Red Sox @ Blue Jays Game Thread/ 18th-20th May 2021

Boston Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays preview: TV schedule, pitching probables, key stories (May 18-20)
Today 6:00 AM

By Chris Cotillo | ccotillo@MassLive.com

More than 100 years into their history, it’s unusual for the Red Sox to be playing regular season games in a place they never have before. But that will be the case as they travel to Dunedin, Fla., to face the Blue Jays at their temporary home.

Due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions, Toronto is using its spring training ballpark as its regular season home in April and May before moving to their Triple-A ballpark in Buffalo beginning June 1. It’s currently unclear where the Red Sox will need to go for their two other road series against the Jays (July 19-21 and Aug. 6-8).

Here’s a preview of this week’s series:
Boston Red Sox (25-17) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (22-17) · TD Ballpark · Dunedin, FL

SERIES SCHEDULE (and TV information):

Tue. May 18, 7:37 p.m. ET -- NESN

Wed. May 19, 7:37 p.m. ET -- NESN+

Thu. May 20, 7:37 p.m. ET -- NESN / MLB Network (out of market)

HOW TO WATCH:

Tue. May 18, 7:27 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)

Wed. May 19, 7:37 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. May 20, 7:37 p.m. ET -- NESN / MLB Network (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:

The upstart Blue Jays reached the postseason in 2020 after going 32-28 but were swept by the Rays in the best two-of-three wild-card round. They’re expected to once again be in the mix for a wild-card spot this season.

Toronto was one of the most aggressive teams in baseball over the winter, signing free agent George Springer (6 years, $150 million) and Marcus Semien (1 year, $18 million) while also bringing back Robbie Ray and adding pitchers Steven Matz, Kirby Yates (out for year after Tommy John surgery), Tyler Chatwood and David Phelps. A few key contributors (Taijuan Walker, Jonathan Villar, Matt Shoemaker and Ken Giles) signed elsewhere as free agents.

The Jays have won seven of their last 10 games and enter Tuesday with sole possession of second place in the American League East behind the Red Sox. They are 9-5 at their temporary home in Florida so far this year and just took two of three from the Phillies over the weekend.

Toronto has been pretty good offensively all season and -- as of Monday -- ranked second in the majors in homers (56) and eighth in the majors in average (.246), runs (192) and OPS (.729). On the pitching side, they have been average, ranking 13th in ERA (3.81) and 17th in both opponent average (.239) and strikeouts (351).

The Jays are dealing with some injuries, as Springer (quad) has only appeared in four games and a seven pitchers (Yates, Phelps, Tommy Milone, Julian Merryweather, Rafael Dolis, Anthony Castro and Ryan Borucki) are currently on the IL. Yates underwent Tommy John surgery and is out for the year.

PITCHING PROBABLES:

Tuesday, 7:37 p.m. -- LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (5-1, 4.15 ERA) vs. LHP Hyun Jin Ryu (3-2, 2.95 ERA)

Wednesday, 7:37 p.m. -- RHP Garrett Richards (3-2, 3.89 ERA) vs. RHP Ross Stripling (0-2, 5.91 ERA)

Thursday, 7:37 p.m. -- RHP Nick Pivetta (5-0, 3.16 ERA) vs. LHP Steven Matz (5-2, 4.29 ERA)

THREE SOX TO WATCH:

Kiké Hernández

Hernández has been out since May 6 with a right hamstring strain but is expected to be activated ahead of Tuesday’s series opener. He hit a grand slam in his second rehab game with the WooSox on Sunday -- the first grand slam in franchise history.

Franchy Cordero

Cordero was 3-for-5 with a double in Boston’s win over the Tigers on May 6 but is 0-for-20 in his last seven games. Since April 14 (22 games), he is 6-for-61 (.098) with a .314 OPS. Considering the Red Sox need to activate both Christian Arroyo and Danny Santana this week, Cordero’s time on the roster might be coming to an end. He has options and can go to Triple-A.

Nick Pivetta

Pivetta, who has been Boston’s best starter this season, is the Sox’ only Canadian player. He has faced off against the Blue Jays twice -- both in 2018 -- going 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA 11 ⅔ innings.

SERIES NOTES:

Boston and Toronto split a two-game set at Fenway Park on April 20 and 21. The Red Sox and Blue Jays each won five of the 10 games between the clubs last year. In 2019, the Red Sox were 11-8 against Toronto.
Boston will face the Jays again on the road at undetermined locations from July 19-21 and Aug. 6-8. The Blue Jays will come back to Fenway from June 11-13 and July 26-29.
This is the 28th time the Red Sox have won at least 25 of their first 41 games in a season, having most recently done so in 2018. In five of the last six instances, they went on to the postseason (2003, 2007, 2009, 2016, 2018).
The Red Sox have won 12 of 17 road games but have played more home games (25) than road (17). They will play 13 of their next 18 and 21 of their next 30 on the road.
The Sox are 7-3-3 in series play. Sunday’s loss was the Red Sox’ first this season when leading after eight innings (21-1).

UP NEXT:

The Red Sox will continue their road trip with a weekend set in Philadelphia before returning home for five more interleague games against Atlanta and Miami. During that homestand -- starting on May 29 -- Fenway Park will be at full capacity for the first time since Sept. 29, 2019.

Fri. 5/21 - Sun. 5/23: at Phillies (3)

Mon. 5/24: OFF DAY

Tue. 5/25 - Wed. 5/26: vs. Braves (2)

Thu. 5/27: OFF DAY

Fri. 5/28 - Sun. 5/30: vs. Marlins (3)

Red Sox at Blue Jays Series Preview

A look at this week’s three-game set against the Blue Jays
By Matt_Collins@MattRyCollins May 18, 2021, 10:30am EDT

SB Nation Blog

Bluebird Banter
The opponent in one sentence

The Blue Jays have long been the up-and-coming squad in the AL East, and they are right on the Red Sox tails this year having success both on the mound and at the plate.
Record

22-17
Head-to-head record

Red Sox 1, Blue Jays 1
Trend

Up. The Blue Jays were kind of skidding along early in the year, not really falling out of it but also not exactly surging. Of late, they’ve been playing much better and putting themselves near the forefront of the conversation in the AL. They are coming off a series win against the Phillies, which came right after a sweep of the Braves. Overall, they’ve won five of six and six of eight.
Pitching Matchups

5/18: Eduardo Rodriguez vs. TBD, 7:37 PM ET

If you’re just looking at ERA with Rodriguez, you’ll get the impression that it has been a fine season for the lefty but nothing really too special. The peripherals have told a different story, though, and it’s hard to have more confidence in any Red Sox starter than Rodriguez right now. Even without always having his best fastball he’s been able to control the zone well, including his last time out with nine strikeouts and just one walk. The issue is that when he’s not striking guys out he’s giving up hits, and it’s not as though it’s all been bad luck. In each of his last two starts he’s allowed three doubles, and the last time out he also gave up a home run. This is a Blue Jays lineup that can hit the ball hard, so look for Rodriguez to work the edges a little more, even if it means a couple more walks than usual. He got a win over the Jays earlier this year, allowing two runs over six innings.

The Blue Jays have not yet officially announced a starter, but it seems like Hyun-Jin Ryu should get the start. The ace of their staff, he's on schedule for this start, though the Red Sox wouldn’t mind missing him. Toronto’s southpaw is one of the more underrated pitchers in the game, as he’s been legitimately elite when healthy for four years now. He’s right back on that level this year, with a 2.95 ERA through his first seven starts this year. Home runs have been a bit more of an issue for him than in the past, but generally he’s the same as always, putting up good strikeout numbers with elite control. The Red Sox did get to him earlier this year, though, scoring four runs in five innings. Ryu will often pitch off his changeup while also throwing a high-80s fastball, a cutter and a curveball.


5/19: Garrett Richards vs. Ross Stripling, 7:37 PM ET (NESN+)

The Red Sox have had a few players who have turned things around after a slow start, but no one has done so to the extent of Richards. The righty has looked like two different pitchers this year, coming off a bad spring with a terrible string of starts to begin the year. Even some of the starts that didn’t look terrible by the numbers were slogs with his command being all over the place. More recently, he’s thrived. Over his last four outings he’s pitched to a 2.16 ERA over 25 innings with 26 strikeouts and only five walks. It’s that walk number that remains the most important, as he walked 13 over his first four starts. That final start in that bad stretch was against Toronto, when he walked six over 4 2⁄3 innings, allowing four runs in the process.

Stripling came over from the Dodgers at the trade deadline last year, and the righty has put up solid peripherals but the results haven’t exactly followed suit. This season he has pitched to a 5.91 ERA, more than a run and a half worse than his FIP. He’s striking out a ton of batters to the tune of nearly 11 per nine innings, but there have been issues with command. Home runs specifically have been in issue as he’s allowed one in four of his five starts, and this comes without going deep into games. Stripling has yet to go more than five innings in a start. He’s coming off a strong outing, though, striking out nine and walking only one over five innings against the Braves. Stripling will feature a low-90s fastball to go with a curveball, a slider, and a changeup.

5/20: Nick Pivetta vs. Steven Matz, 7:37 PM ET (MLB Network for out-of-market)

Pivetta has been the story of the year for the Red Sox as he came into the season with very little in the way of expectations but he’s been holding steady in the rotation, not just getting by but actively pitching well. And it seems like he’s getting better as the season goes on. The righty is pitching how he wants to this year, working at a quick pace, working up in the zone with his fastball and mixing in more sliders than ever. As a result, he’s sitting with a 3.16 ERA, and he’s coming off a really strong outing in which he allowed just two runs over six innings with seven strikeouts and no walks. The no walks is the most important factor here, as control was a big issue looming over his success earlier in the year. If he can continue to pitch like this without the walks, there’s another level for him to reach.

Matz was another recent acquisition by the Blue Jays, as they got him from the Mets in a trade this past winter. The southpaw has been a solid back-end guy for them this year, going at least five innings in all but one of his eight starts this season with a 4.29 ERA. His peripherals are solid with a good walk rate and over a strikeout per inning, but home runs have always been an issue and have been this year as well. The Red Sox should be looking for mistakes early and often and try to get some big swings when they get opportunities to do damage. Matz will feature a fastball in the mid-90s along with a changeup, a curveball and a slider.
Old Friends

Santiago Espinal was sent to Toronto in a minor deal at the deadline in 2018, bringing Steve Pearce to Boston. Espinal has turned into a solid depth player for the Blue Jays, but I think the Red Sox are happy with how that deal turned out.

Joel Payamps never actually played for the Red Sox, but he was a waiver claim early last offseason, then went to Toronto on waivers, before coming back to the Red Sox on waivers, before again going to Toronto, again on waivers. It was a weird winter for him.
Notable Position Players

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is making good on his enormous potential this year. Some people were prematurely writing him off after a couple of seasons in which he was more fine than great, but he’s shutting them up now. Guerrero Jr. has more walks than strikeouts while hitting for big-time power, making him one of the very best hitters in baseball for the first portion of this season.

Bo Bichette has been a big part of this lineup as well. He doesn’t have the great plate discipline so far to take him into the upper echelon of hitters, but he crushes the ball on a regular basis and is a threat to do damage every time he comes up.

Teoscar Hernández is coming off a big breakout season in 2020 and he’s showing he wasn’t a one-hit wonder. The power has been more good than great, but he’s shown solid plate discipline and he’s getting a bunch of hits to drop in.

Marcus Semien has been a strong addition for the Blue Jays as he looks to get back to his near-MVP level from 2019. He hasn’t been quite that good, but he’s hitting for power and has formed a nice one-two punch with Bichette at the top of the lineup.

Cavan Biggio has really struggled to get going this year. He’ll draw a ton of walks, but so far he’s striking out too much and not hitting for enough power to go with the patience.


Randal Grichuk has been solid in the middle of the Blue Jays lineup, cutting down on his strikeouts and putting up a solid batting average to give him an above-average line overall.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has been brutal so far this year, barely drawing any walks while boasting almost non-existent power.

Rowdy Tellez has also had a terrible start to his season, though facing the Red Sox is often a remedy for his slumps.

Danny Jansen has been the worst hitter in this lineup with a 22 wRC+, which makes him among the worst hitters in the game this season.
Bullpen Snapshot

Jordan Romano has emerged as the closer for the banged up Blue Jays bullpen of late, though he only has one save. No active player has more than one. Romano will miss bats and he gets grounders, though he can be beat with some patience as he loses the zone at times.

Tyler Chatwood has taken well to the bullpen, ditching the control issues that plagued him as a starter and dominating to the tune of a 0.61 ERA and 1.29 FIP in 13 appearances this year.
Injuries

George Springer has been dealing with injuries all year in this first season with the Blue Jays, currently nursing a quad injury. He’s starting to run, though, so his return shouldn’t be too far off.

Kirby Yates was another big addition this winter, but he underwent Tommy John before the season and will miss the entire year.

Julian Merrweather has been dealing with an oblique injury, and things have not progressed as the Jays had hoped. He was transferred to the 60-day injured list, so he’ll be out for at least another month or so, if not longer.

Rafael Dolis left a game earlier this month with a calf injury, but the timeline for return is not clear.

Joe Panik also left with a calf issue earlier this month, and likewise has not timetable.

Alejandro Kirk suffered a hip injury early in the month and was later shifted to the 60-day injured list, meaning he’ll be out until at least early July.

Anthony Castro went down with a forearm strain at the start of this month, and there’s no timetable for his return.

Ryan Borucki just recently went down last week with a forearm issue of his own.

Thomas Hatch has been down since the middle of camp with an elbow issue, and it’s not clear when he’ll be able to start throwing again.

Patrick Murphy has been dealing with shoulder issues since the beginning of camp and has not been able to start throwing again.

Tommy Milone went down with a shoulder injury in the first week of May.

David Phelps suffered a lat strain a few weeks ago and he’ll be out for a couple of months.
Weather Forecast

It should be a great week of baseball weather down in Florida, albeit likely with some humidity. But temperatures should be in the mid-80s for all three first pitches, and there shouldn’t be any rain in play either.

Game 43: Red Sox at Blue Jays lineups and notes
By Andrew Mahoney Globe Staff,Updated May 18, 2021, 11:36 a.m.

After a day off, the Red Sox hit the road to take on the Blue Jays for a three-game series in Florida.

You read that right.

The Blue Jays are not permitted to host games in Toronto under COVID-19 travel restrictions, so they are playing home games at their spring training venue, TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla. When the Red Sox play them on the road in July, the series will be at Sahlen Field in Buffalo.

Eduardo Rodriguez will be on the mound for the Red Sox.
Lineups

RED SOX (25-17):


1. Enrique Hernandez (R) CF
2. Alex Verdugo (L) LF
3. J.D. Martinez (R) DH
4. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS
5. Rafael Devers (L) 3B
6. Christian Vazquez (R) C
7. Hunter Renfroe (R) RF
8. Marwin Gonzalez (S) 2B
9. Bobby Dalbec (R) 1B


Pitching: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (5-1, 4.15 ERA)

BLUE JAYS (22-17):


1. Marcus Semien (R) 2B
2. Bo Bichette (R) SS
3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) 1B
4. Teoscar Hernandez (R) LF
5. Randal Grichuk (R) CF
6. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (R) DH
7. Cavan Biggio (L) RF
8. Santiago Espinal (R) 3B
9. Danny Jansen (R) C




Pitching: LHP Hyun Jin Ryu (3-2, 2.95 ERA)

Time: 7:37 p.m.

TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7

Red Sox vs. Ryu: Bogaerts 2-5, Chavis 1-3, Cordero 0-2, Dalbec 2-2, Devers 1-4, Gonzalez 1-2, Martinez 4-13, Plawecki 2-5, Renfroe 3-20, Vázquez 1-6

Blue Jays vs. Rodriguez: Bichette 2-3, Biggio 0-4, Davis 1-3, Espinal 0-2, Grichuk 4-18, Guerrero Jr. 2-8, Gurriel Jr. 4-14, Hernández 5-14, Jansen 0-4, McGuire 0-2, Semien 3-18, Tellez 2-3

Stat of the day: The Red Sox have hit 26 home runs in their last 16 games. They are out-homering their opponents this season, 53-30.

Notes: Rafael Devers leads the majors in game-tying or go-ahead RBIs with 15; 16 of his last 24 hits have been extra-base hits, including 7 of his last 9 and 11 of his last 14 … Rodriguez is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in one start against Toronto this season; in 15 career appearances (14 starts) against the Blue Jays, he is 5-4 with a 4.52 ERA … Ryu is 0-2 with a 4.24 ERA in three career starts against the Red Sox.

Song of the Day: Sloan "Money City Maniacs"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXh81JTt0ng