Hoy Park Stats: A look at the new Red Sox acquisition's 2022 season

Hoy Park is the newest addition to the Boston Red Sox as the team looks to assemble the requisite talent to compete in the AL East in 2022 after a rocky 2022.

Park is a 26-year old South Korean utility player who has spent the better part of his young MLB career on the Pittsburgh Pirates bench. Perhaps with the Red Sox, he will get the chance he needs to prove his true talent.

"The #RedSox today acquired INF/OF Hoy Park from the Pittsburgh Pirates, in exchange for minor league LHP Inmer Lobo." - @ Red Sox

He began his MLB career after signing with the New York Yankees as an international free agent in 2021. Despite some hype when he first joined the team, Park ended up playing only one game for the Yankees in 2021,splitting his time between their AA and AAA affiliate teams instead.

In July of 2021, Hoy was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Clay Holmes and made his MLB debut 5 days after the trade. He hit a double against the Philadelphia Phillies, registering his first MLB hit in the process.

The player finished his 2021 campaign with 44 appearances for the Pirates, hitting 3 home runs and 14 RBIs. He was eventually assigned to the Pirates AAA affiliate in late August after failing to register a hit in 20 games.

"In a short search, here’s the only Hoy Park defensive play I could find. His small sample of advanced defensive metrics in the MLB (-1 DRS, -2 OAA) aren’t spectacular, but this was a thing of beauty."- @ Big Sox Guy

2022 held similar fortunes for Hoy Park. He registered a batting average of only .214 in the first 5 games of the season and was sent down to the minors as a result.

He spent 2022 bouncing up and down from AAA Indianapolis to the Pirates and finished the 2022 season with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs in 26 games for the Pirates.

Hope springs eternal for Hoy Park at his new team

Hoy is a skilled fielder and is comfortable in various positions, from the middle infield to the outfield. The Red Sox are entering an era of rebuilding and with the departure of star shortstop Xander Bogaerts, perhaps Hoy could see his number of games played increase in 2023.

The team will hope to do better next season. Finishing with a record of 78-84, the Sox finished in last place in the AL East, 21 games behind the Yankees. Hopefully, next season will hold better fortunes as they seek to overhaul their team from the bottom up.