Orioles Rough Up Sox (7/25/20)

The feel good Opening Day win lasted less than 24 hours as the rest of the Boston Red Sox pitching staff reared its ugly head in today's disaster against the Baltimore Orioles. Martin Perez (0-1, 7.20 ERA) has been a below average pitcher his whole career and he lived up to his rancid billing in his Sox debut. The hapless Orioles lit up Perez for 5 runs in 5 innings. The Sox offense was shut down by Alex Cobb, new Sox reliever Dylan Covey got smacked around as well and the Orioles evened the series with a 7-2 win over the Sox at Fenway Park.

                                              "Awww Perez, gross. GROSSSSSS!!!

Perez immediately crapped his pants in the top of the first inning as Austin Hays effortlessly singled to right to start. Hanser Alberto doubled to left but somehow Perez punched out Jose Iglesias. Anthony Sandtander hit a liner to right that wasn't deep enough to score Hays, but Renato Nunez pounded a double off the Monster to put the O's up for good 5 batters into the game. A wild pitch moved Nunez to third and Pedro Severino hit a routine grounder to third. Rafael Devers dove on the ball and wrestled it for an error to score Nunez. Chris Davis grounded into a force to end the inning but the O's had iced the game early 3-0.

                                                 That's game

Alex Cobb mowed the Sox down in the bottom of the first inning as Andrew Benintendi took strike three to start. JD Martinez lashed a base hit to left but Devers watched strike three go by and Mitch Moreland made his season debut by grounding out to short to end the inning.

The beating continued in the top of the second as Pat Valaika singled to right to start. Cedric Mullins walked but somehow Perez got Hays to pop up to second. Naturally Alberto singled home Valaika and Iglesias singled home Mullins. Red Sox pitching coach Dave Bush made a mad dash to the mound to remind Martin that Dangerous Liaisons was on in the clubhouse. Perez got so excited he induced a pop up from Santander that was ruled an infield fly. Alberto somehow forgot the rule and ran to third, getting tagged up on second for the double play to end the inning with the O's ahead 5-0.

                                                    Game was over already

Cobb cruised in the bottom of the second as Jose Peraza grounded out to short to start. Alex Verdugo made his Red Sox debut by hitting a bullet to Iglesias but Jackie Bradley Jr beat the shift with a base hit to center. Kevin Plawecki made his Red Sox debut by getting hit with a pitch but Tzu-Wei Lin grounded into a force to end the inning.

Somehow Perez settled down in the top of the third inning as Nunez popped up to first to start. Severino flied out to JBJ but Davis walked. Valaika lined out to third to end the inning. The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the third as Benintendi lined out to third to start. Martinez took strike three and Devers grounded out to first to end the inning.

Perez cruised in the top of the fourth inning as Mullins lined out to second to start. Hays flied out to left and Alberto lined out to center to end the inning. The Sox blew a chance to come back in the bottom of the fourth as Moreland reached on a strike three passed ball to start. Peraza lined out to left but Verdugo got his first hit of the season with a line driver to left. JBJ beat out a double play ball to put runners at the corners but Plawecki grounded out to second to end the inning.

Perez returned for one final inning in the top of the fifth and got Iglesias to ground out to third. Santander grounded out to short and Nunez whiffed to end the inning. Perez stunk the joint out the first two innings and it cost the Sox dearly as he allowed 5 runs in 5 innings of work.

                                           Knocked around by Baltimore....pathetic.

Cobb cruised in the bottom of the fifth as Lin flied out to left to start. Benintendi whiffed and Martinez grounded out to second to end the inning.

Heath Hembree made his season debut in the top of the sixth, getting Severino to fly out to left to begin. Davis and Valaika both flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox sprang to life in the bottom of the sixth although Devers whiffed again to start. Moreland then belted his first home run of the season to put the Sox on the board. That was it for Cobb who blinded the Sox for 5 1/3 innings, allowing just the home run just seconds before he was lifted. Paul Fry came in and Peraza lined out to center but Verdugo singled to right. JBJ singled to left but Santander airmailed the throw which allowed both runners to advance into scoring position. Plawecki beat out an infield dribber to score Verdugo to cut the lead. Miguel Castro was brought in to pitch as Sox manager Ron Roenicke sent in Xander Bogaerts to pinch hit for Lin. Representing the tying run....Bogaerts whiffed on 3 pitches to end the inning but the Sox were back in it 5-2.

                                                   First home run for Moreland

Just when the Sox were back in it, Dylan Covey pissed it away in the top of the seventh in his Red Sox debut. Mullins grounded out to second but Hays singled to left. Hays was erased on the force by Alberto but Iglesias blooped a single to right. Santander pounded a double off the Monster to score both runners to ice the game. Nunez lined out to center to end the inning but the game was out of reach 7-2.

                                                Santander with a back breaking double

Andrew Velazquez took over in left with Richard Bleier on the mound for the bottom of the seventh. Benintendi grounded out to second but Martinez was plunked. Devers whiffed to earn a hat trick and Moreland grounded out to first to end the inning.

Covey returned for the top of the eighth and Severino struck out swinging to start. Davis grounded back to the mound and Valaika went down hacking to end the inning. Peraza lined out to center to start the bottom of the eighth but Verdugo got a base hit to center. Verdugo moved to second on a wild pitch but JBJ whiffed. Mychal Givens came in to pitch to Plawecki and got him to line out to center to end the inning.

Josh Osich made his Red Sox debut in the top of the ninth and Mullins grounded out to third to start. Hays took strike three but Alberto singled to left. Iglesias grounded into a force to end the inning. The game ended in the bottom of the ninth as Bogaerts struck out swinging to start. Benintendi flied out to center but Martinez got a base hit to center. Fittingly, Devers earned a golden sombrero to go with his error as he struck out swinging to end the game. The lowly Orioles beat up Martin Perez and won the game 7-2.

                                               Dammit


Jackass of the Night is Martin Perez. The below average pitcher was exactly that, putting the Sox in a 5 run hole early that they couldn't come out of.

                                                Jackass Perez


The Good:

JD Martinez was 2 for 4 with a hit by pitch.

Alex Verdugo was 3 for 4 with a run scored.

Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 4.

Kevin Plawecki was 1 for 3 with an rbi.

Heath Hembree pitched a scoreless 6th inning.

Josh Osich tossed a scoreless 9th inning.



The Bad:

Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.

Rafael Devers was 0 for 5 with a golden sombrero of 4 strikeouts and an error.

Jose Peraza was 0 for 4.

Tzu-Wei Lin was 0 for 2.

Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.

Dylan Covey allowed 2 runs in 2 innings of work.



The Ugly:

Mitch Moreland was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a solo home run.




Final Thoughts:

THIS is what the Sox fans were expecting for this season and its going to be a long two months for sure. Sox general manager Chaim Bloom pretty much said to hell with this season by dumping Rick Porcello and having no backup plan in case of injury or illness. Perez and Covey were laughed at by Sox fans last season and the Sox ended up signing them for pennies on the dollar because they were cheap. The problem is the Sox have so much money invested in dead money such as Pablo Sandoval, Dustin Pedroia, Rusney Castillo, Hanley Ramirez and Chris Sale that they had to trade Mookie Betts just to stay under the luxury tax. After this season is over they'll be out from under Castillo, Hanley and Sandoval plus hopefully Dustin Pedroia officially retires. Until then they're stuck with the Triple A pitching staff that they have. The Sox offense that couldn't miss last night couldn't get a clutch hit against Alex Cobb and Devers & Benintendi not only look lost at the plate, but can't field either. Not much to stay about this disaster apart from the loss dropped them to 1-1 on the season. The Sox look to take the series tomorrow afternoon when Ryan Weber makes his season debut against Wade LeBlanc of the Orioles at 1:35 PM at Fenway Park.

Sox Bash Orioles on Opening Day (7/24/20)

In what will be the weirdest season of baseball in recorded history, at least the Boston Red Sox opening the season in style with a straight demolition over the hapless Baltimore Orioles. In a 60 game season with no fans at Fenway Park, the Sox crushed the O's behind a 17 hit Boston attack led by JD Martinez and new Sox addition Kevin Pillar. Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 1.50 ERA) tossed six solid innings to earn his first win of the season and the Sox thrashed the Orioles 13-2 at Fenway Park.

                                                      Joker approves of the win.

Eovaldi took the ball in the top of the first and new Sox outfielder Kevin Pillar made his presence felt by making a great catch to rob Austin Hays of a double to begin the top of the first. Anthony Santander grounded back to the mound and old pal Jose Iglesias grounded out to second to end the inning. Tommy Milone got the ball for the Orioles in the bottom of the first and Andrew Benintendi grounded out to second to start. JD Martinez drew a walk but Rafael Devers whiffed. Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning.

Renato Nunez grounded back to the mound to start the top of the second before Chris Davis grounded out to second. Hanser Alberto singled to left but Rio Ruiz grounded out to second to end the inning. Pillar popped up to third to start the bottom of the second but Christian Vazquez drew a walk. Vazquez was immediately picked off and Michael Chavis whiffed to end the inning.

Pedro Severino singled to center to start the top of the third but was forced at second by DJ Stewart. Hays banged into a double play to end the inning. The Sox struck first when Jackie Bradley Jr got the first hit of the season with a leadoff double. New Sox player Jose Peraza drove in the first run with an rbi double that scored JBJ to give the Sox the lead. Benintendi whiffed but Martinez drove in his first run of the season with a double to left to score Peraza. Devers walked and a wild pitch moved both runners over, but Bogaerts went down swinging. Pillar would have lit up the crowd if there was one with an rbi double to left to score both Martinez and Devers. Vazquez flied out to right to end the inning but the Sox were ahead 4-0.

                                              Welcome to Boston Jose Peraza

Eovaldi kept the lead intact in the top of the fourth as Santander flied out to left to begin. Iglesias doubled to right and Nunez hit a routine grounder to Devers. Devers then turned and fired the ball into the Monster Seats aiming for the Jon Wallach cardboard cut-out for an error to put runners at the corners. Davis then hit a bullet to Chavis who doubled off Nunez to end the inning. The Sox broke it open in the bottom of the fourth against new pitcher Cody Carroll. Chavis and JBJ drew back to back walks and Peraza singled to left to load the bases with nobody out. Benintendi worked a walk to score Chavis as old buddy Travis Lakins was brought in to take a beating. Martinez iced the game with a ground rule double to right that scored Peraza and Benintendi. Devers grounded out to third but Bogaerts singled home Benintendi. Pillar singled home Martinez and Vazquez singled home Bogaerts to cap off the rally. Chavis whiffed but took first when the ball got away from the catcher to load the bases, but JBJ whiffed as well to end the inning with the game all but over 10-0.

                                           Martinez tacks on to the lead

Eovaldi got Alberto to ground out to third to open the top of the fifth before Ruiz took strike three. Severino walked but Stewart swung and missed for strike three to end the inning. Peralta grounded out to short to start the bottom of the fifth before Benintendi went down hacking. Martinez singled to left but Devers lined out to center to end the inning.

Eovaldi was finally tagged in the top of the sixth inning although Hays grounded out to short to start. Santander doubled to center but Iglesias whiffed. Nunez doubled home Santander to break up the shutout. Davis whiffed to end the inning and that was enough for Eovaldi. Basically the only starter left from last year not injured, sick or gone delivered with 6 innings of 1 run ball. Granted it was against the Orioles but its better than having your lunch served to you.

                                                 Eovaldi with his first win

David Hess came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth with Dwight Smith Jr taking over for Santander in left field with Stewart moving over to right. Bogaerts grounded out to short but Pillar singled to left and Vazquez pounded a ground rule double to right. Chavis whiffed but JBJ doubled home Pillar and Vazquez. Peraza doubled home JBJ to wrap up the scoring as Benintendi flid out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 13-1.

                                            JBJ enjoying the rout

Austin Brice made his Red Sox debut by crapping his pants in the top of the seventh. Alberto popped up to first but Ruiz pounded a 379,000 foot home run into the Atlantic Ocean to cut the lead. Brice recovered to get both Severino and Stewart swinging but the O's were down 13-2.

                                                    The lone highlight for Baltimore

Pat Valaika took over for Iglesias in the bottom of the seventh as Martinez flied out to right to start. Devers grounded out to second as Tzu-Wei Lin pinch hit for Bogaerts and got a base hit to right. Pillar grounded into a force to end the inning.

Phillips Valdez came in to pitch the top of the eighth with Jonathan Arauz taking Vazquez' spot while playing third and Jonathan Lucroy replacing Devers while playing behind the plate, all making their Red Sox debuts. Hays was hit with a pitch but Smith Jr banged into a double play. Valaika flied out to right to end the inning. Chance Sisco came in to play short, Andrew Velazquez took over at first, Valaika moved to first and Cedric Mullins took over in center to begin the bottom of the eighth. Arauz and Chavis both flied out to right but JBJ and Peraza struck back to back singles. Benintendi walked to load the bases but Martinez popped up to second to end the inning.

Valdez returned to end the top of the ninth and Nunez grounded out to third to start. Velazquez took strike three but Alberto was plunked. Ruiz whiffed to end the game, the Sox had crushed the Orioles on Opening Day 13-2.

                                                     "Gimmie five....toes that is"


Hero of the Night is Kevin Pillar. He set the tone with his running catch in the top of the first and paced the offensive attack by going 3 for 5 with 3 rbis and a run scored.

                                                Vazquez salutes our Hero


The Good:

JD Martinez was 3 for 5 with a walk, 3 rbis and 2 runs scored.

Tzu-Wei Lin singled as a pinch hitter.

Christian Vazquez was 2 for 3 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.

Jackie Bradley Jr was 3 for 4 with a walk, 2 rbis and 3 runs scored.

Jose Peraza was 4 for 5 with 2 rbis and 2 runs scored.

Nathan Eovaldi got the win with 6 innings of 1 run ball. He allowed 5 hits and struck out 4.

Phillips Valdez tossed 2 scoreless innings.



The Bad:

Jonathan Arauz was 0 for 1 behind the plate.

Austin Brice allowed a run in the top of the seventh.



The Ugly:

Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 4 but walked twice, drove in a run and scored.

Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with an error but walked and scored a run.

Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored.

Michael Chavis was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of three strikeouts, but walked and scored a run.



Honorable Mention:

Jonathan Lucroy caught the final two innings.




Final Thoughts:

This season is going to suck hard but at least it started out on the right note. New Sox manager Ron Roenicke had his guys ready for this one even though it was against the terrible Orioles. The Sox are reeling from the trade of Mookie Betts and the loss of 4/5 of their rotation. Rick Porcello is now with the Mets., David Price went to LA in the Betts trade, Sale had Tommy John surgery in February and Eduardo Rodriguez is recovering from Covid. Eovaldi is going to have to pull a 1981 Fernando Valenzuela if the Sox have any hope of a respectable season. The offense is going to be fun to watch, especially if Kevin Pillar can perform and JD Martinez is motivated in his contract year. Remember how bad the 2015 Red Sox were with their lousy pitching staff? This year could very well be a repeat of that. Still, for one day anyway the Sox are undefeated. The Sox look to make it two in a row over the Orioles tomorrow afternoon as Martin Perez makes his Sox debut against former Tampa Bay Ray Alex Cobb at 1:35 PM at Fenway Park.

Baseball is Coming Back (6/24/20)

After Spring Training was cancelled back in March, both the MLB and Owners played back and forth with the idea of resuming the season. Today an agreement was reached that there would be a 60 game season starting July 24th. Spring Training will resume on July 1st giving players a month to get back in shape.

This is good news for the Red Sox who dont have the rotation to survive a normal 162 game season. If Eduardo Rodriguez and Nathan Eovaldi can pitch well, maybe the Sox can sneak into the wild card game. See you all in a month

2020 MLB Draft Day (6/10/20)

Even though there is no baseball to be played this season (as of right now), the 2020 MLB Draft was held anyway. The Detroit Tigers took Spencer Torkelson first overall and the top pitcher Max Mayer from Minnesota University went to the Miami Marlins 3rd overall.

The Boston Red Sox first selection was 17th overall and they chose 18 year old Archbishop Mitty High School second baseman Nick Yorke. The California native hit .457 in his 4 years in high school. Imagine getting on base half of the time you're at the plate. Whether or not this translates to minor league (let alone Major) league success remains to be seen. With the Red Sox having a hole at second base with Dustin Pedroia rumored to be retiring, the Sox may need Yorke in a few years if he's any good.

                                                    This kid could be a star in a few years

The Sox had no second round pick due to being stripped of it for the "video violations" in 2018 so their third round pick was DeSoto Central High School third baseman Blaze Jordan. For those that don't remember, Jordan was the kid who hit a 350 foot bomb at age 11 back in 2013 and a 500 foot blast two years later. Jordan was a tremendous power hitter but fell to the third round because aluminum bats aren't used in the minors or majors. He hit .442 his senior year before he was drafted and if his power DOES translate, we're looking at a potential stud in a few years.

                                                Teenage phenom Blaze Jordan

The Sox used their fourth round pick on Hawaii University's Jeremy Wu-Yelland. This pick is a bit of a mystery as Wu-Yelland had terrible 2018 and 2019 seasons for Hawaii. Still, the lefty was looking good for Hawaii when the 2020 season was shut down due to Covid. The Sox feel he's developing into his body and could be a player in years to come.

                                                   4th round pick - Jeremy Wu-Yelland

The Red Sox selected another pitcher in the fifth round, this time they took Florida State pitcher Shane Drohan. Drohan was considered a prospect in high school but he was also a big football star. He didn't quit football until his sophomore year at Florida State. He was 3-1 as a starter in the 2019 season for the Seminoles and his senior year was cancelled due to Covid. Sox brass are hoping the fact he didn't put up eye opening numbers his college career was his commitment to football, not because of a lack of talent. Time will tell if this works out.

                                              5th round pick - Shane Drohan

Because of Covid, there were only five rounds this season so there will definitely be some undrafted free agents to be signed in the upcoming weeks and months. Its a shame the virus wiped out everything this season but this could be a blessing in disguise for Sox fans. Wu-Yelland may have gone higher if he had a full season in Hawaii and the same could be said for Drohan. A lot of people think Yorke could be the real deal and Blaze Jordan could be a power hitter in the minors. All in all the Sox only drafted four guys but there isn't going to be a season anyway. There are rumors the season could be salvaged but it doesn't look good. Either way hopefully next year things get back to normal and you'll be seeing Yorke, Jordan, Drohan and Wu-Yelland in Salem, Greenville and Gulf Coast.

Spring Training Cancelled, Season Delayed (3/12/20)

Not that Boston Red Sox fans will be complaining after the miserable off-season they had, but Major League Baseball has delayed the start of the 2020 season due to the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus.

The deadly virus that's decimated China and Italy has swept its way to the US and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is taking no chances, sending everyone home until the virus is contained.

The ones who benefit the most are the New York Yankees who's roster is devastated with injury. If the season starts in May or whatever, they'll be fresh as daisies to take the American League pennant.

As for the Red Sox, meh. Who cares?

Red Sox name Ron Roenicke Interim Manager (2/11/20)

The long search for the new Boston Red Sox manager is over and Sox brass concluded that Ron Roenicke was the best choice to take over for the disgraced Alex Cora. Roenicke had served as Cora's bench coach the past few seasons. If nothing else, at least he knows the players that are still here and has previous managerial experience.

                                                 Ron Roenicke, Manager

Roenicke was originally an outfielder drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He made his debut in September of 1981 for the soon to be world champs but did not play in the World Series. 3 years later he was with the San Diego Padres and he did play in two games during their World Series loss to the Detroit Tigers.

                                                            1984

As a rookie manager for the Milwaukee Brewers, the 2011 Brew Crew won 96 games and the NL Central Division title. They knocked off the Arizona Diamondbacks in the division series but fell to the eventual world champion St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS. Roenicke finished in second place for NL Manager of the Year behind Kirk Gibson of the Diamondbacks. He had winning seasons in 2012 but the Brewers went down the crapper in 2014 and 2015, leading to Roenicke's dismissal in 2015.

                                  "If you throw Greinke out I'll whoop ya damn ass!" - RR

The past few seasons Roenicke served as Alex Cora's bench coach as the Sox won 108 games and the World Series in 2018.

                                                        Happier days for the Sox

Was this the right move to make? Yes. Fans want Jason Varitek or Dustin Pedroia to take the reigns but the problem is they have no experience. If they think Varitek can get the job done, he should be Roenicke's bench coach this year or do a year in the minors for Lowell, Salem, etc. As long as the front office doesn't further gut the team apart from Betts and Price, Roenicke will be familiar with the guys that are left over from 2018 and last year. Whether he can get through to them like Cora did remains to be seen, but hey....better than Bobby Valentine.

Betts and Price Trade Amended: Sox Get Verdugo, Downs, Wong (2/9/20)

On Tuesday the Boston Red Sox had traded superstar outfielder Mookie Betts and David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Alex Verdugo of the Dodgers and Brusdar Graterol of the Minnesota Twins. The deal was nearly called off when it was revealed Graterol had failed his physical. With things falling apart, the Dodgers removed Graterol from the trade and instead sent the Sox infielder prospect Jeter Downs and catching prospect Connor Wong along with Verdugo.

                                                 Welcome to Boston

As mentioned last week, Verdugo is the 23 year old up and coming outfielder that hit .294 for the Dodgers last year. He's nowhere near the calibur of Betts, he's more in the mold of Andrew Benintendi. He may be the opening day right fielder if he has a good spring.

21 year old Jeter Downs was the Cincinnati Reds first round pick in 2017 that went to the Dodgers in the Yaisel Puig trade. In 2019 he hit 24 home runs and stole 24 bases between A and AA ball. He's a natural shortstop but could compete with Michael Chavis for the second base job in Spring Training. He also could be used for future trades since the Sox are all set at short with Xander Bogaerts.

23 year old Connor Wong was one of the Dodgers top rated catchers in their system. He won't be expected to make the majors this season but he gives the Sox depth at the catcher position which was one of their weaknesses. Like Downs, Wong also slugged 24 homers between A and AA ball in 2019.

Up in Boston, the Sox got incredibly worse now that Betts and Price are gone. The Sox still don't have pitching depth and without Price, their rotation is down to Chris Sale, Eduardo Rodriguez, Nathan Eovald, Martin Perez and pray for rain. As a franchise, this trade gives the Sox two fresh prospects to shore up a farm system that was depleted by Dave Dombrowski. As long as MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred goes easy on the Sox for the video room penalties, current Sox general manager Chaim Bloom has the upcoming draft to replenish the system. It seems like this is going to be a "lost year" and its a shame to lose a prime year for the young  offense because of the bad contracts that still haunt them. Hiring a manager before Spring Training starts would be nice too.