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Post by scrappyunderdog on Sept 22, 2020 20:10:18 GMT -5
Tat getting picked off 3rd, with 1st & 3rd, and -0- outs, puts you at the bottom of the list for that #25 slot next year.
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Sept 22, 2020 20:16:47 GMT -5
Interesting how far to center the LFer was playing on the JD double,
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Sept 22, 2020 20:47:01 GMT -5
Has anyone damaged their free agency value more than Workman? He looked like he was on his way to a closer contract. I'm not sure where he winds up now.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 23, 2020 2:38:23 GMT -5
Red Sox 8, Orioles 3: Nick Pivetta impresses in debut
And Christian Vázquez went deep.
By Matt_Collins@MattRyCollins Sep 22, 2020, 11:04pm EDT
The Red Sox are playing their best baseball of the year when, if we’re being honest, it’s probably better if they weren’t. While the wins aren’t helping draft position, though, there are key players performing well, so it’s tough to be upset about that. Nick Pivetta joined that list on Tuesday night in what was his Red Sox debut. It wasn’t all perfect and he benefited from facing a cold Orioles lineup, but all in all it was hard not to be impressed. He rode his slider and fastball to eight strikeouts and allowed just a single run over five innings of work. He’ll have one more start in the season finale before the year is out. On the other end, the Red Sox got a a big three-run shot from Christian Vázquez and a three-hit performance from J.D. Martinez. Add it all up and you get an 8-3 win to push the team’s record to 21-34.
We got our first look at Nick Pivetta on Tuesday night at Fenway as he made his way up after spending the last month or so down in Pawtucket. This was a highly-anticipated debut for the righty, partially because there’s real talent here even if he has never been able to harness it in the majors, partially because he was part of a trade return, and possibly because we are all begging for competent pitchers to watch. I will be honest, I was not expecting a whole hell of a lot from Pivetta, but he exceeded my expectations. It wasn’t a perfect outing, but it was a very, very solid debut.
Things didn’t get off to the best of starts for the righty, though, as he had some trouble finding the plate early on. After starting the outing off with a strikeout, he issued a walk and gave up a fairly hard-hit fly out. That was followed up with a second walk in four batters, and suddenly two men were on for DJ Stewart. The Orioles right fielder actually made what would end up being the weakest contact of the night off Pivetta in the game, but his bloop snuck into left field for a base hit to give the Orioles the early 1-0 lead.
From there, things settled down in a big way. There was still some hard contact — in all, nine of the ten batted balls against Pivetta were at least 90 mph off the bat — but not much in the way of damage. The righty got a strike out to finish off that first inning and limit the damage to one run, and then followed that up with three straight strikeouts in the second to give him four in a row overall. He found himself in a little bit more trouble in the third when Cedric Mullins started things off with a base hit. To be fair to Pivetta it could have been called an error on Devers, but it was also an absolute rocket, so either way it wasn’t a great pitch. Pivetta worked around it either way, getting a couple fly outs and a sixth strikeout.
He would have two more innings left in him, and got the job done in those as well. The Orioles managed just a two-out single in the fourth and Pivetta was able to work around a couple of baserunners in the fifth thanks to an inning-ending double play. Ultimately, he ended up tossing five scoreless innings with a very impressive eight strikeouts to go along with three walks. We’ll have more on his outing in the morning, but overall the slider was by far his best pitch.
On the other side of the game, the Red Sox were able to get to the Orioles early thanks to some rough, rough defense from Baltimore. Christian Vázquez got things started in the second with his team trailing 1-0, getting to first base thanks to a throwing error from Rio Ruiz. After a Jackie Bradley Jr. base hit put two on, Bobby Dalbec came through with a double out to left field to tie the game up and put a pair in scoring position. Michael Chavis came through with a sacrifice fly to give Boston a 2-1 lead, and then a couple batters later Alex Verdugo hit a soft liner out to left field. Somehow, DJ Stewart just straight-up whiffed on it, giving Baltimore their second error of the inning and letting the Red Sox bring home a third run.
They’d add on to their lead a bit in the third as well, starting things off with a Xander Bogaerts base hit. Boston followed that up with a couple of outs, but Bradley kept the inning alive with his second hit of the game. Dalbec then did the same, and just like that it was a 4-1 game.
This was still the score as we made our way into the sixth, but now Pivetta was out of the game and Marcus Walden was coming in. It’s a brutal year for him, and it didn’t get any better here. Renato Núñez led things off for Baltimore and he got a 1-1 sinker that stayed right in the wheelhouse. It was deposited into the Monster Seats, cutting Boston’s lead to two. The Orioles then got a base hit before hitting a fly ball to Chavis in left field. He is still learning the outfield and it showed here as he took an initial step in and eventually had the ball go up and over his glove for a costly error. Now with two on and still nobody out, Walden did get a huge double play. Unfortunately, the ball found Chavis again and he once again misplayed one. It was ruled a hit this time, but it still resulted in a run, making it a one-run game and ending the night for Walden. Ryan Weber had to come in and finish off the inning, which he did with the 4-3 lead still in hand.
The Red Sox were able to get some of that damage back in the bottom of the inning, starting with a walk from Jonathan Araúz. He’d move up to second on a passed ball but was still standing there with two outs. Bogaerts kept the inning alive with a walk of his own and that left things up to J.D. Martinez. He had doubled in his last at bat, and he came through here as well, this time with a base hit out to right field to make it a 5-3 game. Christian Vázquez then had the big swing, blasting a fastball middle-out into the Monster Seats and opening up a five-run lead for the Sox.
Darwinzon Hernandez got the call in the seventh and got off to a bit of a tough start thanks to his defense, having the leadoff man reach thanks to a rough error from Devers. The lefty worked around that for an otherwise perfect inning, though.
The eighth belonged to Domingo Tapia, who was suddenly featuring a pretty nasty two-seam and worked around a two-out double for a scoreless frame of his own.
That left it up to Dylan Covey to finish out the five-run game in the ninth. He got off to a tough start with back-to-back singles off the bat, but he followed it up with two outs. The righty couldn’t finish it off, though, issuing a walk to load the bases which then forced Ron Roenicke to bring the closer in. Matt Barnes needed only three pitches to get the final out and finish off the win.
The Red Sox and Orioles continue their three-game set on Wednesday with Nathan Eovaldi taking the mound against Dean Kremer. First pitch for that one is once again set for 7:30 PM ET.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 23, 2020 2:39:35 GMT -5
OverTheMonster
@overthemonster
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6h
Solid first start for Pivetta. Think a better lineup would've made the stat line a little worse, but tough to complain when you've been watching the rest of this staff all year
Somewhat underrated story this year is that Walden is suddenly totally unusable
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 23, 2020 2:42:42 GMT -5
Bill Koch
@billkoch25
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6h
Nick Pivetta in his #RedSox debut -- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, 96-59 14 swing/miss. Threw 22 sliders -- 11 swings, 7 misses.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 23, 2020 2:59:11 GMT -5
Quite a debut: Pivetta fans 8 in 1st Sox start
Very early returns positive from Workman-Hembree trade with Philly
By Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
12:38 AM EDT
BOSTON -- Nick Pivetta stepped into his new home office on Tuesday night and made it look like a place he could get used to.
The 27-year-old righty has been filled with promise that he often couldn’t fulfill with the Phillies, which is why the Red Sox were able to acquire him in the first place.
• Box score
A month and a day after the trade that brought Pivetta to Boston, the Red Sox at last sent him out there for his debut, and he sparkled while leading his team to an 8-3 victory over the Orioles at Fenway Park.
Over five innings, Pivetta held the O’s to four hits and a run, walking three and striking out eight. Of his 96 pitches, the Orioles whiffed at 14 of them, which ties Pivetta for the second highest total among Red Sox starters this season.
“I'm just really grateful for this opportunity,” said Pivetta. “It's been over a year since I've been able to start in the big leagues. To be able to go out there and put five pretty good innings out there, I was very elated.”
It’s too early to say if chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom is going to win this trade, but the early returns make that seem very likely. Consider how things are going for the two pitchers Bloom traded for Pivetta.
Closer Brandon Workman, who is a free agent this offseason, got walked off by the Nationals on Tuesday night and has a 6.92 ERA in 14 outings with his new team. Not only did Heath Hembree struggle mightily (12.54 ERA) in his first month with the Phillies, but he is now on the injured list with elbow woes.
As for Pivetta, he spent the last month at the alternate training site in Pawtucket, R.I., ironing out mechanical issues and building up his pitch count. He was fully ready when the Red Sox handed him the reins.
• Out of place at 18? Not the Sox first-rounder
“Obviously, it's a little bit different down in the alternate camp, so just having those meaningful baseball games, playing against big leaguers is something I've always dreamed off and something I never take for granted,” Pivetta said. “Just to go out there, compete with the new guys -- they've been super, super great. I've almost met everybody. It's a little hard to meet everybody, but it's been awesome.”
Pivetta threw 49 fastballs, 22 sliders, 20 knuckle curves and five changeups, and the Orioles didn’t take many comfortable swings. The four hits that Baltimore had off him were singles.
“It was great,” said catcher Christian Vázquez, who supported Pivetta’s cause by jacking a three-run homer over the Green Monster in the sixth inning. “I think we used all the pitches. It was very surprising with that slider. We used it a lot today. It was real sharp. The fastball up, the breaking ball down worked a lot.”
Controllable young starting pitching is something Bloom has been seeking, and Pivetta isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2023 season.
The Red Sox also got a prospect in the trade -- righty Connor Seabold. He is ranked No. 23 in Boston’s farm system by MLB Pipeline.
Though it has been a tough regular season for the Red Sox, Pivetta exemplified that better things could be ahead. So, too, has Tanner Houck, the exciting prospect who didn’t allow an earned run in his first two MLB starts and will go again for Boston this weekend in Atlanta.
“Yeah, great to see, no doubt,” said Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke. “You look forward to seeing some new guys come, and when you see them start this way, it’s no doubt you’re looking at next year and what can happen and the possibilities. I know Chaim and his crew will look at that and figure where everybody fits in.
“But the more arms you have, [the better]. It is vital to have depth in your starting staff because you know they're not going to make it through the season with five guys. So I think it’s really important, and really important down the road for the future trying to get some younger guys and hopefully we have them here for a long time.”
Pivetta will follow Houck and pitch the final game of the season on Sunday against the Braves.
Given that Pivetta hadn’t started a game in the Majors since July 17, 2019, getting the chance to start twice within six days is something he isn’t taking for granted.
“I think it’s huge,” Pivetta said. “I’m given two opportunities to showcase myself and do the best I possibly can. I’m looking forward to every opportunity I have and just moving on from that.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 23, 2020 3:23:55 GMT -5
Chad Finn
@globechadfinn
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7h
Remy and Eck are great tonight. Game isn’t even necessary.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 23, 2020 3:29:59 GMT -5
Nick Pivetta gets impressive victory in Red Sox debut
By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated September 23, 2020, 12:10 a.m.
What is the best way to salvage the conclusion of a forgettable season? As their 2020 campaign winds down, the Red Sox are exploring two different possibilities.
On one hand, there is the effort to identify hope through a strong finish. In Tuesday’s 8-3 victory over the Orioles, starter Nick Pivetta — acquired from the Phillies last month — added to a recent display of what life might look like for the Red Sox if they featured a credible big league rotation.
In his Red Sox debut, the big righthander allowed one run in five innings while striking out eight. Pivetta featured a particularly impressive slider as the most effective component of an effective four-pitch mix that also included four-seam fastballs to the top and bottom of the zone, curveballs, and a smattering of change-ups. He had weapons from which to choose.
“My curveball wasn’t really there early, so I was getting a lot of swings and misses on my slider, so you kind of just have to stick with that,” said Pivetta. “Being able to have a solid mix-up of four pitches, which I showcased pretty well tonight, I think that’s just what we’ve been working on and it paid off tonight.”
Pivetta continued a strong recent run by Sox starters. In their last 16 contests, the Sox rotation has a 3.15 ERA while holding opponents to a .224 average; over their last five contests, the rotation — on the strength of impressive work from Pivetta, Tanner Houck, Nate Eovaldi, and Martín Pérez — has a 1.04 ERA with a .128 opponent batting average.
At the very least, the performances by Pivetta and Houck suggest that the Sox should be in a better position in terms of rotation depth than they were en route to a horrendous 6-18 start. The Sox have plenty of roster work to do this winter if they want to be competitive in 2021, but there have been signs that some of that has begun before the end of the 2020 campaign.
“You’re looking at next year and what can happen and the possibilities . . . It is vital to have depth in your starting staff,” said manager Ron Roenicke. “[It’s] really important down the road for the future trying to get some guys, some younger guys, and hopefully we have them here for a long time.”
The Sox are 9-7 — their best stretch of the season — during this run of solid rotation work, at a time when their postseason hopes are long gone. But those wins come at a potential long-term cost.
Christian Vazquez (right) is all smiles as he passes teammate Jackie Bradley,Jr. (who was on deck) after Vazquez belted a sixth-inning homer
Because the season is just 60 games, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has the right to decide how the 2021 draft order is determined — chiefly, whether it would be set based solely on the reverse order of teams' records in 2020, or if it might incorporate 2019 performance as well.
A final decision about the draft order has yet to be made. Yet multiple major league sources Tuesday affirmed an ESPN report that there’s a growing expectation that the draft will indeed be ordered based solely on teams' performances in 2020, something that would propel the Red Sox from somewhere around the No. 10 pick (if 2019 counted) to one of the top handful of selections.
For much of the summer, the Sox were positioned to claim the second-worst record in the game — and with it, the second pick in the draft. With their win, the Sox (temporarily, at least) slipped behind the Diamondbacks for what would likely be the fourth spot in the 2021 draft. And there is at least a chance that they could drop by as many as a handful of additional picks.
If the best path forward is a run of solid play down the stretch, the Red Sox are on it. If the team’s best long-term outlook will be achieved by acquiring young talent, the team is veering from it.
It’s all a very 2020 phenomenon, in which even silver linings appear mostly gray.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Red Sox had runners on first and third with no one out when Jonathan Arauz was picked off third base by Orioles catcher Pedro Severino, with third baseman Rio Ruiz making the tag.
Some takeaways:
▪ For a night, Bobby Dalbec eschewed the all-or-nothing approach that has characterized his big league debut.
With runners in scoring position in each of his first two plate appearances, Dalbec lined a double down the left-field line and grounded a single up the middle. In the past, Dalbec has talked about employing a distinct situational approach with runners on base when he has opportunities to drive in baserunners. To date, he hadn’t achieved that in the big leagues, making Tuesday’s performance noteworthy.
Dalbec entered Tuesday with the highest strikeout rate ever (48 percent) through the first 17 games of his career. Yet it’s worth noting that he’s struggled with his strikeout rate at times in the minors, and typically made adjustments to cut down the frequency with which he whiffs.
One talent evaluator recently suggested that if Dalbec — a cerebral, self-aware hitter — can do the same in the big leagues, he has the upside of someone who might have relatively low averages (.250-ish?) but could slug his way to 35-plus homers and a .950 OPS.
▪ Dalbec was part of a top-to-bottom attack that saw eight Red Sox collect hits, with J.D. Martinez lashing two doubles and a single in a 3-for-5 night and Christian Vazquez blasting a three-run homer, his sixth.
▪ Darwinzon Hernandez had a dominant seventh inning, striking out two batters while showing mid-90s velocity. His absence for much of this year contributed to the overall dearth of talent on the Red Sox pitching staff.
▪ Rafael Devers had a game worth forgetting. He matched a career-high with four strikeouts (a mark that had been set earlier this season) while swinging-and-missing a career-high nine times, eight of those coming on fastballs. When he finally made contact in his fifth at-bat, he likely regretted doing so, grounding into a double play.
▪ Michael Chavis remains a work-in-progress in left field. In his seventh career start at the position, he misread a pair of liners, turning two catchable balls into a pair of doubles and a run in the sixth inning.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 23, 2020 3:39:34 GMT -5
Bill Koch
@billkoch25
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6h
Rafael Devers is 0-4 with four Ks -- all swinging.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 23, 2020 3:40:54 GMT -5
Bill Koch
@billkoch25
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8h
Jackie Bradley Jr. has now hit safely in 27 of his last 32. He's pushing a .900 OPS in that span. #RedSox with a threat in the 2nd.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 23, 2020 3:43:02 GMT -5
Bill Koch
@billkoch25
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7h
More hard-hit balls against Marcus Walden -- a pair that are likely caught with a true outfielder in left.
Have to wonder about Walden's roster place in 2021. Was quite good in 2019, but Chaim Bloom was not in charge.
Darwinzon Hernandez touching 96.8 mph with his fastball. That's a very good sign regarding his health going forward. Velocity was way down before his IL stint. #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 23, 2020 3:44:44 GMT -5
Bill Koch
@billkoch25
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5h
Nick Pivetta on Zoom -- 'I’m just really grateful for this opportunity. It’s been over a year since I’ve been able to start in the big leagues.' #RedSox
Pivetta -- 'My curveball wasn’t really there early. I was getting a lot of swings and misses with my slider, so you kind of have to just stick with that.' #RedSox
Pivetta -- 'I need my fastball command to be there earlier. Those three walks I had were all on misfire fastballs. Just got to tighten that up.' #RedSox
Nick Pivetta -- 'It’s been over a year since I’ve been able to start in the big leagues. To be able to go out there and put five pretty good innings out there, I was very elated.' #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 23, 2020 3:45:48 GMT -5
Bill Koch
@billkoch25
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5h
Ron Roenicke on Nick Pivetta's debut -- 'Really nice. We’ve been looking forward to seeing him pitch and really enjoyed watching what he did.' #RedSox
Roenicke -- 'You look at Eddie being back next year. You look at Chris whenever he’s able to get after it again. You look at these guys – it’s a good feeling going forward.' #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 23, 2020 3:51:22 GMT -5
Pete Abraham
@peteabe
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8h
Another hit for Jackie Bradley Jr., who has a hit in 27 of his last 32 games.
He started the day 6th among qualified CF'ers with a .768 OPS.
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