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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 23, 2020 15:38:05 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 25m Roenicke said he believes Devers is young enough to continue to improve defensively at 3B, with the hope that he'll emerge as an average defensive 3B. He still believes that Devers has the defensive tools for that position.
Asked if the Sox feel like they have a 2B for next year, Roenicke says that Arroyo has impressed offensively and defensively. ‘He’s done everything he could to impress us with what he does.’
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 23, 2020 15:40:26 GMT -5
Guerin Austin @guerinaustin · 24m Roenicke: -has not spoken to Chaim about next season, plans on discussing that in Atlanta -club has been happy with Verdugo -also been very impressed with Arroyo
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Post by Kimmi on Sept 23, 2020 16:20:00 GMT -5
Me too. Like I've said before, our 2021 spring training has already started. IRT to your last place remark, there is a (SSS) silver lining. If we're 14-16 in the past 30, without Sale, ERod, Benni, and pretty much without JDM or a 2B, what would our record be with a full contingent? The Sox have been playing better than they were at the season. And without many of our regulars. There's work to be done for next season, but we aren't nearly as bad off as some people like to think we are.
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Post by Kimmi on Sept 23, 2020 16:24:25 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. I feel bad for him and Hembree. I really do. I was hoping they would both pitch well. It's one thing if you're signed as a free agent and you don't pitch up to expectations. It's even worse when a team trades for you in the middle of their playoff race to help get them over the top, and you end up not helping much at all, and maybe even hurting.
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Post by Kimmi on Sept 23, 2020 16:25:43 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 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. So, I ended up not being able to watch last night's game. Glad to see that he did okay.
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Sept 23, 2020 20:08:38 GMT -5
Me too. Like I've said before, our 2021 spring training has already started. IRT to your last place remark, there is a (SSS) silver lining. If we're 14-16 in the past 30, without Sale, ERod, Benni, and pretty much without JDM or a 2B, what would our record be with a full contingent? The Sox have been playing better than they were at the season. And without many of our regulars. There's work to be done for next season, but we aren't nearly as bad off as some people like to think we are.
I was shocked at one of the trivia points on the RS telecast-before Arroyo got here, the RS did not have a HR from a 2B. That was Sept 12. That's 46 games without a HR from 2B. In fact, outside of Arroyo, their OPS was only .523.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 24, 2020 2:36:36 GMT -5
Red Sox 1, Orioles 9: Nathan Eovaldi ends the year on a high note
And the Red Sox stay hot at, well, the worst time. By Matt_Collins@MattRyCollins Sep 23, 2020, 10:37pm EDT
The Red Sox continue to win games when they, as in the organization, are probably better off losing. The players aren’t, and shouldn’t be, thinking this way, though, and they are playing good baseball. As I said last night, it’s tough to be mad when the production is coming from guys who are also important to the organization. In Wednesday night’s case, the main man was Nathan Eovaldi, who got the start in what was the last appearance he’ll make in 2020. The righty ended the year in style with six scoreless innings that included eight strikeouts and only one walk. The offense, meanwhile, provided a well-rounded attack led by Kevin Plawecki, who smacked three hits including a triple. Add it all up and it was a 9-1 blowout win.
We’re at the point of the season where we are seeing the last starts from members of the Red Sox rotation. If we’re being honest, for most of the season that wouldn’t have really meant much, but we’ve seen actual, real-life competence of late. We’ve seen general competence from Nathan Eovaldi all year, at least when he’s been healthy, and he’s the first to make his last start. The righty has pitched very well against Baltimore in previous meetings this summer, so this was a real chance to end things on a high note and carry some momentum into 2021.
He succeeded. It wasn’t a perfect start from the Red Sox righty, to be fair, as he did give up his share of its. However, he came out firing with big velocity, kept his control and was able to make big pitches when trouble did arise. As I said, he came out firing, and that helped him get two strikeouts right off the bat to start off this game. Baltimore did avoid the 1-2-3 inning, but Eovaldi got a third strikeout to finish a scoreless first inning.
The second was probably the closest to real damage in this game against Eovaldi, starting with a one-out base hit from Austin Hays. Eovaldi got a second out, but then Pat Valaika smacked one off the Monster in left-center field. It looked like it would be a double that put Hays at third base, but, as he is wont to do, Jackie Bradley Jr. ruined those plans. He perfectly played the ball off the wall and cut down Valaika at second base to end the inning. The play was originally called a double, but replay corrected the misjudgment.
From there, Eovaldi had a couple of three-batter innings to follow up on that second. The third was a traditional 1-2-3 inning, with two more strikeouts to boot, before getting a double play in the fourth to cancel out a leadoff base hit. Eovaldi found himself in a little more trouble in the fifth, too, as he gave up two hits there to put two on with just one out, but once again he got the grounder he needed. Ramon Urías grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.
That was followed by another frame with just a single, and that marked the end of Eovaldi’s night, and season. In the end, he finished things out with six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and only one walk while working around seven hits.
Meanwhile, the offense frankly put the game away early. They got started immediately with Alex Verdugo slapping a double off the Monster in the first at bat in the bottom of the first, and eventually Jackie Bradley Jr. stepped up to the plate with two on and two out. He continued his hot streak, ripping a base hit into right field to make it a 1-0 game. Kevin Plawecki followed that up with a single of his own, and it was a 2-0 lead after one.
The second was quiet, but the third was extremely loud and where the game was won. It started off with a Xander Bogaerts base hit, and then J.D. Martinez continued to look like himself as he has for the last few days. This time, he smashed a double out to straightaway center field, giving the Red Sox a 3-0 lead. A couple batters later, Plawecki hit a line drive out to right field. Hays tried to make the diving catch but came up empty, giving the Red Sox catcher a triple and the team a four-run lead. With two outs, Michael Chavis had an RBI double, and then the Red Sox drew a couple of walks. That brought Devers to the plate with the bases full, and not only was he looking to open up the game but also to snap out of a sudden funk that started on Tuesday. He accomplished that with a bases-clearing double, and just like that it was an eight-run game.
The offense didn’t do much of anything for the next few innings, leading to the 8-0 score holding into the seventh. Mike Kickham came in out of the bullpen for Boston to start that inning, and immediately the shutout was over. The southpaw tried to get Hays with a two-strike slider, but left it up in the zone over the middle of the plate, and Hays proceeded to crush it into the Monster Seats to make it an 8-1 game. Kickham did recover and limit the damage in the inning to just the one run.
After the Red Sox added one back in the bottom of the inning when Bradley came in to score on a wild pitch, Kickham came back out for the eighth. He got one out, but also loaded the bases, forcing Jeffrey Springs into the game to try and end the jam and prevent the Orioles from getting back into this. He got the job done, coming through with a strikeout and a ground out to keep Baltimore off the board completely in the inning.
That left just one more inning, and it was Springs getting the call there as well. He did give up a base hit, but beyond that it was a clean inning as the lefty continues to pitch extremely well to end the year. It also closed on Boston’s 22nd victory of the year.
The Red Sox will go for a sweep of the Orioles tomorrow night with Martín Pérez taking on Alex Cobb. First pitch is set for 7:30 PM ET.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 24, 2020 3:38:58 GMT -5
Eovaldi cranks it up (5 100+ mph!) in last start Righty empties tank vs. O's, does something he hasn't since 2016
By Ian Browne @ianmbrowne 12:13 AM EDT
BOSTON -- Nathan Eovaldi clearly had a full tank in his final start of 2020, as he fired five heaters at 100 mph or more -- his most in a regular-season start since 2016.
In a six-inning performance, the flame-throwing righty emptied that tank with a strong effort that should leave him feeling good following his final start of the season.
Eovaldi threw six shutout frames, walking one and striking out eight while leading the Red Sox to a 9-1 victory over the Orioles on Wednesday night.
• Box score
Of Eovaldi’s 92 pitches, Baltimore whiffed at 18 of them. He averaged 98.4 mph with his heater. In a sign of how strong Eovaldi’s pitch mix was, he got six swings-and-misses on four-seam fastballs, six on cutters, five on splitters and one on his curve.
His final pitch of the season was a 97.9 mph fastball that O’s catcher Chance Sisco swung through.
“Yeah, go out there and leave it all out there,” said Eovaldi. “I felt really good, I felt like I was ahead most of the counts, and it’s just put the guys away. So I felt like I left a couple pitches here and there where they were able to get on base, but I was able to navigate out of it.”
Though Eovaldi was limited to nine starts on the year due to a nagging right calf strain that sidelined him for three weeks, he made it through the season without any type of arm ailment. This should help lead Eovaldi into a productive offseason -- and give him momentum heading into the final two years of his contract with the Red Sox.
“I’m going to treat the offseason as I would any other offseason,” said Eovaldi. “I feel really good going into the offseason, so that’s nice. Usually by this time, my arm feels a little bit tired, my body feels tired. But right now, I feel really fresh. And obviously it’s disappointing that we’re not going to the playoffs, things like that, but going into the offseason now, treat it like any other offseason and come back ready to go next year.”
• Devers has 'toolset,' but 3B issues persist
In a season where Boston’s top two starting pitchers (Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez) didn’t throw a pitch, Eovaldi did what he could to pick up the slack, finishing 4-2 with a 3.72 ERA. Take away one outing, when the Yankees roughed him up for eight runs in 5 1/3 innings, and his overall numbers would have looked better.
“He’s always going to prepare himself well. Physically, mentally, he’s always prepared,” said Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke. “But it’s about locating pitches. And when he can locate, he is outstanding. It’s just trying to repeat those pitches all the time and making sure that -- with two strikes especially -- that he’s got the offspeed stuff out of the zone. But he’s a pleasure to be around, pleasure to watch work and prepare, and I’m glad we got him back out there for a few more at the end.”
The Red Sox hope to get Rodriguez (Myocarditis) back for the start of 2021 and Sale (Tommy John surgery) back before the middle of the season. Add in Eovaldi as a solid mid-rotation starter to go along with Martín Pérez (club option for $6.25 million) and promising young righties Tanner Houck and Nick Pivetta, Boston could have a significant improvement in the starting rotation from this difficult season.
Eovaldi will look to do his part.
“I try to improve every year, try to figure something out, get better,” Eovaldi said. “I felt like this year I was able to limit the walks and be aggressive more in the strike zone, attack the hitters with all my pitches.”
One thing is certain: Eovaldi will never be a comfortable at-bat.
“The guy throws 98-100 [mph] and has a cutter that’s 94, and just has wipeout stuff,” said Orioles outfielder Austin Hays. “It’s just going to be a difficult at-bat from the start.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 24, 2020 3:58:48 GMT -5
In his final start of season, Nate Eovaldi delivers a command performance for Red Sox By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated September 23, 2020, 10:36 p.m.
Remember the pitcher who looked like the most dominant performer in the 2018 postseason? Nate Eovaldi provided a tantalizing reminder of that version of himself to conclude the 2020 season.
On Wednesday, in his final start of a Red Sox campaign that has been both brief and interminable, Eovaldi dissected the Orioles with ease. He commanded an overpowering four-pitch mix — chiefly high-90s four-seam fastballs and low-90s cutters, complemented by curveballs and splitters in his final innings— over the course of six shutout innings in a 9-1 Red Sox victory.
In his final four starts of the season, Eovaldi looked like the pitcher whom the Sox wanted to see when they signed him to a four-year, $68 million deal following the 2018 championship run. Over those outings, he allowed just two runs in 21 innings (0.86 ERA) while striking out 25 and walking just two.
“I was able to make the adjustments I needed to and I felt like I finished strong,” said Eovaldi. Get 108 Stitches in your inboxEverything baseball every Monday-Friday during baseball season, and weekly in the offseason.
With that finishing kick, the 2020 version of Eovaldi looked as good as he’s ever been. He ended the year with a 3.72 ERA – the second-best mark of his career – along with career-best rates in both strikeouts (9.7 per nine innings) and walks (1.3 per nine innings). His 7.4 strikeouts per walk ranked as the third-best ratio by a starter in Red Sox team history, behind only the back-to-back Cy Young seasons by Pedro Martinez in 1999 and 2000.
“I love watching him pitch. He’s attacking hitters, and just the way you set it up to be,” said Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke. “He’s got all these weapons to get people out.”
Yet the idea that Eovaldi possesses remarkable gifts is hardly new. Nor is the recognition that his elite talent often comes with a lament about the infrequency with which he’s able to deliver commensurate performances – a pattern that continued as Roenicke reflected on the pitcher’s season, including the three-week interruption for an injured list stint due to a calf strain.
“Just a shame,” Roenicke said twice about the pitcher’s time on the sidelines.
“Definitely unfortunate,” Eovaldi said of the injury.
For the 30-year-old, health remains an “if” proposition. His ability is that of the sort of mid-rotation presence the Red Sox will need if they hope to move beyond their non-competitive flail through the 2020 season, yet his inability to remain on the mound suggests that while there is reason for confidence in his ability, a team can’t commit to the notion of his reliability.
Perhaps it’s borderline impossible for a player who throws as hard – and with such effort – as Eovaldi to maintain durability as a starter. Perhaps his succession of injuries simply reflects the natural toll of pitching.
Regardless, the Red Sox now know what they have in the righthander as they move forward into the latter half of his contract – a pitcher with a gifted arm, capable of runs of dominance, but whose availability can’t be taken for granted. As the Red Sox build their pitching staff for next year, they may well do so with the knowledge that Eovaldi can be a strong contributor to it – but with the awareness that they will have to be prepared for the times when he is unavailable.
Some takeaways:
▪ Both the Red Sox rotation and lineup are finishing the year with a measure of consistency that eluded the team for most of the year. Eovaldi’s six shutout innings lowered the Red Sox rotation’s ERA to 2.89 over the team’s last 17 contests, a run during which the club is – not coincidentally – playing its best baseball of the season, forging a 10-7 mark.
▪ The lineup, meanwhile, wasted little time providing Eovaldi with all the support he’d need, scoring a pair of runs on three hits in the bottom of the first (an Alex Verdugo leadoff double and two-out RBI singles by Jackie Bradley Jr. and Kevin Plawecki). The Sox tacked on six more in the third, a rally punctuated by a three-run double by Rafael Devers. The contest marked the third straight in which the Sox had scored eight runs, a season-long streak for the team. The throw from the outfield is cut off as the Red Sox Alex Verdugo heads for third base in the third inning of Wednesday's game. The throw from the outfield is cut off as the Red Sox Alex Verdugo heads for third base in the third inning of Wednesday's game.Jim Davis/Globe Staff
▪ Verdugo extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a first-inning double, making him one of seven players in the big leagues this year with multiple 10-game hitting streaks. He’s been the most consistent Red Sox hitter this year, explaining why Roenicke identified the outfielder prior to the game as the team’s most valuable player this year.
▪ The strong finishing run may boost the Sox out of last place, particularly given that the Orioles are in freefall. With two straight wins for the Sox over Baltimore at Fenway, the Sox are now within one game of the O’s in the battle for last; a sweep would leave the teams deadlocked – while potentially positioning Baltimore to jump ahead of the Sox in the draft, presuming that next year’s selection order is determined by the reverse order of teams' 2020 records.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 24, 2020 4:01:08 GMT -5
Red Sox notebook After showing signs of regression, can Rafael Devers remain at third? By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated September 23, 2020, 8:27 p.m.
Can Rafael Devers stay at third base? The question is one that has followed him dating to the time he signed with the Red Sox as a 16-year-old in 2013.
Yet over the course of his first several years — first as a minor leaguer, then in the big leagues — Devers delivered an effective on-field rebuttal to the concerns about his fitness for the position.
Though he endured periods in which he made errors in clusters from 2017-19, his ruts seemed to become shorter and less frequent with more experience in the big leagues and more maturity at a time when he remained one of the youngest players in the big leagues.
Moreover, in many ways — especially in 2019 — he compensated for the errors with a number of above-average plays thanks to a strong arm and excellent range, particularly to his left. With age, the Sox believed he’d develop into a quality third baseman, with projections for either an average or even above-average defender at the position by his mid-20s. In fact, in 2019, according to both Statcast’s Outs Above Average statistic and the Ultimate Zone Rating metric used by Fangraphs, he graded as having turned an above-average number of balls in play into outs.
The 2020 season, however, has been an ugly one for Devers at third base. He entered Wednesday with a major league-high 13 errors, advanced metrics have him as a clearly below-average defender this year, and while he’s made some strong plays, the growth of recent years has stalled — if not reversed.
“It is worrisome,” said one evaluator who’d long been bullish on the third baseman’s defense. “It hasn’t been a banner year for him, putting it mildly.”
Another evaluator – who thought that the Red Sox might at least want to have an offseason discussion about introducing Devers to another position – wondered whether Devers has seen an uptick in mental lapses due to the absence of fans.
Has the performance been sufficiently concerning that the Red Sox might discuss the possibility of exploring a position change with Devers? For now, such an extreme measure appears unlikely.
The Sox still believe that youth remains an asset — he’s more than a year younger than rookie Bobby Dalbec, and one of eight third basemen age 23 or younger to spend at least 10 games at the position this year — and that his hands, arm, and feet are good enough to stay at the position.
“Raffy’s got the tool set to be a good third baseman. If he can be even an average third baseman defensively, with the way he swings the bat, it’s a huge value for a team,” said Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke. before Wednesday night’s 9-1 victory over the Orioles. “At times there are some lapses. He knows it. He’s really hard on himself when he makes an error. He doesn’t like it. He works at it. And I think he’ll just continue to get better and better.”
But the expectation of progress can’t be taken for granted after his struggles in 2020. To stay at third long term, Devers has work to do.
Testing teachers
The Red Sox and MLB are partnering with the City of Boston to provide regular COVID-19 testing to members of the Boston Teachers Union through the end of 2020. MLB will provide tests kits free of charge through its COVID-19 community testing program, with test results produced by the Sports Medicine Research & Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City, which handled COVID-19 tests for MLB during the season. Every week, a randomized sample of 5 percent of BTU teachers will be invited to get tested.
“As part of Major League Baseball’s COVID-19 testing program, the league wanted to ensure there was opportunity to extend their testing benefits beyond the clubs and players, and into the communities where teams operate,” Red Sox CEO/president Sam Kennedy said in a statement. “We are grateful to MLB for giving us this opportunity to partner with the City of Boston and help with their back-to-school rollout.”
The Sox and JetBlue, in collaboration with Boston Pride, also donated more than 60,000 masks for use by BPS teachers and students.
No word yet
Roenicke said that he has yet to talk to chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom about whether he’ll be asked to remain as manager in 2021. Aside from his anticipation that he would discuss his status before heading home for the winter, Roenicke said that he was unsure when he would discuss his future with the club. Bloom is joining the team on their season-ending road series in Atlanta . . . Christian Arroyo, who left Sunday’s game with back spasms and sat on Tuesday, returned to the lineup at second base and went 0 for 2 with a pair of walks and one run scored. In 10 games with the Red Sox entering Wednesday, the 25-year-old was hitting .286/.324/.571 with the only three homers of the season that the Red Sox had received from second basemen. “This guy has done everything we’ve asked him to do,” said Roenicke. “He’s got really good instincts. He’s got good hands. He’s got a good arm. And he swings the bat. He swings it with authority. For a short sample, watching the guy, he’s impressed not just me but all the coaches and [the front office],” Roenicke added. “I don’t know what that means for next year. I think that depends on what happens and who’s available and what we decide to do. [But] I think he’s done everything that he could to impress us with what he does.” . . . Chris Mazza, Tanner Houck, and Nick Pivetta (in that order) will start the final three games of the season in Atlanta over the weekend
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 24, 2020 4:04:22 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 7h
Nathan Eovaldi -- 6 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 92-68 18 swing/miss.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 24, 2020 4:05:14 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 6h Nathan Eovaldi -- 'I was hoping I’d get another inning. I didn’t realize my pitch count was that high. Go out there and leave it all out there – I felt really good.' #RedSox
Nathan Eovaldi -- 'Right now I feel really fresh. Obviously it’s disappointing we’re not going to the playoffs. Going to the offseason now, I’ll treat it like any other offseason and come back ready to go for next year.' #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 24, 2020 4:11:14 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 9h 62nd hit in 50 games for Alex Verdugo, the 22nd for extra bases.
Jackie Bradley Jr. with an RBI single. He has hit safely in 28 of his last 33 games. OPS up to .784.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 24, 2020 4:12:07 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 7h Eovaldi as thrown 112 innings and made 21 starts the last two seasons.
Have to go back to 2015 for the last time he made 27 starts in a season. Such a difficult guy to project for 2021.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 24, 2020 4:15:42 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 9h The Sox have 17 outfield assists, 6 more than any other team.
Nate Eovaldi finished the year with six shutout innings, concluding a year where his performance was as good as its ever been. His abilities are obvious. But he still has yet to answer his most critical question: Can he become reliable?
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