Is Jon Lester the Most Productive Red Sox?

Is Jon Lester personally responsible for more wins this season than any other Red Sox? If Sarah Green, of the baseball blog UmpBump, is to be believed, yes, he is. She has compiled a pie chart showing the Wins Above Replacement, or WAR, of every Red Sox player with a positive rating. WAR is a new-fangled statistic that takes into account batting, baserunning, tendency to hit into double plays, and various aspects of defense to determine how many runs, and, consequently, wins, each player can take credit for. (It's briefly described here.)

And, according to UmpBump's WAR pie, Lester accounts for 5.3 wins above replacement this season, eclipsing second place Kevin Youkilis by a slim margin of 0.7. And what of our presumptive ace, Josh Beckett? He's still valuable, ranking fourth on the WAR pie, just behind Dustin Pedroia. Beckett's devastating fireball-curveball combination has accounted for 4.3 WAR this season.

The other shocker? Presumed lollygagger J.D. Drew ranks fifth, with 3.1 wins above replacement. It's sweet redemption for the OPS machine, whom Fenway fans still only grudgingly cheer.

Check out the whole pie beneath the cut and Green's excellent analysis here.