Tag: 2021 season

Sunday’s Red Sox-Rangers game postponed due to Hurricane Henri, rescheduled for Monday

Sunday’s series finale between the Rangers and Red Sox at Fenway Park has been postponed due to Hurricane Henri, the team announced earlier Sunday morning.

The game, which was scheduled to begin at 1:10 p.m. eastern time on Sunday, has been rescheduled for 1:10 p.m. ET on Monday afternoon.

Tickets for Sunday’s game will be good for Monday’s rescheduled contest, as Fenway Park gates will open approximately 90 minutes before first pitch at 11:40 a.m. ET.

Hurricane Henri, which was downgraded to a tropical storm before it made landfall in the Northeast on Sunday, has already resulted in several events around New England getting postponed or cancelled on account of the unfavorable conditions.

The Worcester Red Sox, for instance, postponed their Sunday game against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at Polar Park on Saturday, and the Boston Red Sox followed suit shortly thereafter.

Per a statement released by the club, “the current forecast calls for several bands of moderate to heavy rain throughout the day and sustained winds of 30-40 mph in the Fenway area with more severe conditions including several inches of rain, flash flooding and hurricane force winds expected to the south and west. State and local officials are asking all residents to use caution throughout the day on Sunday and only travel if absolutely necessary.”

With Sunday’s contest between the Red Sox and Rangers being pushed back by 24 hours, right-hander Nathan Eovaldi is now slated to get the ball for Boston on Monday afternoon, while left-hander Kolby Allard will do the same for Texas.

First pitch (as of now) Monday is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. ET on NESN.

(Picture of Fenway Park: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Red Sox pitching prospect Connor Seabold dominates for Triple-A Worcester on one-year anniversary of trade from Phillies

August 21 continues to be a memorable date for Red Sox pitching prospect Connor Seabold.

At this time one year ago, Seabold — then a member of the Phillies organization — was traded to the Red Sox alongside fellow right-hander Nick Pivetta in exchange for relievers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree.

365 days later, and Seabold’s name is in the headlines once more, though it has to do with what he did on the mound for Triple-A Worcester this time around.

Making his sixth start of the season for the WooSox in Saturday’s contest against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees affiliate), the young right-hander put together quite the outing in front of 7,432 spectators at Polar Park.

Over seven quality innings of work, Seabold kept the RailRiders off the scoreboard while yielding just one hit and one walk to go along with nine strikeouts on the afternoon.

After retiring the first five batters he faced in order, Seabold issued a two-out walk to Socrates Brito in the top half of the second. He followed that up by getting Kyle Holder to line out to first base for the final out of the inning before truly settling in.

That being the case because from the beginning of the third inning on, Seabold did not allow a single hitter to reach base as he took a no-hitter into the top of the seventh before giving up a one-out single to Donny Sands.

Seabold was, however, able to induce a ground ball off the bat of Trey Amburgey to set up an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play, thus ending his outing on a more positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 87 (61 strikes), the 25-year-old hurler wrapped up his day having induced 11 total swings-and-misses in the process of picking up his very first win of the year to improve to 1-3. He also lowered his ERA on the season down to 3.73 in what would go down as a 2-0 victory for the WooSox.

“I’m going to be honest, I’m fighting a cold right now,” Seabold, who sat around 90-93 mph with his fastball, told MassLive.com’s Katie Morrison. “That wasn’t fun for the first few innings, but then it got fun once the adrenaline kicked in. I was sweating like a dog out there. A couple of times when I threw it, I saw beads of sweat coming off. But outside of that, I felt pretty good.”

Seabold, who does not turn 26 until January, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 12 prospect in Boston’s farm system, ranking sixth among pitchers in the organization.

After coming over to the Red Sox in that trade with the Phillies last summer and being added to the Sox’ 40-man roster in November, the former third-round draft pick out of Cal State Fullerton opened the 2021 minor-league season on the injured list.

Right elbow inflammation sidelined Seabold for approximately 2 1/2 months, but he was able to make his return to the mound for the Florida Complex League Red Sox on July 12 before doing the same for the WooSox on July 23.

In addition to posting a 3.73 ERA through his first six starts of the year for Worcester, the 6-foot-3, 195 pound righty has also held opposing hitters to a .209 batting average against while putting up a WHIP of 1.02 over 31 1/3 total innings pitched.

Because he is fully healthy and pitching at a high level (2.35 ERA in the month of August), Seabold may be a name to keep an eye on when it comes time for major-league rosters to expand from 26 to 28 players at the start of September.

This is not to say a promotion this season is imminent, but if the occasion were to arise where the Red Sox needed a spot start or multiple innings out of the bullpen at some point in September, calling up Seabold would seem sensible considering the fact that he is already on the 40-man roster.

In the meantime, though, Seabold — who operates with a 91-93 mph fastball that tops out at 95 mph, a deceptive 80-82 mph changeup, and an 83-85 mph slider according to his SoxProspects.com scouting report — should be in line to make his next start for the WooSox during their upcoming series against the Buffalo Bisons at Sahlen Field.

(Picture of Connor Seabold: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox prospects Marcelo Mayer, Niko Kavadas hit first home runs of professional careers in Florida Complex League action

A pair of Red Sox prospects and 2021 draft picks each belted the first home runs of their professional careers down in Fort Myers earlier Saturday morning.

Marcelo Mayer, Boston’s first-round selection, and Niko Kavadas, Boston’s 11th-round selection, both homered for the Florida Complex League Red Sox as part of their 11-5 victory over the Florida Complex League Twins at JetBlue Park.

Mayer’s homer came as part of a productive day at the plate, as the 18-year-old went 2-for-6 with his first home run, two runs scored, and four RBI.

It was Mayer who got the Red Sox on the board first on Saturday, with Eddinson Paulino kicking things off in the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff double off Twins starter Develson Laria and Mayer following with an RBI single to center field.

In the bottom of the third, Kavadas got his solid day at the plate started out of the cleanup spot by taking Twins reliever Elpidio Perez extremely deep to right field for his first home run of the season, which put his side up 3-0.

Fast forward to the fifth, and Mayer came through with a big fly of his own, this time clubbing a three-run shot off left-hander John Wilson for what was also his first home run of the year.

After a double off the bat of Nathan Hickey, Kavadas — who led off the bottom of the fifth by drawing a walk — drove in the former University of Florida catcher by drilling an RBI double to right field and giving the Red Sox a commanding 10-0 lead in the process of doing so.

All told, Kavadas finished his day having gone 2-for-2 with a double, two walks, two RBI, and two runs scored before being replaced at first base by Cuba Bess in the seventh inning.

Kavadas, who signed with Boston for $250,000 earlier this month, made his professional debut on August 10.

Including Saturday’s solid showing, the 22-year-old first baseman out of the University of Notre Dame is now slashing .286 (4-for-14)/.500/.643 with one home run, two doubles, two RBI, four runs scored, six walks, and four strikeouts through his first five games (20 plate appearances) in the Florida Complex League.

Mayer, meanwhile, signed with the Sox for $6.664 million after becoming the club’s highest draft pick (fourth overall) in more than 50 years last month.

Regarded by many as the top prep prospect coming into this summer’s draft, the left-handed hitting shortstop out of Eastlake High School (Calif.) is currently ranked by Baseball America as the No. 3 prospect in Boston’s farm system, trailing only Triston Casas and Jarren Duran.

By notching two hits in his six trips to the plate on Saturday, Mayer — who does not turn 19 until December — raised his batting line on the season with the FCL Red Sox to .214/.313/.357 to go along with one double, one home run, five RBI, five runs scored, four walks, and seven strikeouts over his first seven games (32 plate appearances) as a pro.

(Picture of Marcelo Mayer: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Chris Sale tosses 5 scoreless innings in second start back as Red Sox blank Rangers, 6-0, to snap 3-game skid

The Red Sox remain unbeaten in games started by Chris Sale in 2021, as they took care of business in the first of a three-game set against the Rangers at Fenway Park on Friday night.

Boston came out on top over Texas by a final score of 6-0, with Sale leading the way by putting together his second straight solid outing after returning to the major-league mound for the first time in nearly two years last Saturday.

Sale, in what was his second start of the season for the Sox, kept the Rangers off the scoreboard while scattering just five hits and one walk to go along with five strikeouts over his five innings of work.

Granted, he was going up against one of the worst lineups in the American League, but the veteran left-hander still strung together five scoreless frames despite dealing with his fair share of traffic on the base paths.

In the top of the first, Sale gave up a one-out double to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, but followed that with two straight strikeouts to get out of the inning. In the top of the second, he issued a one-out walk and single to Yohel Pozo and Yonny Hernandez, but countered that by getting a strikeout and flyout to retire the side. In the top of the fourth, he yielded back-to-back one-out base hits to Jonah Heim and Pozo that put runners on the corners, but that runner on third was stranded there.

That being the case because Sale got Hernandez to bunt into a force out at second base before getting Jason Martin to fly out to left field to end things in the fourth. He then maneuvered his way around a leadoff single in the fifth and capped off his night by sitting down the final two batters he faced in order thanks to a nifty 6-4-3 double play on a Brock Holt grounder.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 71 (49 strikes), the 32-year-old hurler ultimately earned his second winning decision of the season while lowering his ERA to 1.80.

While Sale was in the process of weaving his way through the Rangers lineup, the Red Sox lineup was able to wake up to some degree after a sleepy series in the Bronx earlier this week.

Matched up against rookie right-hander Dane Dunning, the Boston bats got things started right away in their half of the first, and Enrique Hernandez proved to be the catalyst for that with a leadoff double.

After advancing up to third base on a passed ball, Hernandez came into score on an RBI single off the bat of Xander Bogaerts, who kicked off his productive night at the plate by giving his side an early 1-0 lead.

Christian Vazquez followed suit in the second, as he, too, ripped a leadoff double to right field, moved up to third on a Jarren Duran groundout, and was plated on a sharp line-drive RBI single from Hernandez to double Boston’s advantage to 2-0.

Fast forward to the fifth, right after Sale’s outing had come to a close, and the Red Sox did most of their damage off Dunning — all with two outs in the inning.

Following outs from Hernandez and Rafael Devers, Bogaerts drilled an 0-1, 84 mph changeup down the heart of the plate 371 feet down the left field line and over the Green Monster for his 20th home run of the season.

Kyle Schwarber followed by drawing a seven-pitch walk, while J.D. Martinez put runners at second and third for Alex Verdugo by lacing a two-out double to left field.

Verdugo took full advantage of that, as he tattooed a two-run double 101 mph off the Green Monster off the very first pitch he saw from Dunning.

That piece of impressive hitting gave the Sox a commanding 5-0 lead, though Hernandez tacked on one more to that an inning later when he plated Duran from third on another run-scoring groundout to make it a 6-0 contest.

Red Sox bullpen takes over for Sale

In relief of Sale, Hansel Robles got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen to begin things in the top half of the sixth, and he worked his way around a leadoff walk by sitting down the next three batters he faced in consecutive order.

From there, after Hernandez provided some insurance and made it a 6-0 game, Austin Davis tossed a scoreless seventh inning with some defensive help from Devers and Bogaerts, Hirokazu Sawamura punched out two in a 1-2-3 top of the eighth, and Matt Barnes — in a nonsave situation — shut the door on the Rangers in the ninth.

It was Barnes’ first relief appearance since last Sunday, and it was one in which he struck out the side en route to securing a 6-0 shutout victory for the Sox.

With the win, the Red Sox improve to 70-54 on the season to snap a three-game skid. They are — at the moment — six games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East and tied with the Athletics for the second American League Wild Card spot.

Some assorted offensive notes from Friday’s win:

Enrique Hernandez went 2-for-5 with a double, one run scored, two RBI out of the leadoff spot.

Xander Bogaerts went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI out of the No. 3 spot.

Kyle Schwarber went 2-for-2 with two walks and a run scored out of the cleanup spot.

Next up: Rodriguez vs. Lyles

The Red Sox will send left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to the hill on Saturday night as they go for the series victory over the Rangers.

The Rangers, in turn, will counter with veteran right-hander Jordan Lyles as they look to even things up.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Chris Sale: Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Christian Arroyo ‘in a good spot’ amid rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester, Alex Cora says

Red Sox infielder Christian Arroyo continues to make progress during his rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester, so much so that he has caught the attention of his manager, Alex Cora.

In his second game with the WooSox at Polar Park on Thursday evening, Arroyo went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts, but also drew a leadoff walk in the fifth inning and promptly stole second base before coming around to score on an RBI double off the bat of Joey Meneses.

“He must be feeling really good,” Cora said of Arroyo ahead of Friday night’s game against the Rangers at Fenway Park. “I mean, he took off yesterday and stole a base, so that was good to see. I was watching on TV. He got a few at-bats.”

Arroyo, who has been on the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain since July 19, played five innings of second base for Worcester in Game 1 of their doubleheader against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (a 5-3 win) on Thursday before making way for Chad De La Guerra in the top half of the sixth.

Two nights before, Arroyo went 0-for-2 with a flyout and groundout while also getting plunked by a pitch while serving as the WooSox’ designated hitter for six innings before getting pinch-hit for by Johan Mieses in the bottom half of the seventh of a 2-0 victory.

The 26-year-old originally strained his left hamstring in his professional debut at first base against the Yankees back on July 18.

In the third inning of that Sunday night contest in the Bronx, Arroyo attempted to stretch out while receiving a throw from second baseman Enrique Hernandez in order to complete a potential double play, but wound up doing a split that resulted in his immediate removal from the game.

Since that time, Arroyo has gotten back to the point where he was able to begin a rehab assignment earlier this week and will once again be starting at second base and batting second for the WooSox on Friday night.

“He’s going to play today again,” said Cora. “I don’t think he’s that far off. Obviously he hasn’t played in a while. It’s been a month. So as far as the timing and all that, we’ll talk to him. We’ll see how he feels. But I do believe body-wise, the way he’s moving, he’s in a good spot. The fact that he stole a base yesterday, it was a good sign.”

As previously mentioned, Arroyo did injure himself in his first career start at first base at any level back on July 18, but that does not mean the Red Sox will keep the 6-foot-1, 210 pounder away from that position in the future.

“As long as he doesn’t stretch or slip, whatever you want to call it,” Cora said on Wednesday. “He’s going to work at first. I don’t think he’s going to start at first base but I think he’s going to get some work in at first base.”

Taking that point into consideration, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette’s Joe McDonald tweeted earlier Friday afternoon that Arroyo was spotted working out at first base at Polar Park.

Also, this:

Arroyo, who has missed time on the injured list on three separate occasions this season, has primarily served as Boston’s everyday second baseman when healthy.

In what is his first full season with the Red Sox, Arroyo is hitting .271/.327/.465 with 12 doubles, six home runs, 25 RBI, 21 runs scored, one stolen base, seven walks, and 41 strikeouts over 50 games (170 plate appearances).

(Picture of Christian Arroyo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Red Sox release Matt Andriese

The Red Sox have released right-hander Matt Andriese, per MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

Andriese, who turns 32 later this month, was designated for assignment by the Sox on Tuesday so that the club could activate left-handed reliever Josh Taylor from the COVID-19 related injured list.

Boston originally signed the veteran righty to a one-year, $2.1 million contract over the winter that included a team option for the 2022 season.

Opening the 2021 campaign as a multi-inning reliever working out of the Red Sox bullpen, Andriese got off to a solid start, posting a 1.42 ERA and .577 OPS against across nine appearances and 12 2/3 innings of work in April.

May, however, was a different story for Andriese, and those struggles carried over into June as well as July before he was placed on the 10-day injured list with right hamstring tendinitis on July 10.

In all, the California native put up an unsightly 6.03 ERA and 4.70 FIP to go along with 38 strikeouts and 11 walks over 26 outings spanning 37 1/3 innings pitched in his brief tenure with the Red Sox.

Prior to being designated for assignment this week, Andriese had begun a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester on August 7 and appeared to be nearing a return after tossing four scoreless innings through his first three appearances with the WooSox.

That being said, the 6-foot-2, 215 pound hurler is free to sign with any club now that he is a free agent. As noted by MLBTradeRumors.com’s Anthony Franco, “any team that signs Andriese as a free agent would only owe him the prorated portion of the league minimum salary for any time he spends on [their] big-league roster.”

The Red Sox, meanwhile, will still owe Andriese — now a veteran of seven major-league seasons between the Rays, Diamondbacks, Angels, and Sox — the remainder of his $2.1 million guarantee regardless of what happens from here.

(Picture of Matt Andriese: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Nick Pivetta lasts just 1 2/3 innings as Red Sox get swept by Yankees after comeback attempt falls short in 5-2 loss

Nick Pivetta’s introduction to the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night certainly did not go as planned in what would turn out to be his shortest outing of the year.

In what was his first career start against the Yankees as a member of the Red Sox, Pivetta got rocked for four runs — all of which were earned — on four hits and three walks to go along with one strikeout over just 1 2/3 innings of work.

Boston ultimately fell to New York by a final score of 5-2, as they were unable to avoid getting swept in three games by their division rivals in Wednesday’s series finale.

While the Sox’ offensive woes continued to drag on, the visitors actually struck first right away in their half of the first inning.

Matched up against Yankees left-hander Andrew Heaney, who came into the day having posted a 9.00 ERA through his first three starts with New York, Xander Bogaerts got the scoring started by crushing a two-out, 379-foot solo shot to the second deck in left field.

Bogaerts’ 19th home run of the season gave Boston the early 1-0 lead, but Pivetta ran into quite a bit of trouble in the second inning after retiring three of the first four batters he faced in the first.

There, the right-hander issued a leadoff single to Giancarlo Stanton that was followed by a seven-pitch walk of Rougned Odor. Gary Sanchez then lifted a softly-hit fly ball to shallow right field, but it was one that was just out of the reach of right fielder J.D. Martinez.

Odor, who initially retreated back to first base after he initially thought Martinez had made the tough catch, managed to advance to second, loading the bases with no outs for Brett Gardner.

Gardner drove in the tying run — Stanton — from third on a sacrifice fly to center field before New York’s No. 9 hitter, Andrew Velazquez, plated the go-ahead run on an RBI single through the right side of the infield.

That gave the Yankees their first lead of the night at 2-1, and after he stole second base and Rafael Devers made a fantastic play at third for the second out of the inning, Anthony Rizzo delivered with the back-breaker.

Just activated from the COVID-19 related injured list, Rizzo — down in the count at 0-2 — laced a line drive off Pivetta that deflected off the glove of Bobby Dalbec and rolled into foul territory in right field.

Rizzo’s base hit pushed across both Sanchez and Velazquez to make it a 4-1 contest, and it promptly marked the end of the line for Pivetta after he walked Stanton and got the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 57 (36 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler wound up getting hit with his sixth loss of the season while seeing his ERA on the year inflate to 4.43.

The Red Sox bullpen, to its credit, was fairly effective in relief of Pivetta, as Garrett Richards, Martin Perez, and Adam Ottavino combined to toss 5 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball before Josh Taylor surrendered a run on two hits in the bottom of the eighth.

Still, just because the bullpen held the opposition at five runs to keep things relatively close at 5-1, that does not mean the offense was able to take advantage.

After Bogaerts got the Red Sox on the board with his solo home run in the first inning, Heaney countered by putting together his best outing in Pinstripes to date by allowing a total of one out and two walks the rest of the way.

From the start of the second inning through the middle of the seventh, the Sox did not send more than four batters to the plate, though they did have scarce opportunities to score more than one run.

In the top of the fourth, Bogaerts reached base on a fielder’s choice, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and moved up to third on a Devers groundout, but was stranded there by Heaney when Martinez grounded out to end the inning.

In both the fifth and sixth innings, Boston led things off with a runner reaching base, though neither made it further than second on account of a flyout, a lineout, pop out, fly out, and 5-4-3 double play.

So, Heaney capped off his stellar night by retiring all the final five Red Sox hitters he faced to make way for the Yankees bullpen to take over in the eighth.

Fellow lefty Zack Britton followed suit by tossing a perfect frame in that eighth inning, but closer Aroldis Chapman certainly made things interesting in the ninth.

On a 2-1, 97 mph heater on the inner half of the plate, Renfroe turned a 5-1 game into a 5-2 game by sending his 22nd home run of the season 456 feet to deep right field.

A one-out walk from Bogaerts and two-out single off the bat of Martinez brought the tying run to the plate in Kevin Plawecki, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone countered by going back into his bullpen.

Matched up against Lucas Luetge now, Plawecki worked a full count and on the eighth pitch he saw from the lefty, ripped a grounder to the left side of the infield.

It took a Herculean effort from the shortstop in Velazquez, but the Bronx native was able to make a sprawling grab and get to his feet in time to gun down Plawecki at first for the final out of the contest.

That in turn, secured a 5-2 victory for the Yankees and 5-2 defeat for the Red Sox as they wind up getting swept out of Yankee Stadium.

With the loss, Boston falls to 69-54 and they are now six full games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Off day on Thursday, then a weekend series against the Rangers

The Red Sox will travel back to Boston on Wednesday night, enjoy an off day on Thursday, and welcome the lowly Rangers into town for the start of a three-game weekend series at Fenway Park on Friday.

Left-hander Chris Sale will make his second start of the season for Boston in Friday’s series opener, while Texas will turn to right-hander Dane Dunning.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Red Sox pitching prospect Chris Murphy allows just 1 hit and strikes out 7 over 7 scoreless innings in latest start for Double-A Portland

Red Sox pitching prospect Chris Murphy put together quite the outing for Double-A Portland at Hadlock Field on Tuesday night.

Matched up against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Mets affiliate) in what was his third start of the season for the Sea Dogs, Murphy kept the opposition off the scoreboard while scattering all of one hit and one walk to go along with seven strikeouts over seven dominating innings of work.

Early on, it did not appear as though Murphy was at his sharpest considering he allowed two of the first three batters he faced to reach base via a one-out single and walk.

After escaping that jam, however, the left-hander settled in and proceeded to mow the Rumble Ponies down in order on more than just one occasion.

From the beginning of the second inning on, Murphy retired all of the final 18 hitters who came to the plate against him in the process of stringing together those seven scoreless, one-hit frames.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 89 (56 strikes), Murphy ended his night having induced eight groundouts and three fly outs.

He later made way for relievers Jose Disla and Tyler Olson, who both slammed the door on the Rumble Ponies in the eighth and ninth innings to secure an 11-0 shutout victory for the Sea Dogs.

Through his first three starts with Portland dating back to August 4, Murphy has posted a 2.12 ERA and 3.90 xFIP with 21 strikeouts and just five walks over 17 total innings pitched thus far.

The Red Sox originally selected the 23-year-old in the sixth round of the 2019 amateur draft out of the University of San Diego. He was scouted by J.J. Altobelli and later signed with Boston for $200,000.

After beginning his professional career in Lowell that summer and only having the fall instructional league to fall back on last year on account of the COVID-19 pandemic-induced shutdown, Murphy opened the 2021 minor-league season with High-A Greenville.

In 14 starts with the Drive, the California native put up a 4.21 ERA and less favorable 4.59 xFIP over the course of 68 1/3 innings pitched, but nevertheless earned a promotion to Portland on July 31.

In the three starts he has made with the Sea Dogs to this point, Murphy has proven to be more effective in regards to limiting traffic on the base paths. After averaging more than three walks per nine innings in Greenville, the lefty has trimmed that number down to 2.65 in Portland.

On top of that, Murphy has increased his strikeout rate since his promotion (28.3% to 32.3%) while also holding opposing hitters to a miniscule .183 batting average against.

As things stand at the moment, Murphy is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 11 prospect in Boston’s farm system, ranking fifth among pitchers in the organization.

Per his SoxProspects.com scouting report, the 6-foot-1, 175 pound hurler throws from a low three-quarters arm slot and operates with a four-pitch mix that consists of a 90-94 mph fastball that tops out at 96 mph, an 80-82 mph changeup, a 73-75 curveball with a 1-to-7 break, and an 80-84 mph slider.

As noted by SoxProspects.com’s director of scouting Ian Cundall, Murphy’s fastball has touched 97-98 mph this season, while his other pitches have proven capable of inducing plenty of swings-and-misses.

That being said, Cundall did point out that the “key for [Murphy] going forward is refining [his] command.”

Murphy, who does not turn 24 until next June, does not become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft until December 2022, so there is still some time before the Red Sox need to make a decision in regards to adding him to their 40-man roster.

(Picture of Chris Murphy: Portland Sea Dogs)

Blogging the Red Sox presents: A conversation about the Florida Complex League with Ben Crockett

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to exchange emails with Red Sox senior vice president of baseball operations Ben Crockett.

Crockett, who is in the midst of his 15th season with the Red Sox organization after starting out as an intern, was promoted to his current role back in January after serving as the club’s vice president of player development the previous four years.

A native of Topsfield, Mass., Crockett was originally selected by Boston in the 10th round of the 2001 amateur draft as a right-handed pitcher out of Harvard University.

After returning to Harvard for his senior season, Crockett was taken by the Colorado Rockies in the third round of the 2002 draft and spent four seasons in their system before calling it a playing career in 2006.

In his time with the Red Sox as an executive, Crockett — now 41 — has undertaken a variety of roles that primarily revolves around player development. As the club’s senior vice president of baseball operations, Crockett “assists in all areas of baseball operations, with a focus on player development, performance, and baseball systems.”

One area in particular that Crockett assists in would be how Red Sox minor-leaguers are doing in the rookie-level Florida Complex League (formerly the Gulf Coast League) down at the team’s spring training facility in Fort Myers.

To this point in the season, the Florida Complex League Red Sox are 20-11 and owners of the fourth-best record in the FCL.

Among those within Boston’s farm system who have played for the club’s FCL affiliate so far this summer include include a number of the organization’s top prospects, such as 2021 first-round draft pick Marcelo Mayer, Wilkelman Gonzalez, and Brainer Bonaci.

I made sure to ask Crockett about the Sox’ premier prospects, but I wanted to ask about some under-the-radar-type players as well. So, without further ado, here is a quote-unquote transcript of the conversation we had through email.

—

Has the loss of the New York-Penn League changed the way the organization looks at how prospects just out of college are performing in the Florida Complex League? For instance, do you take [2021 18th-round pick] Philip Sikes batting .438/.500/.625 or [2021 ninth-round pick] Tyler Miller batting .409/500/.545 thus far with a grain of salt based off the level of pitching they faced while at Texas Christian University and Auburn University?

Ben Crockett: We try not to put too much stock in small samples of performance, especially in a player’s first year with a mid-July draft, but are happy with the debuts of many guys, including those you mentioned like Miller and Sikes.

The following question has to do with the players to be named later the Red Sox acquired from the Royals and Mets in June as part of the three-team trade that sent Andrew Benintendi to Kansas City back in February:

With Josh Winckowski and Grant Gambrell pitching at more advanced levels, what have you made of the way right-hander Luis De La Rosa and outfielder Freddy Valdez have acclimated to a new organization after coming over mid-season?

Crockett: Both Luis and Freddy have made positive first impressions. They’ve worked hard, been willing to communicate, and shown the positive physical qualities our scouts identified prior to acquiring them.

What makes infielder Eddinson Paulino and right-hander Wilkelman Gonzalez stand out and what did they do during the COVID shutdown last year to get off to such a strong start this season? Paulino is hitting .377/.476/.609 while Gonzalez has posted a 3.90 ERA through seven starts.

Crockett: Both have taken steps forward in 2021, taking full advantage of their time with us and during their preparation at home. We’ve been really pleased with the underlying qualities that have led to the success they’ve seen on the field.

How has the organization gone about evaluating those prospects who had lost seasons last year because of the pandemic, such as former international signee Brainer Bonaci or former 2019 25th-round draft pick Karson Simas? Both Bonaci and Simas are infielders.

Crockett: Simas has done great work physically and has matured into his body, allowing some of his actions to translate into performance on the field. He’s shown great athleticism and versatility.

Bonaci has built on a positive 2020 at the academy, and has made some positive adjustments from his time in instructs last fall. He’s controlled the zone, made good contact from both sides, and continues to improve his defense at shortstop.

Has the addition of Marcelo Mayer to the Florida Complex League roster created any buzz around the Fenway South complex? What about when 2020 third-round pick Blaze Jordan was there prior to his promotion to Salem?

Crockett: The FCL group has done a great job keeping the energy high throughout the season, transitioning well from extended spring when their game reps were limited at times. I think they are really excited to be playing well and realize they have a very talented group of players.

The following question has to do with right-handed pitching prospect Eduard Bazardo, who made his major-league debut for Boston back in April, but had been sidelined with a right lat strain since late May. The 25-year-old was sent out on a rehab assignment with the FCL Red Sox last Friday:

How goes Eduard Bazardo’s rehab and would you expect him to get any more big-league consideration before season’s end?

Crockett: His rehab is going well, getting back into games now and bouncing back well.

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Thank you to Ben Crockett for taking time out of his busy in-season schedule to answer these questions and for also making this possible in the first place.

(Picture of Marcelo Mayer: Bryan Green/Flickr)

Red Sox can’t avoid doubleheader sweep as bats go down quietly in 2-0 loss to Yankees in Game 2 of twin bill

After coming up short in their comeback attempt earlier in the day, the Red Sox were once again held in check by the Yankees on Tuesday night, as they dropped the seven-inning nightcap of their doubleheader against their division rivals by a final score of 2-0 at Yankee Stadium.

Nathan Eovaldi, making his 24th start of the season for the Sox, did his part in keeping this one close, though it turned out to be not enough in the end.

Over five solid innings of work, Eovaldi allowed just two runs — both of which were earned — on seven hits and six walks to go along with six strikeouts on the night against his former team.

Both runs the veteran right-hander surrendered came by way of the home run ball, and they both proved to be very costly considering the fact that the Boston bats were kept quiet by New York pitching.

After tossing a scoreless first inning and recording the first two outs of the bottom of the second, Eovaldi served up a solo shot to Luke Voit on a first-pitch, 98 mph fastball on the outer half of the plate.

Following a third inning in which he kept the Yankees off the board despite putting two runners on, Eovaldi ran into some more trouble to begin things in the fourth, this time yielding a booming 441-foot solo homer to Giancarlo Stanton.

Stanton’s 19th home run of the season, which came off an 0-2, 80 mph curveball at the bottom of the strike zone, gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

In the moments after getting taken deep a second time, Eovaldi again dealt with traffic on the base paths, but managed to escape the fourth inning and strike out one while stranding a runner in the fifth to end his outing on a more positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 83 (57 strikes), the 31-year-old hurler was ultimately hit with his eighth loss of the season while lowering his ERA on the year down to 3.91.

In relief of Eovaldi, left-hander Martin Perez got the first call out of the Boston bullpen in the sixth and got the first two outs of the inning before issuing a two-out single to Tyler Wade that resulted in Hirokazu Sawamura coming on.

Sawamura recorded the final out of the frame by getting Kyle Higashioka to fly out to right field, thus keeping his side’s deficit at two runs.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against a rookie starter in the form of Yankees right-hander Luis Gil.

Gil, facing off against the Sox for the first time in his young career, was effective in what was just his third start of the 2021 season.

The Boston bats certainly had their chances to get to Gil throughout his 4 2/3 innings of work, but were simply unable to do so.

For instance, with no outs in the top of the second inning, the Sox had two runners — J.D. Martinez and Kyle Schwarber — on base following a single and walk, but neither Kevil Plawecki, Jarren Duran, or Travis Shaw made any progress from there since all three struck out to retire the side.

An inning later, Alex Verdugo drew a one-out walk off Gil and promptly took second base on a passed ball, but was left stranded at third base after a Xander Bogaerts ground out and Rafael Devers line out.

Fast forward to the fifth, and Duran led the frame off with a softly-hit single before advancing all the way to third on a one-out base hit off the bat of Enrique Hernandez.

Verdugo then proceeded to lift a fly ball 272 feet that was ultimately caught by Yankees left fielder Joey Gallo, but the speedy Duran opted to remain at third base as opposed to darting towards home plate.

That decision looked like it was going to pay off when Bogaerts drew a four-pitch walk to fill the bases and knock Gil out of this contest, but Yankees reliever Wandy Peralta won the forthcoming left-on-left matchup by getting Devers to hit into an inning-ending force out.

The top of the sixth presented another scoring opportunity when Plawecki reached base with one out and Hunter Renfroe ripped a pinch-hit single to put runners on the corners with two outs.

Bobby Dalbec (who was pinch-hitting for Shaw), however, grounded out to Peralta by lacing a liner that just so happened to deflect off the left-hander, which allowed him to get the out at first base to retire the side.

And in the seventh, recently-named Yankees closer Chad Green retired Boston’s Nos. 1, 2, 3 hitters (Hernandez, Verdugo, Bogaerts) in consecutive order to seal the 2-0 shutout victory for his side and the 2-0 shutout defeat for the Sox.

All in all, Boston hitters went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position while leaving nine runners on base as a team on Tuesday night.

With the loss, not only did the Red Sox manage to get swept by the Yankees in Tuesday’s doubleheader, but they also fell to 69-53 on the season as well as third place in the American League East going off percentage points.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Heaney

The Red Sox will send right-hander Nick Pivetta to the mound as they look to salvage this three-game series with a win in the finale on Wednesday night.

The Yankees will counter with left-hander Andrew Heaney, who they acquired in a trade with the Angels ahead of last month’s trade deadline.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN and ESPN.

(Picture of Nathan Eovaldi: Adam Hunger/Getty Images)