The Best Individual Red Sox Seasons of the Century: Part Four, #15-11

This is an ongoing series focusing 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

15. 2017 Chris Sale
Stats: 32 GS 214.1 IP 5.9 WAR 17-8 2.90 ERA 157 ERA+ 0.97 WHIP 308 K AS CYA-2 MVP-9

For the first five months of the 2017 season, it appeared that Chris Sale would challenge Pedro Martinez for the best Red Sox pitching season of this century. He parlayed a dominant first half into his second consecutive All-Star game start and looked well on his way to his first-ever Cy Young win. However, a 4.09 ERA over the final two months caused him to fall behind Corey Kluber, and he was rocked in his only postseason start against the Astros. Though his 309 strikeouts were a historic achievement, his regression down the stretch is what is often most remembered about this season. 

14. 2004 Keith Foulke
Stats:  72 G 83.0 IP 3.5 WAR 32 SV 2.17 ERA 223 ERA+ 0.94 WHIP 79 K 

Watching old Keith Foulke highlights these days is a hilarious endeavor. His windup was more reminiscent of a dart thrower than an MLB pitcher. His fastball sat around 90 miles per hour, and his secondary pitch of choice was not a wipeout curveball or slider but rather a bugs-bunny changeup. You would never find a pitcher like him in an MLB bullpen today, but in the early 2000s, there were few better closers in the game. This was especially true in 2004, his first year after the Red Sox signed him to be the answer to Mariano Rivera. The right-hander delivered with a consistent and durable regular season, but he truly became a Boston legend in the postseason. Despite pitching nearly every single day in the most high-leverage situations imaginable, Foulke allowed just one run in fourteen innings that October, highlighted by three straight scoreless outings against the Yankees in Games 4-6 of the ALCS. Foulke’s career and Red Sox tenure quickly went off the rails the following season, but we will always have that magical 2004 run. 

13. 2004 Curt Schilling 
Stats: 32 GS 226.2 IP 7.8 WAR 21-6 3.26 ERA 148 ERA+ 1.06 WHIP 203 K AS CYA-2 

Like Sale and Foulke, the Red Sox brought in Curt Schilling the previous offseason to help them get over the hump and bring home a World Series title. Though he entered the season at 37 years old, Schilling lived up to his workhorse reputation, tossing 226 ⅔ superb innings and leading the league with 21 victories. Of course, Schilling’s 2004 season is defined by his postseason heroics, most notably his Game 6 “Bloody Sock” game in which he held the Yankees to just one run over seven innings to force a seventh game. Though his numbers aren’t quite to the standard of some of the other pitchers on this list, Schilling’s impact on the 2004 Red Sox was topped perhaps only by David Ortiz, which easily earns him a spot within the top 15 seasons this century. 

12. 2024 Jarren Duran
Stats: 160 G 8.7 WAR 129 OPS+ .285/.343/.492 21 HR 75 RBI 34-41 SB AS MVP-8

Is this the most surprising season on this list? After a breakout 2023 season that was cut short by a toe injury, Duran took his game to even higher levels in 2024. He set career-highs in nearly every category, including leading the league with 48 doubles and 14 triples, and parlayed Platinum-Glove level defense into an 8.7 WAR. In most seasons, Duran could have seriously contended for the MVP award, but thanks to generational seasons from Bobby Witt Jr. and Aaron Judge and the Red Sox missing the playoffs, Duran had to settle for eighth. 

11. 2013 Koji Uehara
Stats:  73 G 74.1 IP 3.5 WAR 21 SV 1.09 ERA 379 ERA+ 0.56 WHIP 79 K CYA-7 MVP-19

Besides a certain David Ortiz season, perhaps no singular year brings up more warm and fuzzy memories for Red Sox fans than Koji Uehara’s magical 2013 run. Originally an afterthought in the Red Sox bullpen, Uehara stepped into the closer’s role after injuries to Andrew Bailey and Joel Hanrahan and overwhelmed hitters with his impeccable control and devastating splitter. From July 2 to Sept 13, Uehara did not allow an earned run in 33.2 innings while posting a mind-blowing 45-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He was just as valuable during the postseason, allowing just one run during 13 appearances (although he was the losing pitcher in the infamous Obstruction Game). Had he started the season in the closer’s role, Uehara might have cracked the top five, but he is still the unquestioned owner of the best Red Sox reliever season of the last 25 years.