The Best Individual Red Sox Seasons of the Century: Part Five, #10-6

This series focuses on the best Red Sox single-season performances of this century. To read previous installments, click the links below.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

10. 2005 David Ortiz 
Stats: 159 GP 5.2 WAR 158 OPS+ .300/.397/.604 47 HR 148 RBI All-Star MVP-2

The 2005 Red Sox were not a very good baseball team. Many key members from the historic ‘03 and ‘04 offenses, such as Kevin Millar, Bill Mueller, Trot Nixon, and Mark Bellhorn, took significant steps back. The pitching staff was a disaster, as Curt Schilling missed nearly the entire first half of the season with recurring ankle issues and was thrust into closer duties upon his return to clean up Keith Foulke’s mess. There is no way the Red Sox should have been anywhere near 95 wins, but that’s just how good and clutch David Ortiz was. Playing in 159 games, Big Papi posted a 1.001 OPS, 47 home runs, and an MLB-leading 148 RBI. This is how Ortiz came within a whisker of becoming the first designated hitter to win MVP, narrowly losing out to Alex Rodriguez. Though Ortiz had better statistical seasons in 2006 and 2016, his impact on willing the Sox into the postseason earns 2005 the first of two Ortiz seasons on this list.

9. 2007 Josh Beckett
Stats: 30 GS 200.2 IP 6.5 WAR 20-7 3.27 ERA 145 ERA+ 1.14 WHIP 194 K AS CYA-2 

After a disappointing 2006 debut with the Red Sox, Josh Beckett looked like a man on a mission in 2007. Though much of the attention back then was on his 20 wins, Beckett also led the league with a 6.5 WAR and 3.08 FIP while ranking in the top 10 in strikeouts and ERA. Only C.C. Sabathia could prevent Beckett from taking home the Cy Young award, but unlike Sabathia, Beckett came up huge in the postseason. Though sweeps in the ALCS and World Series limited him to just four total starts, Beckett allowed just four runs while posting a phenomenal 35:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His Game 5 performance against the Indians, in particular, will go down in Boston lore, as he outdueled Sabathia with seven innings of one-run ball, punching out 11 along the way. Though his regular season may not be quite as strong as the players ahead of him on this list, his immortal postseason run more than earns him a spot inside the top 10. 

8. 2018 Chris Sale
Stats: 27 GS 158.0 IP 6.5 WAR 12-4 2.11 ERA 0.86 WHIP 237 K All-Star CYA-4

Though he ranks only eighth on the list, I would argue that the best singular talent of any Red Sox player in the past century was Chris Sale in 2018. He was a Hall-of-Fame player at the height of powers: He regularly touched 100 with his fastball, his slider was practically unhittable, and he could seemingly put the ball wherever he wanted. His six-game stretch from June 24 to July 27 was among the best in baseball history: 39 innings, one run, six walks, and 67 strikeouts. In case you were wondering, that resulted in a laughable 0.42 FIP. Unfortunately, Sale’s arm could only handle so much greatness, as he made just five regular-season starts over the final two months, none of which lasted more than two months. He was also more of a side character during the Red Sox’s World Series run, as despite recording the final out in Game 5, he took a back seat to the heroics of David Price, Nathan Eovaldi, and even Rick Porcello. Still, Sale was so unfathomably good that he earned a spot in the top 10 based on the first four months alone. 

7. 2018 J.D Martinez 
Stats: 150 G 6.7 WAR 173 OPS+ .330/.402/.629 43 HR 130 RBI All-Star MVP-4

After signing a five-year deal with the Red Sox late in the offseason, Martinez proved worth the wait with a magical 2018 campaign. First came a dominant regular season: he hit a career-high .330, blasted 43 home runs, and led the majors with 130 RBI. His performance was so good that he earned the Silver Slugger positions at designated hitter and outfield. He was also the Red Sox's most consistent hitter during the postseason, posting a .303/.403/.520 line with three home runs in 14 games. The only thing that hurts him is that he was a poor outfielder, which has him slotted behind some of the more dynamic players on this list. 

6. 2011 Jacoby Ellsbury
Stats: 158 G 8.3 WAR 146 OPS+ .321/.376/.552 32 HR 105 RBI 39-54 SB GG All-Star MVP-2

Jacoby Ellsbury was my first-ever favorite player, and even I couldn’t believe the season he turned in in 2011. Not only did he play his usual Gold-Glove caliber defense and swipe 39 bags, but he posted an incredible .321 average and obliterated his career high with 32 home runs. In nearly any other year, this would have been good enough for an MVP plaque, but a generational Justin Verlander season forced Ellsbury to settle for second despite leading the majors with an 8.3 WAR. Of course, the September collapse puts a stain on the legacy of this season, but don’t point the finger at Ellsbury: He still hit .358/.400/.667 in the season’s final month.