0.597 | 1.004 | 167 |
| 1971 | 28 | MON | NL | 3.6 | 157 | 654 | 545 | 65 | 137 | 21 | 4 | 14 | 83 | 13 | 7 | 97 | ## | 0.251 | 0.359 | 0.382 | 0.741 | 112 |
| 1972 | 29 | MON | NL | 1.5 | 143 | 560 | 489 | 55 | 114 | 10 | 4 | 16 | 57 | 6 | 7 | 59 | ## | 0.233 | 0.315 | 0.368 | 0.683 | 93 |
| 1973 | 30 | MON | NL | 4.9 | 151 | 607 | 513 | 77 | 140 | 25 | 4 | 26 | 86 | 5 | 8 | 88 | 99 | 0.273 | 0.379 | 0.489 | 0.868 | 137 |
| 1974 | 31 | MON | NL | 2.6 | 152 | 614 | 507 | 69 | 142 | 20 | 2 | 20 | 73 | 4 | 7 | 100 | ## | 0.28 | 0.396 | 0.446 | 0.842 | 131 |
| 1975 | 32 | MON | NL | 0.3 | 106 | 279 | 227 | 23 | 62 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 30 | 4 | 4 | 46 | 38 | 0.273 | 0.392 | 0.361 | 0.753 | 107 |
| 1976 | 33 | CIN | NL | 0.5 | 69 | 141 | 124 | 17 | 37 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 26 | 0.298 | 0.376 | 0.508 | 0.884 | 148 |
| 1977 | 34 | 2TM | 2LG | -0.1 | 51 | 94 | 81 | 9 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 11 | 0.247 | 0.34 | 0.37 | 0.711 | 90 |
| 1978 | 35 | BOS | AL | -0.3 | 43 | 116 | 94 | 12 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 19 | 0.191 | 0.328 | 0.351 | 0.679 | 83 |
| 17 Yrs | 28.8 | 1931 | 7043 | ### | 772 | 1564 | 234 | 43 | 189 | 773 | 85 | 83 | 852 | ## | 0.257 | 0.347 | 0.403 | 0.75 | 111 | |||
| 162 Game Avg | 2.4 | 162 | 591 | 510 | 65 | 131 | 20 | 4 | 16 | 65 | 7 | 7 | 71 | 94 | 0.257 | 0.347 | 0.403 | 0.75 | 11 | |||
Despite coming off the bench 16 times, Bob Bailey had only 1 RBI from a homer in an 8-1 blowout win. Would Bob Bailey been allowed to stay on the roster for the whole season today, with social media and advanced stats?
In the pre-internet age, you’d have to peruse the box scores to see how players performed and if a player didn’t meet the minimum at bats to qualify for the batting title, you wouldn’t even see their cumulative stats in the published batting average lists.
A player could easily be hidden away for the whole season back in the day.
Now we see the Mariners fan base bemoaning Rob Refsynder’s 1st half performance, .133 average and -1.1 WAR (as of June 27, 2026), and clamoring for his release.

Rob Refsynder Career Stats (through June 27, 2026)
| Season | Age | Team | Lg | WAR | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ |
| 2015 | 24 | NYY | AL | 0.5 | 16 | 47 | 43 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0.302 | 0.348 | 0.512 | 0.859 | 132 |
| 2016 | 25 | NYY | AL | -0.2 | 58 | 175 | 152 | 25 | 38 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 30 | 0.25 | 0.328 | 0.309 | 0.637 | 73 |
| 2017 | 26 | 2TM | AL | -0.5 | 52 | 98 | 88 | 8 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 17 | 0.17 | 0.247 | 0.216 | 0.463 | 25 |
| 2017 | 26 | NYY | AL | -0.3 | 20 | 40 | 37 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0.135 | 0.2 | 0.216 | 0.416 | 10 |
| 2017 | 26 | TOR | AL | -0.2 | 32 | 58 | 51 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 0.196 | 0.281 | 0.216 | 0.496 | 36 |
| 2018 | 27 | TBR | AL | -0.1 | 40 | 103 | 84 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 26 | 0.167 | 0.314 | 0.274 | 0.588 | 66 |
| 2020 | 29 | TEX | AL | 0 | 15 | 34 | 30 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0.2 | 0.265 | 0.233 | 0.498 | 40 |
| 2021 | 30 | MIN | AL | -0.1 | 51 | 157 | 139 | 21 | 34 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 40 | 0.245 | 0.325 | 0.338 | 0.663 | 86 |
| 2022 | 31 | BOS | AL | 1.2 | 57 | 177 | 153 | 25 | 47 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 46 | 0.307 | 0.384 | 0.497 | 0.881 | 143 |
| 2023 | 32 | BOS | AL | 0.4 | 89 | 243 | 202 | 31 | 50 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 7 | 2 | 33 | 47 | 0.248 | 0.365 | 0.317 | 0.682 | 87 |
| 2024 | 33 | BOS | AL | 0.9 | 93 | 307 | 272 | 32 | 77 | 16 | 1 | 11 | 40 | 2 | 2 | 28 | 78 | 0.283 | 0.359 | 0.471 | 0.83 | 133 |
| 2025 | 34 | BOS | AL | 1.2 | 70 | 209 | 182 | 29 | 49 | 12 | 0 | 9 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 54 | 0.269 | 0.354 | 0.484 | 0.838 | 133 |
| 2026 | 35 | SEA | AL | -1.1 | 49 | 119 | 105 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 32 | 0.133 | 0.203 | 0.219 | 0.422 | 21 |
| 11 Yrs | 2.4 | 590 | 1669 | ### | 196 | 357 | 73 | 3 | 36 | 163 | 22 | 9 | 173 | ## | 0.246 | 0.333 | 0.375 | 0.708 | 96 | |||
| 162 Game Avg | 0.7 | 162 | 458 | 398 | 54 | 98 | 20 | 1 | 10 | 45 | 6 | 2 | 48 | ## | 0.246 | 0.333 | 0.375 | 0.708 | 9 | |||
Today, we have the ability to measure down to an individual at bat’s launch angle to see if a player is off his game?
| Season | Age | Pitches | Batted Balls | Barrels | Barrel % | Barrel/PA | Exit Velocity | Max EV | Launch Angle | LA Sweet Spot% | xBA | xSLG | wOBA | xwOBA | xwOBA con | Hard Hit% | K% | BB% |
| 2015 | 24 | 184 | 36 | 2 | 6.3 | 4.3 | 89.5 | 106.7 | 1.4 | 33.3 | 0.286 | 0.426 | 0.363 | 0.329 | 0.373 | 44.4 | 14.9 | 6.4 |
| 2016 | 25 | 673 | 125 | 1 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 88.9 | 108.9 | 4.3 | 32 | 0.265 | 0.342 | 0.282 | 0.303 | 0.323 | 39.2 | 17.2 | 10.3 |
| 2017 | 26 | 354 | 71 | 3 | 4.5 | 3.1 | 85.5 | 108.9 | 6 | 22.5 | 0.229 | 0.323 | 0.209 | 0.276 | 0.295 | 32.9 | 17.3 | 8.2 |
| 2018 | 27 | 429 | 58 | 4 | 7.4 | 3.9 | 88.2 | 110.2 | 12.6 | 32.8 | 0.22 | 0.35 | 0.276 | 0.324 | 0.356 | 33.3 | 25.5 | 17.6 |
| 2020 | 29 | 149 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 93 | 104.7 | 15 | 30 | 0.208 | 0.305 | 0.229 | 0.261 | 0.341 | 50 | 32.4 | 5.9 |
| 2021 | 30 | 669 | 100 | 7 | 7 | 4.5 | 89.2 | 111 | 9.3 | 40 | 0.258 | 0.45 | 0.296 | 0.342 | 0.419 | 41 | 25.5 | 10.8 |
| 2022 | 31 | 732 | 110 | 12 | 10.9 | 6.8 | 89.9 | 109.9 | 13.1 | 49.1 | 0.283 | 0.493 | 0.381 | 0.378 | 0.476 | 44.5 | 26 | 8.5 |
| 2023 | 32 | 1004 | 157 | 6 | 3.9 | 2.5 | 87.7 | 106.8 | 11.9 | 42 | 0.257 | 0.388 | 0.314 | 0.342 | 0.358 | 34.4 | 19.3 | 13.6 |
| 2024 | 33 | 1202 | 195 | 19 | 9.8 | 6.2 | 89.6 | 111.5 | 10.7 | 32.8 | 0.248 | 0.417 | 0.358 | 0.327 | 0.4 | 43.1 | 25.4 | 9.1 |
| 2025 | 34 | 887 | 130 | 16 | 12.3 | 7.7 | 92 | 112.2 | 12.1 | 34.6 | 0.243 | 0.457 | 0.359 | 0.338 | 0.413 | 52.3 | 25.8 | 11.5 |
| 2026 | 35 | 477 | 77 | 5 | 6.5 | 4.2 | 86.1 | 109.6 | 19.1 | 23.4 | 0.169 | 0.289 | 0.195 | 0.249 | 0.294 | 33.8 | 26.9 | 5.9 |
| Player | 6760 | 1079 | 75 | 7.1 | 4.5 | 89 | 112.2 | 10.6 | 35.2 | 0.247 | 0.401 | 0.313 | 0.325 | 0.378 | 40.8 | 23.3 | 10.4 | |
| MLB | 7.6 | 4.9 | 88.6 | 122.9 | 12.5 | 33.3 | 0.243 | 0.408 | 0.316 | 0.316 | 0.369 | 37.1 | 22.2 | 8.4 |
We can see that Refsnyder's Barrel %, Hard Hit% is down as his Launch Angle Sweet Spot % meaning he's not hitting the ball as well as in previous seasons.
Would knowing this in the past have made a decision to keep a player playing easier?



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