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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 12, 2021 2:44:39 GMT -5
Red Sox @ Twins Monday 12th April 2021 2pm @ Target Field
Martin Perez 0-0/ 5.40
Held his own in his debut allowing 3 runs while striking out six over five innings. Perez pitched for the Twins in 2019 in 10 games and lifetime vs the Twins is 0-3/ 4.91 in five games (four starts).
JA Happ 0-0/ 2.25
Did not get many quick outs vs the Tigers but limited the damage to one run on 4 innings, running up his pitch count up to 89 following concerns about his delayed start due to a positive COVOID test.
Hot hitters J.D. Martinez, Byron Buxton face off in Red Sox-Twins series
J.D. Martinez woke up Sunday not knowing if he'd be in the Boston Red Sox lineup.
He didn't even know if he'd be on the roster.
Martinez spent a day on the COVID-19 injured list before being cleared from the protocol about an hour before Sunday's game in Baltimore.
The designated hitter went 4-for-6 with three home runs and four RBIs in a 14-9 victory against the Orioles. Teammate Rafael Devers went deep twice and drove in five runs.
Martinez and the Red Sox are scheduled to open a four-game series Monday afternoon against the host Minnesota Twins.
Martinez, who batted just .213 with seven home runs in the pandemic-shortened 2020, has five homers this season, tied for the American League lead with the Twins' Byron Buxton.
Martinez had a chance at a record-tying fourth homer in the ninth, but struck out swinging. Martinez homered four times for Arizona in 2017 and shares the record with 17 others.
"He's locked in. You can tell," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. "This is the guy I saw in (2018 and 2019). He has an idea of what he wants to do. He doesn't deviate from his process. I think the last swing he was just hoping for a strike to see if he could hit it in the air. That wasn't the case."
The Red Sox have won six consecutive games to move into sole possession of first place in the AL East for the first time since 2018.
While Martinez is batting .472 this season with a 1.583 on-base plus slugging percentage, Minnesota's Buxton has been even better.
Buxton went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBIs Sunday in an 8-6 loss to visiting Seattle. Buxton is batting .481 with a league-leading 1.734 OPS.
"Seeing the ball good. Just going up there and having a little bit more fun," said Buxton, who has never batted better than .262 or hit more than 16 homers in his previous six seasons.
The Twins coughed up a six-run lead Sunday, and closer Alex Colome blew a save for the second time in four opportunities, allowing a three-run homer to Seattle's Kyle Seager in the ninth.
"Alex has tremendous late-inning experience and success at this level. He's our guy and we trust him implicitly late in ballgames," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.
Red Sox left-hander Martin Perez (0-0, 5.40 ERA) is scheduled to face his former team Monday. Perez went 10-7 with a 5.12 ERA for the Twins in 2019. He's 0-3 with a 4.91 ERA in five career games against Minnesota, including four starts.
The Twins are set to start lefty J.A. Happ (0-0, 2.25), who is 13-4 with a 2.79 ERA in 27 appearances against the Red Sox, with 26 starts.
Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson (mild right hamstring strain) went through a workout at Minnesota's alternate training site Sunday and is eligible to come off the injured list for the opener of the Red Sox series.
--Field Level Media
Red Sox at Twins Monday, at 2:10 PM EST Possibility Of A Delay Or Rainout According to Forecast.io, it's expected to be 45° F with a 33% chance of rain and 13 MPH wind blowing out in Minnesota at 2:10 PM EST. Hourly Forecasts: Weather.com Forecast.io A chance of showers may lead to a brief delay during Monday afternoon's game at Target Field, but no postponement is expected. Moderate winds with strong gusts blowing out to right-center field will give hitters a considerable advantage.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 12, 2021 2:49:15 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 4h #RedSox - #Twins pitching matchups:
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 12, 2021 3:42:50 GMT -5
RED SOX NOTEBOOK Nick Pivetta, backed by big offense, did what he needed to against Baltimore By Julian McWilliams Globe Staff,Updated April 11, 2021, 7:41 p.m.
BALTIMORE — Nick Pivetta has a way of getting out of trouble.
He drew a solid chunk of hard contact in his outing against the Orioles on Sunday, but like each of his starts, made pitches when he had to. He tossed six innings, surrendering seven hits and four runs, including a Maikel Franco three-run shot in the sixth inning which cut the Sox’ lead at the time to 10-4.
The offense certainly carried most of the load, but Pivetta’s stuff also played. He had a pivotal strikeout of Anthony Santander looking with the bases loaded in the third. Santander had fouled off seven pitches during the at-bat, but Pivetta froze him on a 1-2 fastball on the inner half of the plate.
“He put together a good at-bat,” Pivetta said after the 14-9 win. “That’s a big at-bat at the time. It was just fun. It’s nice to be out there and compete.”
A cross-up in that same frame between Pivetta and Christian Vázquez could have resulted in a run for the Orioles, but the ball didn’t go back far enough, enabling Vázquez to smother it. Pivetta then made the gutsy call to put his body in front of the plate, even with the speedy Freddy Galvis hustling down the line.
Pivetta applied the tag, and pumped his fist after the out call got the Sox out of the jam.
“I just tried to get my body in front of the plate and meet him there and get my legs in front so I could kind of block to plate the best I could with the ball,” Pivetta said. “Because I believe the rule is if the ball takes you into the plate, you can block it.”
“That was an aggressive play,” manager Alex Cora said. “It was a big play at the moment.”
Pivetta has a 3.27 ERA this season. Since being traded to the Red Sox at the end of last year, Pivetta hasn’t lost, compiling a 4-0 record in as many starts. Devers delivers
Rafael Devers had himself a weekend. He hit a homer in each of the three games, with two coming on Sunday. He totaled six hits and 9 RBIs.
Devers has the third-most extra-base hits by a Red Sox in their first 400 games at 189. The two in front of him are Ted Williams and Nomar Garciaparra, who are tied with 219.
“Obviously, I made a couple changes here and there, but I still maintain the same approach as I do every single game and now things are falling in my favor,” said Devers, who raised his batting average to .250. “So it feels good to be able to be contributing as much as I am right now.”
Devers began hitting the ball on the screws in the home series against the Tampa Bay Rays, compiling more productive at-bats. Cora knew it was only a matter of time before his third baseman went on a tear.
“He feels really good about himself,” Cora said. “He hit some hard balls. There were some big walks against Tampa. When he starts walking and controlling the strike zone, good things are going to happen. And he loves hitting here.”
Indeed he does, or at least that’s what the numbers say. Devers has eight career homers in 26 games at Camden Yards, the most out of any road ballpark he’s played in.
“We play here a lot, so I guess that contributes to my success here as well,” Devers said. “But I’m just doing what I do best and just trying to not change too much and just stick to my game plan as I usually do.” Plenty of afternoon baseball
The Red Sox will begin a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins on Monday. All four are scheduled day games, starting at 2:10 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and 1:10 p.m. Thursday. In the wake of a potential not-guilty verdict in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, the first trial connected to last May’s death of George Floyd, Cora intimated that the Twins wanted to be as cautious as possible. “Not only do we have to be careful, but we have to be in tune with everything that is going on outside of our world,” Cora said. “So, we’ll be OK. We’re going over there to do a job and play four baseball games. Then we’ll be in the hotel and we hang in together” . . . J.D. Martinez has the second-most RBIs by a Red Sox in their first nine games of a season with 15 . . . Sunday was the 34th three-homer game in Red Sox history, and Martinez the 25th-different Red Sox to accomplish it. It was also the 31st time the Red Sox hit as many as six homers in a game . . . The Red Sox own the league’s longest active winning streak at six. They have averaged 8.8 runs per game during it, batting .332 and slugging .574.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 12, 2021 3:44:05 GMT -5
Stats By STATS @statsbystats · 11h J.D. Martinez of the @redsox already has 12 extra-base hits in 8 games this season.
That is the most XBH by any player in his first 8 games of the season in American League history.
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 11h J.D. Martinez had a total of 23 extra-base hits -- 7 home runs, 16 doubles -- in 2020. #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 12, 2021 3:57:46 GMT -5
Twins-Boston series preview Boston got swept by Baltimore out of the gate but hasn't lost since. By Phil Miller Star Tribune April 11, 2021 — 8:41pm
Four-game series at Target Field
All games on BSN, 830-AM
Monday, 1:10 p.m.: LHP J.A. Happ (0-0, 2.25) vs. LHP Martin Perez (0-0, 5.40)
Tuesday, 1:10 p.m.: RHP Kenta Maeda (1-0, 2.61) vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (1-1, 1.46)
Wednesday, 1:10 p.m.: RHP Jose Berrios (2-0, 1.54) vs. LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (1-0, 5.40)
Thursday, 12:10 p.m.: RHP Michael Pineda (1-0, 1.64) vs. RHP Garrett Richards (1-0, 10.29) Red Sox update
After starting the season with three losses to Baltimore, they have won six games in a row, sweeping the Rays and Orioles. They averaged 1.7 runs in the losing streak, but 8.3 per game in the week since. … Their 3.92 ERA ranks in the lower half of the AL, however. … DH J.D. Martinez, who homered three times Sunday, leads the majors with 12 extra-base hits this season; Byron Buxton is second with 10. … 1B Bobby Dalbec has not homered this year but hit five homers off the Twins in spring training last month. … Eovaldi owns a 7.88 ERA in three Target Field starts. … Boston added a pair of super-utility players in Kiké Hernandez and former Twin Marwin Gonzalez in the offseason. Twins update
They let a 6-0 lead Sunday vs. Seattle evaporate, and Alexander Colome had his second blown save of the young season. … Three of their four losses have come in extra innings. They had not started 0-3 in extra-inning games since 1998. … They have won the season series against Boston only once in the past 13 seasons (they didn't play in 2020), going 5-2 in 2015. They are 36-50 against the Red Sox since 2007. … They have averaged 6.1 runs per game so far, and are third in the AL in runs scored behind Houston and Boston. … Only Cleveland has given up fewer runs in the AL this year. … Happ is 13-4 with a 2.79 ERA in 26 career starts vs. Boston, but Berrios is 0-4 in five starts. … 3B Josh Donaldson (hamstring) is eligible to come off the IL during the series.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 12, 2021 4:07:21 GMT -5
Mastrodonato: Winning Red Sox are worth watching again, but don’t buy in just yet It’s still early, but they are at least engaging
By Jason Mastrodonato | jason.mastrodonato@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald PUBLISHED: April 11, 2021 at 7:40 p.m. | UPDATED: April 11, 2021 at 9:46 p.m.
Make it six wins in a row for the Red Sox.
And they did it with style, homering six times and putting up two touchdowns in a 14-9 victory over the Orioles on Sunday.
Why does it still feel difficult to buy into this team? I have a few guesses.
The Sox became the first team since the 2005 Mets to start the year with at least three straight losses and follow it with six wins in a row.
The 2005 Mets, you probably don’t remember, didn’t sniff the postseason. They lost five in a row to start the season, won the next six and still managed to end April under .500 (11-13) and finish 83-79 overall.
But what the ’05 Mets did have was an ace. Pedro Martinez, at 33 years old and just off a World Series win with the Red Sox, went 15-8 with a 2.82 ERA. And while the 2021 Sox’ rotation might end up having more depth, they don’t have anyone quite like Pedro.
They’ve got Eduardo Rodriguez, who looked as good as one could’ve hoped after an 18-month layoff (five innings, three runs, seven strikeouts against an Orioles team he usually dominates). Nick Pivetta has looked better than expected and could turn out to be a decent back-end starter. Garrett Richards still looks like a project at this point. Tanner Houck was dominant, but got sent to the minors.
The closest thing the Sox have to an ace is Nathan Eovaldi (12⅓ innings, two runs, 11 strikeouts).
Through two starts — repeat that part again — Eovaldi has been as good as anybody. Pull up his StatCast data and you’ll see nothing but red, with numbers that rank in the top quarter of the league in just about every category, while his average exit velocity of 81 mph is better than 97% of big league pitchers.
His repertoire, too, has been worth noting.
He’s severely reduced the usage of a traditional cutter, going from 31% cutters to 9% from last year to this year, instead using more of a traditional slider, a pitch he hasn’t thrown in two years, according to StatCast.
If he was anybody else, we’d be looking at his first two starts and wondering if this guy was about to lead the Red Sox into the Wild Card Game or, dare we even say it, the Division Series?
Unfortunately, Eovaldi hasn’t made 30 starts since 2017. He’s averaged 20 starts a season throughout his career, and projecting him to continue dominating six months from now is a pointless exercise.
Nobody knows how Rodriguez will hold up over a full season, and it’s hard to believe the team would let him make 30 starts after missing the entire 2020 season.
Their actual ace, Chris Sale, hasn’t yet started throwing off a mound. He had Tommy John surgery about the same time as the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard last March, but Syndergaard was already throwing 98 mph off a mound in March, and he’s expected back in June. To expect Sale back anytime before August is also a longshot.
In the bullpen, there’s a lot to be figured out.
Matt Barnes has never been this good and he’s going to make himself a lot of money in the winter if he keeps it up. But who is Alex Cora’s No. 2 reliever? Adam Ottavino has struggled, Darwinzon Hernandez looks erratically excellent. Rule 5 pick Garrett Whitlock is interesting, but unproven. And it’s the journeyman long-man Matt Andriese who has been Cora’s second choice to close games.
The offense is getting insane production from one player in particular, Martinez.
Rafael Devers is looking dangerous, too. Christian Vazquez is locked in. Alex Verdugo is always consistent. And while Kiké Hernandez hasn’t made much of an impact yet, he’s been hammering the ball.
The Sox will need to figure out how they’re going to get production from the corner outfield spots, who can play second base regularly and if Bobby Dalbec (3-for-25 with 10 strikeouts) is going to become a contributor.
This team has caught some luck with a few replay reviews that went its way and some bad defense from the Rays and Orioles in these last two series, but it’s also been resilient, coming from behind to win four of the six games.
In their own words, they’ve been grinding out these victories. It’s what good teams do. But nothing has come easy. And it’s only April.
The best way to envision the Sox staying atop their division for an extended duration is to believe Martinez is going to have a vintage David Ortiz-like season and carry the team on his back while inspiring (and/or coaching) better performance from everyone around him.
“I told you guys when we lost three and everyone was panicking I said relax guys, it’s only three games,” Martinez said. “There’s still a lot more games to go.
“And I’ll say it right now — so what? We’ve won six in a row, there’s still a lot more to go.”
At least the Red Sox are showing something. They’re worth watching. They’re engaging. They’re interesting.
They were none of those things last year.
It’s going to take more than one good week before we start believing.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 12, 2021 4:08:57 GMT -5
Red Sox Notebook: J.D. Martinez hits three homers but still doesn’t feel hot
By Jason Mastrodonato | jason.mastrodonato@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald PUBLISHED: April 11, 2021 at 7:48 p.m. | UPDATED: April 11, 2021 at 8:10 p.m.
Saturday, J.D. Martinez had a cold.
Sunday, Martinez hit three home runs, including two to the opposite field and another to straightaway center to lead the Sox to a 14-9 win over the Orioles for their sixth straight victory.
With a chance to tie his own major league record in the ninth, Martinez swung and missed at a 3-2 breaking ball that fell out of the zone. He looked back at the pitcher, Paul Fry, and shook his head.
Martinez said he was swinging at the 3-2 pitch no matter what.
“I really don’t think he’s going to throw me a strike, but I have to take the chance, just to at least foul it off if it’s a really good pitch,” he said.
It’s been almost four years since he last hit four homers in a single game, earning him a share of the MLB record. He was with the Diamondbacks and in the midst of a hot streak he probably never thought he’d repeat.
“I’ll tell you if I’m Arizona-hot,” Martinez told this reporter during one hot streak in 2018.
It looks like Martinez is on his way toward getting Arizona-hot.
While he hit a remarkable .302 with 29 homers in 62 games with the Diamondbacks after being traded in the middle of the 2017 season, he now has a .472 average with five homers, seven doubles and 16 RBIs in eight games, a pace that’s beyond comprehension (and surely impossible to sustain).
Asked if he was Arizona-hot, he laughed.
“I wouldn’t say that,” he said. “That’s a long shot away. If I get to 12 home runs this month, you can ask me that question.”
Martinez doesn’t feel like he’s in a hot streak at all, actually.
“I think the moment you’re aware of it, you’re no longer in it, so I try to not be aware of it and just try to focus on the small tasks,” he said.
The Sox weren’t even sure if Martinez would be available to play on Sunday after he missed Saturday with cold symptoms while he awaited the results of a COVID-19 rapid test. He said he was frustrated to stay in his hotel all day.
They announced the lineup just about an hour before game time and there was Martinez, back in the three-hole, as they activated him from the COVID-19 related injury list and optioned Michael Chavis back to the alternate site.
Martinez struck out in his first at-bat, then homered in his next three. Laundry time
The Sox’ newest home run celebration involves a laundry cart stacked with towels.
It seems to be the backup catcher’s job to push whoever hits a homer in the laundry cart through a wave of high-fives in the dugout.
“It started last year,” said Rafael Devers. “I don’t remember who started it. It may have been (Christian) Vazquez or someone else. It was a last year thing we just carried over to this season.”
Said Martinez, “It’s just something stupid but fun. We enjoy it. Any little thing we can do to create some camaraderie with the guys and kind of bring everybody tighter and closer together, it’s been fun. We get a new cart every park. This one was too deep. It was freaking really deep. I was like, ‘you guys are going to have to carry me to get me out of this thing.’” Chains come off Pivetta
Finally, the Red Sox let one of their starting pitchers go more than 92 pitches.
While managers around the league are being extra cautious with their starters after the short season last year, the Sox had been pulling theirs between 79 and 92 pitches until Sunday, when Nick Pivetta threw 101 pitches in six innings of four-run ball.
It was just the second time this season a Sox starter went more than 5⅓ innings.
“I do believe right around the first week of May is when you start letting it go,” manager Alex Cora said. “I’m very pleased with the way we’ve thrown the ball, very pleased with the effort and the chances they’ve given us to win the game.” Odds and ends…
Devers homered twice and Alex Verdugo went deep once as the Sox nearly doubled their home run total (seven entering Sunday) in one game.
“He feels really good about himself,” Cora said of Devers. “He hit some hard balls at home, it was just a matter of time.”
It was the fourth time in Red Sox history that one player hit three homers while another hit two. It had also been done by Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez in 2002, Garciaparra and Trot Nixon in 1999 and Bobby Doerr, Ted Williams and Walt Dropo in 1950…
Cora said he received his first round of the COVID-19 vaccine in Fort Myers before the season started, but no Red Sox players have been vaccinated. The team plans to present some medical information to the players when they return to Boston and Cora hopes they’ll get to the 85% vaccination rate that will allow certain restrictions to loosen…
All four of the Sox’ games in Minnesota this week will be played during the day in order to avoid nighttime foot traffic while the George Floyd trial is taking place.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 12, 2021 4:16:32 GMT -5
Red Sox Stats @redsoxstats · 11h
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 12, 2021 4:20:18 GMT -5
Red Sox Notes @soxnotes · 12h The Red Sox own MLB’s longest active winning streak (6 games), during which they are averaging 8.83 runs per game, batting .332, and slugging .574 (78-for-235, 12 HR, 21 2B). They scored 6+ runs on 10+ hits in each of those games.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 12, 2021 6:03:23 GMT -5
Boston Red Sox vs. Minnesota Twins preview: TV schedule, pitching probables, key stories (April 12-15) Updated 6:00 AM; Today 6:00 AM
By Chris Cotillo | ccotillo@MassLive.com
The Red Sox won their sixth straight game Sunday afternoon, beating the Orioles, 14-9, and finishing off their second straight series sweep to improve to 6-3 on the season. They’re now in for a bit of a challenge in Minneapolis, where they’ll face the reigning AL Central champion Minnesota Twins for a four-game series. Here’s a preview: Boston Red Sox (6-3) vs. Minnesota Twins (5-4) · Target Field · Minneapolis, MN
SERIES SCHEDULE (and TV information):
Mon. April 12, 2:10 p.m. ET -- NESN / MLB Network (out-of-market)
Tue. April 13, 2:10 p.m. ET -- NESN
Wed. April 14, 2:10 p.m. ET -- NESN
Thu. April 15, 1:10 p.m. ET -- NESN / MLB Network (out-of-market)
HOW TO WATCH:
Mon. April 12, 2:10 p.m. ET -- NESN / MLB Network (out-of-market) (Channel finder: Comcast Xfinity, Verizon Fios, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish, AT&T U verse, fuboTV and Sling) · Live stream: fuboTV, ESPN+ , MLB.tv (out of market)
Tue. April 13, 2:10 p.m. ET -- NESN (Channel finder: Comcast Xfinity, Verizon Fios, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish, AT&T U verse, fuboTV and Sling) · Live stream: fuboTV, ESPN+, MLB.tv (out of market)
Wed. April 14, 2:10 p.m. ET -- NESN (Channel finder: Comcast Xfinity, Verizon Fios, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish, AT&T U verse, fuboTV and Sling) · Live stream: fuboTV, MLB.tv (out of market)
Thu. April 15, 1:10 p.m. ET -- NESN / MLB Network (out-of-market) (Channel finder: Comcast Xfinity, Verizon Fios, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish, AT&T U verse, fuboTV and Sling) · Live stream: fuboTV, MLB.tv (out of market)
KNOW YOUR OPPONENT:
For the first time in 10 years, the Twins clinched back-to-back division titles in 2019 and 2020, going 101-61 in 2019 and following that up with a 36-24 record in the abbreviated season last year. Despite that success, the club was swept in the postseason in both years, losing three straight to the Yankees in 2019 and two straight to the Astros last year. Minnesota has now -- unbelievably -- lost 18 postseason games in a row, with the club’s last playoff win coming in Game 1 of the 2004 ALDS.
The Twins made a series of moves to improve their roster over the winter, signing shortstop Andrelton Simmons (1 year, $10.5M), lefty J.A. Happ (1 year, $8M), reliever Alex Colomé (1 year, $6.25M with option) and righties Matt Shoemaker and Hansel Robles (both got 1 year, $2M deals). Minnesota also re-signed Nelson Cruz (1 year, $13M) while losing a bunch of key contributors (Jake Odorizzi, Eddie Rosario, Trevor May, Tyler Clippard, Rich Hill, Marwin Gonzalez and Sergio Romo).
Minnesota is off to a fine start in 2021, totaling a 5-4 record through three series. The Twins took two of three from the Brewers and Tigers to start the year before dropping two of three at home against the Mariners over the weekend.
Led by Rhode Island native Rocco Baldelli, the Twins are once again expected to contend in their division and are considered by many to be the favorite.
PITCHING PROBABLES:
Monday, 2:10 p.m. -- LHP Martín Pérez (0-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. LHP J.A. Happ (0-0, 2.25 ERA)
Tuesday, 2:10 p.m. -- RHP Nathan Eovaldi (1-1, 1.46 ERA) vs. RHP Kenta Maeda (1-0, 2.61 ERA)
Wednesday, 2:10 p.m. -- LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (1-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. RHP José Berríos (2-0, 1.54 ERA)
Thursday, 1:10 p.m. -- RHP Garrett Richards (0-1, 10.29 ERA) vs. RHP Michael Pineda (1-0, 1.64 ERA)
THREE SOX TO WATCH:
J.D. Martinez
Martinez, who hit three homers in Sunday’s win, is off to a ridiculous start in 2021, hitting .472 (17-for-36) with five homers, seven doubles, 16 RBIs and a 1.583 OPS in eight games. He leads the majors in RBIs and is tied with three other players (Minnesota’s Byron Buxton, Colorado’s Ryan McMahon and Cincinnati’s Tyler Naquin) in home runs.
Hunter Renfroe
Renfroe hasn’t played since Wednesday afternoon due to general soreness, but it’s expected he’ll be in the lineup Monday afternoon against lefty J.A. Happ. After an impressive spring training, Renfroe has gotten off to a dismal start in his first year with the Red Sox, hitting .158 (3-for-19) with four strikeouts in five games.
Eduardo Rodriguez
Rodriguez, who got the win in his emotional return to the mound in Baltimore on Thursday, will make his second start of the year Wednesday afternoon opposite Twins ace José Berríos. With one outing under him, look for Rodriguez to try to get deeper into the ballgame than he did against the Orioles.
SERIES NOTES:
With a win Sunday, the Sox became the first team to open a season with a losing streak of 3+ games and immediately follow it with a win streak of 6+ games since the 2005 Mets (started 0-5, won next 6). Red Sox utility man Marwin Gonzalez spent the last two years with the Twins. Lefty Martín Pérez pitched for them in 2019. Saturday began a stretch of 16 straight days with a game for the Red Sox... Included in that stretch is the club’s longest homestand of the season (10 games). Thirteen of the Sox’ first 17 games are day games, including all four in Minnesota. The Red Sox and Twins didn’t play in 2020 because Major League Baseball instituted a regional schedule to limit travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the teams were 3-3 against each other with the Red Sox taking two of three at Target Field in June and the Twins returning the favor at Fenway Park in September.
UP NEXT:
After four days in Minnesota, the Red Sox will fly back to Boston for a 10-game homestand against the White Sox, Blue Jays and Mariners. The club won’t play another game on the road until April 27 when they face the Mets at Citi Field. Here’s what’s ahead:
Fri. 4/16 - Mon. 4/19: vs. White Sox (4)
Tue. 4/20 - Wed. 4/21: vs. Blue Jays (2)
Thu. 4/22 - Sun. 4/25: vs. Mariners (4)
Mon. 4/26: OFF DAY
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 12, 2021 8:46:20 GMT -5
Series Preview: Five questions with Over the Monster
Looking at the Red Sox By TJ Gorsegner@badcoffeetwins Apr 12, 2021, 9:30am EDT
Today the Boston Red Sox come to town, and as we have done for all our opponents thus far, we talked to our sister site, in this case Over the Monster. Matt Collins, the site manager at OtM was a good sport and answered my questions, and as always, we thank him for doing so.
1. How did the offseason go for the Red Sox? Are there any big acquisitions you are really excited about? Are there any you find a huge disappointment?
The Red Sox had so much work to do this winter it was almost impossible for it not to feel a little underwhelming. And I think that was the general feeling coming into spring training. It wasn’t that they were inactive or even that people were actively mad about this winter, but rather that the offseason was very much a quantity over quality approach and after losing Mookie Betts (and others) recently, not getting any star power back was a big of a disappointment. That said, I think there were some moves that people excited. Probably tops among them were Enrique Hernández and Garrett Richards, neither of whom are expected to be stars, but rather solid contributors. I’m not sure there was any that was seen as a massive disappointment since it was more about the lack of big moves. But if I had to pick one it’d probably be Hunter Renfroe, less because of anything specifically with him and more due to the fact that they didn’t really do a ton in the outfield and he was one of the few underwhelming moves there.
2. Looking back at that Mookie Betts trade, Brusdar Graterol was a relatively small portion, but having seen his success in LA, do you wish the original deal had gone through, or are you happier with the way it worked out in the end?
I mean, this is one of those things where it’s really hard for me not to just say I wish neither had happened. There was no scenario in which I wanted Betts traded. But to choose one, I’d rather go with what they have. That’s not really anything to do with Graterol, to be clear. He’s obviously incredibly talented. My issue is more that I didn’t want the top prospect coming back in the trade to be a pitcher because the Red Sox are historically not great at getting the most out of pitching prospects. The organization needed to get value they could worth with back in that trade, and I’m much more confident in them getting the most out of someone like Jeter Downs than someone like Graterol, even if it’s reasonable to want the latter in a vacuum.
3. Are the Sox rebuilding? Its sort of hard to tell—they don’t seem to be trying to compete this year, but also, they still spent some money. What is their timeline to be competitive again? Is this one of those Yankee reloads where they have a “down” year or two and then suddenly are amazing, or is this a real rebuild? Do you believe that the Chaim Bloom front office is the right team be successful?
This one is a little complicated because I think everyone has a different definition of rebuilding. If you are asking in the sense of an Orioles-like rebuild where you strip everything down to the studs, then absolutely not. That will never happen with this ownership, who are far too aware of their standing in the Boston sports scene to allow themselves to fall into obscurity in the city landscape. That said, they’re certainly not built like a team that expects to win a World Series. I think that could be the focus as soon as next season again depending on how hard they’re willing to go after pitcher over the offseason, so in that sense I guess it is similar to the Yankees. I just think it’s important to acknowledge that it’s very hard to do that well. I think Chaim Bloom has been very good at getting a little extra value in these small-to-medium kind of deals, but to really be able to take the next step they’ll need to be able to hit the home run in the front office as well. I have no reason to think Bloom explicitly can’t be successful in those types of scenarios, but we haven’t gotten a chance to see it yet.
4. Give us a quick rundown on the pitchers we are scheduled to face this week?
So things start with Martín Pérez, who you guys are of course pretty familiar with. Pérez is still utilizing the same soft contact-oriented approach he started to use in Minnesota, and as is typically the case with that kind of pitcher the results have been varied. He’s a big fan favorite in Boston though, partially due to him just being a great guy and partially due to him being the only thing resembling a reliable pitcher in 2020. The hope is always going to be more for him to keep the team in the game rather than looking for a dominant performance.
After that Nathan Eovaldi takes the mound, and for my money he’s the most underrated player on this Red Sox team, and that’s both by Red Sox fans and nationally. The injury history always takes center stage, and while that’s certainly not unfair his talent when he’s pitching is real. He’s added more to his repertoire this year as well, with his big 99 mph fastball now being the third or fourth offering in his toolbelt. As long as he’s throwing strikes, I’m always confident he can put together a solid outing, though obviously the Twins lineup is one to put that theory to the test.
Eduardo Rodriguez gets the third game in this series in what will be his second start of the season. As I’m sure most people reading this know, he had to sit out all of 2020 after getting COVID and then subsequently being diagnosed with myocarditis. His return last week was really great, to see just getting him back on the mound. But the reality is the Red Sox need him to be the staff ace. He has the stuff to lead this rotation and be a top-20 to 30 pitcher in the game, but it’s just a matter of him trusting that stuff enough to attack rather than nibble. He was solid in his first start, though there was some rust to be shaken off as well.
And finally, Garrett Richards pitches in the series finale. It’s been a total rollercoaster for him early in this season. He got rocked in his first start, and then looked like he was getting rocked again last time out before righting the ship as the start went on. He’s had some trouble with command as well as adding in a reliable third pitch since the spring, so this would seem to be Minnesota’s best chance to put up a crooked number in this series.
5. Who are one or two players we have probably never heard of that will have an impact on this series, or on the season overall?
We’ve got to go with Garrett Whitlock here, who was a Rule 5 pick this past winter. That he was taken from the Yankees makes it all the sweeter that he looks to be an absolute steal of an addition to the organization. We’re obviously still dealing with small sample sizes, but even going back to the spring his stuff just looks nasty. He’s added two or three ticks to his fastball to get it up consistently around 95, and he’s basically learned an entirely new changeup from Matt Andriese. For now, Whitlock is pitching in middle relief, but he’s already being moved into higher leverage spots and long-term the hope is that he can settle in as a back-end starter.
6. Anything else you want Twins fans to know?
The only other thing I’ll add is that if any Red Sox fan complains about Matt Barnes, don’t listen to them. He rules.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 12, 2021 9:19:29 GMT -5
A Q&A With Twinkie Town’s Tawny
The Red Sox are about to head to Minnesota to take on the Twins. By Jake Kostik@legacyme3 Apr 12, 2021, 10:01am EDT
With the Red Sox about to face the Minnesota Twins, I was able to get a few minutes of Tawny Jarvi’s time. She is one of the senior writers for Twinkie Town, our sister site here at SB Nation that covers the Twins
Thank you to her for her time, and willingness to answer a handful of questions I had for her in advance of the series between the Red Sox and Twins.
The Q&A has been lightly edited for clarity.
Jake Kostik: What have you done to Byron Buxton? He is destroying everything, and that’s not the Byron Buxton we know.
Tawny Jarvi: It is a little weird to call a former number one prospect “under the radar,” but Buxton being an MVP-tier producer when on the field is nothing new. The Twins have a much higher winning percentage with him in the lineup than they do without, but he’s injured so often due to running into the outfield wall like a cartoon character running into a wall painted to look like a continuation of a road, I don’t think the greater baseball world realizes how good he can be.
More recently he’s unlocked his power potential due to trying to lift the ball more. It seems under their previous manager, Paul Molitor, he was told to hit the ball on the ground and use his speed to reach, but now he’s utilizing all his potential.
When Byron Buxton is Byron BuxtON the field, special things can happen. Do not cut my awesome pun, I know where you live.
JK: Minnesota’s pitching has been excellent to start the season. Is there an expectation that this will continue or is it a mirage?
TJ: The association of “mediocre pitch-to-contact starters” with “Minnesota Twins” dies hard, but the Twins have quietly had an excellent staff over the last couple of seasons. They don’t have any huge names or obvious league aces to point to, but I think a lot Twins pitchers would be better known if they played for a team in a state that actually had people living in it instead of 40,000 corn fields and a couple viking clans. I have every expectation that pitching will remain a strength, and pitching depth especially is a huge strength of this team, which is something that should come in real handy as pitchers try to get used to a full season of work again.
JK: How are Twins fans feeling about the 2021 season? Is there optimism that this is their year to win the division?
TJ: I think we’re all pretty confident in a third straight division win, but as soon as the playoffs start we’ll all go into sad sack defeatist mode as the Yankees sweep us out of the playoffs despite having 22 of their 26 man roster on the IL or something like that.
The White Sox got a lot of attention this offseason, but as far as projections go the Twins still had a slight advantage. While I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Chicago manages to win the Central, I think it is still the Twins division to lose.
(It’s worth noting a lot of those projections included Eloy Jimenez, who obviously will be out the next several months, as he recovers from a torn pectoral muscle)
JK: Why exactly is Alex Kirilloff in the minor leagues? He was on the playoff roster last year, and it seems odd that he’s been relegated back to the minors.
TJ: Kiriloff did have a horrendous spring training, so that’s probably made the decision a bit to keep him down easier for the fandom to digest, but I think we all know the real answer. The real answer is they knew playing Kyle Garlick would let us here at Twinkie Town make a lot of hilarious puns. That or service time manipulation.
JK: Is there a player that we are underrating or should know about on the Twins?
TJ: It looks like Josh Donaldson should be back at some point in the series, and it’ll be interesting to see if he hits a ball to the moon or just immediately re-injures his leg. There is also future batting-title winner Luis Arraez, who feels like a player out of a time machine somehow succeeding in a different era as he hits singles every single at bat until the heat death of the universe.
JK: Is there a particular Red Sox player you are worried/scared about facing?
TJ: Who even plays for the Red Sox anymore? What the hell is a “Franchy?” Christian Vázquez is hitting like a monster, so kinda scared of him. Then you got ex-Twin Marwin Gonzalez hangin’ around and ex-Twins always seem to be Twin Killers so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him with a big hit.
JK: How do you think this series will go?
TJ: Should be a fun and competitive series, but, well, “win” is right in the name “Twins” and “Sox” is only one letter away from “Sux” so you do the math.
For real though, the Red Sox will probably win at least one game in some way that embarrasses or breaks the hearts of Twins fans just because the world is cruel and I’ll have to listen to you brag about it in chat. The Twins lose roughly every single game every that goes into extra innings, so look forward to that.
Twins win the series but don’t sweep. Final answer.
(Oh, it is on, Tawny.)
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 12, 2021 9:20:47 GMT -5
Bob Nightengale @bnightengale 20m If the #RedSox win today, they’ll be the 1st team since the 1991 #Mariners to lose their first 3 games of the season and then win at least 7 straight, per @eliassports
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 12, 2021 10:06:52 GMT -5
Red Sox at Twins Series Preview
The team’s first trip to Minnesota since 2019. By Matt_Collins@MattRyCollins Apr 12, 2021, 11:01am EDT
SB Nation Blog
Twinkie Town The opponent in one sentence
The Twins are still trying to get over the postseason hump, but they’ve been among the best regular season teams in the league for a few years now, and there’s little reason to expect anything different this year. Record
5-4 Head-to-head record
0-0 Trend
Down a bit. The Twins are very much playing like a .500 club in that they aren’t really going on any big streaks in either direction in this very early portion of the season. Their latest little stumble, though, has been losing two games at home to the Mariners after taking the first game of the series. In all, they’ve lost three of their last five. Pitching Matchups
4/12: Martín Pérez vs. J.A. Happ, 2:10 PM ET (MLB Network for out of market)
The Red Sox complete their second turn through the rotation on Monday as Martín Pérez makes his second start of 2021. The lefty was basically what we expect him to be in his first appearance of the year, which came against the Rays. And what we expect him to be is definitely not a star, but a guy who can certainly keep a team in ballgames. The southpaw did that in his first start, allowing three runs over five innings of work with six strikeouts and two walks. He’ll have a big challenge on his hands in Minnesota, which of course also happens to be where he called home for a short time prior to coming to Boston. Look for him to potentially be a little more cautious around the zone, as this is the kind of lineup that can punish mistakes, particularly against pitchers with his kind of middling stuff.
On the other side, the Red Sox will be facing off against a lefty with whom they are plenty familiar. Happ is not a former Red Sox player, but rather a former Yankees rotation member who was in the AL East for years before signing with Minnesota this winter. Boston has notoriously had some major issues against the veteran southpaw, but those are not quite as consistent as they once were. He can still give them fits, as can all kinds of low-velocity lefties, but it’s not the given it once felt like. In his Twins debut Happ only allowed one run over four innings of work, but he did allow three hits and three walks while striking out four. Last season he was surprisingly effective for the Yankees with a 3.47 ERA, though the FIP was over a run worse. Happ will work off a four-seam fastball that sits around 90 mph to go with a slider, a sinker and a changeup.
4/13: Nathan Eovaldi vs. Kenta Maeda, 2:10 PM ET
Eovaldi wasn’t supposed to be the Opening Day starter and the leader of this staff, and with Eduardo Rodriguez back you can debate who takes that role. It doesn’t really matter though, and whatever box you want to place him in Eovaldi has been successful. As we say every time we talk about him health is the issue, but he’s showing how good he can be when he’s healthy with his early starts. This has been a particularly eye-opening start to the year for the righty as well as he continues to diversify his repertoire rather than leaning too heavily on his fastball. He’s throwing more breaking balls this year, and it’s helped lead to a 1.46 ERA with 11 strikeouts to four walks over his first 12 1⁄3 innings of the season.
Eovaldi is, to me, the most underrated talent on the Red Sox roster. On the other side may be the most underrated pitcher in all of baseball. Maeda’s talent has always been a bit under the radar for different reasons. For most of his career, while with the Dodgers, he was shifted back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen, often pitching in a relief role once the postseason rolled around. He got to Minnesota last year and was amazing, but it was a season where frankly people just weren’t paying attention. We’re talking about a guy, though, who had a 2.70 ERA last year and consistently strikes out more than a batter per inning while keeping his walks in check. This year he has a 2.61 ERA through two starts. Maeda will lean a lot on his secondaries, with both his slider and changeup typically being thrown more frequently than his fastball.
4/14: Eduardo Rodriguez vs. José Berríos, 2:10 PM ET
Rodriguez being back was the best story of the year so far for the Red Sox, and now he’s looking to build upon that first appearance to take control of this rotation and become the clear number one, as alluded to above. His first start was certainly a step in the right direction, though there are still strides to be made. His command was a bit off with everything, particularly early in the outing. His fastball velocity also was down a bit on top of that. Of course, that’s to be expected both given everything he’s gone through since last summer as well as the more recent bout with dead arm. It would have been silly to expect him to look like an ace right off the bat, and he was as close as we could’ve reasonably expected. Now it’s about continuing to take steps forward from that point.
This is going to be the first time the Red Sox play the Twins since 2019 due to last year’s schedule being regionalized. That season featured an absolutely incredible pitching matchup between Rick Porcello and Berríos. Porcello ended up getting the better of that matchup, but the performance of Berríos — one run over eight innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks — is the kind that you remember whenever you see the guy pitch. He has that kind of upside and he shows it here and there, though maybe not quite as much as Twins fans would like. Even if he’s not a bona fide ace, though, he’s still a very good number two and has the potential to shut down any lineup on any given night. The righty will feature a pair of fastballs in the mid-90s along with a changeup and a curveball.
4/15: Garrett Richards vs. Michael Pineda, 1:10 PM ET (MLB Network for out of market)
Finishing off this series for the Red Sox is Richards, who has been the worst part of the rotation to this point. After getting knocked all around in his debut with the team, he got off to a rough start on Saturday as well before settling down in the back half of that start. Now, he’s looking to build off the momentum from the latter portion of the outing here, albeit against one of the toughest lineups in the AL. Right now the biggest concern is the control. This had never really been an issue for him in the majors so the walks in spring training were largely waved off. It’s still too early to be too concerned here, but he’s up to five walks in seven innings of work. Not only does he need to throw strikes in this matchup, he needs to throw good ones because this lineup will punish easy pitches to hit, too.
This is a second long-time Yankee the Red Sox will be seeing in this series. Pineda hasn’t been in New York for a few years, having started pitching for the Twins in 2019 after recovering from Tommy John. Injuries have continued to be an issue here and there for him, but when he’s healthy he’s been a really solid mid-rotation arm for Minnesota. He doesn’t always get the strikeouts you might expect from his stuff, but he’s very good at limiting his walks. The key to beating him is taking advantage of mistakes and hitting balls out of the yard, something the Red Sox are doing quite a bit leading into this series. Pineda’s fastball velocity has dropped a bit from his Yankees days, falling down to the 90-92 range these days, and he’ll also throw a slider and a changeup. Old Friends
None Notable Position Players
Byron Buxton is one of the biggest stories in baseball so far in this young season, having led the way in Minnesota’s lineup. A long time top prospect who had injuries derail his progress year after year, he’s healthy right now and mashing. He already has five homers and is second in baseball in fWAR.
Nelson Cruz has also been mashing in this Twins lineup. Somehow continuing to defy age, Cruz remains a threat to leave the yard every time he steps in the box. He has four home runs in this young season.
Luis Arraez will hit at the top of this lineup and while he doesn’t possess the power of the other two above him, he makes a ton of contact and will get on base in front of the sluggers time and time again.
Max Kepler is somewhat quietly a really productive member of this lineup. He doesn’t really do any one thing exceedingly well, but he’s solid across the board.
Jorge Polanco had a big year as a high-on base guy in 2019, but he’s been on a downward trajectory since then and needs to find a way to regain some of that old BABIP skill.
Andrelton Simmons is mostly known for his defense as in his prime he was one of the best to play shortstop of all time, but he’s been hitting as well to start this season.
Miguel Sanó is another big-time slugger in this lineup, but his issues with making contact bring down the overall value of his offense.
Jake Cave will provide solid defense and baserunning, but at the plate he strikes out too much for his middling power profile.
Mitch Garver had a big breakout with his power a couple of years ago, but while he’s still been a solid hitting catcher he hasn’t been able to recapture that magic to this point.
Bullpen Snapshot
Alex Colomé was connected to the Red Sox at points this winter but ultimately signed with the Twins to become their closer. It’s been a tough start to that marriage, as Colomé has been hit around a bit to the tune of a 6.75 ERA through his first five appearances.
Taylor Rogers has always been a really steady late-inning option for Minnesota who they feel comfortable deploying in just about any situation.
Hansel Robles got some run as the Angels closer not all that long ago, and when he’s on he’s dominant, but he also goes through tough stretches with his command. So far this year, he’s been on. Injuries
Josh Donaldson suffered a bit of a hamstring issue on Opening Day that landed him on the injured list. As of this writing it’s not clear when he’ll return, but it will almost certainly be at some point during this series and potentially as soon as Monday.
Edwar Colina had some elbow problems pop up in camp and they were bad enough to land him on the 60-day injured list.
Brent Rooker hit the injured list last week with a strain in his neck. It’s not clear right now how much time he’ll miss. Weather Forecast
It’s not going to be a terribly nice week in Minneapolis with overcast in the forecast most days, but only Monday looks like it could have issues with any cancellations or delays. There is some rain in the forecast throughout the day on Monday, but right now it looks like it may not be enough to have to cancel the game, but obviously that can change.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 12, 2021 10:35:38 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 2m Baseball weather. At least this week.
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