Tag: bryce brentz

Bobby Dalbec Among 11 Players Reassigned to Minor League Camp in Second Round of #RedSox Roster Cuts

Six days after making their first round of roster cuts last Tuesday, the Red Sox announced on Monday that the following 11 players have been reassigned to minor league camp.

Among the position players reassigned was infielder Bobby Dalbec. Boston’s sixth-ranked prospect outlasted top prospect Michael Chavis at Red Sox major league camp, but not by much.

Dalbec, 23, slashed .200/.333/.234 with no home runs and a pair of RBI in 36 spring plate appearances.

The Washington native made some noise by launching a monster shot of a home run in his first at-bat against the Northeastern University baseball team back in February, but really has not been able to showcase that legitimate power of his so far in Grapefruit League play.

Given the fact that names such as Chavis, Josh Ockimey, and Sam Travis are all projected to start the 2019 season in Triple-A Pawtucket, I would guess that Dalbec will begin his year with Double-A Portland, where he hit six homers and drove in 24 runs over the course of 29 games in 2018.

As things currently stand, the Red Sox have 36 players in their big league camp, and the most surprising of those who still remain might just be Darwinzon Hernandez.

The club’s top pitching prospect has impressed so far this spring, allowing just one run on seven hits, five walks, and three HBPs over five appearances (two starts) and 10 innings of work.

If he doesn’t crack Boston’s Opening Day roster, it would not be much of a shock to see Hernandez make his major league debut at some point this season. The 22-year-old left-hander is capable of both starting and coming out of the bullpen.

With Opening Day just over 10 days away, expect the team to announce their next round of roster cuts fairly soon.

 

 

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Bryce Brentz and Sandy Leon Each Homer as #RedSox Fall to Twins 4-3

The Red Sox fell to 3-4 in Grapefruit League Play on Friday following a 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins at CenturyLink Sports Complex right down the road from JetBlue Park.

Josh Taylor got the start for Boston in this one and impressed with three scoreless innings in which the left-hander gave up no hits and just one walk while striking out three.

Taylor, 25, was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks last May as the player to be named later in the trade for Deven Marrero that took place in March. He was added to Boston’s 40-man roster in November.

In relief of Taylor, Bobby Poyner, Domingo Tapia, Trevor Kelley, Dan Runzler, and Mark Montgomery combined to surrender all four runs the Twins scored on seven hits and five walks to go along with just two strikeouts over six innings of work. Not great.

Montgomery, who entered this contest with Boston leading 3-2 and left with them trailing by a run, was handed down both the loss and blown save. The right-hander gave up two Minnesota runs on two hits in the bottom half of the eighth.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup, which featured Eduardo Nunez, Rafael Devers, and Michael Chavis to start things out, was matched up against ex-Yankee right-hander Michael Pineda.

Pineda, who missed all of 2018 recovering from Tommy John surgery, held the Red Sox scoreless in his two innings of work.

In fact, the only offense Boston could produce all day came on two swings of the bat in the fourth and seventh innings of this one.

With old friend Addison Reed on the mound for the Twins in that fourth inning and Rafael Devers at second following a leadoff double, Sandy Leon put the Red Sox on the board with his first home run of the spring as the team’s catching competition looks to heat up.

Fast forward to the seventh, Bryce Brentz led things off himself by unloading on a pitch from Twins reliever Tyler Duffey and launching it to dead center.

I’m going to say it, I’m happy Bryce Brentz is back.

That homer put the Red Sox ahead again, but as I have already mentioned, they would go on to drop the second game of the 2019 Chairman’s Cup by a final score of 4-3.

One note from this loss:

Six games into his spring, Brentz is slashing .500/.571/1.167 with two home runs, two doubles, and three RBI.

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Next up for the Red Sox, they host the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday afternoon in the annual Red Sox Foundation Game.

Brian Johnson will get the starting nod against Orioles right-hander Mike Wright Jr. Travis Lakins and Colten Brewer are also scheduled to pitch for Boston.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 1:05 PM ET at JetBlue Park. The game will be aired on NESN.

David Price Changes #RedSox Uniform Number from No. 24 to No. 10.

On yet another slow day in the baseball offseason, The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham came through with an interesting tweet Thursday afternoon regarding Red Sox uniform numbers for 2019, with the most significant number change coming from David Price.

That’s right, after spending his first three seasons in Boston rocking No. 24, the left-hander has apparently made the switch to the No. 10 for the 2019 season.

Neither Price or the Red Sox have provided a reason for the uniform number change, but Abraham also tweets that, “there is nothing going on with No. 24. Price just wanted to switch to No. 10.”

Some speculated that perhaps the club was preparing to retire the number in honor of Dwight Evans or Manny Ramirez this upcoming season, but as Abraham states above, this move was based strictly off of Price’s own preference.

In order for this uniform number change to happen, Red Sox bench coach had to give the No. 10 up. Perhaps Price will have to pay for a team dinner or something of the sorts like Eduardo Rodriguez had to do last year to obtain the No. 57 from third base coach Carlos Febles. Roenicke will wear the No. 30 in 2019.

Tzu-Wei Lin also reclaimed the No. 5, which had been briefly taken over by Ian Kinsler, who is now with the San Diego Padres.

Bryce Brentz, who the Red Sox re-signed to a minor-league contract earlier this month, will wear the No. 54.

Here are some other uniform numbers for Red Sox big league camp in Fort Myers.

The No. 46, which was worn by Red Sox and current free agent closer Craig Kimbrel for the last three seasons, has yet to be assigned. That’s something to keep an eye on as February 13th looms near.

#RedSox Bring Back Former Prospect Bryce Brentz on Minor League Deal.

On Saturday, the Boston Red Sox reached an agreement on a minor league contract with free agent outfielder and former Red Sox prospect Bryce Brentz, according to WEEI’s Rob Bradford.

Brentz, 29, was selected with the 36th overall pick in the first-year player draft by Boston back in 2010 and was ranked as high as fifth among the club’s top prospects on SoxProspects.com in his tenure with the organization.

A native of Tennessee, Brentz has already appeared in 716 minor league games with the Red Sox across six different levels.

Heading into spring training this past season, it looked as though Brentz had a legitimate chance to break camp as the Red Sox’s fourth outfielder given his power production, but the 29-year-old was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for cash considerations  in February.

Later placed on waivers and claimed by the New York Mets in March, Brentz slashed .264/.332/.580 to go along with 15 home runs and 49 RBI in 55 games played with Triple A Las Vegas before electing to become a free agent in October.

In his only big league experience in a limited role with the Red Sox in 2014 and 2016, the Middle Tennessee State alum posted a .690 OPS while mashing one home run and collecting seven RBI over 90 total plate appearances.

Now, Brentz will look to provide the team that drafted him eight years ago with solid outfield depth in Pawtucket in 2019 and will return to an organization he is presumably already familiar with.