Article: Red Sox Most Improved Player - 2024

[Caleb Kohn]

We kickoff our awards week by looking at the Most Improved Players on the Red Sox roster. 

Every year, we go into the baseball season with our hopes high and our predictions abounding. There are players that we count on every year to put up big numbers for their teams. Ohtani, Judge, Mookie, Devers. It’s not a surprise when superstars have superstar seasons.  But part of the magic of baseball is that we always seem to get contributions from somewhere unexpected. Injuries happen, rosters change, and players get their chance to shine. After all, every superstar has to have their breakout season. 

As the 2024 season comes to a close, here are some contributions from players that were rather unexpected but made a big difference for the Sox. From the writers of TalkSox.com, here are the voting results for the Most Improved Player. 

Honorable Mentions
David Hamilton: .248/.303/.395 (.697 OPS) 8 HR – 28 RBI – 47 R – 33 SB – 2.6 bWAR
Tyler O’Neill: .241/.336/.511 (.847 OPS) 31 HR – 61 RBI – 74 R – 2.7 bWAR
Kutter Crawford: 33 Starts - 183.2 IP - 175 SO - 4.36 ERA – 2.0 bWAR

The Top Two 
2nd: Tanner Houck: 30 Starts – 178.2 IP – 154 SO – 3.12 ERA – 3.5 bWAR
If you had asked at the start of the season who would be the best pitcher on the Red Sox in 2024, I doubt you would have found anyone who would have said Tanner Houck. After a strong first impression in 2020, Houck dealt with inconsistency as he bounced between roles in the bullpen and the starting rotation. Amid injuries and setbacks, he carried a 5.01 ERA over 21 starts and 106 innings in 2023. There were plenty in Red Sox nation who wondered if Houck would be better suited in a high leverage role in the bullpen instead. As spring training rolled around, Houck looked like he might be the odd man out in a three-man race for the 5th spot in the rotation. He managed to win that spot, and hasn’t looked back since.   

As injuries ravaged the Red Sox rotation, Houck was a consistent presence the whole year through, making a career high 30 starts.  With improved command and a 93rd percentile groundball rate, he lowered his ERA to 3.12 over 178 2/3 innings, both of which were also career bests.  Houck was a first-time all-star in 2024, and his signature moment was throwing a complete game shutout on April 17th against the Cleveland Guardians on just 94 pitches. Look for Tanner to be a huge part of the Red Sox rotation moving forward has he looks to build on his breakout campaign. 

1st: Jarren Duran: .285/.342/.492 (.834 OPS) 21 HR – 75 RBI – 111 R – 34 SB – 8.7 bWAR 
While Jarren Duran took steps forward in 2023, no one except perhaps Duran himself could have foreseen this kind of leap forward coming. Alex Cora placed his confidence in Duran by naming him the leadoff hitter in spring training, and he responded by setting the tone all year with the kind of dynamic speed season the red sox have been looking for since prime Jacoby Ellsbury. 

While Duran made strides in 2023, and seemingly stretched singles into doubles at will, he drove the ball more consistently in 2024, with his XSLG increasing nearly .60 points from 2023 to 2024. Duran cut his strikeout rate, increased his walk rate, and boosted his barrel percentage. What do you get when a player who runs like an angry lizard starts driving the ball more consistently? You get the league leader in doubles (48) and triples (14, tied with Corbin Carroll). 

And it wasn’t just the bat that improved. Take a look at how Duran improved his game across the board from 2023. 

2023 MLB Percentile Rankings 
Batting Run Value – 76th percentile 
Baserunning Run Value – 97th percentile 
Fielding Run Value – 41st percentile 

2024 MLB Percentile Rankings 
Batting Run Value – 88th percentile 
Baserunning Run Value – 100th percentile 
Fielding Run Value – 95th percentile 

That is a MASSIVE jump in fielding value, something that Red Sox fans were well aware was a weakness in the past. Duran has more than made it a strength now. From the spectacular to the routine, his defense ranks among the best in the league. Duran was 95th percentile in Outs Above Average and Fielding Run Value. He also did what few Red Sox were able to do this year; he stayed on the field. Duran played in a team leading 160 games this season as he emerged as a leader in the clubhouse. A first time All-Star this season, he hit a go-ahead two-run homerun off the Reds Hunter Greene to give the American League the victory and earn himself the All-Star Game MVP award. His 8.7 bWAR was the highest for a Red Sox player since Mookie Betts’ MVP season in 2018. 

While Red Sox fans can expect big things from Tanner Houck and Jarren Duran in 2025, it will be interesting to see who else will step up to contribute in unexpected ways. You never know who the next breakout player will be. 

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Congratulations to Duran and the rest of those recognized for their improvements! Now it's your turn. Who do you think was the most improved Red Sox player? From 2023 to 2024, or from the first half to the second half? Discuss below. 

Others receiving votes: Connor Wong, Greg Weissert, Zack Kelly, Rob Refsnyder. 

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[moonslav59]

Good stuff! I think Duran deserves it. Houck did very well, but wasn't all that unexpected.

I think DHam's year was most unexpected, but he didn't play all that much, and most of the shock was more about just how bad we all thought he was to start with. Duran had some very nice numbers, last year before the IL stint/

[notin]

Not sure if he counts as Most Improved since he wasn’t with the Sox organization in 2023, but Cooper Criswell was certainly among the biggest surprises…

[Caleb Kohn]

On 10/8/2024 at 2:26 PM, notin said:

Not sure if he counts as Most Improved since he wasn’t with the Sox organization in 2023, but Cooper Criswell was certainly among the biggest surprises…

I agree that Criswell gave us a lot of production out of nowhere. He was supposed to be a depth piece and wound up pitching a lot, and more effectively than expected. 

[Caleb Kohn]

Duran had a very good season last year as well. His OPS was almost the same. The difference for me is how much better he was driving the ball for extra bases opposed to stretching singles (although he does that too). 

I wish we would have gotten a longer look at D-Ham down the stretch. His speed really lengthened the lineup and it seemed to start really sputtering when he broke his hand.