Why? Why? Sandy Leon is hitting .120 in Pawtucket, after hitting .177 last year. Christian Vazquez is hitting .195, and has let too many balls get past him this year. Blake Swihart was only hitting .231, but the Sox went 3-3 in his starts at catcher. Blake Swihart was not the problem with this team.
Blake Swihart will be a starting catcher in the majors, and the Red Sox will rue the day they ever let him go for the sad sack current stable of catchers.
The Mets are a little off their rocker, the Winter Meetings are coming up, and the Cardinals have stolen some National League thunder with the Paul Goldschmidt trade. Nathan Eovaldi is back! Now is the time for the Red Sox to strike. Bring Noah Syndergaard to Boston. A quick reminder:
So…..Fenway was a sureal ballpark to pitch in…..from a childhood dream perspective……As visiting pitcher on a team and city I love…..#dontfreakout
— Noah Syndergaard (@Noahsyndergaard) September 15, 2018
The Mets are in win-now mode with their strange reliance on 36 year old, recently PED suspended, Robinson Cano. They also got Edwin Diaz in the deal. He’s a young closer who’s only done it in the relative obscurity of the Pacific Northwest. Those guys are often inconsistent. They’re also reportedly looking into trading for Corey Kluber, which is kind of nuts. Kluber has been one of the best pitchers in baseball the last few years. But the reason he’s available from the Indians is because he is 33 and on the verge of a big payday. His contract escalates, from $10 million to $17.5 million and beyond, the next few years.
When news of a Syndergaard trade first surfaced, the Mets were said to be looking to upgrade their farm system with a trade. And why wouldn’t they? Syndergaard will be the best bargain Ace in the game the next few years. His injuries are overblown and his September was one to remember.
But something happened on the road to a competitive team and stacked farm system. Potential trades aren’t bearing the kind of fruit the Mets thought they would get. Let’s take a deep dive on some rumored deals.
The most recent rumor from the MLB Network was a package of Manny Margot, Austin Hedges, and Mackenzie Gore.
Margot, whom the Red Sox gave to the Padres in the Craig Kimbrel trade, has been a classic good defense, no-so-good offense, center fielder. In 2017 he hit .263 with a .721 OPS. In 2018, after the league had a look at him, he hit .245 with a .675 OPS. Think Jackie Bradley Jr without the hot streaks and superior defense.
Austin Hedges is a catcher with slightly above average power, and little else. In 2017 he hit .214 with a .660 OPS, 2018 it was .231/.711.
Mackenzie Gore is a highly rated young pitcher who gets a lot of strikeouts. He also walks a lot of people. Because of this, he had a middling 4.45 ERA in single A ball last year.
The Rockies have a lot of young pitching. It may be just for show, but Assistant GM Zack Rosenthal told the MLB Network on Tuesday 12/4 that the Rockies are built on that young pitching and defense. This is a team that hits missile after missile into the glorious Rocky Mountain air. The team is also about to spend a record amount in arbitration on MVP candidate Nolan Arenado. Arenado is not making that kind of money for his gold glove defense at third base. He hit .297 with 36 Home Runs last year.
So what does this mean? The Rockies may be deluding themselves into thinking their MVP candidates don’t matter and it’s all about the pitching. More likely, they’re negotiating in the media to reduce their arbitration cases with their hitters. But because of the money going to their hitters, they’re likely to keep the young starters they have. The Red Sox don’t have that kind of young pitching.
Rafael Devers is better than anyone the Padres or Rockies can or will throw at the Mets.
Margot is 24, Hedges is 26. Devers is still the tender age of 22. This precious youngster hit .284 with 10 home runs and a .819 OPS in part time play as a 20 year old in 2017, then .240 with 21 home runs and a .731 OPS last year. Furthermore, Devers hit .311 in the Postseason over his first 2 years, including 3 home runs and a .884 OPS in 45 at bats.
That’s special. But he’s no Tony Conigliaro. The beloved Tony C hit .290 with 24 home runs and an .883 OPS as a 19 year old, then .269 with 32 home runs and an .850 OPS as a 20 year old, then .265 with 28 home runs and an .817 OPS as a 21 year old.
Devers will be worth holding on to, but not transcendent. That is why he’s worth giving up for the rare young, cost controlled monster, like Noah Syndergaard, who becomes available.
What’s more, the Mets need a catcher. The Red Sox have a plethora. Putting Christian Vazquez, whose Postseason success means his value may never be higher, in a trade would be ideal. But the Sox could throw in Blake Swihart instead. A combo of either Swihart or Vazquez, with Sandy Leon as backup, would be more than fine for the 2019 Red Sox.
If the Mets wants minor leaguers, give them some. The Red Sox have a weak system, but Devers is younger than most of the highly touted minor leaguers in the game. It would take less top young talent than some other teams.
And now that Nathan Eovaldi is back, the Sox are freed up to include Eduardo Rodriguez in the deal if they need to. This gives the Red Sox more options. They don’t need to give the Mets everything, but widens the possibilities of how a trade could look.
At the end of 2019 the Sox will have some choices to make. Chris Sale, Rick Porcello, and Xander Bogaerts become free agents at that time. Nathan Eovaldi’s contract is reported to be in the $17 million a year range. All three of those other guys will cost more than that.
Then there is JD Martinez’s opt out. He’s currently being paid $23.75 Million. With his performance he will definitely be looking for a raise starting in 2020.
Noah Syndergaard is in arbitration. He made $2.975 Million last year and, his projected earnings in 2019 are $5.9 Million. If he becomes a top 10 starting pitcher in 2019, watch out. Thor has three years of control left in arbitration. He won’t approach $20 million in salary until 2021 at the earliest.
If Syndergaard is in Boston, there’s a lot more money for the rest of the team.
There are reports of the Mets talking with the Marlins about JT Realmuto. They are itching to trade. The competition for Syndergaard is falling away. The Red Sox can solve the Mets catching problems. Fire up the Knights of Cydonia and let’s rock this trade Dave Dombrowski.
A rundown of the Red Sox catching depth shows Christian Vazquez, Sandy Leon, and Blake Swihart. Guess who makes well over 50% of the money? That’s right, Christian Vazquez.
There’s news that Blake Swihart will be brought to camp with the intention of keeping him at catcher in 2019. This may seem innocuous. But then there was Alex Cora saying he wasn’t fair to Blake Swihart in 2018. These smoke signals seem to be pointing to Swihart getting a lot more time behind the plate in 2019.
On first blush it could be that the team is looking to move on from Sandy Leon. He was, of course, usurped as the number one catcher in the playoffs by Christian Vazquez. But all throughout the season, there was story after story about how much the pitchers trusted Sandy Leon. In August of 2018, The Globe did a story about Sandy having a 3.01 catchers ERA, which was the best in baseball at the time.
Just because Leon’s batting stats cratered in 2018 (.117 batting average for example), all that defense doesn’t fly out the window.
Which leads us back to Vazquez. It would be one thing if he was making $563K like Swihart, or $1.95 Million like Leon, and on the arbitration train like the two of them. Not only is Christian Vazquez making $2.85 Million this year, but he’s also owed an additional $10.45 Million over 2020 and 2021. That is because the Red Sox gave him a 3-year deal that starts in 2019.
In his admittedly sparse 4-year major league career, Blake Swihart has batted .256 with a .678 OPS. For comparison, Vazquez hit .207/.540 this year and .240/.632 in his career. Vazquez did hit .290 last year, but it took Leon’s offense disappearing in 2018 for Vazquez to get his chance again.
So Christian Vazquez has the recent World Series success of the team and a quintessential Yankee Stadium postseason Home Run to burnish his attraction to other clubs. And because the Red Sox have Leon and Swihart, with Swihart’s improved defense (No errors, no passed balls, threw out 5 of 14 base stealers for an excellent 36 percent rate) to boot, Vazquez is an excellent candidate to be traded.
Vazquez won’t bring back a lot on his own. At best the Red Sox could look to bolster their weak farm system with a starting pitcher prospect or two. Or perhaps he could be added to a package to get a higher rated prospect or more.
Removing Vazquez’s escalating salary is almost as important as giving Blake Swihart more time or getting prospects. The Red Sox should sign Nathan Eovaldi, but it will cost. The end of 2019 has Chris Sale and Xander Bogaerts getting to free agency, with JD Martinez likely to opt out as well. Every payroll dollar counts.
A Vazquez trade wouldn’t be a blockbuster, but there are too many positives to trading him to not make sense this offseason.
Tuesday was the highly anticipated end to the Sox’s losing streak, as Eduardo Nunez grounded out to a double play to allow JD Martinez to score the winning run. The tight 8-7 win was tough to watch, as the Sox bullpen was seemingly falling apart. The Red Sox led 4-1 in the 8th when Matt Barnes came to the mound. He proceeded to give up 4 runs, giving he Marlins a 5-4 lead. Heath Hembree entered and gave up one more run before the inning was over. The Sox were quick to tie the game up after Jackie Bradley Jr’s patient at bat. Craig Kimbrel(2.55 ERA) was next up out of the bullpen, and he let up back to back walks and a single by Magneuris Sierra to a knot it up at 7.
Tuesday showed that the bullpen needs work and the team looked forward to having David Price(14-6, 3.50 ERA) take the mound Wednesday night.
“I’m not concerned. I think we need to get better. Walks are getting up there now, a lot of 3-1 counts, a lot of two-strike hits. That’s not good and they know it. That’s something that we’ve been talking about. We trust the stuff, but at the end, we have to execute.” – Alex Cora
“It was pretty amazing that we were able to pull out a win tonight, winning’s a lot more fun than losing.” – Jackie Bradley Jr.
Fenway Park felt as though the Sox were playing in Miami last night. With the heat on full blast, the Red Sox came out with a win over the Marlins 14-6. The seventh inning seemed as though it was straight out of a history book. The last time that the Red Sox had an inning like last night was in 2003 against the Miami Marlins. In the 2nd inning Mookie Betts finally hit a home run, after a dry past couple of games. David Price was taken out in the 3rd after getting hit, bringing in Hector Velasquez.
The Sox went into the 7th trailing 5-3, but picked up a whopping 11 hits in the inning. Eduardo Nunez has been hot at the bat and continued to do so on Wednesday. Going through the lineup, Benintendi got the first out, and hit into a double play after a sacrifice bunt in the latter part of the inning. Mookie Betts ended the night a triple shy of another cycle, proving why he is the AL MVP leader.
“That inning, we didn’t hit the ball out of the ballpark, but we ran the bases well.” – Alex Cora
“Hitting is contagious, you see your teammates go out there and put together good at-bats, put you in better spots at the plate, it’s contagious. That inning showed it.” – Brock Holt
“Everyone was just enjoying it, it’s one of those things when you’re passing it back, having fun playing the game.” – Mookie Betts
Up Next
The Red Sox will travel to Chicago for a 4 game series against the White Sox. Porcello, Eovaldi, Rodriguez, and Johnson will be the starting pitchers for the Red Sox. Eduardo Rodriguez will make his first start after being on the DL and rehabbing in the minors.
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In recent weeks the Red Sox have placed numerous everyday players on the disabled list. The versatility of the bench was questioned, and put to the test. How have these players preformed? What will their roles look like once these players come back from injury at full strength?
It’s no secret that the starting rotation has taken a beating this season. Despite the pile of injuries it seems like they are pitching better than ever. With Cy Young candidate Chris Sale back on the 10 day disabled list with shoulder inflammation, one man has truly risen to the occasion. Haters rejoice to none other than David Price.
He has been chewed up, spit out, pummeled, and completely shammed by the Boston media and “fans” (bandwagoners we know who you are). In his last 7 starts, he sports a 5-0 record with an incredible 1.50 ERA with 7 walks and 48 strikeouts to mold a 0.88 whip. For a pitcher that everyone likes to use as their punching bag, he’s finally shutting them all up. Once Sale comes back expect him to be the number 2 starter in the rotation.
Another starting pitcher that seems to have been unnoticed is Eduardo Rodriguez. After being on the dl for a while due to an ankle injury. Rodriguez has finally made a few rehab starts. He made a rehab start against the New Hampshire Fisher cats on Monday. He threw 63 pitches (39 for strikes) in four shutout innings, including 8 strikeouts.
A huge contributor in his absence is Brian Johnson. Although his last start was a rocky one, over his last 7 he sports a 3-1 record, with a 4.01 ERA to go along with 11 walks, 33 strikeouts in 33.2 innings pitched. While his numbers don’t justify just how well he has performed in the rotation, expect to see him in a Hector Velazquez role once E-rod comes back.
With Ian Kinsler being reactivated last Friday, the team had some backups in store. Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez have stepped up big this season. Holt is hitting a modest .265 with 3 homers and 32 rbi’s in 86 games this season. in his 52 starts coming at second base, he has zero errors (1 all season). He is the definition of a true utility player. He has been one of the few shining stars in that position with Dustin Pedroia still fighting his nagging knee injury.
The other player who has made contributions at second is Eduardo Nunez. The 31-year-old has played 74 games at the position. With a .257 average, 7 homers, 38 rbi’s Nunez has been consistent this season. While he thrives more in the left side of the field, he has been a good player in the lineup. The team also has guys like Brandon Phillips and Tzu-Wei Lin in the minor leagues waiting for their shot.
Christian Vazquez has been working with Sox legend Jason Veritek while recovering from a pinky injury. In the meantime, Sandy Leon and Blake Swihart have played nicely. Leon gets the majority of reps behind the plate. While his offensive numbers are not worth mentioning, his defense stands out. He currently has a catchers ERA of 3.13 in 69 games behind the plate. Along the way he even received a personal endorsement from former CY Young winner Rick Porcello.
Blake Swihart hasn’t seen much time in the majors this season. Most appearances have come from pinch hitting. While he hasn’t been a huge factor this season, he still brings versatility if and when the team calls his name. Truly a team player.
How does this affect the team chemistry moving forward? Will this translate to a deep playoff run? Find out soon!
While there are 40 games still to be played, the hunt for October glory has already crossed the minds of fans nationwide. The postseason roster will look very similar to the active roster, but there will be some shake ups in my predictions.
1. Chris Sale: The Cy Young award candidate will be the ace of this team in the playoffs. While he has had more rest under new manager Alec Cora, fans hope to see a different Chris Sale than this time last season.
2. Rick Porcello: Probably one of the most underrated players on this team, the former Cy Young award winner has had a phenomenal year. He has had an excellent command of his sinker, and forced more groundball outs than last year.
3. David Price: Although Price has had zero success as a starter in the playoffs throughout his career, this year seems different. Price has been more efficient, and a overall better pitcher than in recent memory.
4. Nathan Eovaldi: Although he has never been a prime time starting pitcher, he has proven to the Red Sox organization that he is ready to take on a big role throughout the duration of the playoffs. If he can even pitch as well as he has in his first 2 starts, don’t sleep on him.
Although the bullpen has been under performing lately, they still have more depth than a lot of teams in the league.
Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree, Tyler Thornburg, Ryan Brasier, Joe Kelly, Hector Velasquez, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Craig Kimbrel ( closer).
These guys have solidified their roles in the bullpen. It would be hard to imagine the team calling up someone from the minors to fill in, besides an injury or two, towards the end of the regular season.
(Catchers) Christian Vasquez, Sandy Leon. ( First Base) Mitch Moreland, Steve Pearce. (Second base) Ian Kinsler, Brock Holt, Eduardo Nunez, Blake Swihart. ( Third Base) Rafael Devers, ( same utility guys from second and shortstop.) ( Shortstop) Xander Bogaerts.
J.d Martinez, ( Pearce and Moreland as rotates)
Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr, ( Martinez.)
As previously stated, my prediction looks similar to the current roster (besides a couple of minor tweaks.) What are your thoughts? Comment or simply tweet me @kyle_porch. Follow me and bostonsportsextra to stay in the news with the most up-to-date coverage.
This is Blake Swihart‘s moment. Granted, it’s a moment that has been 4+ seasons in the making, but it’s here nonetheless. As soon as starting catcher Christian Vazquez headed to the DL with a broken pinkie on July 8th, Red Sox nation turned their eyes to a former top prospect who had fallen on some difficult times.
If Swihart is able to deliver on his initial promise, he could be a difference maker both in the present and the future. If not, it will likely be an end to one of the more frustrating (and strange) Red Sox careers in recent memory.
This crossroads has been a long time coming. Swihart was ranked #1 among all Red Sox farmhands by SoxProspects.com as late as April 9, 2015. He headed up a then-stacked minor league system that included names like Yoan Moncada, Henry Owens, Rafael Devers, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Michael Kopech. Swihart made his first start on May 2, and proceeded to slash .274/.319/.392 in 308 PA with below average defense behind the dish.
In 2016, Swihart appeared in only 16 games after defensive issues led to his relinquishing of the starting catcher position to Vazquez. Then-manager John Farrell gave him some run in left field, where he almost immediately suffered a broken ankle. That injury sidelined Swihart for the remainder of the ’16 campaign, and much of 2017 as well. In 71 games at the minor league level last season, Swihart only managed to muster a .210/.291/.306 slash.
This season, Swihart was tried out in the infield during spring training, due to lingering discomfort from that same ankle injury. While he made the 25 man roster in a utility role, he spent much of the early part of the season riding the pine. Things got bad enough that Swihart’s agent requested a trade. However, other teams weren’t exactly lining up for a failed catcher with a sub-.200 batting average.
Now Swihart is sharing catching duties with Sandy Leon, a roundabout way back to where his major league story began.
Swihart’s return behind the plate comes at a time when the Sox are looking for answers there. Since 2014, Red Sox catchers have slashed only .244/.300/.351. They are 28th in RC+, and 26th in fWAR. This season, Red Sox catchers have posted a 56 wRC+ and a -0.5 fWAR (both 29th in the bigs).
Vazquez and Leon have handled the bulk of the work at that spot for the Sox this year. Neither have an OPS over .650. Leon has also managed to post a 26.7 K%, which is only matched in it’s mediocrity by Vazquez’s .087 ISO.
Granted, catcher isn’t considered a premium offensive position. But for a team with World Series aspirations, those numbers qualify as a black hole.
To be fair to Leon and Vazquez, Swihart hasn’t lit the world on fire either. He’s only mustered a .218/.288/.287 line in 111 PA this season. His ISO (.069) is even lower than Vazquez’s, and he’s striking out at almost the same rate as Leon.
However, there have been signs of life. In 23 PA since Vazquez’s injury, Swihart has reached base 10 times. If you extend that window out to June 26, he’s hitting .407/.484/.593. Over that same span, Leon is batting only .218/.283/.382. These are all tiny sample sizes, and drawing lasting conclusions from them can be dangerous. But, there’s evidence that we could be (finally) closing in on a Swihart breakthrough.
Swihart was 1-3 with a walk on Friday night vs. the Twins. His defense was unspectacular, but not detrimental.
At this point, “unspectacular but not detrimental” is all the Red Sox need from their catchers. It’ll be worth seeing whether their former top prospect can provide more than that.
There’s no denying that the Red Sox possess one of the most potent offenses in Major League Baseball. That’s what you get when you put together a lineup anchored by MVP favorite Mookie Betts and destroyer-of-right-field-bleacher-creatures J.D. Martinez. As of Saturday morning, the Sox rank:
I could go on, but you get the picture. Boston’s ability to score repeatedly is one of the main reasons why they have the most wins in baseball and the second-best run differential. Yet, while the overall performance of the lineup on a night-to-night basis has been a strength, there are a few red flags regarding the sustainability of its production. Most immediately pressing? A void between the “good” and the “bad” so wide and deep that Michael Cera or Aziz Ansari might crawl out of it at any moment.
Here’s the Red Sox most-used lineup this season, substituting Mitch Moreland for the recently deposed Hanley Ramirez (wRC+ and plate appearances in parentheses):
As for other players with more than 50 PA this year, only Brock Holt (120 in 133 PA) has a wRC+ over 100. The next highest non-regular still with the team? Sandy Leon, whose 58 wRC+ is somehow still 45 points better than poor Blake Swihart‘s 13(!?!?!?!?!?!?) in 70 plate appearances. A full explanation on wRC+ can be found here for the uninitiated, but it is useful because it serves as an all-encompassing stat that takes into account criteria like era, park factors, and total offensive performance. League average for any given season is an even 100. The best season per this metric: 2001 Barry Bonds (an astonishing 244 wRC+, or 144% better than league average). The worst (min 300 PA)? 1909 Bill Bergen (an equally astonishing 5 wRC+, or 95% worse than league average).
All of this is to say that the Red Sox could do with taking a page out of Thanos’ book. While Betts’ transcendent season has lifted the lineup from the jump, the gap between the haves and have-nots is alarming enough to start an Occupy Jersey Street movement at any moment. It’s great that Benintendi has slashed .340/.421/.673 since May 5th, and that Martinez is so comfortable in this lineup he’s moved on to fixing other guys’ swings. However, when almost than half of the everyday starters are producing at well below league average, it tempers expectations a bit. Can the bottom part of the order really be relied on come October? Is Holt really going to be the biggest PH threat off the bench all season? Will Dustin Pedroia ever come back, and if (when) Martinez makes his annual trip to the DL, who will step up?
The Sox don’t have those answers yet. As they make their way towards the dog days of summer, it might not even matter. But last night’s game in Seattle highlighted just how frustrating a lopsided lineup can be. Boston touched up AL Cy Young Award contender James Paxton for 6 runs (5 earned) in the 3rd inning. It was the only frame in which they scored, and the Mariners were able to stage a late inning rally against Heath Hembree and Matt Barnes as a result. With 6 weeks left until the July 31st trade deadline, you have to think Dave Dombrowski will take a hard look at balancing out this roster. After all, this team isn’t supposed to be satisfied with beating good teams in June. It’s meant to beat great teams in the fall.
The Red Sox will be back home in Boston after their 11 day road trip. Facing the Oakland Athletics are Rick Porcello, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Chris Sale. The Sox have won the last seven out of 13 games, while Oakland won five out the last 12 games. The Red Sox will face pitcher Sean Manaea for the first time since his no hitter game in April. The Sox hope that being on Fenway soil will help them defeat the Athletics. This series will also be the last time that the Red Sox will face the Athletics during the regular season.
Sean Manaea pitched a no hitter to the Red Sox last month. J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers each hit a solo home run for the Red Sox. Porcello let up five runs and nine hits over six innings, and struck out five. Trailing in the fourth inning, the Athletics grasped the lead with three runs. Lucroy had a two-run double into the left-field corner before Fowler tripled off the Monster. The Red Sox caught up 4-3 in the fifth, when Hanley Ramirez scored a run with a ground ball. J.D. Martinez hit straight out to the Sox bullpen in the eighth to score. Benintendi and Ramirez got back to back RBI singles. Unfortunately, it was not enough, and Oakland won Monday night’s game 6-5.
“We talked about not expanding down in the zone,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “Overall, we did a good job of it. His stuff is still good.”
“2B Dustin Pedroia (recovering from offseason left knee surgery) started a rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket. He singled and scored a run in three at-bats while playing five innings at second base.”
Due to the weather, the 7:10 start time moved to 8:50 on Tuesday night. As a result, Oakland beat the Sox in nine innings. Rodriguez took his first loss of the season after Oakland had six hits through the first three innings, starting with back-to-back singles by Semien and Pinder to start the game. Piscotty hit a monster home run out of Fenway Park in his first at-bat against Rodriguez. Piscotty’s home run was the first he had hit since his mother’s death on May 6th. Andrew Benintendi hit a homer and Mitch Moreland hit two doubles.
“It was pure joy. It’s been an emotional week,” said Piscotty, whose mother, Gretchen, died May 6 after a one-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. She was 55.”
“We haven’t been able to put them away,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “They’re young and it seems like they’re turning a corner. Whatever they’re doing over there is pretty good.”
Sale vs. Cahill – A Sale Day Win to Avoid an Athletics Series Sweep
In Rafael Devers’s 100th major league game, the Sox came out with a win. Xander Bogaerts hit a three run homer, and J.D. Martinez hit a two run homer. Chris Sale gave up two runs and two hits in five innings. Sale also struck out nine and walked four. Trevor Cahill gave up three runs out of the first four batters he faced. After Sale’s career high 15 strikouts in his last outing, he struggled, but hung on long enough to keep the Sox up over the Athletics. Craig Kimbrel grasped his 12th save of the season and avoided the Sox meeting their season high losing streak. The Sox beat the Athletics 6-4 after Xander and J.D. had quite the night.
“It’s pretty impressive what he does when you’re behind looking at him,” Bogaerts said. “Normally I’m a guy who gets to the on-deck circle a little bit later. I’ve got to get there early if he swings at the first pitch and gets a hit. He hits some bombs on the first pitch.”
“Four walks, that’s not my game,” Sale said. “That’s not who I am. Obviously, you want to be better than that. Anytime your bullpen throws almost as many innings as you do, that’s not what you’re looking for.”
Up Next
The Red Sox will be at home again to face the Orioles for a four game series starting Thursday. David Price will be up first for his Fenway return. Dustin Pedroia will play another game in Pawtucket by the end of the week as Tuesday night’s game was postponed due to the weather. Jackie Bradley Jr. is still spending an immense amount of time on the bench as he has constantly had bad games. Cora is hoping that Bradley Jr. will come out of his slump soon, as he has been working on improving both his defense and his offense.
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Jackie simply cannot hit the ball, need I say it again?? While after every at bat that becomes an out, we all think it. Sure his catches and amazing arm is very helpful, there’s others who can replace him. Without him, the outfield is still strong. With Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi in the corners, we could always use another fierce hitter in the lineup.
The red sox had that opportunity. Back in July, rumors came about that the team turned down a swap with outfielder Kyle Schwarber of the Chicago Cubs. That lineup would’ve been scary. This is his sixth season in the major leagues, hearing a streak of 5 for his last 50 at bats are getting old. While he had the 29 game hitting streak stun the entire league, it was also two seasons ago!!!
While looking for a replacement deems impossible, they have one on the roster already. Enter Blake Swihart. The catcher turned utility player was the hottest hitter for the Red Sox in spring training, if not one of the best in all of spring training. With growing experience, he could revitalize his career with an opening such as this one. Throughout his injury plagued career, Blake finally has his chance as an every day player.
With a highlight reel type player like Jackie there is still a great demand for a player with his skill set. Mainly national league teams would line up and pay a small fortune for his services. Also having one more option increases his value even more. Thus saving money for a free agent that also plays the outfield. ( Bryce Harper) Sorry Red Sox nation, but in order to put the best lineup game in and game out, the Red Sox need to trade Jackie Bradley jr.