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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2021 13:26:49 GMT -5
Red Sox @ Yankees 15 July 2021 7pm @ Boogie Down
E-rod 6-5/5.52
Eduardo Rodriguez allowed four runs on nine hits over five innings on Wednesday and took the loss as the Red Sox fell to the Angels. The 28-year-old surrendered two home runs during the game, one each to Shohei Ohtani and Jared Walsh. Rodriguez did strikeout out five during the game thanks to a 53 percent whiff rate from this four-seam fastball and a 30 percent whiff rate overall. The southpaw earned a respectable 31 percent CSW (called strikes plus whiffs) but simply allowed too many base hits. Rodriguez falls to 6-5 on the year with a 5.52 ERA and 1.37 WHIP in what has been a very disappointing season.
Montgomery 3-4/ 4.16
Mike Montgomery struck out nine, but gave up three runs over 6 2/3 innings on Thursday in a loss to the Mariners. Montgomery gave up a solo homer to center in the first, and a two-run homer in the second to Dylan Moore. After that, the southpaw settled down nicely and missed plenty of bats, but he was unable to match the zeros from Logan Gilbert on Thursday so he takes the loss. Montgomery finishes the first half with a 4.13 ERA, but he's been better than that number suggests for the most part.
Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees Thursday, July 15, 2021 at 7:08pm EDT Written by Chris Kubala
The second half of the major league baseball season gets underway with the opening game of a series between a pair of bitter AL East rivals in the Bronx. It’s the Boston Red Sox making the relatively short trip as they kick off a four-game series with the New York Yankees Thursday night. Boston dropped the rubber game of their three-game series at home with the Phillies in interleague action, falling 5-4 Sunday afternoon. New York had another bullpen meltdown as they missed a chance at a sweep of the Astros on the road, losing 8-7 Wednesday. The Red Sox have won all six meetings between the teams this season, including a three-game home sweep in the most recent series June 25-27.
Boston Red Sox Trying to Build AL East Cushion Boston suffered their second straight loss heading into the All-Star break as they were dropped by the Phillies in the rubber game of their three-game series Sunday. The Red Sox enter this one holding a 1.5-game advantage on the Rays in the AL East race and look to build on that here. In Sunday’s game, Boston got three hits from Christian Arroyo (run, RBI) while Hunter Renfroe (run) and Christian Vazquez each added a pair. Xander Bogaerts added his 15th homer of the season in a losing effort. Nick Pivetta (7-4) took the loss on the mound as he allowed five runs (four earned) on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts over four innings before departing. Five relievers kept the Phillies off the scoreboard the rest of the way but Boston’s bats couldn’t pull out the win.
Eduardo Rodriguez gets the ball for his 18th start of the season for the Red Sox in this contest. He comes in 6-5 with a 5.52 ERA, a 1.372 WHIP, 21 walks and 104 strikeouts over 89.2 innings of work this season. Rodriguez took the loss in his last start, which came last Wednesday on the road against the Angels. He threw five innings, allowing four runs on nine hits with no walks and five strikeouts in a 5-4 Red Sox defeat. Pitching on the road this season, Rodriguez is 3-4 with a 5.70 ERA, a 1.517 WHIP, 16 walks and 68 strikeouts over 60 innings of work spanning 12 starts. This marks Rodriguez’s 21st career appearance and 19th start against the Yankees. He comes in 7-6 with a 3.88 ERA, a 1.361 WHIP, 43 walks and 94 strikeouts over 104.1 innings of work against them. Rodriguez is 2-4 with a 4.06 ERA, a 1.37 WHIP, 28 walks and 51 strikeouts over 57.2 innings in 10 career starts at Yankee Stadium.
New York Yankees Trying to Gain Ground in AL East Race New York missed a chance to sweep the series on the road against the Astros as they blew a multi-run lead in the ninth inning Sunday afternoon. The Yankees enter this contest tied for third in the AL East, eight games behind the Red Sox for the division lead. In the AL wild card picture, the team stands 4.5 games behind the A’s for the second wild card spot. On Sunday, Gio Urshela (RBI) and Giancarlo Stanton (run) each had two hits in the contest. Gary Sanchez (his 15th) and Tim Locastro (his second) each went deep in the contest for the Yankees, who led 7-2 heading to the bottom of the ninth before imploding by allowing six runs to lose in walk-off fashion. New York wasted a solid outing from Jameson Taillon, who threw six innings, allowing two runs on three hits with two walks and four strikeouts yet didn’t factor in the decision. Chad Green (3-5) took the loss as he allowed four runs on four hits with no walks or strikeouts in one-third of an inning of work.
Jordan Montgomery is expected to be on the mound for his 18th start of the year for the Yankees. He comes in 3-4 with a 4.16 ERA, a 1.226 WHIP, 28 walks and 95 strikeouts over 93 innings of work this season. Montgomery didn’t factor in the decision in his last start, which came on the road against the Mariners last Thursday. He threw six innings, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and nine strikeouts in a game the Yankees went on to lose by a 4-0 score. In his eight home starts this season, Montgomery is 2-2 with a 2.96 ERA, a 1.073 WHIP, 11 walks and 48 strikeouts over 45.2 innings of work. Montgomery makes his eighth career start against the Red Sox in this contest. He comes in 1-1 with a 4.19 ERA, a 1.34 WHIP, 13 walks and 30 strikeouts over 34.1 innings of work against them. Montgomery is 11-6 with a 3.36 ERA, a 1.172 WHIP, 51 walks and 178 strikeouts over 174 innings in 33 career starts at Yankee Stadium.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2021 13:36:27 GMT -5
SP Match Ups/ Weather for Boston vs YankeesAll games @ 7pm Saturday game on FOX (hope they ditched mikes on uniforms and other over produced nonsense) Sunday game is on ESPN. A-rod. ( I am rolling my eyes too.) Not sure on Yankee roto. Doofus is holding those plans tight to his desperate chest Thursday....Erod vs Montgomery Friday...Perez 7-5/4.04 vs Taillon 4-4/4.90 Saturday...Eovaldi 9-5/3.66 vs Germain 4-5/4.44 Sunday 7-4/4.30 vs Cole 9-4/2.68Weather Looking hot/ humid/ chance of Thunderstorms every daywww.accuweather.com/en/us/bronx-park/10458/daily-weather-forecast/2627446Pete Abraham @peteabe · 1m Pitching matchups for the #RedSox - #Yankees series:
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2021 15:01:38 GMT -5
Red Sox Stats @redsoxstats · 1h Incredible first half, total preservation of depth, but with things about to get real out of the gate it may be time to start sacrificing some depth to see what you have for possible upgrades internally.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2021 18:23:18 GMT -5
Red Sox Expected To Promote Jarren Duran
By Anthony Franco | July 14, 2021 at 5:08pm CDT
The Red Sox are promoting top outfield prospect Jarren Duran to make his major league debut tomorrow night against the Yankees, reports Joe McDonald of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Twitter link). Boston’s 40-man roster is full, so another move is required to accommodate the formal selection of his contract.
Duran is one of the game’s more promising young talents. While he fell to the seventh round of the 2018 draft coming out Long Beach State, he immediately improved his stock upon entering pro ball. The speedster posted incredible numbers across two levels of A-ball over his first year-plus in the minors before hitting a bit of a bump in the road upon a 2019 promotion to Double-A. He spent all of 2020 at the alternate training site, where reports suggested he’d revamped his swing path to incorporate more loft in an attempt to hit for power.
Evaluators took note of Duran’s changed profile, but last year’s cancelation of the minor league season still left some question whether he’d be able to translate his new mechanics into results. He’s done all he can to answer those doubts this season, hitting a whopping .270/.365/.561 across 219 plate appearances with Triple-A Worcester. Duran has popped fifteen home runs over the year’s first half after hitting a grand total of seven round-trippers over his 880 trips to the plate between 2018-19. A livelier Triple-A baseball could account for some of that production, but there’s little question Duran’s adjustments have had a sizable impact upon his newfound power.
The improved performance has also raised Duran’s stock in the public prospect rankings sphere. Eric Longenhagen and Kevin Goldstein of FanGraphs now slot the left-handed hitting outfielder as the game’s #55 overall prospect. (Entering the season, he wasn’t among FanGraphs’ top 133 farmhands, although he did slot seventh in the site’s rankings of Red Sox minor leaguers).
Importantly, Duran’s uptick in power hasn’t come with much accompanying swing-and-miss. His 23.7% strikeout rate this season is right in line with his 2019 mark in Double-A. That’s a bit higher than his low minors strikeout percentages but not glaringly so, and there’s little question the improved batted ball authority has been worth any small dip in contact rate.
Now that he’s in the big leagues, Duran looks likely to take over center field on a regular basis. Boston has gotten very little out of the position this year, with a cumulative .236/.300/.392 mark from their group of Kiké Hernández, Alex Verdugo, Danny Santana and Hunter Renfroe. With Duran up, the Sox can rely on Verdugo and Renfroe in the corners on most days while keeping J.D. Martinez at designated hitter. That’ll push Hernández back into the utility role for which he’s best suited. Santana’s currently on the injured list, with Marwin González expected to land on the shelf as well. One of that underperforming duo could find themselves squeezed off the roster upon their return from the IL.
The Red Sox hold a 1.5 game lead over the Rays in the American League East, so Duran’s being thrust right into the thick of a pennant race. Between his combination of Triple-A production and the Sox mediocre center field situation, it had become increasingly apparent Boston should at least give Duran an opportunity to stake a claim to the job. He’ll get that chance beginning tomorrow against their archivals, over whom they have an eight-game advantage in the standings.
Duran won’t earn a full year of major league service in 2021, nor is he expected to accrue enough service time to qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player. If he remains in the majors from here on out, he’ll be controllable through 2027 and won’t reach arbitration-eligibility until after the 2024 campaign.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2021 18:26:19 GMT -5
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2021 18:27:50 GMT -5
Red Sox Stats @redsoxstats · 29m A lot of threads to pull on with the Duran news. First off, he's coming up to play. What does the transaction log look like tomorrow, is this one of a few moves? Thrown into the deep end, for sure. 15 game trial balloon before the deadline? Could we see Arroyo start playing 1B?
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2021 18:37:46 GMT -5
Christopher Smith @smittyonmlb · 30m Jarren Duran has interesting home/road splits. Ball flies at Polar Park Home: .313 (30-for-96), .400 OBP, .708 slugging, 1.108 OPS, 10 homers, 6 doubles, 1 triple, 19 runs, 23 RBIs, 24 games Road: .226 (21-for-93), .330/.409/.739, 5 homers, 2 doubles, 18 runs, 8 RBIs, 22 games
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 15, 2021 3:10:52 GMT -5
Jarren Duran to be called up (source) July 14th, 2021 Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
The buzz started in early May -- the first week of the Triple-A season. That’s when everyone in Red Sox Nation started to speculate on the timetable for No. 3 prospect Jarren Duran getting called up to the Majors.
The answer finally came on Wednesday, as a source told MLB.com that the 24-year-old center fielder with an exciting mix of speed and power has been summoned from Triple-A Worcester to join the Red Sox for their four-game series at Yankee Stadium coming out of the All-Star break on Thursday.
The club has not confirmed the move.
Duran should be officially activated for the series opener -- the only game in MLB on Thursday -- as the Red Sox are going to need a corresponding roster move to replace Marwin Gonzalez, who tweaked his already-ailing left hamstring on the Sunday before the All-Star break.
Enter Duran, a left-handed hitter who has a slash line of .270/.365/.561 with 15 homers, 32 RBIs and 15 stolen bases while compiling 189 at-bats at Triple-A.
It remains to be seen exactly how manager Alex Cora will deploy Duran for the start of his Major League career.
Kiké Hernández has been Cora’s primary option both in the leadoff spot and in center field this season.
One option would be for the versatile Hernández to get most of his playing time at second base -- the position the Red Sox originally signed him to play.
Under that scenario, Christian Arroyo could start at second against lefties and Hernández could go back to the outfield versus southpaws, with either Duran or fellow left-handed hitter Alex Verdugo getting a breather.
Hernández has been providing a spark for the Red Sox in the leadoff spot of late, particularly with home runs, so it’s possible he remains there and Cora eases the pressure on Duran by having him hit lower in the lineup.
However things shake out, this four-game series against the Yankees will now have an added element of electricity for the American League East-leading Red Sox, who are 1 1/2 games ahead of the Rays. The Yankees, who are 0-6 against Boston this season, are eight games back.
Boston (55-36) has built its strong start without ace pitcher Chris Sale, who is expected to return from Tommy John surgery in mid-August.
Duran will join Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts as Red Sox prospects to debut at Yankee Stadium.
Boston drafted Duran out of Long Beach State as a second baseman in the seventh round of the 2018 Draft.
In the ensuing years, Duran has added muscle and improved hitting mechanics while converting to center field.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 15, 2021 3:30:18 GMT -5
red sox notebook Red Sox set to call up OF prospect Jarren Duran, who could face Yankees Thursday By Julian McWilliams Globe Staff,Updated July 14, 2021, 7:57 p.m.
The Red Sox are set to call up highly-touted outfield prospect Jarren Duran for their series with the Yankees beginning Thursday, a major league source confirmed.
He will be the Sox’ third high-level prospect in recent history to make his debut at Yankee Stadium, joining Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts.
Duran initially made a huge impression on the Sox last summer at the alternate site. Duran’s development took another leap during spring training and carried over to Triple A Worcester this season where he has hit .270/.365/.561 in 219 plate appearances.
Duran added noticeable strength and size to his frame and is now a solid 6-foot-2, 212 pounds. The strength and a shift in swing path has led to Duran’s 15 homers this season. Prior to this year, Duran has never had more than five homers in a season.
“He’s a gifted individual, no doubt. And he started to find out about himself,” WooSox hitting coach Rich Gedman said back in April. “I love his honesty and his freshness and his understanding of the game. How respectful he is of his teammates and the way he goes about his business. Those are the things I look for. I mean, they all have talent here. But he has been separating, no doubt.”
Duran is still a work in progress in the outfield after making the full-time switch from the infield in 2018. Duran can sometimes get bad reads on the ball and take bad routes, but the Sox believe reps will fix that.
“When it comes to the outfield, he’s night and day better from where he used to be,” minor league outfield and baserunning coach Darren Fenster said. “He looks as comfortable as we’ve seen him, and that’s a credit to the work that he puts in. In terms of improving, it’s experience.”
The Red Sox have owned the Yankees so far this season, sweeping them in both three-game series. This comes after the Sox struggled against the Yankees during the two previous seasons, going a combined 6-23 and 1-9 last year.
The Yankees (46-43) underperformed in the first half of the season and know what they are up against when they face this Sox team.
“The Red Sox are an incredible team,” Yankees slugger Aaron Judge said. “That’s why I love facing them because of the rivalry but sometimes I don’t like facing them. They got a special group over there. Special staff. Their offense is what it is, man, it’s not only scrappy, but they got guys who can hit it out of the ballpark, move runners over, do what they need to do to get the job done. It doesn’t matter what the score is, I always feel they’re going to come back. That’s what makes it fun.”
Duran joining the Sox adds another layer to what was already a series filled with storylines.
Part of the Red Sox’ future has arrived. WooSox’ season extended
Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball announced that they have extended the WooSox’ season 10 games through Oct. 3. Worcester will play five additional games at Polar Park from Sept 22-26 and then end the season with five games at Lehigh Valley. The WooSox’ season was initially set to end on Sept. 19. Sale to start Thursday
Chris Sale will make his first rehab start Thursday in the Florida Complex League facing the Orioles. He will throw two innings … A major league source confirmed that the Red Sox will have a scout on hand Friday for pitcher Cole Hamels’s workout at the Rangers’ Double A affiliate in Frisco, Texas. Hamels is eyeing a comeback after dealing with a number of injuries in 2020.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 15, 2021 3:46:40 GMT -5
Red Sox, Yankees start second half with purpose
For the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, their respective first halves defied preseason expectations.
The Red Sox were expected to languish toward the bottom of the American League East but instead surged into first place. The Yankees were projected to win the division but instead endured an inconsistent first half, endangering their chances at a fifth straight playoff appearance.
The second half starts Thursday night for the rivals when the Red Sox visit the Yankees for the opener of a four-game series.
The teams will play eight games over the next two weekends and Boston leads the season series 6-0 after the Yankees won 23 of 29 meetings in the previous two seasons, including nine of 10 in the pandemic 2020 season when the Red Sox went 24-36 and finished in the cellar.
The Red Sox won four games over the Yankees by three runs or fewer and in the most recent meeting on June 27 hit three homers off Gerrit Cole in a 9-2 rout at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox headed into the break by getting strong first halves from Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers along with a bounce-back season from J.D. Martinez, all of them All-Stars. Bogaerts batted .321 with 15 homers and 51 RBIs, Devers batted .282 with 22 homers and 72 RBIs and Martinez batted .299 with 18 homers and 62 RBIs after hitting .213 last season.
Despite ending the first half in first place, the Red Sox felt disappointed after losing two of three in each of their past two series -- at home to the Philadelphia Phillies after dropping a road set to the Los Angeles Angels.
Boston went into the All-Star break after taking a 5-4 loss to Philadelphia on Sunday when it committed three errors and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
"We're in first place in the East. Nobody can take that away from us," Boston manager Alex Cora said. "I'm a little disappointed that we lost the last two series, but good teams get disappointed when that happens. We expect better than this."
New York reached nine games over .500 at 28-19 following a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox from May 21-23, but is just 18-24 since and enters the series eight games out of first place in the division and 4 1/2 games out of the second wild card.
Among the reasons for New York's lack of traction in the first half is an inconsistent offense that headed into the All-Star break 12th in the American League with 370 runs scored, 10th in slugging at .394 and seventh with 114 homers.
New York's offense has picked it up slightly of late by scoring at least five runs six times since its last meeting with Boston but the Yankees are 6-6 in those games due to three epic bullpen meltdowns, two by Aroldis Chapman and one by Chad Green.
Chapman lost his closer's role for the time being by allowing four runs in the ninth inning of an 11-8 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on June 30 and three runs in the seventh inning of a 10-5 loss to the New York Mets in the opener of a doubleheader on July 4. Green allowed a game-ending three-run homer to Jose Altuve on Sunday when the Yankees blew a five-run lead and took an 8-7 loss in Houston.
"It's the ultimate gut punch," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "You've got a five-run lead in the ninth against a great team with a chance to earn the sweep and they come back to win. We've got some things to get better at and make sure all hands are where they need to be."
Boston's Eduardo Rodriguez (6-5, 5.52 ERA), who is 2-5 with a 6.21 ERA in his past 13 starts, opens the series.
He last pitched on July 7 against the Angels when he allowed four runs on nine hits in five innings after allowing a combined two runs over 12 innings in his previous two outings.
The left-hander is 1-0 with a 3.97 ERA in two starts against the Yankees this season. He is 7-6 with a 3.88 ERA in 20 appearances (18 starts) against New York.
The Yankees did not announce their starter as of Wednesday night.
Red Sox at Yankees Thursday, at 7:08 PM EST Partly Cloudy According to Forecast.io, it's expected to be 84° F with a 3% chance of rain and 8 MPH wind blowing right to left in New York City at 7:08 PM EST. Hourly Forecasts: Weather.com Forecast.io
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 15, 2021 6:48:15 GMT -5
Yankees-Red Sox weather: Rain in the forecast for 4-game series at Yankee Stadium Today 6:00 AM
By Mike Rosenstein | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The New York Yankees return from the All-Star break on Thursday, and with them comes the chance of rain during their four-game series with the Boston Red Sox, especially during the weekend.
Here’s the latest forecast from the National Weather Service:
Thursday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind 3 to 7 mph.
Friday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 75.
Saturday
A chance of showers, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Saturday Night
Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 2am, then a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Sunday
A chance of showers, then showers and thunderstorms likely after 8am. Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 85. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Sunday Night
Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Introducing Yankees Insider: Get exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to text message directly with beat writers
The Red Sox head to the Bronx in first place in the American League East, 1.5 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays and eight games ahead of the Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays.
This is the third meeting of the season between the Red Sox and Yankees. Boston swept both three-game series before the All-Star break. After four games this weekend at Yankee Stadium, the clubs will meet again next weekend for a four-game series at Fenway Park.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 15, 2021 6:54:38 GMT -5
July 14, 2021 at 6:56 PM Scouting Report Update: Jarren Duran gets The Call
Early Wednesday evening, Joe McDonald from the Worcester Telegram and Gazette broke that Jarren Duran wasn't in the lineup for the Worcester Red Sox because he was on his way to New York to make his Major League debut. Duran is in the midst of the best season of his professional career, hitting .270/.365/.561 with 15 home runs and 13 steals in 219 plate appearances in Triple-A. He also spent a few weeks with Team USA helping them qualify for the Olympics, and was one of the standout performers at the Qualifier.
Duran's promotion comes with the Red Sox entering a pivotal stretch as they look to secure their position at the top of the American League East. The Red Sox have received inconsistent play from their third outfielder this year and the team will look to Duran to take an everyday spot, likely pushing Kiké Hernández into the infield primarily. The Red Sox will need to make room on the 40-man roster for Duran as well as the active roster, with the designation for assignment of a member of the bullpen the most likely move.
Here is an updated scouting report for the newest member of the Boston Red Sox.
Physical Description: Tall, strong frame. Quick-twitch athlete. Athleticism stands out on the field. Has added significant strength in his upper body since he joined the system, and specifically was noticeably stronger when he reported to the Alternate Training Site in 2020. Strength gains carried over into the 2021 season.
Hit: Starts upright and slightly open with his hands down by his belt. Tweaked his setup in 2020, starting with his hands lower down at his chest before bringing them back up in his load, a change made in an attempt to lift the ball more. Simple swing mechanics. Direct swing. Very quick hands. Aggressive and will attack early in the count, but can recognize spin and will take a walk. Will take what the pitcher gives him. Has some swing-and-miss and will expand the zone at times. Approach has improved, but will require some refinement against major league pitching. In college had used a low, wide stance before coming up and back, but in pro ball tapped into unexpected offensive potential when he changed his initial setup to start more upright. Has shown the ability to make adjustments to improve and to address holes in his swing; 2020 swing change was done on his own, not at the suggestion of the organization. Potential average hit tool.
Power: Plus raw power after 2020 swing adjustments. Increased strength and added loft in swing allow him the drive the ball to all fields, but especially to the pull side. Showed improved power at 2020 alternate training site, and quickly showed that his swing changes work in real games in 2021, significantly changing his in-game power projection. Prior to 2020 change, had below-average raw power with a swing not geared for over-the-fence power. Speed also leads to more doubles and triples on hard-hit line drives, inflating his power numbers somewhat. Above-average power potential.
Run: True plus-plus speed. Potential difference-maker on the bases. Needs to refine base-stealing instincts, but has the type of speed that puts immense pressure on the defense. Speed has allowed him to post high batting averages on balls in play during his minor league career.
Field: Potential average defender. Has the speed and athleticism teams covet for center field, but is still raw and needs to continue developing in the outfield after moving from second base during his pro debut. Not clear that he will stick in center field, and may be a better fit in left given fringe-average arm and uniquely spacious right field at Fenway Park. Has improved what was initially a slow first step in the outfield, struggling with initial reads, but still is not a natural outfielder. Often able to make up for slow reads and inefficient routes with his speed. First moved to right field, where the line to the plate was similar to that at second base, before converting full-time in 2019 to center field, where his speed could allow him to develop tremendous range. At second base, showed soft hands and fluid actions, though athleticism was somewhat wasted.
Arm: Fringe-average arm strength. Passable in the outfield, but throws lack carry.
Career Notes: Led his high school team to a state title his sophomore year. Put together a strong season for Wareham in the 2017 Cape Cod Summer League. Made it to the Super Regionals with Long Beach State in 2017. Has performed at a much higher level as a pro than even the organization was expecting, due in large part to abandoning much of what he was taught in college and switching to a more natural swing. Participated in the Fall Instructional League in 2018. Flirted with hitting .400 for much of his time in Salem in 2019, but a slight slump in the week or so before his promotion to Portland brought his average below that mark. Played at the Alternate Training Site in 2020, where he showed significant improvements in his power. Impressed at the plate as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training in 2021, but showed that he still had work to do on defense. Opened 2021 at the Alternate Training Site. Played for Team USA in the 2021 Americas Olympic Qualifier, and would have been part of U.S. Olympic team if not for Red Sox request to pull him off of the roster if they wanted to call him up. Did, in fact, receive his first MLB call-up coming out of the 2021 All-Star Break.
Summation: Potential average regular starting outfielder. Ceiling of an impact, everyday center fielder. Ability to reach ceiling is dependent on keeping the swing-and-miss in his game manageable and continuing to improve defensively. Swing changes that allowed him to tap into his raw power have completely changed his outlook. Now looks like a potential above-average offensive player with plus-plus speed who is average-ish in the outfield and able to get by because of his speed and athleticism while he continues to refine his reads and routes. Is still continuing to develop in center field, but likely to develop into at least an average defender there and has the raw tools to become an above-average defender. With his speed, has the potential to put a lot of pressure on the defense and inflate his average with infield singles and slugging by taking extra bases. Could also steal 25-plus bases if he improves his baserunning instincts.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 15, 2021 8:46:57 GMT -5
Dan Roche @rochiewbz · 1h My sources tell me that P Tanner Houck will join the #RedSox tonight as they open their second half against the #Yankees - @wbz #wbz
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 15, 2021 8:47:37 GMT -5
OverTheMonster @overthemonster · 1h Somebody will have to be DFA'd or dealt to make room on the 40 for Duran. My guess is Gonzalez to the IL, Brice DFA'd.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 15, 2021 8:51:05 GMT -5
Chris Cotillo @chriscotillo · 9m Another reinforcement for the Red Sox: Tanner Houck joining them in New York today, source confirms.
Boston starting the second half with both Houck and Duran on the roster. @rochiewbz first.
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