Your Favorite One Hit Wonders: Red Sox Edition

Every year or so there is a player that breaks into the majors in a big way for your favorite team. Whether it’s a big time prospect or a no name that comes with a heart warming story consisting of being cut from his college team to helping the team win games for the league minimum salary. The Boston Red Sox have certainly had their fair share of young phenoms. However, more often than not these players seemingly fall off the face of the Earth shortly after their 15 seconds of fame. Everyone's a sucker for a young stud around the league. What are some of the Sox former “one hit wonders” up to today? Let’s take a look.

Daniel Bard

Bard drew a lot of attention as a rookie in 2009 with a 3.65 ERA and a K/9 of 11.5 in 49 games. He followed that up with a ridiculous season in 2010. He posted a 1.93 ERA in 73 games. At that point, Bard was one of the most dominating relievers in the MLB. He combined with Papelbon in 2009 and 2010 as a deadly 8th and 9th inning punch out of the pen. The downfall of Bard’s career can be blamed partly on the Red Sox. Following another 70 appearance season in 2011, the Sox tried making Bard a starter. He pitched just 19 games the next 2 seasons with a brutal ERA of 6.27, a BB/9 of 7 and a K/9 of 5. Yes, he was walking 7 batters per 9 innings. To say he had bad control was an understatement. The flamethrower would obviously never see the majors again. For some strange reason that even the most intelligent men of all time probably could not figure out together, Bard was given many more chances. I am 95% confident that most average high school baseball players could do what Bard has done since his release from Boston. In 2013 he somehow had an ERA of 189 in the Puerto Rican Winter League as he recorded only 1 out in three appearances without even allowing a hit. He hit 3 batters, walked 9 and threw 4 wild pitches. . Yes you read that correctly, the Puerto Rican Winter League. In single A ball with the Ranger’s organization in 2014 he was even worse. His ERA was better but still sat at 175.50. He recorded 2 outs in 4 outings, again somehow managing to have an ERA pushing 200 without allowing a single hit. He walked 9 more batters and hit 7. I think it’s fair to say the former prospect hasn’t the slightest idea of where the ball is going when he releases it from his hands. He probably just closes his eyes and hopes for the best. It’s a miracle that a team is still wasting their money on the guy. Yup, Bard still pitches to this day. In 2016 he pitched 8 games to a tune of a 24 ERA in A+ ball with The Cardinals organization. He pitched 3 innings, walked 13 batters, hit 5, struckout 1 and tossed 6 wild pitches. It really is sad how bad of a pitcher he is and has been for a while now considering how dominating he was at one point. Somehow, he has gone from a well above average 25 year old major league pitcher to someone that is hitting almost half the batters he faces and walking whichever ones he doesn’t beam with his wild 98 MPH fastball. At least he has 3 good seasons and $5 million under his belt. Will we ever see Bard toe the rubber in a major league park again? There is a better chance of Bartolo Colon leading the league in home runs.

Daisuke Matsuzaka

The Sox coughed up $51 million just to talk to Daisuke in 2006. They then dropped $52 million more on a 6 year deal for the supposed super star. He won 15 games and topped 200 strikeouts placing 4th in the rookie of the year voting in 2006 which was solid. However, with plenty of room for improvement in the ERA column Daisuke was pretty disappointing that year. But Matsuzaka come back strong in 2007 going 18-3 with a superb 2.90 ERA. He finished 4th in the Cy Young voting that year despite logging just 160 innings. Finally, he was pitching like a stud and the fans were happy. They loved the guy! Sadly though, he had us all fooled. He brought our hopes up higher and crushed them harder than the Patriots did in 2007-2008. The next 4 years were horrible for the Japanese righty. He would eventually get run out of not only the city, but the country. In fact, they were so bad I think the Sox would’ve had a valid case in court if they sued him for theft. I can't stress enough how bad he was. So bad that I as a Red Sox fan I could not bring myself to put a picture of him in a Boston uniform with this article. He won just 17 games, lost 22, had a 5.53 ERA and tossed just 296 innings over that span. To add to that, he was only healthy for 44% of his last 4 seasons as he pitched no more than 12 games in a season in 3 of the 4, starting just 25 in the one exception. He should return 56% of the $102 million that the Red Sox flushed down the toilet to bring him to Beantown. Most Sox fans lost all tabs on Daisuke after he left. They forced themselves to forget about him as a defense mechanism for some of the worst years of their lives (yes, due to his horrendous pitching). No one wanted to know what he was up to because he was legitimately that bad for Boston. It was like a really ugly breakup in a sense. Following his years in Boston, he was lucky enough to get a shot with the Mets which lasted just 2 awful seasons before New York fans were done suffering every 5 days when he took the mound. At 35 years old, Matsuzaka pitched one inning in Japan last year allowing five runs. He is currently under contract in Japan and hopes to pitch well in 2017, but let's be honest with ourselves we know that probably won’t happen.

Daniel Nava

Daniel Nava, the guy that was cut from his college team and then traded for a dollar in the minors. The same guy that won over every Sox fan’s heart when he made his story even better by crushing a grand slam on the very first pitch he ever saw in the majors. In 2013 he hit .303 with 12 home runs and 29 doubles. He played a pretty decent outfield also. Everyone loved him! Sadly, he was traded in 2014. It was news most Sox fans didn’t want to hear. He wasn’t anything special, he was an average player but won a ring and was just a guy people liked. Since then, he has played for three different teams: The Royals, The Rays and the Angels. With the Rays and Angels he hit about .235 with 2 home runs in about 75 combined games. He followed that by hitting .091 in just 9 games with the Royals in 2016. In December he signed with the Phillies where he will team up with Clay Buchholz (though Nava’s deal is a minor league deal). We may very well see Nava in the majors in 2017, however if so it will more than likely be a very limited role. We love Daniel Nava, so it is sad to see that his career crumbled after leaving Boston, however he does have a fools chance to re break into the majors.

Will Middlebrooks

In 2012 Middlebrooks was a stud. At just 23 years he looked like he was the future face of the Sox, batting about .290 with 15 home runs in just 75 games. The third baseman was the #51 ranked prospect in baseball before breaking into the league his rookie year. He was a very strong hitter and a good fielder. He struggled in 2013 hitting just .230. However, he still flashed big power (17 home runs in 90 games) with his memorable three home run game early in the season. Fans began growing frustrated with the once prospect. He was hurting them in the playoffs and actually cost them a game by interfering with a runner on third allowing them to get a free pass home for a walk off. It was only a matter of time before his career in Boston would come to an end. In 2014, his average dropped below .200 with just 2 home runs in 60 game. Not only did the fans want him gone but the Sox had enough and shipped him to San Diego where he continued to struggle to the tune of a .241 average with 9 more home runs. But the sad story of his already horrid career doesn’t end there. He hit .111 in 10 games with the Brewers in 2016 before being released from the 40 man roster and somehow getting a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers. Middlebrooks appears to be getting worse every year. He seems to be like all other players on this list. They seem to start and essentially finish their careers with the Red Sox while continuing to struggle for years to come bouncing from team to team trying to relive their successful season or two they had five years ago. Still, he is only 28 years old. Could he pull off a miracle and transform into an actual major league player? The odds are not with him. Who knows, maybe he can play his first full season, hit some dingers and bat .250 next year or the year after. I highly doubt it, but stranger things have happened.