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Red Sox

RED SOX – BLUE JAYS SERIES PREVIEW

The opening road trip from hell is over. Unfortunately, the Red Sox return home from that trip with a 3-8 record. However, they find the Toronto Blue Jays coming to town, who have also had their struggles so far this season.

PITCHING MATCHUPS/SCHEDULE (TV)

4/9 Chris Sale vs. Matt Shoemaker (R) 2:00pm NESN

4/11 Nathan Eovaldi vs. Aaron Sanchez (R) 7:10pm NESN

NOTABLE NUMBERS

The results were better for Chris Sale in his second start, but the way he got there was concerning. The hope was that Sale could improve on his 92.9 mph average fastball velocity from his first start. However, things actually got worse, as Sale averaged just 89.9 mph in his second start of the season in Oakland. He may have only given up one run, but he also only struck out one, compared to two walks.

The Blue Jays were 0-4 in their last series against the Cleveland Indians, largely thanks to their terrible offense. This season the Blue Jays offense ranks 27th in batting average, 29th in OBP, 27th in runs and 26th in slugging percentage.

The Red Sox offense heated up in their last series against the Diamondbacks, averaging seven runs per game. However, they go up against a team who have been pitching well. The Blue Jays are giving up an average of just 2.75 runs against (3rd) and a .194 batting average against (4th). In addition, they are allowing just 1.05 combined hits and walks per innings pitched. However, their schedule has consisted of the Tiger, Orioles and Indians, so this will be their toughest test to date.

Aaron Sanchez has faced off with the Sox 19 times, 11 times as a starter. In 71 innings against the Red Sox, he has a 4.06 ERA striking out 62 batters and a allowing a 1.282 WHIP. Shoemaker on the other hand has been strong against the Red Sox. He is 2-1, with 16 strikeouts in 15 innings and a 2.93 ERA.

Mitch Moreland is coming off an interesting series in Arizona. The left-handed slugger hit two home runs in nine ABs, but they were also his only two hits of the series. With two right-handed pitchers on the slate for this series, Moreland could be a crucial part of the Red Sox offense as they return home.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

The Bullpen: With Craig Kimbrel potentially returning to Fenway for the World Series ring ceremony, the Red Sox come home with a number of question about their bullpen still remaining. Colten Brewer gave up the game losing run on Saturday, before Ryan Brasier got the save on Sunday. Both Brasier and Matt Barnes have been really good this season, with neither giving up a run. However, with the Red Sox having given up so many runs early in games we have not had many chances to see these guys in high leverage situations.

Starting Pitching: After the hitters somewhat came alive in their last series, most of the Red Sox question remain with their pitching. We touched on Sale above, and he remains the biggest one to watch, both in terms of results and velocity. Eovaldi has given up nine earned runs in 10 innings, including four home runs. After a strong finish to last season, the Red Sox will be desperate to see Eovaldi get back on track.

EXPECTATIONS

This was never the way the season was supposed to start. 3-8 is not the end of the world, but it is obviously less than ideal. On the bright side, the team is healthy in the large majority. There are major concerns about the rotation, but we are looking at extremely small sample sizes. Two good starts for any of them and their numbers will look fine, if not back to the way we may have hoped when the season started.

The negatives are clear to see, but the positives should not be overlooked. The Red Sox are just 4.5 games back on the division leading Tampa Bay Rays. They are also just two games behind the Yankees, who have not been great out of the gate and are struggling with injuries. We are less than 7% of the way through the season.

There is a lot of baseball still to play, and one of the toughest parts of the schedule is in the rear view mirror.

RED SOX – DIAMONDBACKS SERIES PREVIEW

With another tough series in the rear view mirror the Boston Red Sox head to Arizona. They have a three game slate scheduled to finish off their 11 game road trip.

PITCHING MATCHUPS/SCHEDULE (TV)

4/5 Rick Porcello vs. Zack Godley (R) 7:10pm NESN

4/6 David Price vs. Luke Weaver (R) 8:10pm NESN

4/7 Undecided vs. Merrill Kelly (R) 4:10pm NESN

NOTABLE NUMBERS

Rick Porcello comes into his second start of the season with a 13.5 ERA. Meanwhile, David Price has a 6.00 ERA after his first start. Porcello was unable to get out of the first innings against the Mariners. Price at least managed to go six innings, but gave up four earned runs, including three home runs in the process. The Red Sox desperately need two of their veteran pitchers to correct what has been a worrying opening week for the rotation.

The Arizona Diamondbacks offense is crushing it in 2019 so far. Prior to Wednesday’s games they ranked third in the majors in batting average, runs, home runs and slugging percentage. The 14 home runs the Diamondbacks have hit will be a particular concern for a Red Sox staff. The Sox pitchers have given up 17 home runs, which is last in the AL.

Offensively the Red Sox have been slow out of the gate, ranking 20th in on base percentage and 17th in both batting average and slugging percentage. So far they have relied on home runs to fuel their offense, hitting seven long balls to help them rank ninth in the majors in runs scored with 30.

J.D. Martinez returns to the face the team that helped propel him onto the national stage. In 62 games with the Diamondbacks in 2017, Martinez hit 29 home runs in 232 AB, with an incredible .741 slugging percentage. Hopefully he can find some form after a series in Oakland in which he has registered just three hits through his first three games.

The Red Sox will see a long time foe in Adam Jones in this series. Jones, who has three home runs for the Diamondbacks already this season, has a career .279 batting average with 28 home runs when facing the Red Sox. The only team he has hit more home runs against is the Toronto Blue Jays.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

The Rotation: There are a couple of fascinating rotation questions in this series. Firstly, who will the Red Sox choose to fill the final starting spot of the series? With Chris Sale likely to be saved for the home opener the Red Sox need a sixth starter to fill out their rotation for one start. They could call up someone from Triple-A, but there are no obvious candidates. The other option is that they could have a bullpen day to fill that spot. However, that depends on how much use the ‘pen gets in the opening two games.

The Red Sox will also be extremely keen to see the results when Price and Porcello take the mound this week. With Nathan Eovaldi struggling through two starts and Eduardo Rodriguez being shelled in his first start, at least one of these two needs to step up and provide some stability.

Hitting Depth: Xander Bogaerts returned to the lineup Wednesday, which will be a relief for the Sox. If Bogaerts had needed longer out of the lineup then there would have been some questions. Both Eduardo and Nunez and Brock Holt of struggled out of the gate, and the Red Sox may have considered activating Dustin Pedroia earlier than planned.

EXPECTATIONS

This has been an incredibly tough start for the Red Sox and frankly we just want to get them home now. Entering Wednesdays game they had a 2-5 record, and will enter the Diamondbacks series without a series win to their name. After 11 straight days they will also have Monday off to regroup, get home and prepare for the home opener. That doesn’t make winning this series any less important. However, if they can escape this series with even just a single win it is not the end of the world. 3-8 or 4-7 is not a disaster, especially with the Yankees also having stumbled out of the gate (2-4).

A series win would be great but if it doesn’t happen it is not the end of the world. This will be one of the toughest stretches of the season, and it is out of the way early. It may not have gone entirely to plan but the Red Sox can recover in the coming weeks.

Red Sox Break Franchise Record For Wins In A Season

Move over Tris Speaker and Smokey Joe Wood, there’s a new Sox sheriff in town.

Boston won its 106th game Monday night, defeating the hapless Orioles 6-2 at Fenway Park. With the win, the 2018 Sox have now won more regular season games than any other team in the franchise’s history. That’s a pretty incredible feat, considering the Red Sox have been around for 118 seasons.

As if breaking a century-plus old record wasn’t enough, the Red Sox also clinched the best record in baseball. Home field advantage: actually good.

Mookie Betts: Award Tour

As has been the case for nearly all of 2018, Boston’s victory was spearheaded by the AL MVP favorite. Betts was electrifying once again, going 2-5 with a 2-run homer and a stolen base.

The dinger was an absolute rocket, and capped off a four-run 2nd inning for the Sox. Orioles starter Dylan Bundy hung a 1-0 breaking ball over the dead-center of the plate, and Betts went windshield-hunting on the Mass Pike:

Getting taken deep is nothing new for Bundy; he’s allowed an MLB-worst 39 big flies this season. As for Betts, he’s certifiably on fire again. He has 10 hits in his last 20 ABs, with 3 HR and 8 doubles. He’s also only one steal away from a 30-30 season. Betts has all but locked up the MVP award with an absolutely stellar year. He leads the majors in batting average and bWAR, and has been the most consistently excellent all-around player in baseball. Betts’ 2018 season is also the best individual Red Sox season (per bWAR) since Pedro Martinez in 2000, and best by a position player since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. In short, it’s been a historic year, on a historic team.

Eovaldi Makes His Case

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported on Saturday that Nathan Eovaldi had a chance to supplant Eduardo Rodriguez in the playoff rotation. Eovaldi certainly made his case for the 4th spot on Monday night. He allowed only 1 run (while striking out 10 Orioles) over 5 innings of work.

Rodriguez made his first appearance out of the bullpen, as well. He followed up Eovaldi’s start with two shutout innings of his own.

Manager Alex Cora has said who starts Game 4 of the ALDS will be matchup dependent. At this point it makes sense that Eovaldi has closed the gap on Rodriguez. E-Rod has been inconsistent in four starts this month after missing half of July and all of August on the disabled list. He’s posted a 5.79 ERA in his September starts, mixing a pair of solid outings against sub-.500 teams with a pair of poor efforts vs. playoff-bound Houston and New York.

Of course, who is actually slated to start that game could be a moot point. Should the Red Sox sweep (or get swept), or fall into a 2-1 series deficit, we might not see a 4th starter in the ALDS, anyway. Still, it’s a key theme to keep an eye on over the final week of the season.

The Red Sox have made history, and checked all of the boxes that they’ve needed to check this season. They can effectively plan for the postseason, having secured their place at the top of Major League Baseball and as the best regular season Red Sox team in franchise history.

Time will tell whether or not this has any bearing in October, when the records are reset to 0-0 and chaos reigns supreme.

Top 10 Red Sox All Stars in Franchise History (Players 10-6)

Hot days, pool parties, no school, and trips to the beach. Summer is in full swing which means that the Midsummer Classic is almost upon us. The 2018 All-Star Game, which will be hosted by the Washington Nationals, is coming up on July 17th. The Red Sox have plenty of candidates to haul in votes. Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Chris Sale, Craig Kimbrel are among the front runners along with Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts, and Mitch Moreland who are also receiving a respectable amount of attention. It’s times like these that are suited for a walk down all-star memory lane. Here’s the top 10 all-stars in Red Sox franchise history. 

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10. Fred Lynn (75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80)

Fred Lynn is one of only two players (Ichiro Suzuki) who has won the Rookie of the Year award and the MVP award in the same season. He was a lifetime .308 hitter for the Red Sox and had a great run of eight straight seasons appearing in the All-Star game. Of course, he played only five of those years for the Red Sox. Fred Lynn did not appear on the ballot in 1975 but got voted in because of write-in votes. Lifetime, he has four home runs in All-Star games, three of them as a Red Sox. His five straight appearances prove just how important he was to the team in the late 1970’s.

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9. Manny Ramirez (01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 08)

Manny Ramirez, one of the best Red Sox hitters in franchise history, was no stranger to the annual honor. In fact, in all seven seasons he was an all-star for the team, he was also a starter. In 2004, he hit a two-run home run off of Roger Clemens at Minute Maid Park in Houston in the first inning; it was his only home run in any All-Star appearance of his career, but impressive nonetheless.

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8. Carlton Fisk (72, 73, 74, 76, 77, 78, 80, 99*)

Carlton Fisk, an all-time catcher for the Sox and Hall of Famer, played 2226 games at the backstop. In his 24 seasons as a major leaguer, he accumulated some of the best offensive stats ever seen by a catcher. As far as his all-star resume is concerned, he only accumulated three hits in 11 All-Star games. However, his most notable hit came in 1991 when he was a member of the Chicago White Sox. He became the oldest player to get a hit in an All-Star game (43 years, 8 months).

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7. Jim Rice (77, 78, 79, 80, 83, 84, 85, 86, 99*)

Jim Rice was an all-time great left fielder for the Sox in the late 1970’s and most of the 1980’s. The Hall of Famer is very similar to Mookie Betts; he’s an all-around great hitter and fielder. In all eight appearances as a player (1999 he was a coach), he only had one home run, which was off of Giants pitcher Atlee Hammaker in 1983.

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6. Wade Boggs (85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92)

Wade Boggs, a once in a lifetime franchise player, was an incredible hitter. He amassed 3010 career hits and a lifetime average of .328 (.338 with the Red Sox), proving just how dominant he was as a third baseman during his time. A starter for seven All-Star teams as a Red Sox, he had a .321 career average in All-Star games. His most memorable moment was when in 1989 – Boggs and Bo Jackson went back to back with solo home runs off of pitcher Rick Reuschel. What made it even more memorable was Vin Scully and President Ronald Reagan commentating the entire moment together.

Stay tuned for players 5-1.

Italics = Starter, * = managed/coached

@ELJGON

Brad Stevens Might Finally Win Coach of the Year

NEXT MAN UP MENTALITY

Next man up. It’s a phrase we hear all the time in sports. For Coach Stevens and the Celtics, it’s becoming a part of the nightly game plan. First, it was Gordon Hayward going down for the season. Before that, Marcus Morris wasn’t ready at the start of the season, and is still battling some knee soreness. After scrambling to install some new things in the offensive and defensive schemes for the new rotation, plentiful in first year players, the team got off to a scalding hot, completely unforeseen, 9-2 start.

Nov 3, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; The Boston Celtics celebrate after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

“I don’t think anyone expected anything like this,” Al Horford said of the surprising start of the new-look Celtics.

Just when things started to settle down, and the Celtics could just play, Horford himself started showing signs of a concussion, from a blow he took in a previous game vs. the Hawks. He would have to sit out against the Lakers, putting the 9-game win streak in jeopardy. Making matters worse, Jayson Tatum left the game in the first half, with ankle soreness, and didn’t return. Did it matter? Nope, the C’s won comfortably anyway.

“Until we only have four left, I guess we’re just gonna keep playing,” Stevens said after the game.

IS THIS THE MAINE RED CLAWS?

The next game, against the Hornets, provided a bigger test. The Hornets should be a playoff team this year, and Al Horford was still out. Kyrie Irving suffered a blow to the head in the opening minutes of the game, and did not return. Now officially operating without a single member of the big 3 assembled in the offseason, Brad Stevens and the C’s now had a real situation on their hands.

What did they do? Exactly what Stevens said after the previous game against the Lakers– they kept playing.

Down 18 at one point, Stevens told his players at the beginning of the 4th quarter in the Hornets game, according to Terry Rozier, “We are going to win this game, and this place is going to go nuts.” 

The coach proceeded to roll out a lineup littered with players that have legitimately received more playing time in the G-league, and overseas, in their careers than in the NBA.

And they won the game.

CALM AS EVER

Afterwards, the coach could be found sitting at the podium, waiting on the media.

Seemingly always two steps ahead of the competition, the people who spend their lives hustling, to get things out for the public as quickly as possible, can’t even keep up with him. Despite the brilliant comeback, with the ragtag bunch put together, the opening questions remained the same as they have been most of the season.

“Brad, can you tell us what you know about  _______’s injury?”

Injuries have been one of the biggest storylines of the season for the Celtics thus far. Perhaps only second to the fact that this team has now won 12 straight games, the last two without Irving. It’s something I have had to double check every time I hear it. It’s simply surreal that this team, fighting through adversity from every possible angle, seems incapable of losing. What is happening? How are they doing this?

BRAD STEVENS, THE MAGICIAN

Maybe Rachel isn’t that far off. After all, the coach has proven his wizardry, time and time again, in pressure situations. When there is supposedly no way out of a bind, Brad Stevens doesn’t panic. He doesn’t back down. The coach looks further on down the bench, calm as ever, and he finds something that will work. He believes in his guys, all the way down to the last man. The coach fights for his players, and always puts the blame on himself. When asked about a mistake rookie Geurschon Yabusele made, intentionally fouling Dwight Howard under 2 minutes, the coach went to bat for his player.

“He’s new to the NBA…What that really boils down to is horrible coaching. Because he should know what he’s supposed to do when he goes in and he should know when he can’t do it. So that’s not his fault, it’s ours.”

TRUST GOES A LONG WAY

Stevens took the rookie out after the play, and was obviously frustrated with him. Yabusele has come along slowly, not getting much PT yet in his young career. He really shouldn’t be seeing the floor, but Brad Stevens went back to him in the 2nd half, and he played a role in the comeback. Brad’s players know he trusts them, and he is not going to let them fail alone. He is going to have their backs, even when he shouldn’t. Stevens is never going to publicly scold someone. He does it behind the scenes, and in a teaching manner, not a belittling way.

In almost every game, Stevens’ deep trust in his players is put on display in a unique way. In the same game vs. the Hornets, Marcus Morris made a critical mistake, shooting the ball up three, with 30 seconds left in the game. He was wide open, but the C’s had a full shot clock, and needed to hold the ball. Stevens kept Morris in, and he hit a huge shot the next possession to make it a 5 point lead, and all but seal it.

DOMINANCE ON THE HORIZON?

Brad Stevens is a master of X’s and O’s, but more importantly, he is a master of people. He knows exactly what buttons to push, to get the proper reaction he wants out of his players. This goes far beyond basketball, and his players are able to respect him as a man first. They see how he approaches life and basketball, and they admire it. He never gets too high or too low. He just stays the course, and keeps working, no matter how chaotic things get around him.

“The Celtics are going to be like the Patriots and dominate a conference for a decade,” Colin Cowherd said on his talk show recently.

It is becoming apparent, with each passing year, that Brad Stevens is going to be the coach of the Boston Celtics until he gets tired of it. All the way up to that day, they are going to keep playing, until they get down to 4 players. And unless that tragic scenario actually plays out, they are going to keep winning basketball games. It’s time to give this man his due credit, as the best coach in this league.

American League Wild Card Race (Part 1 of 2)

A Quick Look at the AL WC picture

At last, September has arrived. It is the final month of the regular season. September marks that time of year when games begin to develop a playoff-like atmosphere. These games often feature dominant pitching, stellar defense and clutch hitting. tensions rise and fans scoot forward to the edge of their seat as teams tussle for a playoff spot. This year, I think it is safe to say that the fans are getting their moneys worth.

The AL Wild card race is about as tightly packed with contenders as seen in recent years. The Yankees hold the top spot. Minnesota holds the second spot, a game behind the Yankees. From the outside, we have six additional teams attempting to scratch and claw their way into the playoff picture, all within 4.5 games of the second spot. Take a look below at the updated AL Wild Card standings (as of 9/1/17).

Wild Card Teams W L PCT WCGB WCE # L10 STRK
NY Yankees 71 62 .534 +1.0 5-5 W1
Minnesota 70 63 .526 7-3 W4
LA Angels 69 65 .515 1.5 28 5-5 W3
Baltimore 68 66 .507 2.5 27 8-2 L1
Tampa Bay 67 68 .496 4.0 25 7-3 W1
Texas 66 67 .496 4.0 26 5-5 L1
Seattle 66 68 .493 4.5 25 3-7 L5
Kansas City 65 67 .492 4.5 26 4-6 L1

New York Yankees (71-62, 1+)

The Bronx Bombers have to feel good about their chances of grabbing one of the two spots. Many did not know what to expect of the Yankees heading into the 2017 season. All were certainly excited about young star Gary Sanchez who shined in his rookie campaign. In just 53 games he slugged 20 homers and drove in 42 runs.

This year, another gift in rookie sensation Aaron Judge. Despite his second-half struggles (.185 batting average in August), he still leads the AL in home runs with 37. The Yankees offensive talent runs deeper than just those two young studs. They have great contributions from Brett Gardner, Matt Holiday, Aaron Hicks, Starlin Castro and Didi Gregorius, one of the leagues most underrated players.

Solid Yankee pitching this year ranks them 3rd in the AL with a 3.81 staff ERA. Give a lot of credit to Luis Severino, with his breakout season.  He’s established himself as an elite pitcher in the American League. The Yanks ace of recent years, Masahiro Tanaka, struggled mightily early in the season as he surrendered home runs at an alarming rate and not pitching deep into games. It seems as though Tanaka has found his groove recently as he owns a 2.63 ERA over the past month. If Tanaka can stay on top of his game, then the Yankees will be a very tough team to beat in October.

The Yanks bolstered their starting rotation by adding star pitcher Sonny Gray as well as veteran Jaime Garcia at the trade deadline. CC Sabathia and Jordan Montgomery have also been key pieces to the rotation. The offense and starting pitching should do well enough to carry them into the postseason.  But if the Yankees want to solidify themselves as legitimate World Series contenders, their star closer Aroldis Chapman and talented set-up man Dellin Betances need to find some consistency.

Minnesota Twins (70-63, 2nd)

It has been a pleasantly surprising year for Minnesota as no one expected them to be in position to claim a wild card spot. The Twins finished 2016 with a record of 59-103, landing them fifth in the AL Central. The key to their offensive success this year has been young slugger Miguel Sano, in the process of bouncing back from a disappointing rookie season, batting .267 and has 28 homers. Brian Dozier provides power as he has 26 home runs. Thirty-four-year old Ervin Santana has put together a career year with a record of 14-7 and an ERA of 3.27. Another bright spot for the Twins pitching staff has been their young and talented pitcher Jose Berrios.  Occasionally inconsistent, he really shined at various points throughout the season. He owns a 3.80 ERA and a record of 12-6. These two guys will be key down the stretch as the Twins try to hang on to the second wild card spot.

Los Angeles Angels (69-65, 1.5 GB)

The Angels have a solid season going.   They would likely occupy a totally different spot if not for the Mike Trout injury that forced the two-time MVP to sit out for almost two months. Trout was having another absolutely ridiculous season until he injured his thumb while sliding into second base, head first in a game in late May. At that point of the season Trout was tied for the league lead in home runs with 16 and fourth in RBI with 36 while batting .337. The Angels managed to play solid baseball during his absence and that is the reason they are just 1.5 games back of the second wild card spot.

They have played pretty solid baseball lately, winning three straight games. Overall, their pitching remains solid.  Luckily they can rely on their superstar to carry the load offensively with help from Albert Pujols, Andrelton Simmons and Kole Calhoun. If the Angels are going to sneak into a playoff spot, they will need solid starting pitching from their veteran starters Ricky Nolasco and Jesse Chavez.

Seattle Mariners (66-68, 4.5 GB)

Seattle has disappointed their fans over the past few seasons. They’ve put together very solid rosters stacked with offensive and defensive talent as well as good starting pitching. But, they just fail to get the job done, year in and year out.

Over the past few years they have featured a roster with Elite players such as Nelson Cruz, Robinson Cano and Felix Hernandez as well as other quality players such as James Paxton and Kyle Seager. This year they have stumbled upon even more talent in rookie Ben Gamel and newly acquired Jean Segura. Even while loaded with talent, the Mariner remain average, two games below .500 on the year. But here they are at the end of August, right in the mix of things. This team can win, just one good month of baseball away from making the playoffs. The key to their success will be getting their long time ace Felix Hernandez healthy and pitching to his potential.

Tune into the second part of this article for analysis on Baltimore, Kansas City, Tampa Bay and Texas