On Sept. 5, 2026, the Red Sox had a strange little baseball truth staring everyone in the face: Mickey Gasper, the utility man who has turned into Boston’s latest feel-good story, has a higher WAR than Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
That sentence alone says plenty about how wild Gasper’s run has been.
Boston’s season has shifted partly because injuries opened the door for role players, and Gasper has walked right through it. He was already getting attention in April when interim manager Chad Tracy made a bold claim about his bat.
"I've said this before and I'll reiterate it, and this is my fifth year here ... as far as just pure hitter, he's probably the best one I've managed here,"
Since being recalled on Aug. 17, Gasper has done far more than justify that praise.
He has been the hottest hitter in baseball over his last 16 games, posting a .378/.525/1.000 line with a 1.525 OPS. In that span, he has crushed eight homers, driven in 15 runs, drawn 11 walks, doubled four times and scored 11 runs.
The power has been relentless. On Friday, Boston beat the Baltimore Orioles, 1-0, and Gasper supplied the only run with another homer.
Mickey Gasper strikes again! pic.twitter.com/LVjoz94Coz
The comparison with Guerrero is the kind of thing that would have sounded impossible a month ago, but the numbers are there. Gasper has played in 50 games this season and owns 1.3 wins above replacement with eight home runs. Guerrero, who signed a 14-year, $500 million deal, has played in 127 games and has 1.0 wins above replacement and eight home runs.
Mickey Gasper - 8 home runs in last 16 gamesVladimir Guerrero Jr. - 8 home runs in 126 games pic.twitter.com/4ibOPNAIm7
That’s the sort of baseball absurdity that makes the sport so much fun. Any night can belong to somebody nobody saw coming, and right now that somebody in Boston is Gasper. A player who started the year with 58 big league games and a .133 career average has suddenly become the hottest hitter in the sport and a fast-rising favorite with Red Sox fans.
The broader production backs it up, too. Among MLB hitters since Gasper returned on Aug. 17, he sits at the top of the OPS leaderboard at 1.525, ahead of Cal Raleigh at 1.275, PCA at 1.202, Rafael Devers at 1.197, Carter Jensen at 1.165 and Alex Bregman at 1.116.
At this point, it’s fair to say Boston may have just watched one of the most explosive 16-game offensive stretches in team history.
Mickey Gasper has the highest OPS by a Red Sox in a 16-game span since 2010. What the hell. pic.twitter.com/NY5RshEcvZ
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