Tag: bullpen

Red Sox Recall Top Pitching Prospect Darwinzon Hernandez from Double-A Portland, Place Ryan Brasier on Bereavement List

Prior to their second of four games against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday, the Red Sox placed right-handed reliever Ryan Brasier on the bereavement/family medical emergency list and recalled left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez from Double-A Portland in a corresponding move. The club made the transaction official earlier Tuesday.

Now up with Boston for the third time this season, Hernandez will make his first career big league start Tuesday after only being used out of the bullpen in Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers back in April, where he tossed 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Ranked as the organization’s top pitching prospect, the 22-year-old has not had an easy time of things with the Sea Dogs this year, as he has posted a 5.13 ERA in 10 outings (nine starts) and 40 1/3 total innings pitched to go along with 59 strikeouts and 32 walks. That’s good for a K/9 of 13.2 and a BB/9 of 7.2. He is also holding opposing hitters to a .217 batting average against.

As the above tweet indicates, control has been Hernandez’s biggest issue. How he fares against major league hitters multiple times through the order should be interesting to see.

Here’s how the rest of the Red Sox line up on Tuesday against Texas. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM EDT.

Red Sox Recall Bobby Poyner from Triple-A Pawtucket, Option Josh Taylor

Before kicking off their four-game series against the Texas Rangers on Monday, the Red Sox swapped a pair of left-handed bullpen arms, with southpaw Bobby Poyner being recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket and fellow lefty Josh Taylor being optioned to the PawSox in a corresponding move. The club made the transaction official earlier Monday.

Poyner rejoins Boston after spending less than a week with the big league club back in April, where he allowed a total of two runs on three hits and two walks over two relief appearances and one inning pitched.

With Triple-A Pawtucket this season, the 26-year-old has appeared in 20 games, posting an ERA of 3.91 and a batting average against of .247 while striking out 32 hitters over 25.1 total innings of work.

Eight of Poyner’s last 10 relief outings have been scoreless, and he last pitched on June 8th.

Taylor, meanwhile, will rejoin the PawSox after spending nearly two full weeks with Boston.

In five appearances with the big league club going back to the 29th of May, the undrafted 26-year-old surrendered six earned runs, four of which came in Sunday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, on 12 hits, no walks, and six strikeouts over a total of five innings of relief. That’s good for a 10.80 ERA, although his FIP was only 3.35.

While with Pawtucket this season, Taylor’s numbers look much better, as he has limited the opposition to a .234 batting average to go along with an ERA of 2.91 through 19 games and 21.2 innings.

With Brian Johnson still on the injured list but working his way back, Poyner is the only left-handed option the Red Sox have out of their bullpen for the time being.

The Red Sox also announced that the start time for Wednesday’s game against the Rangers has been moved from 7:10 PM to 4:05 PM EDT to accommodate Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins, which is set to begin at TD Garden shortly after 8 PM EDT that night.

Let’s also remember to keep David Ortiz in our thoughts and prayers.

Chris Sale Tosses Second Immaculate Inning of Season in Complete Game Shutout as Red Sox Top Royals for Third Straight Win

After opening up a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals with a commanding 8-3 win on Tuesday, the Red Sox continued their recent run of success at Kauffman Stadium with another dominating performance in an 8-0 shutout victory Wednesday.

Making his 13th start of the season and 300th for his big league career for Boston was Chris Sale, fresh off an underwhelming four-run, 10-strikeout outing against the Yankees to close his month of May.

This time around though, the left-hander got his June off to a rocking start, as he completely shut the door on the Royals with nine scoreless innings Wednesday, scattering just three hits and zero walks to go along with 12 strikeouts on the night.

Right from the jump, Sale appeared to be locked in. It was a warm, humid night in KC, so perhaps that played into his stellar command of the strike zone, which we’ll touch on a little later.

Never facing more than four hitters in an inning, Sale did receive some assistance from his defense along the way, with Xander Bogaerts making a fantastic cross-body throw to get the speedy Adalberto Mondesi out at first in the first,…

….Sandy Leon ending the third by picking Whit Merrifield off at first as he was retreating towards the bag after reaching on a two-out single,…(right video, wrong caption)

…and Rafael Devers making a fine play over at third to rob Mondesi of yet another infield single in the fourth inning.

Ultimately retiring the last 15 hitters he faced beginning in the bottom half of the sixth, the real highlight showcasing just how dominant Sale was in this one came two innings later.

With the 6-7-8 portion of Kansas City’s lineup due up, the Florida native needed nine pitches, all of which were strikes, to complete his eighth frame of work, marking his second immaculate inning of the season already on June 5th, less than a month after his first against the Orioleson May 8th.

From there, Sale sat down Billy Hamilton, Terrance Gore, and Mondesi in order, and that wrapped up his first complete game shutout of the season and first complete game since last May.

Finishing with a relatively efficient final pitch count of 102 (75 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler turned to his slider more than 34% of the time he was on the mound Wednesday, inducing five swings and misses with the pitch. He also topped out at 97.7 MPH with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he threw 29 times and got six whiffs on with Sandy Leon behind the plate.

Finally able to notch that elusive second win while loweing his ERA below four for the first time this season at 3.84, Sale will go for win number three in his next time out against the Texas Rangers sometime next week.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Royals right-hander Jakob Junis, someone many on the team had only seen once before Wednesday.

Following a contest where they were held in check early on the night before, it was the opposite for Boston in this one, with Rafael Devers driving in his side’s first run on a first inning one-out RBI groundout to plate Mookie Betts from third for the quick 1-0 lead.

Two batters later, the red-hot Brock Holt extended his hitting streak to seven games with yet another RBI base knock, this one driving in Devers from third to make it a 2-0 game beofre the Royals had even taken their first at-bats.

Fast forward to the fifth, and Devers collected his second RBI in what would turn out to be a productive evening on a one-out, run-scoring double allowing Andrew Benintendi, who led the inning off with a two-bagger himself, to come in from second. 3-0.

After Xander Bogaerts drew a five-pitch walk, Brock Holt reached first on an infield single, and Michael Chavis fanned for the second out of the inning, Jackie Bradley Jr. came to the plate for the second time with the chance to blow this one open, and he did just that by unloading on a 1-1 slider from Junis and ripping a bases-clearing, three-run opposite field double to left field, scoring Devers, Bogaerts, and Holt to give the Red Sox a brand new six-run advantage.

And in the seventh, Devers led things off by swinging at the first pitch he saw from Jorge Lopez, and he deposited a 95 MPH fastball on the inner half of the plate and sent it 425 feet out into the center field seats. His ninth home run of the season.

Three of the next four Red Sox hitters reached base to once again fill the bases for Sandy Leon, who took responsibility for his team’s final tally of the night by plating Holt from third on an RBI sacrifice fly hit deep enough to center field. That put Boston ahead 8-0, which would go on to be Wednesday’s final score shortly thereafter.

Some notes from this win:

Since the start of May, Chris Sale is averaging 14.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

Chris Sale’s immaculate inning was the 96th in baseball’s history.

Chris Sale is the first pitcher since Lefty Grove in 1928 to throw an immaculate inning twice in the same season.

From MLB Stats:

Brock Holt’s last seven games since returning from the injured list: 11-for-25 with five RBI.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the series finale of this three-game set with an early start Thursday afternoon.

Right-hander Ryan Weber is expected to get the ball for Boston, while lefty Danny Duffy will do the same for Kansas City. Boston’s 12th-ranked prospect Mike Shawaryn, recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket last Thursday, is also expected to make his big league debut in a relief role.

Since joining the Sox’ starting rotation on May 23rd, we have seen the good and the bad from Weber. The 28-year-old shined in his first start against the Blue Jays, but struggled mightily against the Indians in his last time out May 29th.

Duffy, meanwhile, currently sits at 3-2 with a 4.05 ERA through seven starts for the Royals this season, but he has surrendered 10 runs, seven of which were earned, over his last two outings.

In seven career starts against the Red Sox, Duffy has posted a lifetime 6.75 ERA over 37.1 total innings pitched. He is 0-5 in those starts.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 1:15 PM EDT. Red Sox looking to cap off the road trip with a three-game sweep.

 

 

 

Rick Porcello Makes 2019 Spring Debut as #RedSox Serve up Six Home Runs in 8-1 Loss to Rays

The Red Sox fell to 6-10 in Grapefruit League on Sunday afternoon following a 8-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte, marking their fifth consecutive defeat.

Making his 2019 debut in this one for Boston was Rick Porcello. The right-hander, who is entering the final season of his original four-year contract extension he signed in 2015, surrendered two runs on four hits, two of which were home runs, and no walks to go along with one strikeout in three innings of work.

As that line indicates, the only runs given up by Porcello came on a pair of Tampa Bay solo homers in the second and third innings off the bats of Joey Wendle and Mike Zunino.

In total, the 30-year-old hurler faced 15 hitters in his first action of the spring.

From the middle of the fourth inning on, Hector Velazquez, Brandon Workman, Colten Brewer, and Brian Ellington combined to allow six runs to cross the plate on 11 hits, four of which were homers, two walks, and six strikeouts over the final five frames of this one.

Like Porcello, Velazquez and Workman each gave up a pair of long balls, as Guillermo Heredia and Avisail Garcia went yard in the fourth and fifth innings, while Heredia and Nate Lowe did the same for the Rays in their half of the sixth.

If anything, both Brewer and Ellington held Tampa Bay scoreless in their individual innings of relief, but the Red Sox bullpen has been a rough spot thus far through 16 Grapefruit League games.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup could not muster more than two runs for the FIFTH straight day. And guess what? They haven’t won any of their last five games!

The lone Boston managed to tally in this one came in the seventh inning, when with one out and Diego Castillo on the hill for Tampa Bay, Steve Pearce grounded into a run-scoring out at first while Aneury Tavarez came around to score from third to make it a 8-1 game at the time. That would go on to be the final score in this Sunday afternoon contest.

Some notes from this loss:

Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, Steve Pearce, and Eduardo Nunez went a combined 2/12 at the plate with one walk and one RBI.

Brock Holt was slated to start at second, but was scratched at the last-minute due to back spasms. He is considered day-to-day.

I get that it’s just spring training, I really do, but can I at least say the last week has been frustrating to watch? Because it has.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s an off day on Monday before hosting the Detroit Tigers for at JetBlue Park the first time this spring

Monday will not be a typical day off though, as Chris Sale is set to pitch in a minor league game beginning at approximately 11:40 AM on one of the Fenway South backfields.

On Tuesday, we’ll see a starting pitching matchup featuring two left-handers who were once part of the same trade.

For Detroit, it will be Daniel Norris getting the starting nod, while 2018 postseason hero David Price will make his 2019 debut and do the same.

Go back to July of 2015, and these two southpaws were part of the same deal that sent Price from Detroit to the Toronto Blue Jays and Norris from Toronto to Detroit.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 1:05 PM EDT at JetBlue. Unfortunately, it does not look like this game will be televised. Monday should be fun, though.