Mickey Gasper’s latest burst is the kind of stretch that makes you do a double take, then check the numbers again.
On Tuesday night, he powered the Red Sox past the Miami Marlins with two home runs in a 7-3 win, helping Boston run its winning streak to five games. Even more eye-catching: the Red Sox have now won 41 of their last 54.
Gasper has been right in the middle of it. Since Boston brought him back up from Triple-A on Aug. 16 to replace the injured Masataka Yoshida on the roster, the 30-year-old utility man has gone 10-for-21, a .476 clip, with five homers, 12 RBI and a 1.954 OPS over eight games. He’s also drawn six walks and struck out only once.
The numbers get even wilder when you zoom in on his seven-game run. An X user, @cleetus069, posted a screenshot of the top 10 individual seven-game stretches in MLB history, and Gasper’s 2.208 OPS during that span landed sixth all time.
The only players ahead of him were Barry Bonds, Shawn Green, Bryce Harper, Babe Ruth and Josh Hamilton. That puts Gasper ahead of names like Frank Thomas, Manny Ramirez, Ted Williams and Sammy Sosa.
For Boston, this has been a full-circle kind of development. The club originally drafted Gasper, a New Hampshire native and Bryant University product, in the 27th round of the 2018 MLB Draft. He reached the majors with the Red Sox in 2024, but went hitless in 23 plate appearances across 13 games.
After that season, Boston traded him to the Minnesota Twins. Gasper hit .158 with two home runs in 45 games for Minnesota, and the Twins designated him for assignment before the 2026 season.
The Washington Nationals claimed him, then moved on from him just over a week later. Boston later grabbed him on waivers and sent him to Triple-A Worcester.
He was never supposed to be a headline player. Instead, Gasper has become part of a group of role players helping fuel Boston’s surge. Nick Sogard and Anthony Seigler, two more utility types, have also made their mark since coming up from Worcester.
That creates some real decisions for the Red Sox when Trevor Story, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Roman Anthony are ready to return from injury. One possibility is to hold off until rosters expand from 26 to 28 players on Sept. 1, particularly with Story and Kiner-Falefa struggling in Worcester.
For now, Gasper and the Red Sox have one more job in front of them: finishing a three-game sweep of the Marlins on Wednesday night.
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