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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Mar 29, 2024 5:25:04 GMT -5
Injuries & Moves: RHP Uwasawa sent to ST complex March 28th, 2024
MLB.com
March 28: RHP Naoyuki Uwasawa added to 40-man roster, optioned to Florida Complex League A day after sending cash considerations to the Rays in exchange for Uwasawa, the Red Sox added the Japanese righty to the 40-man roster and then sent him to the team's Spring Training complex. Uwasawa was a veteran in Nippon Professional Baseball before signing a Minor League deal with the Rays this past winter.
“Good split," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. "I think we faced him twice in Spring Training early on. He was struggling with the velo and command. There’s other stuff that came into play. We feel pretty comfortable with him. We’re trying to add as many big league pitchers as we can on our 40-man roster. We do believe he’s one. He’s just not here right now.”
• All Red Sox transactions INJURY UPDATES 10-day/15-day injured list
2B Vaughn Grissom (right hamstring strain) Expected return: Mid- to late April Grissom had hamstring and groin issues in Spring Training, making it inevitable he would open the season on the 10-day injured list. Though the move was made retroactive to March 25, Grissom will be out longer than the 10 days. The team's projected starting second baseman took batting practice outside on March 24. That same day, Red Sox manager Alex Cora suggested Grissom was about 7-10 days away from seeing game action in any form, emphasizing the need for a judicious buildup for the second baseman, in terms of at-bats and defensive innings, to get him ready for the season. (Last updated: March 28)
OF Rob Refsnyder (left pinkie toe) Expected return: Late April/early May Refsnyder has been playing catch and taking indoor batting practice, suggesting he is making good progress from the fracture in his left pinkie toe he suffered on March 12. (Last updated: March 28)
RHP Bryan Mata (right hamstring strain) Expected return: May at the earliest Mata came to camp out of options, meaning he needed to earn a spot in the bullpen to avoid being designated for assignment. Instead, he suffered a hamstring strain early in camp and now needs to get healthy before the club can make a decision on his future. (Last updated: March 28)
• More injury news 60-day IL
RHP Liam Hendriks (right UCL surgery) Expected return: Late July/early August After signing with the Red Sox in February, Hendriks said his goal of coming back from Tommy John surgery would be right around the July 30 Trade Deadline. In Hendricks, who is also signed for next season, Boston will get a reliever who has been dominant in the past. It will be interesting to see how he is utilized in a bullpen that also includes Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen, though both of those pitchers have expiring contracts at the end of the season. (Last updated: March 28)
LHP Chris Murphy (left UCL sprain) Expected Return: Likely not until 2025 Murphy, who came up as a starter before being converted into a multi-inning reliever last season, is unlikely to pitch this season due to a UCL sprain that could require surgery. (Last updated: March 28)
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Mar 29, 2024 5:31:40 GMT -5
Red Sox win: Tyler O’Neill makes history, Alex Cora’s losing streak ends
Updated: Mar. 29, 2024, 2:02 a.m.|Published: Mar. 29, 2024, 12:56 a.m.
By
Christopher Smith | csmith@masslive.com
SEATTLE — Manager Alex Cora joked when he was asked before the Red Sox’ season opener Thursday why he was starting right-handed hitter Tyler O’Neill in right field instead of left-handed hitting outfielder Wilyer Abreu against Seattle righty Luis Castillo.
“I’ve got a five-game losing streak on Opening Day and he has a four-game home run streak going into Opening Day,” Cora said. “So analytics. Very simple.”
O’Neill made history. He blasted a solo homer in the eighth inning — his fifth straight Opening Day home run — and the Red Sox won 6-4 over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
Cora had never won an Opening Day game in five previous attempts as Red Sox manager.
O’Neill, who Boston acquired from the Cardinals in the offseason, set a major league record with his fifth consecutive Opening Day home run. He surpassed Todd Hundley (1994-97), Gary Carter (1977-80) and Yogi Berra (1955-58) who all went four consecutive seasons with an Opening Day home run.
O’Neill eighth inning blast, which went 394 feet to right-center field, put the Red Sox ahead 6-4.
Devers goes deep
Rafael Devers put the Red Sox ahead 2-0 in the third inning when he smashed a 400-foot home run to left-center field. Enmanuel Valdez was on base after singling to lead off the inning.
Devers also crushed a 110 mph double when Boston went ahead 4-2 in the fifth inning.
Bello earns the victory
Red Sox starter Brayan Bello allowed five hits and no walks while striking out two in 5 innings to earn the win in his first ever Opening Day start. He gave up a two-run homer in the fourth.
The righty threw 36 sinkers, averaging 96.1 mph and topping out at 98 mph, per Baseball Savant. He mixed in 28 changeups and 20 sliders. He got five swings-and-misses, including five with his changeup.
Other scoring
Boston went 3-0 in the fourth inning. O’Neill reached after grounding into a force-out and advanced to third base with one out on Masataka Yoshida’s double to right. O’Neill scored on Ceddanne Rafaela’s ground ball to third. Third baseman Josh Rojas tried to throw out O’Neill at the plate but his throw bounced off O’Neill’s helmet. It was ruled an RBI fielder’s choice.
The Mariners cut it to 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth when Mitch Haniger crushed a two-run homer off Bello.
Triston Casas grounded into an RBI force-out in the fifth to put Boston ahead 4-2.
Connor Wong’s RBI single in the sixth made it 5-2 Boston. It scored Rafaela who tripled to left field with one out.
Devers and Wong had two hits each.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Mar 29, 2024 5:33:30 GMT -5
Brayan Bello’s first start pretty good for openers | McAdam
Published: Mar. 29, 2024, 2:38 a.m.
By
Sean McAdam | sean.mcadam@masslive.com
SEATTLE — Brayan Bello’s first Opening Day assignment came with plenty of expectations.
As it came only weeks after the Red Sox signed him to a six-year contract extension, it naturally placed Bello under the microscope. Add in the fact that he was just the second Dominican — after Pedro Martinez — to pitch a season opener for the Red Sox and the youngest pitcher to draw the assignment in almost 30 years and the spotlight only got brighter.
But Bello didn’t shrink from the challenge. To the contrary, he was as calm as could be during the run-up to the game, either unaware that this start would be somehow different, or indifferent to that reality. He pored over scouting reports as though this was just an ordinary game.
And when it came time to pitch, Bello tamed a powerful Seattle Mariners lineup, allowing just two runs over five innings, qualifying for the victory in a 6-4 Red Sox win.
“He was excellent,” said Alex Cora, who picked up the first Opening Day win of his career as a manager. “He can be better, we know that. His command was off but he was able to make pitches. For a kid from (a small town in the Dominican) to be on this stage and go out there and perform, it was awesome. We made a big commitment a few weeks ago. He wanted to pitch (when the Red Sox were in the DR earlier this month), but I always envisioned him pitching here, in one of the first two games. He had the bal tonight and he did enough.”
“I feel happy for him,” said fellow countryman Rafael Devers, who clubbed a two-run homer in the third to stake Bello to an early lead. “He looked very good out there and I hope he keeps throwing the ball like he did today.”
While Bello didn’t feel nervous before the game, he acknowledged that the game sped up on him some in the first few innings. It helped that, starting with the last hitter he faced in the first through the final out in the third, that he retired seven of eight Mariners hitters, allowing him to establish his own rhythm.
That said, though he allowed five hits and only a few were particularly hard hit, Bello still had to work himself out of some jams at times. He needed a tidy 6-4-3 double play to wriggle out of a first-and-second, one-out mess in the first. He hit the leadoff man in the fourth, and after a fielder’s choice erased Jorge Polanco at second, gave up a two-run homer to Mitch Haniger which sliced into the Sox’ 3-0 lead, cutting it to 3-2.
But he finished strong in the fifth and at 84 pitches over five frames, admitted that he tried to hide from pitching coach Andrew Bailey and Cora in the dugout, hoping to go back out for one more inning.
“I felt strong enough to go another and I was trying to avoid everybody,” he said with a smile. “But they came and found me anyway.”
Bello recorded just two strikeouts in his five innings, after saying in spring training that he understood he needed to get more swings and misses this season. In today’s game, it’s rare for starting pitchers to succeed while averaging 7.6 strikeouts per nine innings, as Bello did a year ago. The more balls that get put in play, the easier it is for opponents to piece together rallies and score runs. But Bello said the Mariners represented a special challenge in that regard.
“This is a team that doesn’t strike out too much,” said Bello. “They’re very good hitters. So my focus was tonight was to get quick outs and I think that was the result that I had.”
Importantly, Bello didn’t walk a single batter in his five innings of work.
Over the winter, the Red Sox had envisioned Lucas Giolito starting their first game. But Giolito’s elbow injury and subsequent surgery tossed aside those plans. Instead, Bello, in whom they invested $55 million as well as the belief that the organization had finally developed a homegrown starter to pitch in the front of the rotation, stepped in and put them on the right road to begin the season.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Mar 29, 2024 5:38:05 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe Number of the Red Sox pitchers talking about the improved outfield defense and the difference that could make over the course of the season. O'Neill made several potentially difficult plays look very easy.
One other note: Kenley Jansen's stuff was sharp tonight. 4 swings and misses on his cutter, lots of movement. 421 saves, four away from moving into 5th place all-time. 2:47 AM · Mar 29, 2024 ·
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Mar 29, 2024 5:52:04 GMT -5
Red Sox show plenty of spark and have some fun in Opening Day win over Mariners By Julian McWilliams Globe Staff,Updated March 29, 2024, 3:16 a.m.
SEATTLE — Opening Day always has storylines, and the Red Sox weren’t short in that category Thursday evening at T-Mobile Park. It was the beginning of the Craig Breslow era as chief baseball officer, who was searching for his first win. The club had seven players experiencing their first Opening Day. To add to it, manager Alex Cora was winless as a manager on Opening Day, registering an 0-5 record. Meanwhile, Tyler O’Neill had four consecutive homers on Opening Day. If he reached five straight homers on this baseball holiday, O’Neill would have the most ever.
Ultimately, Cora avoided going 0-6. Breslow registered his first win in the big chair, and Tyler O’Neill indeed made history with his fifth consecutive homer in the Sox’ 6-4 win against the Mariners.
At the crux of the Sox’ victory, however, was Rafael Devers.
Mariners starter Luis Castillo fanned Devers in the first, blowing a 97 miles-per-hour fastball by the Sox slugger with ease.
After that strikeout, though, nothing was easy for the righthander when it came to the Sox’ best hitter.
Neither club plated a run through the first two innings, and the Sox were without a hit against Castillo, one of the game’s elite. But Enmanuel Valdez pulled a single through the right side to open up the third.
Castillo recorded back-to-back outs and had a chance to get out of trouble. But he fell behind in the count, 3 and 1, to Devers, who proceeded to drill an opposite-field sinker to left-center field for a 2-0 lead.
“That homer was impressive,” Cora said following the win. “He enjoys playing here too. It’s where he started. His first big-league game was here. It seems like he hits the ball out of the ballpark here through the big part of the field.”
With one out in the fifth and the Red Sox leading by a run, Jarren Duran dropped a single to right field. Devers then scalded a 95-m.p.h. heater for a double. Duran advanced to third and ultimately scored, extending the Sox’ lead to 4-2.
This is what the Red Sox expected when they lowered Devers’s hands from above his head to near his chest area during his pre-pitch setup. His bat speed and hand speed was peerless Thursday. And his two-run shot in the third was the first home run Castillo conceded on his sinker since Aug. 15, 2022.
“I was thinking about that today,” said Devers on the adjustment, adding that his hand placement allows him to be quicker to the baseball. “Like I said before, everybody throws hard. I think that adjustment will help me throughout the season, for sure.”
The Devers homer helped quell the nerves that came with Brayan Bello Thursday, who made his first Opening Day start of his career.
Bello made it through five innings, leaving with the lead.
But he was tested from the outset.
Julio Rodriguez ripped a double down the right field line in the first, igniting an eruption from the Seattle faithful that packed out T-Mobile Park. Jorge Polanco dumped a single to right, putting Bello in a tight squeeze, one in which he would elude unscathed.
With runners at first and third, Bello induced a double-play ball initiated by shortstop Trevor Story. Yet through two innings, Bello already accumulated 32 pitches, a sign of how much of a grind the day was.
He made it through the third and fourth innings, however, without giving up a run, but he surrendered a Mitch Haniger two-run shot in the fifth.
When it was over, though, Bello would allow just those two runs, and outpitched his competition in Castillo, who also lasted five innings but conceded four runs.
“From the beginning I knew I was facing a great pitcher in Luis Castillo,” said Bello through a team interpreter. “It was nice to face him and when Raffy hit that home run, I was sure we were going to win because I was going to shut them down.”
Opening Day always has its storylines. Now on to the rest of the season.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Mar 29, 2024 5:55:33 GMT -5
RED SOX NOTEBOOK Canadian Tyler O’Neill of the Red Sox feels at home in Seattle By Julian McWilliams Globe Staff,Updated March 28, 2024, 8:42 p.m.
SEATTLE — Although the Red Sox are beginning the season on the West Coast, Seattle feels like home for Tyler O’Neill. The 28-year-old grew up in British Columbia, Canada, roughly three hours from Seattle.
His parents, in-laws, wife, and close friends made the trip Thursday for the Sox’ Opening Day matchup against the Mariners.
“We’ve got a lot of tickets this week,” said O’Neill, who said he has roughly 20 tickets. “So yeah, I’m going to say a lot of hellos. It’s a good enough effort for them to get down here, and I appreciate all the support and stuff. Having obviously all my family here and some buddies who are from back home is always good.”
O’Neill remembered taking the trip from Canada to then-Safeco Field as a kid to see the Mariners, his favorite club, play the Blue Jays and Yankees. His family always wanted to make sure they saw all the good teams from the American League East. Now that he’s in the AL East, it’s sort of a full-circle moment.
“Seattle Northwest is as far away from everything,” he said. “Especially like team sports. So yeah, it means a lot. It means a lot of my family. They get to see me in person.” Abreu doesn’t start
Manager Alex Cora said throughout camp that Wilyer Abreu would get most of the reps in right field. Yet on Opening Day, with righthander Luis Castillo on the hill, Cora went with O’Neill over the lefty Abreu. Spring stats don’t determine regular-season success, but the 26 strikeouts in 77 plate appearances for Abreu indicated some of his struggles.
“[We didn’t like the strikeouts],” said Cora. “But I think the at-bats were really good. He was going deep into counts, controlling the strike zone. We saw the mechanical adjustment. We saw the mechanical adjustment the last five or six days.
“I think he hit the ball hard in Texas, especially the last game there. He had three rockets. So he’ll be ready. The cool thing about the roster is that we can always move [Ceddanne] Rafaela around. We can put him at second. Obviously at short we got Trevor Story, but if we have to hit for Enmanuel Valdez, Rafaela can play second and we like the outfield alignment.”
The Sox like the at-bats Abreu gave them, especially down the stretch last season when the Red Sox were out of contention. Still, Abreu, for as good as he is at commanding the zone, there is still a learning process in which the 25-year-old will have to take his lumps.
Furthermore, with Rafaela seen as the everyday center fielder (for the most part), that puts Jarren Duran in left field. Despite left field being O’Neill’s main position, he has a plus arm in right, and give the Sox the ability to mix and match.
“I think it’s more about giving Tyler’s a chance to go out there and play on Opening Day,” said Cora. “That’s important, too. And also, like the flow of the lineup. I think it helps having [Tyler in the five-hole].” No six-man rotation yet
The Sox explored a six-man rotation in an attempt to navigate a schedule that includes two offdays in their first 26 games. Cora doesn’t expect to use that method during this three-city road swing … The Red Sox plan on using righthander Chase Anderson in a multi-inning role. Considering the uncertainty in the rotation, the Sox will try to keep him stretched out in case they need him to start.
Hendriks on 60-day IL
The Sox moved reliever Liam Hendriks to the 60-day injured list as he continues to recover from Tommy John surgery. The Red Sox placed lefthander Chris Murphy (left UCL sprain) on the 60-day IL. The club moved righthander Bryan Mata (right hamstring strain) to the 15-day IL, while Vaughn Grissom (left hamstring strain) and Rob Refsnyder (left toe fracture) were placed on the 10-day IL. Both injuries are retroactive to March 25. The Red Sox selected righthander Naoyuki Uwasawa to the big league roster and optioned him to the club’s spring training complex. There is no timeline when he might join the parent club.
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Mar 29, 2024 7:57:07 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe Number of the Red Sox pitchers talking about the improved outfield defense and the difference that could make over the course of the season. O'Neill made several potentially difficult plays look very easy.
One other note: Kenley Jansen's stuff was sharp tonight. 4 swings and misses on his cutter, lots of movement. 421 saves, four away from moving into 5th place all-time. 2:47 AM · Mar 29, 2024 · Wait'll Kimmi watches the game. We have (excuse the language) real fracking gloves.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Mar 29, 2024 11:01:02 GMT -5
J.P. Long @soxnotes This is only the 4th time in the DH era that all 10 players starting for the Red Sox on Opening Day are 31 years old or younger (1995, 1998, 2003, 2024).
They went on to reach the Postseason in each of the previous 3 seasons it happened.
Prior to Tyler O’Neill on Thursday, the last Red Sox players with a home run and a stolen base on Opening Day were Mike Greenwell (1989), Bernie Carbo (1977), Carl Yastrzemski (1973), and Tony Conigliaro (1965).
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Mar 29, 2024 13:23:25 GMT -5
For one night anyway, the Red Sox followed their ideal blueprint for victory By Chad Finn Globe Staff,Updated March 29, 2024, 2 hours ago
If you went to bed before the first pitch was delivered in the Red Sox season opener Thursday night, deciding to let your personal Opening Day come at a more reasonable hour than the 10:10 p.m. start in Seattle, can’t say I blame you.
Our sports day had already provided a bounty, with two Sweet 16 men’s basketball games at the Garden, the NCAA men’s hockey tournament to keep an eye on, and a smattering of early MLB games on television that were actually played in daylight, as a season opener should be.
The mood for most Boston sports fans at that hour wasn’t exactly festive. Leadoff hitter Jarren Duran dug into the batter’s box at T-Mobile Park for the first at-bat of the season just a few minutes after Jayson Tatum’s and the Celtics’ worst habits revealed themselves again in their second loss to the mediocre Hawks in four days.
The Red Sox aren’t inspiring visions of duck boats dancing in fans’ heads these days anyway. I have them going 83-79, and I’m the relative sunshine-day optimist around here. So there will be no judgment if you chose sleep long before the opener’s outcome was decided, or even before it began.
But you missed a good one. Sure did. Maybe one of the better ones the Red Sox will play all season.
The Red Sox beat the Mariners, 6-4, with what passes for this flawed-but-not-untalented roster’s ideal blueprint for a victory, which included:
▪ An encouraging, No. 2 starter-ish performance from designated staff-ace-before-his-time Brayan Bello? Check.
The 24-year-old Bello allowed 5 hits, no walks, and 2 runs in 5 innings, with four relievers limiting the Mariners to just one more run the rest of the way. Closer Kenley Jansen, one of the more vocal Red Sox this spring about the frugal team-building approach, blew away pinch hitter Luke Raley on three pitches to punctuate matters.
▪ A reminder that Rafael Devers is one of, oh, a half-dozen players in the American League with the pure hitting talent to plausibly slug his way to a Most Valuable Player award? Check.
Devers went opposite field for a two-run homer and a 2-0 lead in the third inning against Seattle starter Luis Castillo. Devers added a double in the fifth, an inning in which the Red Sox increased their lead to 4-2 on a Triston Casas ground out. If Devers and Casas don’t combine for at least 60 home runs this season, something has gone wrong.
Tyler O’Neill, playing his first game for the Red Sox after six seasons with the Cardinals, crushed the first pitch of the eighth inning for a home run, giving the visitors a much-needed insurance run. (NESN came back from commercial break barely in time for the pitch, in case you were wondering whether the network would be up to that nonsense again this season.) It was O’Neill’s fifth straight Opening Day with a home run, an MLB record.
The two-time Gold Glove winner also made a couple of nice plays in right field on tricky fly balls, one of the night’s reminders that the Red Sox defense is vastly improved. I still cannot believe they tried to get away with Kiké Hernández at shortstop last year.
(And perhaps some of their poor defenders have made progress: In the bottom of the first inning, second baseman Enmanuel Valdez was involved in all three outs, fielding a J.P. Crawford grounder and then making the pivot on a double play to leave Julio Rodriguez stranded at third. It might have taken Valdez five chances to record three outs last year.)
Perhaps most encouragingly, the Red Sox played with an energy and even joy that was mostly absent last season. Bello is not Pedro Martinez and never will be, but he does have a certain charisma on the mound that offers fleeting but undeniable flashbacks to Pedro’s heyday.
After Bello retired the Mariners in the bottom of the fifth without suspense, he walked straight down the dugout steps and into the tunnel. Why? He was attempting to dodge the requisite job-well-done handshakes in a desperate bid to remain in the game. He returned smiling a moment later, his gambit for one more inning having failed, but an excellent impression having been made.
But the most exciting play of the night came in the top of the sixth, when rookie center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela ripped a Tayler Saucedo pitch into left field to lead off the inning. I thought it was a double off the bat. Saucedo probably thought it was a double off the bat. Ichiro, Ken Griffey Jr., and Alvin Davis probably thought it was a double off the bat.
Rafaela did not think it was a double off the bat. He thought bigger, hustling into third base with a headfirst slide for a triple. Now, because he was safe, it must be charted as an admirable display of instincts and daring. Had he been tagged out — making the first out of an inning at third base — we might have had a different response. But it worked.
Credit to the kid, who I suspect will be nine parts exhilarating and one part exasperating as these early weeks play out. Rafaela scored on a flare single by Connor Wong to give the Red Sox a 5-2 lead.
For one night, the season’s first night, it was enjoyable to see the Red Sox look athletic and energetic, and to watch players perform in roles in which they are not miscast.
It’s just one game, but it felt like the Red Sox needed this one. To put the disappointing winter behind them. To get them off to a good start in a series in which they also will have to deal with excellent Mariners starting pitchers George Kirby and Logan Gilbert. To remind us that for all of the low expectations, which are justified, this new season can play out in all sorts of ways.
One game, one win, 161 to go. In their season debut, the Red Sox were worth staying up for. Count that as one expectation they’ve already exceeded.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Mar 29, 2024 13:35:07 GMT -5
RED SOX AT MARINERS | 9:40 P.M. (NESN) Red Sox at Mariners: Nick Pivetta takes the ball for Boston in Game 2 of the new seasonBy Matt Pepin Globe Staff,Updated March 29, 2024, 10:30 a.m. The Red Sox started their season with an impressive victory in Seattle late Thursday night, with key contributions from new guy Tyler O’Neill, franchise cornerstone Rafael Devers, and a young pitcher they’ve placed a ton of faith in with a big contract, Brayan Bello. Every player in the lineup except one had a hit Thursday, and the five pitchers Boston used only gave one free pass. Since Seattle has a retractable-roof stadium, there was no need for MLB to schedule a day off after the opener as a hedge against lousy weather, and the Red Sox and Mariners will play the second game of their four-game set Friday night. Here’s a preview. Lineups RED SOX (1-0): Jarren Duran (L) LF Rafael Devers (L) 3B Trevor Story (R) SS Triston Casas (L) 1B Tyler O'Neill (R) RF Masataka Yoshida (L) DH Ceddanne Rafaela (R) CF Enmanuel Valdez (L) 2B Reese McGuire (L) C Pitching: RHP Nick Pivetta (10-9, 4.04 ERA in 2023) MARINERS (0-1): J.P. Crawford (L) SS Julio Rodríguez (R) CF Jorge Polanco (S) 2B Mitch Garver (R) DH Cal Raleigh (S) C Mitch Haniger (R) RF Ty France (R) 1B Luke Raley (L) LF Luis Urías (R) 3B Pitching: RHP George Kirby (13-10, 3.35 ERA in 2023) Time: 9:40 p.m. TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7 Red Sox vs. Kirby: Triston Casas 0-5, Bobby Dalbec 0-4, Rafael Devers 5-10, Jarren Duran 2-5, Pablo Reyes 2-5, Trevor Story 2-5, Enmanuel Valdez 1-2, Connor Wong 0-5, Masataka Yoshida 0-3 Mariners vs. Pivetta: J.P. Crawford 1-6, Ty France 3-10, Mitch Haniger 0-1, Dylan Moore 0-2, Jorge Polanco 4-5, Cal Raleigh 3-5, Luke Raley 2-4, Julio Rodríguez 0-6, Josh Rojas 0-2, Luis Urías 1-4, Seby Zavala 0-1 Stat of the day: Tyler O’Neill set an MLB record on Thursday with his fifth consecutive Opening Day home run. Notes: Boston starter Nick Pivetta, who was born in the Pacific Northwest (Victoria, British Columbia), is 1-1 with a 4.34 ERA in three career starts against the Mariners. In his final spring training start, Pivetta struck out nine and walked one over six innings against the Twins, while allowing three runs, finishing the spring with 22 strikeouts and four walks in 18 innings. ... Seattle’s George Kirby is 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA in four starts vs. Boston. Kirby had 31 starts in 2023, his second season in the big leagues ... On Thursday, the Sox moved reliever Liam Hendriks to the 60-day injured list as he continues to recover from Tommy John surgery. The Red Sox placed lefthander Chris Murphy (left UCL sprain) on the 60-day IL. The club moved righthander Bryan Mata (right hamstring strain) to the 15-day IL, while Vaughn Grissom (left hamstring strain) and Rob Refsnyder (left toe fracture) were placed on the 10-day IL. Both injuries are retroactive to March 25. The Red Sox selected righthander Naoyuki Uwasawa to the big league roster and optioned him to the club’s spring training complex. There is no timeline when he might join the parent club. Song of the Day: The Cars "Shake it Up" www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3SA5Z-cbC8
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Mar 29, 2024 15:56:36 GMT -5
For one night anyway, the Red Sox followed their ideal blueprint for victoryBy Chad Finn Globe Staff,Updated March 29, 2024, 2 hours ago If you went to bed before the first pitch was delivered in the Red Sox season opener Thursday night, deciding to let your personal Opening Day come at a more reasonable hour than the 10:10 p.m. start in Seattle, can’t say I blame you. Our sports day had already provided a bounty, with two Sweet 16 men’s basketball games at the Garden, the NCAA men’s hockey tournament to keep an eye on, and a smattering of early MLB games on television that were actually played in daylight, as a season opener should be. The mood for most Boston sports fans at that hour wasn’t exactly festive. Leadoff hitter Jarren Duran dug into the batter’s box at T-Mobile Park for the first at-bat of the season just a few minutes after Jayson Tatum’s and the Celtics’ worst habits revealed themselves again in their second loss to the mediocre Hawks in four days. The Red Sox aren’t inspiring visions of duck boats dancing in fans’ heads these days anyway. I have them going 83-79, and I’m the relative sunshine-day optimist around here. So there will be no judgment if you chose sleep long before the opener’s outcome was decided, or even before it began. But you missed a good one. Sure did. Maybe one of the better ones the Red Sox will play all season. The Red Sox beat the Mariners, 6-4, with what passes for this flawed-but-not-untalented roster’s ideal blueprint for a victory, which included: ▪ An encouraging, No. 2 starter-ish performance from designated staff-ace-before-his-time Brayan Bello? Check. The 24-year-old Bello allowed 5 hits, no walks, and 2 runs in 5 innings, with four relievers limiting the Mariners to just one more run the rest of the way. Closer Kenley Jansen, one of the more vocal Red Sox this spring about the frugal team-building approach, blew away pinch hitter Luke Raley on three pitches to punctuate matters. ▪ A reminder that Rafael Devers is one of, oh, a half-dozen players in the American League with the pure hitting talent to plausibly slug his way to a Most Valuable Player award? Check. Devers went opposite field for a two-run homer and a 2-0 lead in the third inning against Seattle starter Luis Castillo. Devers added a double in the fifth, an inning in which the Red Sox increased their lead to 4-2 on a Triston Casas ground out. If Devers and Casas don’t combine for at least 60 home runs this season, something has gone wrong. Tyler O’Neill, playing his first game for the Red Sox after six seasons with the Cardinals, crushed the first pitch of the eighth inning for a home run, giving the visitors a much-needed insurance run. (NESN came back from commercial break barely in time for the pitch, in case you were wondering whether the network would be up to that nonsense again this season.) It was O’Neill’s fifth straight Opening Day with a home run, an MLB record. The two-time Gold Glove winner also made a couple of nice plays in right field on tricky fly balls, one of the night’s reminders that the Red Sox defense is vastly improved. I still cannot believe they tried to get away with Kiké Hernández at shortstop last year. (And perhaps some of their poor defenders have made progress: In the bottom of the first inning, second baseman Enmanuel Valdez was involved in all three outs, fielding a J.P. Crawford grounder and then making the pivot on a double play to leave Julio Rodriguez stranded at third. It might have taken Valdez five chances to record three outs last year.) Perhaps most encouragingly, the Red Sox played with an energy and even joy that was mostly absent last season. Bello is not Pedro Martinez and never will be, but he does have a certain charisma on the mound that offers fleeting but undeniable flashbacks to Pedro’s heyday. After Bello retired the Mariners in the bottom of the fifth without suspense, he walked straight down the dugout steps and into the tunnel. Why? He was attempting to dodge the requisite job-well-done handshakes in a desperate bid to remain in the game. He returned smiling a moment later, his gambit for one more inning having failed, but an excellent impression having been made. But the most exciting play of the night came in the top of the sixth, when rookie center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela ripped a Tayler Saucedo pitch into left field to lead off the inning. I thought it was a double off the bat. Saucedo probably thought it was a double off the bat. Ichiro, Ken Griffey Jr., and Alvin Davis probably thought it was a double off the bat. Rafaela did not think it was a double off the bat. He thought bigger, hustling into third base with a headfirst slide for a triple. Now, because he was safe, it must be charted as an admirable display of instincts and daring. Had he been tagged out — making the first out of an inning at third base — we might have had a different response. But it worked. Credit to the kid, who I suspect will be nine parts exhilarating and one part exasperating as these early weeks play out. Rafaela scored on a flare single by Connor Wong to give the Red Sox a 5-2 lead. For one night, the season’s first night, it was enjoyable to see the Red Sox look athletic and energetic, and to watch players perform in roles in which they are not miscast. It’s just one game, but it felt like the Red Sox needed this one. To put the disappointing winter behind them. To get them off to a good start in a series in which they also will have to deal with excellent Mariners starting pitchers George Kirby and Logan Gilbert. To remind us that for all of the low expectations, which are justified, this new season can play out in all sorts of ways. One game, one win, 161 to go. In their season debut, the Red Sox were worth staying up for. Count that as one expectation they’ve already exceeded. Good analysis. Bello was good, but not overly sharp. Pretty wide strike zone, but threw some a few unhittable pitchers. Good shot by Devers on a pitch that was by no means a bad pitch. If Devers goes oppo more often on pitches like that, he can be very dangerous. Valdez looked choppy, but a terrific play to his left, with a 180 turn to get the lead runner at 2nd. I don't think he'd have gotten the guy at 1st. Huge. My Ceddanne highlight was a line-drive over his head that he caught with almost no effort. But Finn is right. He will do something annoying every series, but that's the nature of being a kid.
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Mar 29, 2024 17:39:28 GMT -5
For one night anyway, the Red Sox followed their ideal blueprint for victoryBy Chad Finn Globe Staff,Updated March 29, 2024, 2 hours ago If you went to bed before the first pitch was delivered in the Red Sox season opener Thursday night, deciding to let your personal Opening Day come at a more reasonable hour than the 10:10 p.m. start in Seattle, can’t say I blame you. Our sports day had already provided a bounty, with two Sweet 16 men’s basketball games at the Garden, the NCAA men’s hockey tournament to keep an eye on, and a smattering of early MLB games on television that were actually played in daylight, as a season opener should be. The mood for most Boston sports fans at that hour wasn’t exactly festive. Leadoff hitter Jarren Duran dug into the batter’s box at T-Mobile Park for the first at-bat of the season just a few minutes after Jayson Tatum’s and the Celtics’ worst habits revealed themselves again in their second loss to the mediocre Hawks in four days. The Red Sox aren’t inspiring visions of duck boats dancing in fans’ heads these days anyway. I have them going 83-79, and I’m the relative sunshine-day optimist around here. So there will be no judgment if you chose sleep long before the opener’s outcome was decided, or even before it began. But you missed a good one. Sure did. Maybe one of the better ones the Red Sox will play all season. The Red Sox beat the Mariners, 6-4, with what passes for this flawed-but-not-untalented roster’s ideal blueprint for a victory, which included: ▪ An encouraging, No. 2 starter-ish performance from designated staff-ace-before-his-time Brayan Bello? Check. The 24-year-old Bello allowed 5 hits, no walks, and 2 runs in 5 innings, with four relievers limiting the Mariners to just one more run the rest of the way. Closer Kenley Jansen, one of the more vocal Red Sox this spring about the frugal team-building approach, blew away pinch hitter Luke Raley on three pitches to punctuate matters. ▪ A reminder that Rafael Devers is one of, oh, a half-dozen players in the American League with the pure hitting talent to plausibly slug his way to a Most Valuable Player award? Check. Devers went opposite field for a two-run homer and a 2-0 lead in the third inning against Seattle starter Luis Castillo. Devers added a double in the fifth, an inning in which the Red Sox increased their lead to 4-2 on a Triston Casas ground out. If Devers and Casas don’t combine for at least 60 home runs this season, something has gone wrong. Tyler O’Neill, playing his first game for the Red Sox after six seasons with the Cardinals, crushed the first pitch of the eighth inning for a home run, giving the visitors a much-needed insurance run. (NESN came back from commercial break barely in time for the pitch, in case you were wondering whether the network would be up to that nonsense again this season.) It was O’Neill’s fifth straight Opening Day with a home run, an MLB record. The two-time Gold Glove winner also made a couple of nice plays in right field on tricky fly balls, one of the night’s reminders that the Red Sox defense is vastly improved. I still cannot believe they tried to get away with Kiké Hernández at shortstop last year. (And perhaps some of their poor defenders have made progress: In the bottom of the first inning, second baseman Enmanuel Valdez was involved in all three outs, fielding a J.P. Crawford grounder and then making the pivot on a double play to leave Julio Rodriguez stranded at third. It might have taken Valdez five chances to record three outs last year.) Perhaps most encouragingly, the Red Sox played with an energy and even joy that was mostly absent last season. Bello is not Pedro Martinez and never will be, but he does have a certain charisma on the mound that offers fleeting but undeniable flashbacks to Pedro’s heyday. After Bello retired the Mariners in the bottom of the fifth without suspense, he walked straight down the dugout steps and into the tunnel. Why? He was attempting to dodge the requisite job-well-done handshakes in a desperate bid to remain in the game. He returned smiling a moment later, his gambit for one more inning having failed, but an excellent impression having been made. But the most exciting play of the night came in the top of the sixth, when rookie center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela ripped a Tayler Saucedo pitch into left field to lead off the inning. I thought it was a double off the bat. Saucedo probably thought it was a double off the bat. Ichiro, Ken Griffey Jr., and Alvin Davis probably thought it was a double off the bat. Rafaela did not think it was a double off the bat. He thought bigger, hustling into third base with a headfirst slide for a triple. Now, because he was safe, it must be charted as an admirable display of instincts and daring. Had he been tagged out — making the first out of an inning at third base — we might have had a different response. But it worked. Credit to the kid, who I suspect will be nine parts exhilarating and one part exasperating as these early weeks play out. Rafaela scored on a flare single by Connor Wong to give the Red Sox a 5-2 lead. For one night, the season’s first night, it was enjoyable to see the Red Sox look athletic and energetic, and to watch players perform in roles in which they are not miscast. It’s just one game, but it felt like the Red Sox needed this one. To put the disappointing winter behind them. To get them off to a good start in a series in which they also will have to deal with excellent Mariners starting pitchers George Kirby and Logan Gilbert. To remind us that for all of the low expectations, which are justified, this new season can play out in all sorts of ways. One game, one win, 161 to go. In their season debut, the Red Sox were worth staying up for. Count that as one expectation they’ve already exceeded. Good analysis. Bello was good, but not overly sharp. Pretty wide strike zone, but threw some a few unhittable pitchers. Good shot by Devers on a pitch that was by no means a bad pitch. If Devers goes oppo more often on pitches like that, he can be very dangerous. Valdez looked choppy, but a terrific play to his left, with a 180 turn to get the lead runner at 2nd. I don't think he'd have gotten the guy at 1st. Huge. My Ceddanne highlight was a line-drive over his head that he caught with almost no effort. But Finn is right. He will do something annoying every series, but that's the nature of being a kid. And good point by Finn a bout the age. We are 16th in pitching and 9th youngest in hitting. Lat year, we were 26th in pitching and 25th in hitting.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Mar 29, 2024 19:02:23 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe Red Sox career HRs
10. Petrocelli 210 11. Varitek 193 12. Garciaparra 178 13. Devers 173 7:01 PM · Mar 29, 2024 ·
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Mar 30, 2024 5:07:42 GMT -5
Pivetta picks up where he left off in strong '24 debut Devers (left shoulder soreness) hopes for speedy return to lineup 3:03 AM ADT Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowe
SEATTLE -- In a rotation otherwise consisting of pitchers in their mid-20s, the season-ending injury to Lucas Giolito has left Nick Pivetta as the lone veteran in the group.
And the 31-year-old might just be the person to take on the responsibility that entails.
Not only do the Red Sox need innings from Pivetta, but they also need results. On Friday night at T-Mobile Park, Pivetta provided both.
Though it came in a 1-0 loss on a night that Mariners righty George Kirby was also magnificent, Pivetta allowed three hits and one run over six innings, walking none and striking out 10.
“You saw his stuff, it's really good,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Pivetta. “Today, finally, the breaking ball played. He struggled with it the whole spring, and tonight he threw it for strikes. The cutter was good. The sweeper was great. The fastball played at 93-94 [mph]. So it was a good one.”
The one misfire Pivetta had -- an 0-1 cutter to J.P. Crawford -- was deposited into the seats in right for a solo shot that broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth.
“Just down and in and it backed up a little bit, and he put a good swing on a pitch,” Pivetta said.
Pivetta shook off his lone blemish and then struck out the next two batters to finish his fine performance. Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.
The righty found himself in the final three months of last season as a swingman, backed by a second slider that had more horizontal break.
“Yeah, it’s been a huge contributor to my success, giving me another look, and just being able to execute a little bit later in the year last year and into this year, it’s been good. I know it’s early, but my feel for that pitch has been good,” Pivetta said.
The case can be made that he was the most valuable pitcher the Red Sox had in 2023. Over 142 2/3 innings, he led the club with 183 strikeouts and held opponents to a .208 batting average.
Pivetta came into camp this year with his spot in the rotation restored because he earned it.
“I think I’m carrying momentum from last season into this season,” said Pivetta. Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.
At this point in his career, and with Boston’s rotation constructed as it is, Pivetta realizes his responsibility to the team is growing, and he seems to be embracing that.
“I think just building a good structure for the guys,” Pivetta said. “I think everybody is equal at this point. We’re all men, we’re all here, we all have a job to do, we all love playing baseball. I think it’s just getting on a natural level with everybody with respect and understanding the best I can to help in any situation I can. I made a lot of mistakes when I was younger, so just making sure these guys are doing everything they can and helping them when I can. But we’re all equals.”
Raffy’s left shoulder barking On a night the Red Sox didn’t score, the loss of Rafael Devers hurt. Boston’s star slugger was scratched fewer than 90 minutes before the start of the game due to left shoulder soreness.
“It’s early in the season so we have to be smart about that, and it’s better to take one or two days than play through it and then miss two or three weeks,” said Devers.
Though Devers showed no ill effects on Opening Day when he belted a two-run homer and raked a double that had an exit velocity of 110 mph in Boston’s 6-4 win, he said the discomfort traces back to late in Spring Training, when he tweaked the shoulder hitting off a pitching machine.
“It was getting worse and worse, and I felt it a little bit,” Devers said. “Today in batting practice I felt it a little bit more, and I just wanted to be smart.”
Devers didn’t rule out returning to the lineup on Saturday.
"I think if I feel better, there is a good chance I play tomorrow,” said Devers.
Understandably, Cora and the training staff took precautions with their most impactful hitter.
“He took the first round [of batting practice],” said Cora. “Then he came in, and I said, ‘What do you got?’ and he said, ‘I just feel stiff and sore,’ so I said, ‘Let’s stay away from this one.’ It’s the second game of the season, so he'll come in tomorrow and hopefully he's ready to go. And if that’s not the case, we'll wait for one more day.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Mar 30, 2024 5:08:47 GMT -5
Injuries & Moves: Devers (left shoulder soreness) day to day 2:50 AM ADT
MLB.com
LATEST NEWS
March 29: 3B Rafael Devers (left shoulder soreness) hopes for swift return Devers, Boston's star slugger who ripped a two-run homer and a double on Opening Day, was scratched from the lineup about an hour and 20 minutes prior to Friday night's 1-0 loss due to left shoulder soreness. Bobby Dalbec subbed for Devers at third base. Devers said the injury traces back to late in Spring Training, when he tweaked the shoulder hitting off a pitching machine. But he expects to be back soon, perhaps as early as Saturday.
“It was getting worse and worse, and I felt it a little bit,” Devers said. “Today in batting practice I felt it a little bit more, and I just wanted to be smart. I think if I feel better, there is a good chance I play [Saturday]."
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