For four days, the Red Sox’ once dormant lineup sprung to life, and Jackie Bradley Jr. missed every bit of it.
The ninth-inning rally on Friday, Bradley was the groundball out in the middle of three straight singles. The 11-run outburst on Saturday, Bradley was on the bench. Seventeen runs on Sunday, another day off. Seven more runs on Tuesday, Bradley popped up in his pinch hit at-bat.
Platoon advantage doesn’t mean much for a .172 hitter, and neither does center field defense when Andrew Benintendi is a capable alternative. Bradley became an All-Star outfielder with a bench player’s role.