Red Sox @ Rays Game Thread/ 22nd-24th April 2022

Injuries & Moves: J.D. (adductor) day to day
April 21st, 2022
J.D. Martinez exits with injury

Apr 20, 2022

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0:35
J.D. Martinez exits with injury

Keep track of the Red Sox’s recent transactions and injury updates throughout the season.
LATEST NEWS

April 21: DH J.D. Martinez day to day with left adductor tightness
Boston’s star slugger belted a double into the left-field corner in the third inning of Wednesday’s game against the Blue Jays and grimaced as he reached second base. After staying in the game for a couple of pitches, Martinez was lifted in favor of pinch-runner Christian Arroyo. Martinez was out of the lineup and set to receive treatment on Thursday. Manager Alex Cora said that Martinez will fly with the team to Tampa for its series starting on Friday, but it would "probably will stay away from him tomorrow and see how he reacts to treatment and go from there.”

"He mentioned it the other day that he was a little bit tight, but nothing to be concerned about,” Cora said on Thursday. "He does such a good job taking care of his body that when he’s a go, he’s a go. Just felt that as soon as he hit that ball, he felt it running, and I think it was more about being smart about it and coming out of the game, taking care of it and hopefully something that’s only a couple days.” -- Molly Burkhardt

Garrett Whitlock likely to make first MLB start Saturday as Red Sox reshuffle rotation ahead of Tanner Houck (unvaccinated) missing Toronto series
Updated: Apr. 21, 2022, 6:51 p.m. | Published: Apr. 21, 2022, 6:50 p.m.

By Chris Cotillo | ccotillo@MassLive.com

BOSTON -- The Red Sox plan to re-shuffle their starting rotation in the coming days, and that will likely result in Garrett Whitlock making his first career major league start Saturday at Tampa Bay.

The Red Sox plan to push back lefty Rich Hill, who is on the bereavement list after losing his father, Lloyd, last week, to Sunday, giving him an extra day of rest after spending a couple days away from the team for his father’s services. That means there’s an open spot Saturday night in St. Petersburg, and in all likelihood, it will belong to Whitlock.

“Saturday’s the one where we have to decide what we want to do...,” Cora said before testing positive for COVID-19 and leaving Fenway Park. “There’s a good chance he’ll start that one.”

If Whitlock starts, he’s likely to pitch three or four innings, according to Cora. Whitlock has dominated in a multi-inning relief role so far this year, posting a 0.93 ERA while striking out 11 batters in 9 ⅔ innings.

On Sunday, Hill will be backed up by righty Tanner Houck, who is moving to the bullpen on a temporary basis because he’s unvaccinated against COVID and is ineligible to make his scheduled start Tuesday in Toronto. If all goes to plan, Hill and Houck will piggyback the series finale against the Rays before Houck leaves the team for its four-game series north of the border.

That leaves Tuesday as the “TBD” day for the Red Sox. With Houck out, the Red Sox will have to turn to an irregular option to start against the Jays. That pitcher could come from the bullpen or from Triple-A Worcester. Cora hasn’t given any hints about what Boston is thinking.

While having to re-shuffle the rotation due to a player’s refusal to get vaccinated is surely frustrating, Cora remained diplomatic. about the situation Thursday. The Red Sox are expected to be missing multiple players in Toronto but Houck is the only name known so far.

“It’s just that we have to make adjustments,” Cora said. “That’s it. From my personal perspective, you have to respect their decisions and we have to adjust. That’s the bottom line. Obviously, it’s not perfect but it’s where we’re at. Going to Toronto, this is what it’s going to be now and probably the rest of the season.”

Houck, who told the Boston Globe last weekend that he was not vaccinated, once again referred to his decision as a “personal choice” Thursday. He said he has tried to avoid confronting any backlash to his decision.

“No matter what side of the fence you’re on, there’s always going to be positives and there’s always going to be negatives,” Houck said. “I’ve got a job to do and focus on what I’ve got to do.”

The uneasiness for these Red Sox keeps on coming
Current Time 0:08
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Duration 1:39


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By Rob Bradford
WEEI 93.7
3 hours ago

The Red Sox had just lost for a second straight time to the team it simply has to find a way to beat, the Blue Jays, having now scored eight runs over their last four games in a 3-2 defeat at Fenway Park.

Everything just felt off. And the inability to score runs was just part of the problem.

Where Alex Cora usually sat postgame, in the Fenway Park interview room, resided bench coach Will Venable. It was his job to suddenly explain what was what, having to take over for the COVID-stricken Cora.

After Venable came Tanner Houck, who had usually represented the positive momentum of the Red Sox during his big-league tenure. And while his performance was once again reason for optimism (giving up 3 hits or fewer in his second straight start), the postgame question-and-answer was heavy with vaccination (or lack thereof) talk.

The inside-out world of the Red Sox would be including Houck pitching out of the bullpen Sunday since he wasn't going to Toronto due to his choice not to get vaccinated.

"Right now it’s a personal choice and I’m not going to comment on it anymore," Houck said of next week's absence. He added regarding the backlash, "I’ve tried to stay away from it no matter what side of the fence you're on there are always going to be positives and negatives but I've got a job to do and focus on what I’ve got to do."

A brief time later, with few other players to highlight from the day Toronto Kevin Gausman decided to dominate, de facto captain Xander Bogaerts stepped in front of the assembled media in the locker room.

There wasn't much for Bogaerts to say. Gausman was really good. The Red Sox' offense continued to struggle. And now, they were hitting the road to play two teams most believe are the iron of the American League, the Rays and Jays.

Oh, and there was that question about the awkwardness of having to right the ship at Rogers Centre without at least a few of his teammates due to the vaccination issue.

"I mean, obviously, you want everyone to be there, your whole team, teammates," Bogaerts said. "It’s a personal decision and you can’t force anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. … You try to convince but it’s everyone’s own choice."

A manager with COVID. Players who can't get into Canada. Bats that don't hit. A lineup that doesn't score runs. This all wasn't part of the season preview when the season kicked off in New York two weeks ago.

The Red Sox have the fifth-fewest homers in the majors (10), while having still attempted just one stolen base.

Their go-to guy in the lineup, Rafael Devers, has come back down to Earth a bit, managing just two hits in his last 17 at-bats. Another key piece of the middle-of-the-order equation, J.D. Martinez, is temporarily sidelined due to an abductor issue. And the feeling of futility isn't helped by the lineup going 5-for-42 with runners in scoring position over the last four games.

The fortunate fact for the Red Sox is that the offensive issues are rooted in downturns by proven performers. And, other than the struggling Nick Pivetta, the pitching staff - both starters and relievers - have done a whole lot more good than bad.

But as we head toward the final week of the first month, very little of this was part of the blueprint.

Welcome to the uneasiness of your 2022 Boston Red Sox.

Red Sox at Rays Series Preview

A look at this weekend’s three-game set at the Trop.
By Matt_Collins@MattRyCollins Apr 22, 2022, 1:30pm EDT 3 Comments



DRay’s Bay
The opponent in one sentence

The Rays shuffle their roster around every year, but have been able to consistently build a roster that can compete in the American League East, which they are expected to do again in 2022.
Record

7-6
Trend

The Rays did hit a little bit of a snag in their second and third series, at one point dropping five of six, but they recovered this week taking two of three from the Cubs and overall have won three of their last four, all on the road.
Pitching Matchups

4/22: Michael Wacha vs. Corey Kluber, 7:10 PM ET

One of the positive surprises for the Red Sox early on in this season has been Wacha, who goes up against his former team in the first game of this three-game set. It’s only been two starts this season so obviously take any of these numbers with a grain of salt, the size of which can be your choosing, but the veteran has allowed just a single run over 9 1⁄3 innings and has struck out nine in the process. The bad news is he’s walked five across those two starts, but he’s counteracted that by allowing some of the weakest contact in baseball. His changeup in particular has been on point, and will be key in this game against a Rays team that mixes and matches based on handedness and other splits as well as any club in baseball.

Over on the other side we get a player many Red Sox fans have wanted Boston to target the last couple of offseasons in Kluber. Once one of the very best pitchers in all of baseball, injuries have derailed his career and it’s always an open question how many innings he will be able to provide in a given season. Last year with New York, he threw 80 solid innings in an injury-shortened campaign. In 2022, it’s been so far so good, with the righty making two starts and allowing two runs over 9 2⁄3 innings with nine strikeouts and four walks. It’s actually a remarkably similar line to Wacha, though all of Kluber’s walks came in his first outing. The last couple of seasons the veteran has leaned equally on his curveball, cutter, and sinker, with the latter pitch being one that opponents have taken advantage of. Look for the Red Sox to try and get into some hitter’s counts to force him to throw that pitch.

4/23: TBD vs. TBD, 6:10 PM ET

Officially we have a good old fashioned TBD vs. TBD for this game, but we are pretty sure that Garrett Whitlock is going to make his first career start for this game. The Red Sox are shuffling things around a bit right now with Tanner Houck unable to travel with the team to Toronto next week. It’s certainly not impossible, either, that Whitlock pitches well enough to stick in this role beyond this stretch, though we’ll cross that bridge when it comes. In the meantime, don’t expect a long start from Whitlock, as he’ll probably go three or four innings tops. But when he’s out there, we know what kind of stuff he brings to the table and I see little reason to expect different results here than what we’ve seen in the bullpen.

On the Tampa side, I really am not sure what their plan is here. The Rays have a number of starters on the injured list and don’t have a clear option from what I can see. My guess is we’ll see a similar strategy to what the Red Sox are doing, perhaps sending out someone like Chris Mazza or Jalen Beeks (a couple of old friends) to start what is basically a bullpen game. But that’s a total guess.

4/24: Rich Hill vs. Shane McClanahan, 1:10 PM ET (MLN Network for out-of-market)

Rich Hill will make his return from the bereavement list on Sunday after the passing of his father last week. The lefty has made two starts so far this season, having allowed seven runs in nine innings. The margin for error with Hill as a starter is just super thin at this point as basically a two-pitch pitcher, one of those pitches being a fastball that can’t crack 90 mph. His curveball does sort of act like multiple pitches as he throws it with different break and arm angles, but if the command isn’t spot on with that pitch then the fastball can’t play up, and things can go awry quickly. The expectation is that Houck will piggyback after Hill, probably starting in the fourth or fifth inning if things go according to plan.

We know the Rays seemingly have a factory on-site to produce great pitchers on a yearly basis, and McClanahan is one of the most recent examples, coming up last season and immediately impressing with a 3.43 ERA over 25 starts. He misses a ton of bats and keeps his walk rate in check, with his one weakness being hard contact against mistakes. The Red Sox have been uber aggressive at the plate this season, and that’s been a detriment for them to be sure. However, against a lefty like McClanahan that is the approach they should be taking. If they fall behind in counts, they’ll be in trouble, so they need to jump on mistakes when they get them, no matter the count. McClanahan will feature a fastball that gets into the mid-90s, a pair of breaking balls which have thus far each produced whiff rates over 40 percent, and a changeup that is getting more usage early this season.

Old Friends

Manuel Margot is a former Red Sox prospect who was traded before reaching the majors, having been sent to the Padres in the Craig Kimbrel deal. The outfielder eventually landed in Tampa, where he’s turned into a very solid everyday outfielder and got an extension from the Rays prior to the season.

Jalen Beeks was sent to the Rays in the middle of the 2018 season for Nathan Eovaldi, a trade that has certainly worked out well for Boston. That said, Beeks is a nice long reliever/spot starter who is missing a ton of bats early this year.

Jeffrey Springs and Chris Mazza were both traded to the Rays prior to last season after being placed on waivers, with the Red Sox getting Ronaldo Hernández and Nick Sogard in return. The two relievers are both solid arms for the Rays bullpen.

Javy Guerra is a former shortstop prospect in the Red Sox system who has since converted to pitching and was just recently claimed off waivers by the Rays.
Notable Position Players

Wander Franco is, for all the talk about Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Rafael Devers, the best young player in this division. While he lacks their top-end power, Franco plays a premium position well and has as good of an approach and hit tool as there is among young players in the game this side of Juan Soto.

Randy Arozarena is the other part of this young two-person core for the Rays lineup that should be together for a long time if the Rays ownership decides to act like a major-league ownership group. He strikes out a bit more than Franco, but he’s got a power/speed combination that plays very well in the outfield.

Brandon Lowe is an extremely underrated player and one of the best all-around second basemen in the game, counteracting high strikeout rates with big power and a great eye at the plate.

Ji-Man Choi is largely a platoon player, but against righties he’s another three true outcome player with high strikeout rates, but also big power and a high walk rate.

Margot is off to a hot start this season, but he’s largely a slightly-below-average hitter with great defense in the outfield, which will play as a starter.

Josh Lowe is a top prospect for the Rays who got a lineup spot after they traded Austin Meadows, and he’s another three true outcome guy with some speed to add on as well.

Yandy Díaz is perhaps the most jacked man in baseball, but he actually doesn’t hit for much power, instead relying on his on-base ability to stay in the lineup.

Kevin Kiermaier had a bit of a resurgence at the plate last season, but he’s off to a slow start in 2022 and is mostly a glove-first player.

Mike Zunino was somewhat quietly one of the best catchers in the game last season with his big power and good defense, but his contact issues always make him a wildcard at the plate.
Bullpen Snapshot

We know the deal with the Rays bullpen by this point, right? Most of the time I list out the few key relievers to know in a given bullpen, but with Tampa it’s about the collection. They are not only great at finding big-time talent for the bullpen, but also are masters at diversifying the group not just based on handedness, but on repertoires and arm angles and a host of other subtle differences that make them a matchup nightmare.
Injuries

Tyler Glasnow looked to be the Rays future ace after coming over in the now-infamous Chris Archer deal, but after undergoing Tommy John late last summer he’s likely going to miss all or most of this season.

Shane Baz was another part of that Archer deal (along with Meadows), but he’s going to be out until at least June before rejoining their rotation.

Pete Fairbanks was supposed to be one of the Rays’ best relievers, but just before camp went down with a lat injury and will be out at least until June.

Luis Patiño is another great young starter, and he got hurt right at the start of the season with an oblique injury that has since landed him on the 60-day injured list.

Nick Anderson was in the best reliever in baseball conversation just a few years ago, but injuries have derailed him in recent seasons and he’ll likely be unavailable for the first half of the season.

Brendan McKay is another promising young pitcher who was put on the 60-day injured list at the start of the season and will be unavailable for quite some time.

Ryan Yarbrough hurt his groin at the start of the season, though he’s not expected to miss much time and perhaps could even be an option to return on Saturday.

Yonny Chirinos underwent Tommy John in 2020 then suffered a setback late last season, and it’s not clear when he’ll be able to return to the mound.

JT Chargois went down early in the season with an oblique injury, though he’s not expected to be out of their bullpen for too long.
Weather Forecast

It does not matter, as the Rays play in a dome. You may have heard about it.