Category: Baseball

Red Sox’ Alex Cora on Hunter Renfroe: ‘He has been amazing the last two months’

Red Sox manager Alex Cora wants the baseball world to put more respect on Hunter Renfroe’s name.

Playing in the 500th game of his major-league career Monday night, Renfroe came through with two incredibly important home runs as part of a 2-for-4 showing at the plate in the Red Sox’ 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the Royals at Fenway Park.

In the fourth inning, Renfroe took Royals starter Danny Duffy 439 feet deep to dead center field on a 1-0 changeup for a 107.5 mph two-run homer that cut the Sox’ deficit down to one run at 5-4.

In the sixth inning of what at the time was a 5-5 ballgame, Renfroe delivered once more, this time depositing a hanging, 2-1 curveball from Royals reliever Josh Staumont 434 feet over the Green Monster for the go-ahead (and what would prove to be game-winning) home run.

“He’s on balance, he’s making good swing decisions,” Cora said of Renfroe late Monday night. “He got a changeup up in the zone, he hit it out of the ballpark. And then a hanging breaking ball. He’s been doing this for a while.”

By going 2-for-4 with a pair of homers, two runs scored, and three runs driven in in Monday’s win, Renfroe raised his batting line on the season to .272/.330/.473, which subsequently bring his OPS over .800 (.803) for the first time this year.

After signing a one-year, $3.1 million deal with Boston over the winter, the 29-year-old’s Red Sox career did not get off to the best of starts as he hit a dismal .167/.235/.250 in the month of April, leaving many to wonder if he was long for remaining on the major-league roster.

Since the calendar flipped to May, however, Renfroe has flipped the switch offensively — all while providing Gold Glove-caliber defense in right field, as has been the case since the start of the season.

Going back to May 1, the right-handed hitter is slashing an impressive .307/.362/.547 to go along with 10 home runs and 32RBI over his last 49 games (196 plate appearances).

Coming into play on Monday, Renfroe had been worth 1.3 fWAR since the start of May, per FanGraphs. That put him ahead of the likes of Alex Verdugo (0.5) and J.D. Martinez (0.3) over that time frame.

“You start looking at his numbers, the average, the RBIs, the home runs, the on-base percentage, the last two months he has been playing All-Star caliber baseball,” said Cora. “And we know what he can do defensively. The way he’s playing, people need to start recognizing him as one of our best players.

“He’s been huge for us,” added Cora. “We always talk about the four guys (Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Martinez, Verdugo), but what he’s doing, he has been amazing the last two months.”

For Renfroe, this rise in offensive production comes at a point in the season where he is getting consistent playing time, the weather is getting warmer, and — probably most importantly — he is healthy and locked in at the plate, as evidenced by his ability to take the ball to the opposite field when necessary.

“I feel good,” Renfroe said. “I like where I am right now. Swinging the bat well, seeing the ball well. I think that’s the biggest part, seeing the ball before you hit it. Seeing the ball as good as I have in a long time so I’ve just got to keep going, staying with my approach and staying with my routine in the cage and just stay healthy.”

(Picture of Hunter Renfroe: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Hunter Renfroe delivers with 2 clutch home runs as Red Sox come back to defeat Royals, 6-5, in slugfest at Fenway Park

The Red Sox were able to extend their winning streak to four consecutive games at Fenway Park on Monday night, though it certainly did not look like it was going to turn that way early on.

Facing off against the Royals in the first of four, Sox starter Garrett Richards stumbled immensely out of the gate, as he issued back-to-back singles to Whit Merrifield and Jorge Soler before serving up a three-run home run to Carlos Santana.

Put another way, Richards had put his side in a three-run hole without recording a single out, and he allowed that hole to increase even more by yielding a pair of solo homers to Michael A. Taylor and Merrifield to make it a 5-1 contest in favor of Kansas City.

While Richards was having a difficult time of things, the Red Sox lineup certainly did their part to back him up.

Matched up against Royals ace left-hander Danny Duffy to begin things on Monday, Enrique Hernandez led off the bottom of the first by crushing a solo home run — his eighth of the season — over the Green Monster for the second straight day to get his side on the board.

An inning later, Bobby Dalbec followed suit by also leaving the yard on a 2-1, 94.5 mph fastball from Duffy that was down and in and deposited 397 feet to left field with an exit velocity of 107.6 mph off the bat. His 10th big fly of the year cut Boston’s deficit down to three runs at 5-2.

Having given up hits to six of the first 10 Royals he faced Monday, it did not seem Richards would be long for this one and Red Sox manager Alex Cora would have to go to his bullpen earlier than anticipated.

Somehow, someway though, Richards recovered and even settled into a decent groove, albeit without being able to put together a 1-2-3 frame.

Still, after surrendering five runs in the first two innings, Richards kept Kansas City off the scoreboard from the top of the second on. In doing so, he provided the Red Sox offense with a sizable window to get back into this one, and they capitalized on that in their half of the fourth.

Following a leadoff double from Xander Bogaerts, Hunter Renfroe — playing in the 500th game of his big-league career — demolished a two-run home run 439 feet to dead center to bring the Sox back to within one.

A pitching change in the fourth that saw righty Kyle Zimmer take over Duffy did not halt Boston’s momentum, as Dalbec greeted the Royals reliever with a single, moved up to second on a groundout, and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Michael Chavis drove him in on a game-tying, RBI single through the left side of the infield.

Richards, meanwhile, retired 12 of the final 17 hitters who came to the plate against him up until Nicky Lopez reached base on a two-out single in the sixth.

At that point, the 33-year-old hurler’s pitch count had reached 94 — 67 of which were strikes –and has night ultimately came to a close. Of those 94 pitches thrown by Richards, 38 were four-seam fastballs, 22 were changeups, 21 were sliders, 11 were curveballs, and two were split changeups.

In relief of Richards, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Boston bullpen, and he recorded the final out of the sixth inning, setting the stage for Renfroe once more in the bottom half of the frame.

There, the right-handed hitting slugger came through with the clutchest hit of the night: a go-ahead, 434 foot solo blast off reliever Josh Staumont that left Fenway Park in a hurry.

Renfroe’s second homer of the contest, and his 11th of the season, gave the Red Sox a 6-5 lead going into the late innings.

Sawamura came back out for the seventh, faced the minimum three batters, and later earned his fourth winning decision of 2021 to improve to a perfect 4-0.

From there, left-hander Josh Taylor extended his scoreless appearance streak to 23 consecutive games by working a perfect eighth inning, while Matt Barnes induced two fly outs and one pop out in the ninth to notch his 17th save of the campaign in addition to preserving a 6-5 victory for the Red Sox.

With the win, their 26th come-from-behind triumph this year, the Red Sox improve to 48-31 (24-17 at home) on the season and move a full game ahead of an idle Tampa Bay Rays team for first place in the American League East.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they will send right-hander Nick Pivetta to the hill on Tuesday as they go for their fifth straight win. The Royals, meanwhile, will counter with fellow righty Brad Keller.

First Pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Hunter Renfroe: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Red Sox injuries: Christian Arroyo (knee contusion), Kevin Plawecki (hamstring strain) ‘progressing well’ and could rejoin team ‘sooner rather than later,’ Alex Cora says

Christian Arroyo and Kevin Plawecki are both progressing well from their respective injuries and could be ready to return to the Red Sox within the coming days, manager Alex Cora said prior to Monday’s game against the Royals at Fenway Park.

Arroyo has been out of action since June 20, when he collided with center fielder Enrique Hernandez while going after a fly ball in the fifth inning of last Sunday’s loss to the Royals in Kansas City.

Later diagnosed with a right shin bone bruise, the infielder was placed on the 10-day injured list on June 24 with what the Red Sox called a right knee contusion.

Because Arroyo’s stint on the IL was backdated to June 21, the soonest the 26-year-old could be activated is this Thursday, July 1.

Plawecki, meanwhile, suffered a left hamstring strain in Kansas City last weekend while chasing after an errant throw from Hernandez.

The veteran catcher was placed on the 10-day injured list on June 22, though, like Arroyo, the move was made retroactive to June 21, meaning he could be activated as soon as Thursday.

While Arroyo and Plawecki have been on the shelf, they have been able to take part in baseball activities, as both were involved in Chris Sale’s live batting practice session at Fenway Park on Saturday.

Taking that into consideration, Cora is hopeful the Sox can get both players back potentially by the end of the week. Infielder/outfielder Michael Chavis and catching prospect Connor Wong have been up with the big-league club in the interim.

“They’re progressing well, both of them,” Cora said earlier Monday afternoon. “Kevin, as you guys saw, he caught Chris [Sale’s] live BP. Christian and Kevin, they should be hitting right now outside. So they’re moving well, they’re feeling better. So they seem like this is going to be something short and they should be with us sooner rather than later.”

The Red Sox will wrap up their seven-game homestand against the Royals on Thursday afternoon before departing for the west coast for the start of a two-city, six-game road trip on Friday. That may be something to keep in mind in regards to upcoming roster moves.

(Picture of Christian Arroyo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Garrett Whitlock on 2021 Red Sox: ‘We’re here to win’

It’s fair to say that Garrett Whitlock has quickly immersed himself into the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.

As a former Yankees prospect who came over to the Sox by way of the Rule 5 Draft over the winter, that was probably to be expected. Still, Whitlock has seemingly exceeded expectations while serving a key role out of the Boston bullpen in his rookie season, especially when going up against his former club.

Sunday afternoon’s outing at Fenway Park proved to be the latest instance of that, as the right-hander was dispatched in the seventh inning of a 6-2 game in favor of the Sox.

Inheriting a situation in which the Yankees had put runners at first and second while only recording one out, Whitlock walked the first man he faced in Gary Sanchez, which brought the tying run to the plate in the form of one of, if not New York’s most dangerous hitter: D.J. LeMahieu.

On just four pitches, Whitlock struck out LeMahieu, getting the two-time batting champ to go down looking on a 96 mph sinker on the outer half of the plate.

Having cleared one hurdle, the next challenge for the young reliever was to retire the vaunted Aaron Judge, who had already gone deep off Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez the inning prior.

This time needing three pitches, Whitlock got Judge to pop out to first baseman Danny Santana in foul territory, thus putting out the flames by leaving the bases loaded going into the bottom half of the seventh.

When asked about what his approach was while going up against a hitter who has the ability to drive one out of the ballpark at any moment such as Judge, Whitlock credited his catcher, Christian Vazquez, for the preparation that went into that anticipated matchup.

“I was trusting Vazqy,” he said. “During our meetings, we knew exactly how we were going to attack him. So I trusted Vazqy and we just stuck to the approach and got some executed pitches and, luckily, he got out.”

The pitch Whitlock got Judge to pop out on was a well-executed, 84 mph slider on the outer half of the plate that the Yankees slugger got under with no real force.

The slider is a pitch Whitlock has been implementing more and more into his repertoire — especially against right-handed hitters — as of late to complement his fastball and changeup as well as add another dimension to his effectiveness. It has proven to be a useful asset thus far.

“It’s something we needed to implement against righties,” said the Georgia native. “Because, as you all saw, once the quote-unquote book got out on me, they were just taking the fastball to the opposite field, and that would make them on-time for the changeup.

“So with the slider, it adds a third speed and a different direction that the ball moves,” he added. “So it’s just something that to try so that the hitters can’t just sit fastball the other way and be on time for changeups. Now we’re just trying to be able to have a three-pitch mix rather than just two.”

After the Red Sox added to their lead in the seventh, Whitlock came back out for the eighth, worked his way around a leadoff single by inducing an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Gio Urshela to face the minimum, and later earned his sixth hold of the season in what would go down as a 9-2 win for Boston.

On the 2021 campaign as a whole, Whitlock has been more than impressive, as the 25-year-old rookie now owns an ERA of 1.42 and batting average against of .234 over 22 relief appearances spanning 38 total innings of work.

Against the Yankees specifically, Whitlock has essentially been lights out. Sunday’s performance marked the righty’s third appearance of the year against the team he began his professional career with, and he has yet to give up a run to them while scattering three hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings pitched in those appearances.

This weekend also marked the first time Whitlock had the opportunity to pitch against the Yankees at Fenway Park, as his only outing against them earlier this month had come in the Bronx.

While taking the mound at either venue has proven to be nothing out of the ordinary for Whitlock performance-wise, he certainly appreciates having the support of the home fans when working at Fenway as opposed to Yankee Stadium.

“I would say it was a lot more fun today because this time the crowd was behind me, rather than cheering on me to not do good,” Whitlock said when asked about the atmosphere the fans created on Sunday. “Got to love the Red Sox faithful. That’s for sure.”

With a 9-2 win over New York, Boston improved to 6-0 on the season against their archrivals, having swept them twice this month alone. From 2019-2020, the Sox went a combined 6-23 when going up against the Yankees.

“Any time we get a win against anybody, it’s great,” Whitlock said. “But obviously, with the history between the Red Sox and Yankees, you love to beat the Yankees any chance you get. To take six of them so far this year, hopefully we take a lot more than just six.”

For someone who is just three months into his major-league career with the Red Sox, Whitlock is certainly establishing himself as a driving force for why the team has been so successful this year.

After being given just a 39% chance to make the postseason by FanGraphs prior to Opening Day, the Sox are nearly halfway into their 2021 campaign and are currently in possession of first place in the American League East with a record of 47-31.

As is the case with Whitlock, this year’s Red Sox — led by Alex Cora — have unquestionably exceeded preseason expectations, but don’t tell that to anyone inside the Boston clubhouse.

“We’re here to win. This isn’t just another year for the Red Sox,” said Whitlock. “We’ve got a competitive team and we’re trying to go out there every single day. We believe we can win every single day.”

(Picture of Garrett Whitlock: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Kiké Hernández thrives in return to leadoff spot as Red Sox clobber Gerrit Cole, finish off sweep of Yankees with 9-2 win

Kiké Hernández was back in the leadoff spot the first time in nearly two weeks at Fenway Park on Sunday, and he did not waste any time in getting the Red Sox on the board.

Matched up against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, Hernandez greeted the right-hander in the first inning by depositing the first pitch he saw — a 96.3 mph fastball on the inner half of the plate — 379 feet over the Green Monster for his seventh home run of the season and his second of the leadoff variety.

A hard-hit double from Alex Verdugo followed by a seven-pitch walk drawn by J.D. Martinez kept the pressure on for Cole, and Rafael Devers took full advantage of that by crushing a 100 mph fastball down the heart of the plate 451 feet over everything in right field.

Devers’ 19th big fly of the year had an exit velocity of 113. 7 mph, and it gave the Red Sox an early 4-0 lead.

In the third inning, Cole fell victim to the long ball once more, this time with Martinez leading things off with his 15th homer of the season — a 421-foot blast to dead center that increased his side’s advantage to five runs.

Christian Vazquez added on to that with a sacrifice fly later in the frame that brought in Bogaerts from third, and the Sox were off to a 6-0 start against one of the best pitchers in the American League.

Given all that run support to work with, Eduardo Rodriguez was able to settle in and put together his second straight quality outing when going up against a divisional foe.

Making his 15th start of the season on Sunday, Rodriguez twirled six solid innings, allowing just two earned runs on five hits and zero walks to go along with eight strikeouts on the afternoon.

For the first time this year, the left-hander got through five innings without yielding a run, as the only two he gave up came on a two-run shot off the bat of Aaron Judge in the top half of the sixth.

After getting taken deep, however, Rodriguez rallied and retired the last three hitters he faced in order to end his day on a more positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 96 (62 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler mixed in a healthy diet of fastballs, cutters, changeups, sinkers, and sliders en route to inducing 11 total swings-and-misses while topping out at 95 mph with his heater.

Ultimately improving to 6-4 on the season in addition to lowering his ERA to 5.83, Rodriguez’s next start should come against the Athletics in Oakland on Friday, the first day of July.

The Boston bats got one of the two runs Rodriguez gave up back in the seventh, with Devers collecting his fourth RBI on a hard-hit single that plated Devers. They tacked on two more on a Vazquez solo homer and Hernandez RBI double an inning later.

The Red Sox bullpen, meanwhile, preserved Rodriguez’s valiant effort. Darwinzon Hernandez ran into some trouble in the seventh, but Garrett Whitlock was able to bail him out by escaping a bases loaded-jam before tossing a scoreless eighth inning as well.

Yacksel Rios got the call in the ninth, and he saw the Red Sox’ 9-2 victory through to its completion by recording the final three outs of the ballgame.

With the win, the Sox finish off their second three-game sweep of the Yankees this month. Boston is now a perfect 6-0 against New York this season.

Having extended their winning streak to three consecutive games, the Red Sox improved to 47-31 (23-17 at home) on the season while moving a half-game ahead of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

—

Next up, the Sox will welcome the Kansas City Royals into town for a four-game set that begins at Fenway Park on Monday night.

Right-hander Garrett Richards will be getting the ball for Boston in the series opener, while left-hander Danny Duffy will be doing the same for Kansas City.

First pitch Monday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Kiké Hernández and Alex Verdugo: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez, and Alex Verdugo named All-Star finalists

Four Red Sox have advanced into the final stage of All-Star voting, Major League Baseball announced earlier Sunday afternoon.

Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez, and Alex Verdugo were all named as American League All-Star finalists, which means they all move onto the next phase of voting and all have a chance to start in this season’s Midsummer Classic in Denver.

Bogaerts came into Sunday ranking first among qualified American League shortstops in batting average (.327), second in on-base percentage (.399), first in slugging percentage (.554), second in weighted on-base average (.401), second in weighted runs created plus (153), and second in fWAR (3.6), per FanGraphs.

As noted by MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith, the 28-year-old led all American League shortstops in total votes with 1,570,467.

Toronto’s Bo Bichette and Houston’s Carlos Correa finished second and third behind Bogaerts and join the Red Sox star as All-Star finalists.

Devers, meanwhile, also led all American League third basemen in votes, tallying 1,569,381 of them to finish ahead of Houston’s Alex Bregman and Chicago’s Yoan Moncada.

As of Sunday morning, the 24-year-old slugger was leading qualified AL third basemen in hits (76), doubles (23), home runs (18), runs scored (51), runs driven (60), slugging percentage (.564), OPS (.908), isolated power (.287), wOBA (.379), and wRC+ (139).

Martinez received 755,663 votes to finish second among American League designated hitters, trailing only Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani while finishing ahead of Yordan Alvarez of the Astros.

Verdugo on the other hand, just made the cut, as the 25-year-old finished eighth among nine AL outfield finalists in phase one of voting by receiving 702,560 votes.

With finalists determined for each defensive position (excluding pitcher) in both leagues, the second phase of All-Star voting will commence at 12 pm eastern time on Monday. That will last until 2 p.m. ET on Thursday, at which point starters will be announced later that night on ESPN.

Per MLB.com’s Thomas Harrigan, the rest of the 2021 All-Star rosters will be unveiled on July 4, with the 91st installment of the MLB All-Star Game taking place at Coors Field on July 13.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts and Alex Verdugo: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Nathan Eovaldi dazzles with 7 2/3 1-run innings as Red Sox secure series win over Yankees with 4-2 victory; Connor Wong picks up first big-league hit in Fenway Park debut

The Red Sox did not need to tear the cover off the ball to get the job done against the Yankees at Fenway Park on Saturday night.

Boston scored two runs on two sacrifice flies in the second inning, an additional run on an infield single in the third inning, and one more on another sacrifice fly in the seventh inning.

Things got a bit shaky towards the end, but the Sox were able to hold on and pick up a series-clinching 4-2 victory over New York.

Matched up against Yankees left-hander Jordan Montgomery to begin things on Saturday, Xander Bogaerts proved to be the catalyst for that two-run bottom of the second by dribbling a leadoff single a mere four feet past home plate.

Rafael Devers followed by drawing an eight-pitch walk, and Hunter Renfroe loaded the bases with a hard-hit single that eluded Montgomery on the mound.

Following a brief mound visit, Enrique Hernandez brought in his side’s first run on a sacrifice fly to center field that brought in Bogaerts and advanced Devers to third, while Bobby Dalbec doubled an early lead by plating Devers on yet another sac fly, though this one only traveled 152 feet and was caught by Yankees first baseman Luke Voit in foul territory.

Still, Voit had to catch Dalbec’s pop fly with his back towards home plate, and that allowed Devers to come into score to make it a 2-0 game.

An inning later, the Sox offense struck with two outs, this time with Bogaerts ripping a two-out double, Devers reaching on an infield single, and Renfroe driving in Bogaerts on another infield knock that came as a result of the Yankees infield playing in a shift.

Fast forward to the seventh, and Bogaerts supplied what would prove to be an important insurance run when he brought in Michael Chavis on a run-scoring sacrifice fly to center field.

While the Red Sox lineup was soft-contacting the Yankees to death, Nathan Eovaldi put together one of his more impressive outings of the season against his former team on Saturday.

Over 7 2/3 innings of work, the veteran right-hander surrendered just one run while scattering seven hits and zero walks to go along with six strikeouts on the night.

That lone tally Eovaldi gave up came at the hands of the last batter he faced, as he served up a two-out solo homer to D.J. LeMahieu in the top half of the eighth.

Besides that one miscue, Eovaldi was thoroughly locked in, never facing more than four Yankees in a single frame thanks to keeping the ball on the ground for the most part and inducing a pair of double plays as a result of doing so.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 109 (72 strikes) to set a new season-high, the 31-year-old hurler ultimately improved to 8-4 on the season in addition to bringing his ERA down to 3.67. His next start should come against the Royals on Thursday.

Red Sox bullpen barely holds on

In relief of Eovaldi, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen with one out to get in the eighth, and he proceeded to walk the bases loaded to bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate in the form of Voit.

That sequence prompted Sox manager Alex Cora to turn to Adam Ottavino, who got Voit to ground out to short to extinguish the threat.

With closer Matt Barnes unavailable, Ottavino was also responsible for the ninth inning as he had a 4-1 lead to protect.

The Yankees made things interesting in their half of the ninth, with LeMahieu plating a run to bring the possible go-ahead run in Aaron Judge. But Ottavino fanned Judge on six pitches, punctuating the at-bat with a nasty 96 mph sinker down and away to preserve the 4-2 victory and notch his fifth save of the year.

With the win, the Red Sox improve to 46-31 (22-17 at home) on the season while remaining a half game back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Wong’s first career hit in his first career start

Red Sox catching prospect Connor Wong made his first career start behind the dish on Saturday after debuting as a pinch-runner earlier this week.

The 25-year-old picked up his first big-league hit in the second inning as part of a 1-for-3 night at the plate. He also caught a decent game for Eovaldi and Co.

Next up: Cole vs. Rodriguez

The Red Sox will look to improve to a perfect 6-0 against the Yankees this season by going for the three-game sweep over their division rivals on Sunday afternoon.

Ace right-hander Gerrit Cole will get the ball for New York in the series finale, while left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will do the same for Boston.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and TBS.

(Picture of Nathan Eovaldi: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Chris Sale faces live hitters at Fenway Park for first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery

Red Sox ace Chris Sale reached another important milestone at Fenway Park on Saturday afternoon, as he faced live hitters for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery last spring.

Working off the mound at Fenway after warming up in the bullpen as if he were preparing for a start, Sale threw 15 pitches to hitters while mixing in fastballs, changeups, and sliders.

According to The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham, Sale threw 45 pitches in all, with the last 15 being to hitters. He faced off against Christian Arroyo, Michael Chavis, and Bobby Dalbec — all right-handed bats.

“Everything went well,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo). “He felt good about it. I think his next one is next week. We’re excited. He looked really good.”

Kevin Plawecki, who appears to have caught Sale on Saturday, added that his outing ‘was nasty’ on Twitter.

This latest achievement for Sale comes less than a full week after the left-hander threw a 45-pitch bullpen session at Double-A Portland’s Hadlock Field this past Tuesday, which came a few short days after he threw his first 45-pitch bullpen at Triple-A Worcester’s Polar Park last Friday.

As for what’s next, Sale will face live hitters once more sometime next week before the Sox depart for their west-coast road trip that begins on July 2 in Oakland.

Per Cotillo, Sale could be lined up to start a rehab assignment with a Red Sox minor-league affiliate sooner rather than later depending on how he reacts to an increase in workload while facing hitters.

The 32-year-old hurler underwent Tommy John surgery last March — on his 31st birthday, actually — and could be on track to rejoin Boston’s starting rotation by mid-August if all goes according to plan.

That being said, the Red Sox first want to ensure that Sale wakes up Sunday morning without feeling any sort of discomfort before deciding on the next steps to be taken.

“Let’s wait how he reacts to this and then we’ll make a decision,” said Cora.

And so the waiting begins.

(Picture of Chris Sale: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Connor Wong to make first career start for Red Sox, catch Nathan Eovaldi in Saturday’s game against Yankees

Red Sox catching prospect Connor Wong will make his first career start behind the plate while batting out of the nine-hole in Saturday night’s contest against the Yankees at Fenway Park.

Boston promoted Wong from Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday in the same roster move that saw fellow backstop Kevin Plawecki hit the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain.

The 25-year-old — one of three players acquired from the Dodgers in the infamous Mookie Betts/David Price trade — debuted for the Sox as a pinch-runner that same night and scored the winning run in the 11th inning of an eventual 9-5 victory over the Rays at Tropicana Field, becoming the first American League rookie to pinch-run in extra innings and score in his debut since Cal Ripken Jr. did so in 1981.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora initially had Wong lined up to make his first start on Sunday, but two factors led to the sudden change.

First, Wong has some familiarity with Saturday’s starter, Nathan Eovaldi. Second, Cora wants to keep Christian Vazquez and Eduardo Rodriguez together for Sunday’s series finale against New York.

In the early stages of spring training this year, Eovaldi had mentioned that Wong caught several of his bullpens over the winter since the two hail from and reside in the Houston-area during the offseason.

“Over the years, I’ve been able to acquire a pretty good workout setup in the garage and everything like that,” Eovaldi told NESN’s Tom Caron back in February. “So I’ve been able to get all my workouts done. And then this offseason as well, I was able to throw to Connor Wong a lot. So, that was nice having a solid catcher behind the plate and being able to work with him.”

The Eovaldi-Wong tandem will debut at approximately 7:15 p.m. Friday night as the Red Sox (45-31) go for the series win over the Yankees (40-35).

Here is how the rest of the Sox will be lining up against Yankees left-hander Jordan Montgomery:

The game will be broadcast on FOX. First pitch, again, is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET.

(Picture of Connor Wong: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Hunter Renfroe nabs Gio Urshela at home to pick up 11th outfield assist of season: ‘He has a cannon, man,’ Xander Bogaerts says

Xander Bogaerts has played with his fair share of defensively-gifted outfielders in his career with the Red Sox.

Whether it be Shane Victorino, Mookie Betts, or Jackie Bradley Jr., Bogaerts has certainly seen Gold Glove-caliber defense from his teammates in the outfield over the years, and he’s seeing it again this season with Hunter Renfroe.

Renfroe, who came into the weekend leading all American League right fielders in Ultimate Zone Rating (3.2), recorded his league-leading 11th outfield assist of the year in the fourth inning of Friday night’s 5-3 victory over the Yankees at Fenway Park.

At the time, the Sox were holding on to a 4-3 lead and the Yankees had just put the potential tying run in scoring position on a leadoff double off the bat of Gio Urshela.

Urshela attempted to score from second on a Miguel Andujar groundball single to right field off Red Sox starter Martin Perez, but Renfroe had other plans.

Fielding the ball rather routinely, Renfroe was able to gun down Urshela at home with plenty of time to spare by unleashing a 94.7 mph laser to an awaiting Christian Vazquez.

Vazquez caught the relay without haste, and snuffed out a sliding Urshela to prevent the possible tying run from crossing the plate for the first out of the fourth.

“Anytime you throw a guy out at the plate, it’s pretty special,” Renfroe said. “You don’t get to do that very often. And especially in that moment, it was a big moment in the game, could have tied the game up. But, obviously, anytime you can help the team win or do something for the team, it’s great.”

Renfroe has made a habit of making these sorts of plays look routine this season, and he has thoroughly impressed his peers — including his manager — while doing so.

“He does a good job charging the ball in that situation,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “He has the presence of mind, too, like he didn’t need to keep that throw down. He knew he had a chance to get him at the plate.”

Bogaerts, meanwhile, had a front-row seat to yet another eye-opening display from Renfroe, and he was still in awe of what happened when speaking with reporters hours later.

“He’s been hot for a while,” Bogaerts said of Renfroe. “If you ask me what I could compare him to, it’d be Jackie Bradley. When he gets on that streak, it’s just missiles and doubles and homers and hard hits. It’s pretty nice, man. And his defense, I wish mine was like that. He’s been awesome offensively and defensively. I didn’t even know he was that good of an outfielder, but he’s been playing really, really good for us.

“He has a cannon, man,” Bogaerts added. “He reads the ball well out there, he has a cannon, he’s strong. I mean, this guy is solid. He’s definitely a really good baseball player.”

In addition to his fine night in the outfield, Renfroe also enjoyed a productive evening at the plate. The 29-year-old went 1-for-1 with a double, a sacrifice fly, two RBI, two walks, and one run scored in Boston’s win over New York.

“He had a great game, not only defensively but offensively,” said Cora. “The patience at the plate, getting to fastballs, putting the ball in play with a man at third. A great game for him.”

Over his last 30 games, Renfroe is slashing an impressive .308/.392/.519 with four home runs, 17 RBI, and 21 runs scored. He started the season by posting a .167/.235/.250 slash line in April after signing a one-year, $3.1 million deal with Boston in December.

“We knew he was a good athlete. We knew he was a good defender,” Cora said when asked if the Red Sox knew Renfroe was this good a player. “Talking to him in the offseason, he mentioned that he didn’t have a chance to play against righties, and although he has a reputation of hitting lefties, he needs righties to stay with his approach.

“In spring training, he did a good job for us. He went the other way,” added Cora. “He struggled early on, but he started shooting the ball the other way, staying off pitches. And you see the at-bats, they’re a lot better. He’s actually walking at a high rate now — he’s controlling the zone. We knew he was talented. Everybody knows it, and he’s putting everything together.”

For Renfroe, his early-season struggles this year can likely be linked to the fact that he was playing for his third team in three seasons. In other words, there was a bit of an adjustment period this spring.

As he has gotten more and more acclimated to the Red Sox, though, the Mississippi native has seen his level of play increase drastically.

On May 1, the 6-foot-1, 230 pound right-handed hitter ranked 12th among Boston position players in terms of fWAR (-0.3). Since then, he ranks third on the team in fWAR (1.1) behind only Xander Bogaerts (2.3) and Rafael Devers (1.6), per FanGraphs.

“It’s come really easy for me to transfer over and be part of the Red Sox,” said Renfroe. “It’s been easy for me to come over here and just step right in and do the best I can. Obviously, you can’t fake hard work as well. I worked my butt off this offseason to put myself in the best shape I can and put myself in a great hitting stance going forward into spring training and going forward [into the season].”

(Picture of Hunter Renfroe: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)