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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 29, 2022 2:12:51 GMT -5
Red Sox @ Orioles Friday, 29th April 2022 7pm @ OPACY
Hill 0-0/4.85
Bradish 0-0/ 000
Friday, April 29, 2022 at 7:05pm EDT Written by Chris King
A pair of AL East rivals take the field to open up a weekend set on the diamond in Charm City. The Boston Red Sox are on the road as they kick off a three-game set with the Baltimore Orioles Friday night. Boston dropped the finale of a four-game set with the Blue Jays, losing 1-0 Thursday afternoon in their previous contest. Baltimore ended up getting doubled up 10-5 by the Yankees on the road Thursday afternoon to wind up being swept. Last season, the Red Sox won the season series by a 13-6 margin though the Orioles took two of three in the most recent series, which came at home September 28-30, 2021.
Boston Red Sox Still Looking to Get Offense Clicking Boston got a well-pitched contest but they were unable to generate any offensive production as they lost three of the four games in the set against Toronto. The Red Sox entered Thursday night fourth in the AL East, 5.5 games behind the Yankees for the division lead. In Thursday’s game, Boston finished with just four hits as no player had more than one. Enrique Hernandez had the lone extra base hit, a double, and the team was zero for five with runners in scoring position. Garrett Whitlock (1-1) was the hard-luck loser on the mound as he allowed one run (none earned) on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts over three innings of work.
Rich Hill is on the hill as he makes his fourth start of the season for the Red Sox in this contest. He comes in 0-1 with a 4.85 ERA, a 1.615 WHIP, six walks and seven strikeouts over 13 innings of work this season. Hill didn’t factor in the decision in his previous start, which came Sunday against Tampa Bay. He threw four scoreless innings, allowing four hits with three walks and one strikeout in a game the Red Sox dropped by a 5-2 count. Hill makes his 16th career appearance and sixth start against the Orioles in this contest. He comes in 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA, a 0.969 WHIP, 16 walks and 32 strikeouts over 32 innings against them. Hill is 2-0 with a 6.88 ERA, a 1.765 WHIP, 22 walks and 26 strikeouts over 34 innings in 13 career appearances, eight starts, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Baltimore Orioles Try to Snap Slide Baltimore dropped their fourth straight game as they were knocked off on the road by the Bronx Bombers Thursday afternoon, completing a sweep. The Orioles entered Thursday night in the basement of the AL East, seven games behind the Yankees for the top spot. Against New York Thursday, Baltimore led 2-0 after four and a half innings before giving up 10 unanswered runs. They scored three in the ninth but that proved to be too little, too late. Austin Hays (run, RBI) had four hits to lead Baltimore while Rougned Odor (run, RBI) added three as part of a 14-hit attack in a losing effort. Bruce Zimmermann (1-1) took the loss as he allowed four runs (none earned) on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Baltimore committed five errors, leading to six unearned runs in the contest.
The Orioles have called up Kyle Bradish from the minors as he makes his major league debut in this contest. He made three starts with Triple-A Norfolk of the International League this season prior to his recall. Bradish is 2-0 with a 1.20 ERA, a 0.733 WHIP, three walks and 17 strikeouts over 15 innings of work on the year. With this being his major league debut, Bradish pitches against the Red Sox for the first time in this contest. As such, this is his first career start at Oriole Park at Camden Yards as well. In his minor league career, Bradish is 14-12 with a 3.79 ERA, a 1.341 WHIP, 100 walks and 268 strikeouts over 216.1 innings in 51 career appearances, 43 starts.
Red Sox at Orioles Friday, at 7:05 PM EST Clear According to Forecast.io, it's expected to be 61° F with a 0% chance of precipitation and 7 MPH wind blowing left to right in Baltimore at 7:05 PM EST. Hourly Forecasts: Weather.com Forecast.io
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 29, 2022 2:14:41 GMT -5
SP Probables
Saturday....7pm...Eovaldi 0-0/3.20 vs Luzzardo 1-1/3.77
Sunday...1:30...Pivetta 0-0/8.27 vs Lyles 1-2/5.40
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 29, 2022 2:15:57 GMT -5
Orioles To Promote Kyle Bradish
By Darragh McDonald | April 28, 2022 at 8:06pm CDT
The Orioles are going to call up right-handed pitching prospect Kyle Bradish to start tomorrow’s game, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, as Baltimore will be hosting Boston for a weekend series. The 25-year-old will be making his major league debut. He is already on the 40-man roster, so the club will just need to create a spot for him on the active roster.
Bradish was selected by the Angels out of New Mexico State University in the fourth round of the 2018 draft. He made his professional debut in 2019, throwing 101 innings in High-A with a 4.28 ERA. In December of that year, he was one of four prospects sent from the Angels to the Orioles in the Dylan Bundy trade.
Of course, a few months later, the pandemic wiped out the 2020 minor league seasons, preventing Bradish from making an official debut with his new team for a year. In 2021, he began the season with the Double-A Bowie Baysox. In three starts, he threw 13 2/3 scoreless innings with 26 strikeouts against just five walks. After that clearly dominant performance, he was moved up to the Triple-A Norfolk Tides. In 21 games, 19 of them starts, he tossed another 86 2/3 innings with a 4.26 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate.
In November, the club added Bradish to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft (which never ended up happening due to the lockout). He’s off to a great start on the year so far, throwing 15 innings over three Triple-A starts with a 1.20 ERA, 29.8% strikeout rate, 5.3% walk rate and 50% groundball rate. He has climbed up to the #9 position among Orioles’ prospects, according to Baseball America, with their report noting that he has a fastball that can touch 97 MPH and a plus slider that stands out as his best secondary offering. Eric Longenhagen and Kevin Goldstein of FanGraphs had Bradish in the #7 slot among Baltimore farmhands, with both their report and BA’s remarking on his unique delivery, which helps him add a deceptive element to his game.
Bradish will now get a chance to join a fairly wide-open rotation on a rebuilding Orioles team. The club recently lost the most reliable and effective member of their starting staff, John Means, for the next year-plus due to Tommy John surgery. Aside from veteran Jordan Lyles, the rest of the group is lacking in experience, with Bruce Zimmermann, Tyler Wells and Spenser Watkins all coming into this season with about one year of service time, give or take. If Bradish can provide serviceable innings for the club, he should be able to stick around. This is likely the first of several prospect promotions for the O’s rotation, though, as hurlers such as DL Hall, Grayson Rodriguez and others could soon work their way up to the bigs as well.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 29, 2022 2:20:50 GMT -5
Red Sox looking to turn power back on April 28th, 2022 Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
TORONTO -- When Rafael Devers hit one high and deep and just fair down the line in right for a two-run home run in the third inning of the opener of this 10-game road trip for the Red Sox last Friday, nobody knew at the time that it was a moment that should have been savored.
After all, how could anyone have known that a team typically associated with power was about to go on an outage not seen in 21 years?
In a 1-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday afternoon at Rogers Centre, the Red Sox suffered their fifth loss in the last six games. It also marked the sixth consecutive game the Red Sox didn’t hit the ball out of the ballpark. The last time that happened, Jimy Williams was managing the Red Sox and Manny Ramírez was anchoring the lineup. That six-game stretch was from April 11-16, 2001.
The next night, Ramírez clocked two homers while Brian Daubach and Carl Everett also went deep in a 10-0 rout at Tropicana Field.
That was a long time ago. But the Red Sox can only hope that history repeats itself on Friday night at Camden Yards, the final stop of what has so far been a difficult road trip.
“Those kind of things happen,” said Devers, Boston’s best power hitter. “We know we’re good hitters. From top to bottom, we are really good hitters. So those things are going to happen from time to time but we’re ready to bounce back.”
Through 20 games, the 8-12 Sox have just 11 homers. That puts them on pace to hit 89 over a 162-game season. Only the Orioles and Tigers have hit fewer big flies in all of MLB than the Sox.
It’s pretty much guaranteed that the Red Sox, who hit 219 homers last season, will wind up well into the 100s in homers at least.
But that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow now. The Sox, who got off to a fast start last season, are already 5 1/2 games back in the ultra-competitive American League East.
A hot week or two can fix that. And so can an overdue barrage of home runs. So why is a team with several power hitters not hitting for power?
“I don’t know, honestly,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “We will hit homers. That’s going to be part of it. We’re doing a better job swinging at pitches in the zone. We’re not chasing as much. With that, the home runs will come.”
It is fair to say the Red Sox took some good swings on Thursday and didn’t have much to show for it. Nobody was more frustrated than Christian Arroyo.
With one out and a runner on third base in the seventh, he hit a line drive to exactly where shortstop Bo Bichette was playing. According to Statcast, the liner had an expected batting average of .420.
In the ninth, Alex Verdugo hit a 108.5-mph groundout. Later in the frame, Kiké Hernández hit a 105.1-mph screamer to left-center that had an expected batting average of .560 and likely would have scored Devers with the tying run if it had found the gap. Instead, left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. corralled it for an out.
The beauty of home runs is that they can’t be caught. And that’s why the return of the long ball will likely be the quickest fix to what currently ails the Boston bats.
“Of course, it’s going to be a big help [to hit homers] but it’s not going to be what defines us as a team, the long ball,” said Devers. “I think we’re going to keep putting our work in.”
Devers and Verdugo are the current team leaders in homers at three apiece. Though Bogaerts (.392 average) is off to a scorching start, he’s gone deep just once so far. It hasn’t helped that J.D. Martinez has played in just six of the team’s last eight games due to a left adductor strain. The star DH has one homer in his first 54 at-bats after starting last season on a power tear.
Hernández belted 20 homers last season while hitting mostly leadoff. He has one so far this year while moving around the lineup.
The Red Sox added an impact power hitter in Trevor Story, though he’s gone homerless in his first 58 at-bats with his new team.
“I don’t think we’re necessarily thinking about home runs,” said right fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. “Obviously we’ve hit some balls well and they haven’t gone out. I’m not going to sit here and complain about it.”
But when the ball does start flying over the wall again for the Red Sox, their fortunes should start to change significantly.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 29, 2022 2:27:23 GMT -5
Dan Shaughnessy Retweeted Matt McCarthy @mattmccarthy985 · 9h The Red Sox are now 3-9 against the American League East. They are an absolute chore to watch right now. Their lack of depth is glaring and there are holes all over this team.
Questions need to be asked of Chaim Bloom. Is this the best roster that could've been assembled?
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 29, 2022 2:36:43 GMT -5
RED SOX NOTEBOOK Tanner Houck will rejoin Red Sox in Baltimore, slated for Friday relief work By Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated April 28, 2022, 5:34 p.m.
TORONTO — Red Sox righthanders Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck arrived in Baltimore Thursday and will be activated off the restricted list Friday.
Because they have not been vaccinated for COVID-19, the pitchers could not travel to Canada for the series against the Blue Jays. They instead spent three days at the Red Sox spring training complex in Fort Myers, Fla.
The plan is to use Houck Friday night against the Orioles in a multi-inning relief role behind lefthander Rich Hill.
“I think it’s a good mix,” manager Alex Cora said Thursday. “They’re going to load up with righties and then you can go with Tanner. It’s just taking advantage of the roster.”
Houck was 1-1 with a 3.21 earned run average in three starts. He pitched in relief Sunday at Tampa Bay and threw 1⅔ perfect innings. Bogaerts gets a break
Shortstop Xander Bogaerts was out of the lineup a day after going 4 for 4 with a walk.
“You guys know how I operate with this,” Cora said. “People might say, ‘He’s hot; he’s swinging it.’ Right?
“But all the running around for x-amount of days, playing on the turf, moving around playing the position that he plays. We talked about it over the weekend and we picked this day. We have to be disciplined.”
J.D. Martinez also was out of the lineup with soreness on his left side. He missed four games with the same issue before returning Monday, then aggravated the problem running the bases Wednesday night.
“We’ve got to be smart about it,” said Cora, who added the hope is Martinez will return on Friday.
The, shall we say, creative lineup that resulted included Kiké Hernández batting cleanup for the first time since 2019 and Jackie Bradley Jr. batting fifth.
Christian Arroyo started for Bogaerts at shortstop and the DH was Travis Shaw. The Sox managed only four hits in a 1-0 loss.
Seven for Sale
Chris Sale threw a seven-pitch bullpen session in Fort Myers Tuesday. “Not eight, not six. Seven,” Cora said. “That’s the beginning of the progression.” Sale, who is returning from a fractured rib, was placed on the 60-day injured list April 4 … James Paxton is up to 35 pitches in the bullpen as he comes back from Tommy John surgery … Infielder Jonathan Araúz remains in COVID-19 protocol after testing positive April 19 … Lefthander Jeremy Wu-Yelland, the team’s fourth-round pick in the 2020 draft, had Tommy John surgery Wednesday. The 22-year-old was 2-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 23 Single A starts last season. Sox claim Davis
The Sox filled the open spot on their 40-man roster by claiming 27-year-old righthanded-hitting outfielder Jaylin Davis off waivers from the Giants. He was optioned to Triple A Worcester. Davis hit .159 with a .490 OPS in 26 games for the Giants from 2019-21. He has hit .291 with 38 homers and a .983 OPS in 121 Triple A games . . . Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said catcher Alejandro Kirk dropped his PitchCom speaker between the eighth and ninth innings. Cora saw it and brought it over to the Toronto dugout, which Montoyo said he appreciated . . . The Sox are 2-5 against the Blue Jays and 4-9 in the American League East . . . Righthander John Schreiber, who was called up last Friday, appeared twice in the series and retired seven of the eight batters he faced . . . Twelve of the 20 games this season have been decided by two runs or fewer. The Sox are 5-7 in those games . . . the Jays are 7-2 in one-run games.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 29, 2022 2:38:32 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 8h Jonathan Araùz, who has been on the Covid IL since April 19, will likely be activated soon but will need a rehab assignment before coming back.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 29, 2022 2:43:05 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 9h The Red Sox currently have a .619 OPS in April, their worst in any month since the unrecognizable lineups of Sept 2012 went 7-22.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 29, 2022 2:46:16 GMT -5
Red Sox Notebook: Struggling to hit home runs, Sox question the baseballs Devers wonders if baseballs are different
By Jason Mastrodonato | jason.mastrodonato@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald PUBLISHED: April 28, 2022 at 7:07 p.m. | UPDATED: April 28, 2022 at 7:17 p.m.
The Red Sox offense needs to figure something out.
Whether it’s a dead baseball, bad luck, an over-aggressive approach at the plate or some combination of all three, the Sox have completed two straight road series against divisional rivals and hit just one home run.
They fell to the Blue Jays, 1-0, on Thursday afternoon and are just 2-5 on the road trip.
It completed another series loss for a Red Sox team that has no momentum and no clear identity. They’ve lost three straight series against the Jays, Rays and Jays again. They’re 3-7 in those 10 games and have fallen to 5 1/2 games back in the American League East before the calendar flips to May.
In the seven games on the road, they’ve hit .210 with 22 runs (3.1 runs per game).
Asked about his team’s lack of power, manager Alex Cora told reporters in Toronto, “I don’t know. Honestly. We will hit homers. That’s going to be part of it. We’re doing a better job swinging at pitches in the zone. We’re not chasing as much. With that, the home runs will come.”
The Sox have hit just 11 home runs in 20 games, tied for third-least in MLB.
“That’s around the league,” Cora said of power numbers being down. “We hit some balls hard. It is what it is. It’s the environment we play in. We’ve done a better job hitting the ball harder the last few days. When you hit the ball hard, the ball is going to start carrying.”
Rafael Devers (three) and Alex Verdugo (three) have six of the 11 home runs.
“Yeah, you start wondering when you see Christian Vázquez hitting that ball like he did and the ball stays in the ballpark, so you start wondering if there’s something different with the ball,” Devers told reporters. “When we played at Tampa, too, the ball isn’t going as far as it should or as it has in the past so I don’t know what’s up.” Martinez, Bogaerts out of lineup
J.D. Martinez missed Thursday’s game with a left adductor strain that’s bothered him for the last week or so.
Cora said he’s hoping Martinez will play on Friday, but it’s not clear.
“He felt it a little bit Wednesday,” Cora said. “You want to play station to station, but you have a chance to get to second. There was a groundball the other day, two days ago, he almost was safe at first. When you go in there and you’re in the competition and you want to do the best for the team, it’s hard to slow down.”
Without Martinez, the Sox used Travis Shaw as the designated hitter. He was 0-for-3 and is now 0-for-20 on the year.
Xander Bogaerts was also out of the Sox’ lineup as he got a routine day off. It was untimely, given Martinez was also out and the Sox had Garrett Whitlock on the mound.
“You guys know how I operate with this,” Cora said. “People might say, ‘he’s hot, he’s swinging it.’ All the running around for X amount of days, playing on the turf, moving around, playing the position that he plays, we talked about it over the weekend and we picked this day and we have to be disciplined.”
Bogaerts, who leads the American League with a .392 average, came off the bench to lead off in the eighth inning, but grounded out weakly.
It seemed as though he could’ve been used in the seventh inning, when the Sox had the tying run on third base and the struggling Bobby Dalbec at the plate, but Bogaerts stayed seated and Dalbec flew out in foul territory to end the threat.
Kiké Hernandez was hitting cleanup, but was 1-for-4 to see his average hit .197.
Christian Arroyo dropped to .194, Jackie Bradley Jr. to .161, Dalbec to .154 and Vazquez to .209. Houck to return Friday
The Sox will reportedly take a bus to Buffalo to avoid any possible COVID-19 related flight obstructions out of Canada, then fly to Baltimore for a three-game set against the last-place Orioles.
Rich Hill will start Friday’s game and Tanner Houck, who missed the Toronto series due to his vaccination status, will likely piggyback.
“Tomorrow is about maximizing the roster,” Cora said. “Rich, he has his days so we can actually … people take piggyback to the extreme. But we can go X amount of outs with Rich and X amount of outs with Tanner throughout the game.
“I think it’s a good mix. In an era that people are mixing and matching right away, we’re going to load up with righties and then you can go with Tanner and then obviously with the three lefties we have in the bullpen later in the game. We can flip-flop. We can just take advantage of the roster and obviously take advantage of the off-day on Monday.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 29, 2022 2:48:39 GMT -5
Lou Merloni @loumerloni · 9h Time to try something new. Roster move weekend. Roster down to 26 Sunday.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 29, 2022 2:50:42 GMT -5
Red Sox Stats @redsoxstats · 10h Red Sox 1B is an absolute shitshow
Red Sox OBPs .416 Xander Bogaerts .344 J.D. Martinez .308 Trevor Story .300 Alex Verdugo .286 Rafael Devers .271 Enrique Hernandez .258 Jackie Bradley Jr. .234 Christian Vazquez .211 Bobby Dalbec
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 29, 2022 2:51:40 GMT -5
Red Sox Stats @redsoxstats · 9h Look's like the Os just announced the MLB debut of Kyle Bradish tomorrow night.
15 IP, 2 ER, 3 BB, 17 K in AAA this year.
"fastball sits in the mid-90s and touches 97 at times, pairing with a power curve."
If the Sox don't get right in a big way, this could really spiral.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 29, 2022 3:52:27 GMT -5
Orioles host Red Sox in matchup of struggling teams FLM
One-run games have not been kind to the Boston Red Sox, who begin a three-game series against the host Baltimore Orioles on Friday.
Boston has five one-run losses this season, including four in the past eight days. The latest came Thursday, when the Red Sox were held to four hits in a 1-0 defeat to the host Toronto Blue Jays.
Toronto took three of four from Boston, which has dropped seven of its past nine games.
"Every game we've kind of been in the game," Boston shortstop Xander Bogaerts said. "We're losing 2-1, 1-0 and then we're up. I know we've been losing a lot lately, but every game we're in."
The Red Sox, who have scored two or fewer runs in seven of their past 10 games, could be without J.D. Martinez on Friday.
Martinez sat out Thursday after aggravating a left adductor ailment, but manager Alex Cora said the designated hitter could return at some point this weekend.
Red Sox second baseman Trevor Story went 0-for-3 on Thursday and is hitting .224 with his new club.
Boston's most consistent hitter has been Bogaerts, who went 0-for-1 as a late-game replacement on Thursday and is second in the majors with 29 hits. Bogaerts is batting .392 with a home run and eight RBIs.
"He's just such a good player, such an offensive threat," Cora said. "He can pull it for power, he can go the other way for singles. I'm glad that he's playing for us."
Boston looks to regroup against a Baltimore team that has lost four straight. The Orioles outhit the New York Yankees 14-10 on Thursday but committed five errors in a 10-5 defeat.
"We have to play solid defensively for us to have the chance to win, and today wasn't our best day defensively," Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. "We didn't play very good defense today, and we have a tough time covering up for it offensively right now, too. We've got to get better."
Baltimore is expected to recall right-hander Kyle Bradish from Triple-A Norfolk to make his major league debut on Friday.
Bradish, 25, was acquired from the Los Angeles Angels in the Dylan Bundy trade in December 2019.
Bradish allowed four runs (two earned) and struck out 17 batters in 15 innings in his first three starts with Norfolk this season. He threw 87 pitches over six innings in his last outing for the Tides on April 22. He struck out eight.
Boston will counter with left-hander Rich Hill (0-1, 4.85 ERA), who allowed four hits over four scoreless innings against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.
Hill, 42, hasn't topped 80 pitches or five innings through his first three starts. He owns a 3-0 record and 2.25 ERA in 15 career games (five starts) against the Orioles.
Baltimore hopes to have Ryan Mountcastle back in the lineup after he sat out the past two games due to neck stiffness.
"Hopefully, he'll be able to start (Friday)," Hyde said. "The neck feels a lot better."
Orioles left fielder Austin Hays recorded his first career four-hit game in the Thursday loss, while right fielder Anthony Santander saw his 19-game on-base streak -- dating to the end of last season -- come to an end.
--Field Level Media
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 29, 2022 8:05:28 GMT -5
Mastrodonato: Red Sox need to put Garrett Whitlock back in the bullpen Sox aren’t good enough to waste Whitlock’s starts
By Jason Mastrodonato | jason.mastrodonato@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald April 29, 2022 at 5:32 a.m.
If the Red Sox had to decide right now what would be best for Garrett Whitlock’s career — or at least the next seven years he’s under contract in Boston — keeping him in the starting rotation is the way to go.
He can clearly handle it. He’s developed three elite pitches. His body is strong enough. He’s got the mindset. He’s most valuable there in the long term.
But on this year’s Red Sox team? Playing in front of a lineup that started Thursday’s game with five guys hitting under .200? For a team that is struggling to turn double plays, failing to hit for power and has no clear plan in the bullpen?
The answer is becoming clear: the Red Sox need to put Whitlock back in the ’pen.
Twice on this road trip the Sox have turned to Whitlock out of the rotation. And after their 1-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday, the Sox are 0-2 in those starts, despite Whitlock allowing just one unearned run over seven combined innings.
In those two games, the Red Sox offense has combined for two runs on six hits. They’re hitting .095 when Whitlock starts. They’ve made two official errors on defense, but have made multiple ugly plays in the infield behind him.
This team is too unpredictable, too unsteady, too flawed to put their best pitcher on a schedule five days in advance and stick with it, no matter the circumstances.
Otherwise, there’s no way they would’ve chosen Thursday as the moment for Whitlock to make his only appearance of the week.
It was the wrong day to burn their best player.
The Blue Jays were starting Alek Manoah, who has shoved against the Sox (and the rest of the league) since he entered the bigs last year. He’s got an overpowering fastball that touches 97 mph and a wipeout slider to go with a sinker and changeup. The Sox did nothing against him Thursday, when they cobbled together just two singles, a double and a walk while striking out seven times over seven innings.
Xander Bogaerts was on the bench with a day off. That’s fine; the Sox need to rest their players sometimes, and a day game after a night game on the turf makes a lot of sense.
But if the team has the foresight to know when Whitlock is starting and to know when they’d like the league’s batting average leader to take a day off, sidelining them both on the same day isn’t a recipe for winning games.
It didn’t help that J.D. Martinez needed the day off due to his left adductor strain flaring up.
With both of them on the bench, the Sox went with a lineup that included Trevor Story in the leadoff spot, where he’s hitting .207, Kiké Hernandez, hitting .197, in the cleanup spot, and Travis Shaw, 0-for-20 this season, as the designated hitter.
Christian Arroyo played shortstop with Bogaerts out and made a bad error in the third inning on a routine groundball to his right. He fielded it cleanly but it bounced out of his glove on the transfer and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. reached safely, then came around to score the game’s only run.
And Arroyo failed to turn a double play on a ball hit to Story, who flipped it to the shortstop behind the bag, but Arroyo was already stationed on the bag instead of anticipating the toss behind it, and he had to spin around to make a throw from an awkward position.
The Jays didn’t hit Whitlock hard, but the mistakes added up and Whitlock got no help from home plate umpire Larry Vanover, who missed several obvious calls throughout the day.
Whitlock finished with a career-high 61 pitches despite throwing just three innings. He allowed one unearned run on four hits and two walks while striking out two.
Manager Alex Cora said he wasn’t sure what comes next for Whitlock, but the Sox must consider putting him back in the ’pen.
That the Sox fielded their worst lineup of the season while also burning their best pitcher in a key divisional game in Toronto is nothing short of a disaster. It can’t happen again. The Sox aren’t deep enough. They need to take advantage of every game Whitlock pitches, and until last week, they had done that.
They were 3-1 in games that Whitock had pitched out of relief, when they can use him only in games they know they have a chance to win. They can control the environment.
When he’s in the rotation, there’s no telling what will happen around him.
So far, they’ve wasted him twice.
In a perfect world, there are more options out of the bullpen and a more consistent lineup on the field. Letting Whitlock pitch every five days is a great way to let him develop into an ace and learn important lessons along the way. If they can get him to 200 innings, he’s more valuable than throwing 100 innings out of relief.
But this isn’t a perfect world. The Red Sox aren’t a perfect team.
And without Whitlock in the bullpen, it’s like pulling teeth trying to get through these games.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 29, 2022 11:19:46 GMT -5
Out goes the trash and more trash coming back......Cordero is coming back hahahahahahah
Red Sox To Designate Travis Shaw For Assignment
By Steve Adams | April 29, 2022 at 10:50am CDT
10:50am: The Sox indeed plan to select Cordero’s contract from Worcester, Cotillo tweets. Cordero struggled immensely through 136 plate appearances in Boston last season, hitting at just a .189/.237/.260 clip while fanning at a 37.5% rate. He’s out to a massive .296/.375/.535 start through 81 plate appearances in Triple-A, where he’s slugged three homers and eight doubles with a slightly lower (though still troubling) 28.3% strikeout rate.
10:23am: The Red Sox are designating struggling corner infielder Travis Shaw for assignment, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports (via Twitter). The team has yet to formally announce the move or a corresponding transaction, though Cotillo suggests that outfielder Franchy Cordero could be brought up from Triple-A Worcester to take Shaw’s spot on the roster.
Shaw, 32, has a lengthy history with the Sox and has had plenty of success in prior stints with Boston, but his 2022 campaign has gotten out to a disastrous start. Through 19 plate appearances, he’s yet to collect a hit or even reach base, punching out seven times along the way. Were the Red Sox’ lineup performing better on the whole, perhaps the front office might have been more willing to give the veteran Shaw a bit more leash to right the ship. Boston, however, is batting just .229/.275/.344 as a team, translating to a 78 wRC+ that ranks 27th among baseball’s 30 teams. Their 72 runs scored this season rank 20th. The Sox have scored two or fewer runs in nine of their 20 games thus far.
Shaw returned to the Red Sox for a second stint late last season after the Brewers placed him on waivers, and his second stint with the Sox proved productive. In 48 plate appearances down the stretch, Shaw hit just .238 but got on base at a healthier .319 clip and slugged a robust .524. He smacked three homers and three doubles along the way, showing enough for Boston to bring him back to the organization on a minor league contract this winter. Shaw didn’t hit much in Spring Training (4-for-24), but management saw enough positives from him to carry him on the Opening Day roster.
Now designated for assignment, Shaw will be either traded, placed on outright waivers or released within a week’s time. Given his early struggles, it seems unlikely that another club would immediately place Shaw on its 40-man roster (via a small trade or waiver claim). If he goes unclaimed or is released, however, his track record ought to get him a look elsewhere on a minor league contract. Shaw has a pair of 30-homer campaigns on his resume and is a career .237/.319/.437 hitter in 2690 plate appearances.
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