|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 6, 2022 14:27:00 GMT -5
Chad Finn @globechadfinn · 1h Reminder: tonight’s Sox game is free on AppleTV+. Sunday’s is on Peacock and NBC.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 6, 2022 14:33:59 GMT -5
u got to be shitting me this guy knew what he was getting into someone ran into him today and told him to get this straightened out
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 7m Trevor Story said that hearing boos yesterday did represent a departure from what he’s experienced previously in his career, but took no issue with the fan reaction, saying that he holds himself to high account and his disappointment yesterday was in his own performance.
Story said that he’d been unaware of media interest in talking to him postgame yesterday, apologized for what he called a miscommunication, and said he welcomes player accountability and media responsibilities.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 6, 2022 14:35:15 GMT -5
Jared Carrabis @jared_Carrabis · 3h The bottom third of the Red Sox batting order ranks dead last in all of baseball in team OPS (.483). League average from the 7, 8, 9 hitters is .630.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 6, 2022 14:48:32 GMT -5
guess one scribe has no issue then I am gonna drop it
Chris Cotillo @chriscotillo · 10m I was not there postgame but think this Story situation falls under the "much ado about nothing" label from what I understand.
Guys now do postgame workouts / spend hours in the batting cages right after games quite frequently. Does it suck we sometimes don't have immediate access? Yes. We are also not going to stand there (and the team doesn't want us to) for 90 mins when there are stories to write.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 6, 2022 15:00:49 GMT -5
Duran leading off he has had pockets of good and bad down on farm has been on a roll for the last 5 days guess Bloom gotta try anything at this point great if he gets on but don't want him stranded
guess I will do my part, all though I wanted to wait past May
Bring the hits Jobu.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 6, 2022 17:02:13 GMT -5
Red Sox Promote Jarren Duran, John Schreiber
By James Hicks | May 6, 2022 at 4:16pm CDT
4:16pm: In addition to Duran, reliever John Schreiber is being called up to the majors. Hernández and left-hander Rich Hill are going on the COVID list in corresponding moves. Neither Hernández nor Hill has tested positive, Speier tweets, but both are dealing with viral symptoms. Schreiber rejoins the 40-man roster after a brief stint as a COVID substitute earlier in the year.
9:35 AM: While Duran’s promotion may well still mean a substantial reduction in Jackie Bradley Jr.’s playing time — and perhaps the end of his time in Boston — it appears that the precipitating factor for Duran’s return to the majors is not Bradley’s poor offensive output but Kiké Hernández potentially contracting a COVID infection. Per an updated version of the same story, Speier reports that Hernández’s initial tests have come back negative but he continues to exhibit symptoms indicating a potential infection.
Hernández is expected to remain away from the team until his symptoms abate and the Red Sox medical staff is confident he is not positive for COVID. Players are allowed to be placed onto the COVID-19 IL without a positive test provided they are exhibiting symptoms or have been exposed to the virus. As the COVID-19 IL has no minimum duration, Hernández could return as soon he feels better and is confirmed not to be positive for the virus.
9:23 AM: After failing to keep pace with the Yankees, Rays, and Blue Jays in the first month-plus of the 2022 season, the Red Sox may be preparing to shake things up. Citing unnamed sources, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports that outfielder Jarren Duran will join the big-league club at Fenway Park for tonight’s series-opening game against the White Sox. The corresponding move is not yet known.
It will be the second taste of the majors for Duran, who logged a meager .215/.241/.336 triple-slash in 112 big-league plate appearances in 2021. He’s off to a blistering .370/.460/.574 start in 63 plate appearances at Triple-A Worcester, however, and Sox brass will hope he can provide a boost to an offense that currently ranks 27th (ahead of only Oakland, Kansas City, and Cincinatti) with a team wRC+ of 82.
Even were they to continue rolling out the same lineup, the Boston faithful could probably expect some offensive improvement simply from reversion of the mean. Four Sox regulars — Trevor Story, Alex Verdugo, Kiké Hernández, and Christian Vázquez — have established track records of meaningful production and are not yet old enough for age to explain significant regression. It’s an ill-timed confluence of slumps to be sure, but there’s no reason to expect Alex Cora, Chaim Bloom, and Brian O’Halloran to do anything but watch and wait four those four to break out of their early-season swoons.
Much less likely to continue to see their names on Cora’s lineup cards are first baseman Bobby Dalbec (who faces from pressure from 22-year-old top prospect Triston Casas) and outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr., whose place Duran may well take as soon as tonight. After eight productive years in Boston (including an ALCS MVP performance and a World Series title in 2018), Bradley’s production cratered after signing a two-year, $24MM deal with the Brewers ahead of the 2021 season. He was traded (along with prospects David Hamilton and Alex Binelas) back to Boston for outfielder Hunter Renfroe just ahead of this offseason’s lockout, but his numbers have hardly rebounded. In 508 plate appearances between Milwaukee and Boston, the 32-year-old Bradley has slashed a measly .166/.239/.261, including just a .181/.253/.264 output this year; he’d slashed a much more palatable .239/.321/.412 across the eight seasons prior. These are, of course, hardly the numbers a team with championship aspirations expects from a regular, even one providing consistently high-quality defense in the wacky Fenway Park outfield.
As the corresponding move is not yet known, it’s unclear whether Duran’s call-up spells the end of Bradley’s time in Boston. Should the Sox choose to part ways with the beloved outfielder, they’ll remain on the hook for the roughly $8MM remaining of his $9.5MM 2022 salary, as well as for the entirety of the $8MM buyout of his 2023 mutual option. The team could also choose to send either seldom-used reserve Franchy Cordero (who has an available option) or one of the fourteen pitchers currently on its active roster to the minors. Regardless of what the move spells for Bradley’s future, though, Sox fans can probably expect at least a slight uptick in outfield production — just without a familiar face in the lineup.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 6, 2022 17:05:57 GMT -5
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne · 1h Alex Cora said that the game Shoehei Ohtani pitched against the Red Sox on Thursday is the best game he's seen pitched against his team since he originally became the manager in 2018.
“After the first time, I felt like a complete failure. You hear what people say about you and you feel bad about yourself. The second time, it feels like redemption. I’m going to come out here and play the way I know how to play and play with my hair on fire." -- Jarren Duran.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 6, 2022 17:10:01 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 1h Because he's being platooned, I get Bradley playing RF when Hernandez plays CF. And Hernandez is a damn good CF'er.
But if Hernandez isn't playing, Bradley should play CF.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 6, 2022 17:11:03 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 48m Pitching matchups, game times, TV for the #WhiteSox - #RedSox series:
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 6, 2022 17:14:54 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 1h Cora describes Duran as being better positioned to contribute with his more well-rounded game this year than he was last year. He noted that in addition to all-fields approach, Duran has had 3 bunt hits to take advantage of speed.
Whitlock is starting in Atlanta given Hill’s illness.
Jarren Duran described last year in simple terms: “Failure.” What does this callup represent? “Redemption.”
Duran joked about past complaints that he never hit for power, then complaints last year that he’d sold out for power and given up line drive approach. “C’mon - what do you want?” He’s decided to focus on getting on base and letting power show up naturally.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 7, 2022 3:19:29 GMT -5
Red Sox 2, White Sox 4: Have we tried unplugging the lineup and plugging it back in?
Can’t hurt. By Matt_Collins@MattRyCollins May 6, 2022, 10:44pm EDT 8 Comments
If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
I’ve run out of ways to talk about how bad this Red Sox offense is, which doesn’t seem great considering it’s May 6, and the season started late. But it’s where we are. After getting dominated by Shohei Ohtani on Thursday, they looked only marginally better against Vince Velasquez on Friday. Nathan Eovaldi wasn’t great, but was able to grind through a five-inning outing to keep Boston in the game, but the offense had no inclination to pick up the slack. It’s a day that ends in Y.
More robust game notes below.
The Red Sox were coming off perhaps their worst offensive performance in a year full of bad ones on Thursday, but it was at least a bit excusable given they were facing Shohei Ohtani, who Alex Cora said pitched better than any pitcher he’s seen face this team since he started managing here in 2018. They weren’t going to have that built-in excuse on Friday, though, facing a pitcher in Vince Velasquez who, frankly, is just a fringe starter in this league. His stuff is good enough to string together some good innings, but a good lineup should be able to take advantage of his shaky command.
Unfortunately, this Boston lineup is not currently a good one, even if the talent in the lineup suggests they should be. In the series preview, I said they had to be patient and not do Velasquez’ job for him, so it was fitting that Jarren Duran, in his first game back up in the majors, flew out on the first pitch he saw. (In fairness, it was a fastball over the plate and up in the zone, so I don’t have a problem with him swinging at that particular pitch, but it’s a symptom of a greater problem for this group.) They did get a runner into scoring position in that first inning, too, on a Trevor Story single and then a ground ball, but they were kept off the scoreboard.
That was the case for the next three innings as well, and they didn’t even manage a hit during that stretch. Instead, they only had a pair of walks, coming in separate innings, one in which Bobby Dalbec failed to drive extremely hittable pitches and another that was immediately followed by an inning-ending double play. It’s just the way things are going for this offense, whether they’re facing Ohtani or Velasquez or whoever else you want to put on the mound.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox had their ace in Nathan Eovaldi on the mound, but he didn’t look quite as crisp as we’ve gotten used to over the last few years. He certainly wasn’t bad, but the stuff was a tick below his best, and his command was just a bit off, which led to a lot of pitches, many of them of the high stress variety. And sure enough, in the first inning Tim Anderson started things off with a base hit, and Eovaldi would give up another single and issue a walk to load the bases. But he buckled down, throwing a good curveball when he needed it to set down Jake Burger and leave them loaded and keep the game scoreless.
It was still scoreless heading into the third, when the White Sox again put the pressure on. Two straight singles started off the frame, putting runners on the corners for José Abreu. The 2020 MVP is a prototypical run producer, and he produced a run here on a sacrifice fly to put Chicago up 1-0. That brought Luis Robert to the plate, and he extended the lead. It wasn’t a terrible pitch from Eovaldi, throwing a curveball down and in at the corner of the zone, but it also wasn’t the biggest break on that pitch we’ve seen from him. Regardless, Robert was all over it, sending it over everything in left field for a two-run shot, and extending Chicago’s lead to three.
It seemed like Eovaldi might be unraveling, and this game was going to get away from this team. Good pitchers are able to grind through these kinds of outings, though, and keep their team in the game. That’s exactly what happened here. Eovaldi wasn’t flawless the rest of the way, but after giving up three in the first three innings on 72 pitches, he managed to get through five still only allowing the three runs. It was certainly not the best version of himself, but it was an acceptable one, and frankly this is the kind of outing where an offense is supposed to pick up their ace.
They did make some strides in that direction in the fifth, to be fair, starting with Alex Verdugo. He led off the inning with the best contact from any Red Sox pitcher to that point in the game, smoking a double off the wall in center field. A couple batters later, Jackie Bradley Jr. put one off the Monster, and the Red Sox had their first run of the day, making it a 3-1 game. They had a chance to add close the deficit further, too, but the inning ended with Story striking out with runners on the corners, albeit on a questionable (read: bad) check swing call.
That brought Austin Davis out of the bullpen, who should have only faced three batters. He did issue a one-out walk, but then came back with what looked like a tailor-made double play ball. The turn was good, the throw to second from Rafael Devers (they were playing in the shift, so he was in the shortstop position) was on point, but Dalbec just... missed it. That extended the inning, and after Davis gave up a single Alex Cora called upon John Schreiber to try and get out of the inning. An infield single from Anderson loaded the bases, but Schreiber was able to wriggle out of it with a huge strikeout to keep the deficit at two.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox offense sent just three batters to the plate in the next inning — and inning that featured Devers, Xander Bogaerts, and J.D. Martinez — in part thanks to Devers getting himself doubled up on a soft liner to the second baseman.
It was still a 3-1 game heading into the eighth, with Schreiber now exiting and Ryan Brasier taking his place. This was the Adam Engel inning, with Chicago’s speedy outfielder leading the inning off with a sinlge, stealing second, getting to third on a fly ball to right despite a strong throw from Bradley, then scoring on a sacrifice fly, again beating out an excellent throw from Bradley. Brasier also gave up a ground rule double after that, but managed to limit the damage to the one run, making it a three-run deficit for the offense to make up with six outs to go.
They did get one run back quickly in the bottom of the eighth, with Duran putting a soft liner into right field that was misplayed by Engel. Once it got by the outfielder, Duran got on his horse and made his way to third (on what was inexplicably called a triple). Story then brought him home on a ground ball. They’d continue to push in the inning too, with Devers and Martinez reaching on singles, but they were both stranded.
After Matt Barnes came through with a scoreless top half of the ninth (with some help from Bradley, who finally got his outfield assist gunning down AJ Pollock at the plate), there were three more outs for the Red Sox offense. They gave themselves a chance when Christian Vázquez came in as a pinch hitter and drew a walk, bringing Duran up representing the tying run, but he’d strike out to end the game.
The Red Sox will look to recover on Saturday in some late-afternoon action, sending Nick Pivetta to the mound. First pitch is set for 4:10 PM ET.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 7, 2022 3:38:14 GMT -5
Red Sox's confidence unwavering amid skid2:08 AM ADT Ian Browne Ian Browne @ianmbrowne BOSTON -- There wasn’t much the Red Sox could do on Thursday but tip their caps after a pitching performance so overpowering by Shohei Ohtani that manager Alex Cora playfully asked the media if his offense could have a mulligan. Friday, the problems ran much deeper. In a 4-2 loss to the White Sox, the team’s perplexing offensive struggles continued, and put Boston (10-17) in sole possession of last place in the AL East for the first time this season. There was a sense of disbelief from the club’s most established player. “I don’t know how it’s possible with this lineup that we’re playing like this,” shortstop Xander Bogaerts said. A team with the likes of Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, Rafael Devers, Trevor Story, Kiké Hernández and Alex Verdugo would project as a top offense going by past track records. Thus far, it hasn’t come close to panning out. The Sox have just 16 homers with a .626 OPS and a run-differential of minus-20. They’ve lost three in a row and five of the last six. “We have to slow down the game, regardless of how we’re doing -- if we’re doing well or we’re struggling,” Cora said. “There were certain pitches in certain situations where we got out of the plan, and were too aggressive and chased pitches. Just another night. We’re struggling. Just being honest. We have to keep trying to get better.” For a team that finished just two wins shy of the World Series last year and brought back most of the same cast, trailing the Yankees by nine games in the division this early in the season is stunning. “It’s right there,” Cora said of the standings that are displayed on the Green Monster. “It’s right in front of everybody, but you have to forget about that. I think you have to detach yourself from the result or whatever’s going on outside of our world and win ballgames. We know we are a better team. We are better than this. But right now we’re not putting games together.” Of late, it has been Groundhog Day for the Red Sox, who show up to the ballpark thinking their fortunes are about to change, only to wind up back in the same rut. “Every day, we feel better than the day prior,” Bogaerts said. “Then we leave the ballpark, and it’s like … this is not fun. Everyone wants to win. In the end, it’s up to us. We’ve got to go out there and put up good at-bats. We’ve been running into some good pitching, but we’re also good hitters. I know the season is young, but we’ve got to go.” The general sense in the clubhouse is that one big day could turn everything around. And Bogaerts thinks it would be best if that big day started from the jump. “We need to score early,” Bogaerts said. “I’m sorry to say it, but we need to. Listen, we need to score first and give the pitchers some breathing room. The game is going three innings, 0-0 and we’re asking a little too much out of the pitchers to throw a complete-game shutout. I know it’s hard. We need to score runs but it would be really, really good if we could score first, to be honest.”
Ace Nathan Eovaldi had to grind for everything on Friday, throwing 101 pitches in five innings, holding the White Sox to three runs.
However, there just isn’t much margin for error for the pitching staff these days.
“It’s one of those things where we just have to stay together as a group,” Eovaldi said. “And that's one of the things I feel like we're doing really well. We come in every day with a positive attitude, ‘It’s going to turn. It’s going to turn.’ We’ve got enough experience in the clubhouse that we’re all staying with each other. We’re doing the little things. It’s just waiting for that big moment where you feel that shift move.”
Friday night, it felt like that big shift might happen after Jackie Bradley Jr. made a rocket throw to the plate to nail AJ Pollock for a 9-2 double play on José Abreu’s flyball.
Reliever Matt Barnes doffed his cap at Bradley, and the Red Sox came back to hit for the bottom of the ninth, needing the proverbial bloop and a blast to tie it up.
Instead, White Sox closer Liam Hendriks dialed it up and struck out the side in the ninth to create another hollow ending at Fenway.
Maybe Saturday will be the day the tide turns.
“Our confidence is unwavering,” Bradley said. “It’s early. I don’t think there’s time to panic or anything like that. Confidence should still be there. We’ve got great players and we’ve got a great staff. Just have to continue to come in every single day and focus on that day -- winning that day.”
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 7, 2022 3:40:36 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 6h Franchy Cordero hitting for Bobby Dalbec in a two-run game with three outs left.
That's just bad roster construction.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 7, 2022 3:43:36 GMT -5
Jon Couture @joncouture · 7h The bloom, as they say, is off the Dalbec rose.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 7, 2022 3:49:00 GMT -5
‘This is not fun:’ Red Sox’ offensive issues continue in loss to White Sox By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated May 6, 2022, 10:42 p.m.
To struggle against Shohei Ohtani? Unfortunate, but forgivable against a pitcher with an apocalyptic arsenal. Kevin Gausman? Join the club.
But the depths of the Red Sox’ offensive struggles are defined not by their inability to hit elite pitching, but rather by their failure to do much of anything against pitchers of far less distinction. On Friday night, in what seemed an opportunity for the Red Sox to correct course in a matchup of ace Nate Eovaldi against White Sox righty Vince Velasquez, the team’s meager production continued in a 4-2 home loss that dropped Boston to 10-17 — alone in last place in the AL East, nine games behind the Yankees.
The Red Sox are averaging 3.4 runs per game and have scored two runs or fewer in 12 of their 27 games this year. The zeroes, ones, and twos in the “R” column have become an inescapable Groundhog Day.
“I really don’t know how it’s possible with this lineup that we’re playing like this,” Xander Bogaerts said. “Every day, we [show up and] feel better than the day prior. Then when we leave the ballpark, it’s like . . . this is not fun.”
That sense of bewilderment prevailed Friday after the team got shut down by Velasquez (2-2, 3.97 ERA), who came into the night 0-7 with a 13.50 ERA in his prior seven road starts. The righthander allowed just one run on three hits in five innings, becoming the 13th straight starter to hold the Red Sox to three runs or fewer.
Over that stretch, top-of-the-rotation standouts such as Ohtani and Gausman have combined with less-renowned colleagues such as Jordan Lyles, Spenser Watkins, and Velasquez to forge a 1.99 starters’ ERA against the sawdust-wielding Red Sox — a stretch in which Boston is now 3-10.
Meanwhile, Eovaldi (1-1, 2.94) — whose unrelenting attack on the strike zone typically results in remarkably pitch efficient outings — instead labored in a way that he hadn’t in years. He needed 72 pitches to navigate the first three innings, tied for his most in any outing since 2013.
Though he worked around a bases-loaded jam in the first and cruised through a scoreless second, Eovaldi could not find a sustainable rhythm, and the White Sox lineup took advantage of the Red Sox ace’s off night in his second trip through their order.
Back-to-back singles by Tim Anderson and A.J. Pollock put runners on the corners to open the top of the third, with the White Sox scoring their first run when José Abreu drove in Anderson on a sac fly. With Eovaldi lacking putaway stuff in two-strike counts, a narrow deficit soon became an ominous one for the Red Sox.
With Pollock on first and one out, Luis Robert fouled off a pair of 2-2 pitches (fastball, splitter) — two of the 10 two-strike foul balls against Eovaldi in the first three innings. With those two offerings spoiled, Eovaldi tried to get Robert to chase a curveball away. Instead, the pitch remained in and ran into the slugger’s barrel for Robert’s fourth homer of the year.
“I didn’t have my best stuff and it ended up getting me in trouble,” Eovaldi lamented. “Today was just one of those days where I wasn’t crisp, I wasn’t getting the quick outs that we needed.”
The 389-foot launch over the Wall put the White Sox up, 3-0. It was the eighth homer allowed by Eovaldi in 33⅔ innings this year — matching a total that it took him 22 starts and 126 innings to reach in 2021.
Still, on a night when he lacked electric stuff and had to nibble — resulting in three walks by the White Sox, the first time in 25 starts that Eovaldi permitted more than two free passes — the veteran avoided further damage. He concluded his five innings having allowed three runs on six hits with three walks and four strikeouts, keeping the contest within theoretical reach at 3-0.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Red Sox did indeed make that field-goal deficit seem surmountable. Alex Verdugo snapped an 0-for-12 skid by mashing a double off the fence in center against Velasquez, and two batters later, Jackie Bradley Jr. clapped the Wall for a one-out RBI double that brought the Red Sox within 3-1.
A groundout and hit batter put runners on the corners with two outs for Trevor Story. But with a chance to tie the game with an extra-base hit, the Red Sox newcomer instead got rung up on a two-strike check-swing against a Velasquez slider — a questionable determination by first-base ump Carlos Torres that both Story and Alex Cora protested to no avail.
After the White Sox tacked on an eighth-inning run against Ryan Brasier, the Red Sox showed another glimmer of life in the bottom of the inning thanks to Friday night callup Jarren Duran. The 25-year-old lined a hit to right that scooted under the glove of Pollock, allowing Duran to roar into third with a triple. A run-scoring groundout by Story made it a 4-2 contest.
But the Sox could do no more, with White Sox closer Liam Hendriks dispatching both the Red Sox and the remnants of an announced Fenway crowd of 30,944 with three ninth-inning strikeouts — the last on an elevated 97 m.p.h. heater against Duran — as the Red Sox’ early-season crater deepened.
“Just another night. We’re struggling,” Cora said with a sigh. “We know we are a better team. We are better than this. But right now we’re not putting games together.”
|
|