Tag: lineup

Red Sox’ Christian Arroyo out ‘a few days’ after tweaking right hamstring on Monday

The Red Sox could be without second baseman Christian Arroyo for the entirety of this week’s three-game series against the Twins at Fenway Park.

Arroyo tweaked his right hamstring while running out a groundball in the third inning of Monday’s 5-4 loss to the Angels. The 27-year-old came up gimpy on the play but he remained in the game until Alex Verdugo pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the ninth.

When speaking with reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) earlier Tuesday afternoon, manager Alex Cora indicated that Arroyo was dealing with tightness in his right hamstring and would be held out of action for at least “a few days” as a result.

“He’s doing OK,” Cora said of Arroyo. “We’ll stay away from him today, maybe tomorrow. Kind of like the same situation as [Masataka] Yoshida (who missed four games last week due to hamstring tightness). ” I don’t think it’s an [injured list] thing. We’ll take care of him and he will be ready in a few days.”

Arroyo has not gotten off to the best of starts at the plate this season. Through his first 16 games, the right-handed hitter has batted just .160/.192/.200 with two doubles, three RBIs, three runs scored, one stolen base, two walks, and 13 strikeouts in 53 plate appearances. He has, however, provided quality defense at second base thus far.

With Arroyo out of the lineup for Tuesday’s series opener against Minnesota, Enrique Hernandez will start at second (his third different position this season) for Boston. Additionally, Yu Chang will start at shortstop alongside Hernandez while Jarren Duran will get the start in center.

(Picture of Christian Arroyo: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Masataka Yoshida remains out of Red Sox lineup, will be available off bench in series opener against Angels

Outfielder Masataka Yoshida will be available off the bench for the Red Sox in Friday night’s series opener against the Angels, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey) at Fenway Park.

Yoshida is out of Boston’s starting lineup for a third straight game after originally being scratched with right hamstring tightness before Wednesday’s contest against the Rays in St. Petersburg.

While the Red Sox were initially optimistic that Yoshida would be back in time for Friday’s date with the Angels, Cora now says the 29-year-old will return to the lineup for the second game of this four-game weekend series on Saturday afternoon.

Yoshida, who signed a five-year, $90 million contract with Boston over the winter after spending the first seven years of his professional career in Japan, has started in 10 of the Sox’ first 13 games this season. The left-handed hitter is currently batting .216/.356/.324 with one double, one home run, six RBIs, eight runs scored, two stolen bases, seven walks, and three strikeouts in 45 plate appearances.

With Yoshida out of the lineup yet again, Rob Refsnyder will start in left field and bat third. Enrique Hernandez will start in center and Alex Verdugo will start in right while Yu Chang — who is hitless in his first 13 at-bats of the season — will round out the lineup and start at shortstop.

Here is how the rest of the Red Sox will be lining up on Friday against Angels lefty Patrick Sandoval. Right-hander Tanner Houck will be making his third start of the year for Boston.

  1. Verdugo RF
  2. Turner DH
  3. Refsnyder LF
  4. Devers 3B
  5. K. Hernández CF
  6. Arroyo 2B
  7. Casas 1B
  8. Wong C
  9. Chang SS

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time. The game will be broadcasted exclusively on Apple TV+ as part of the platform’s 2023 ‘Friday Night Baseball’ lineup.

(Picture of Masataka Yoshida: Paul Rutherford/Getty Images)

Masataka Yoshida scratched from Red Sox lineup due to right hamstring tightness

Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida has been scratched from Wednesday’s starting lineup against the Rays due to right hamstring tightness, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe) at Tropicana Field.

Yoshida was originally starting in left field and batting cleanup for Boston in the second game of this four-game series in St. Petersburg. Now that he has been taken out of the lineup on account of a tight hamstring, Raimel Tapia will move from center to left field while Enrique Hernandez will shift from shortstop to center field and play there for the first time this season.

Bobby Dalbec was not in the original lineup. He will now start at short in Hernandez’s place and bat sixth as the Red Sox go up against Rays rookie right-hander Taj Bradley, who will be making his major-league debut. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

“We had to make some arrangements,” Cora said, per MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

According to Cora, the Red Sox do not believe Yoshida’s hamstring tightness is a serious issue. The 29-year-old is unlikely to play on Thursday as well, but the hope is he will be able to return to the lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Angels at Fenway Park.

“He showed up here, tried to run,” said Cora. “Obviously, if it’s later in the season, we’d push him to do it and he’d be OK to do it, but it doesn’t make sense to play him tonight.”

Yoshida, who signed a five-year, $90 million contract with Boston in December after spending the first seven years of his professional career in Japan, has started 10 of the Red Sox’ first 11 games this season. The left-handed hitter is currently batting .216/.356/.324 with one double, one home run, six RBIs, eight runs scored, two stolen bases, seven walks, and three strikeouts in 45 plate appearances.

(Picture of Masataka Yoshida: Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

J.D. Martinez scratched from Red Sox lineup as veteran slugger continues to deal with adductor tightness

J.D. Martinez was originally slated to return to the Red Sox lineup for Saturday’s contest against the Orioles at Camden Yards. The veteran slugger was in line to start at designated hitter and bat cleanup for Boston.

A little more than three hours before first pitch, however, it was revealed that Martinez was scratched from the Sox’ lineup as left fielder Alex Verdugo moved up to the four-hole and Christian Arroyo was inserted as the team’s new designated hitter.

Coming into Saturday night, Martinez had missed six of Boston’s last nine games while dealing with left adductor tightness that first became an issue around April 20. The Red Sox are just 3-6 during that stretch.

While he will not be starting on Saturday, Martinez will be available to pinch-hit off the bench and will likely start on Sunday, per manager Alex Cora.

Martinez, 34, is in the midst of the final year of the five-year, $110 million contract he originally signed with the Sox in February 2018. Through 15 games this season, the right-handed hitter is batting .278 (15-for-54)/.344/.481 with eight doubles, one home run, eight RBIs, five walks, and 16 strikeouts over 61 plate appearances.

Arroyo, on the other hand, hit his first home run of the season on Friday and is currently batting .205 (8-for-39)/.220/.282 to go along with RBIs, three runs scored, one stolen base, one walk, and nine strikeouts over his first 14 games (42 plate appearances) of 2022. Saturday will mark the second consecutive day and third time overall in which the 26-year-old has been used as a designated hitter so far this season.

(Picture of J.D. Martinez: Mark Blinch/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Alex Verdugo talks hitting out of the two-hole, moving around the outfield

When Alex Verdugo emerged as the primary leadoff hitter for the Red Sox last August, he settled into the role nicely.

On the 2020 campaign as a whole, the 24-year-old outfielder slashed .304/.362/.442 with 13 doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, three stolen bases, and 12 walks in 152 plate appearances out of the No. 1 spot in Boston’s lineup.

Because he held his own in the leadoff spot in his first year with the Sox, it certainly appeared as though Verdugo had a decent chance to retain that role heading into the 2021 season. That is, until the Red Sox signed veteran utilityman Kiké Hernandez — Verdugo’s former teammate with the Dodgers — to a two-year, $14 million deal in February.

Since then, Red Sox manager Alex Cora had challenged Hernandez — who hit leadoff 88 times over six seasons in Los Angeles — to earn the role of Boston’s leadoff hitter this spring and the 29-year-old responded by clubbing three homers and posting a 1.042 OPS in Grapefruit League play.

With that in mind, it seems likely that Hernandez will bat leadoff for Boston in the club’s Opening Day contest against the Orioles on Thursday afternoon, while Verdugo will slide down to the two-hole.

While some may view this as a demotion of sorts for Verdugo, the left-handed hitter actually prefers batting out of the two-hole, as he explained during an appearance on WEEI’s Ordway, Merloni, and Fauria on Wednesday afternoon.

“I actually love the two-hole. I love it,” Verdugo said when asked which spot in the lineup he favors most. “I think the two-hole has always been a super comfortable spot for me to hit. Obviously, I didn’t mind if I led off this year or not but it’s just something that I think [Cora] wanted to give a go and try. I like it. I really do. I like the lineup. I like the depth that we have from 1-9. And I think wherever we hit, I hit, I think it’s all going to benefit us.”

Last season, Verdugo hit out of the No. 2 spot on just two separate occasions for former Sox skipper Ron Roenicke. He went 2-for-8 at the plate with a walk, an RBI, and a run in those two appearances.

For his career, the former second-round draft pick owns a lifetime .267/.301/.474 slash line to go along with seven home runs and 14 RBI in 144 plate appearances when serving as his team’s two-hole hitter.

Verdugo also discussed the role he expects to play in the Red Sox outfield this season. He explained that while he anticipates seeing the majority of his playing time come in center field, he is also aware that he could see time in right field as well depending on where the Red Sox are playing on a particular day or night.

In assuming more responsibility in center field, Verdugo will be taking over for former Red Sox outfielder and Gold Glove award winner Jackie Bradley Jr., who established himself as arguably the best defensive centerfielder in franchise history before signing with the Brewers earlier this month.

Bradley Jr. was someone who made a habit of making hard-to-make catches look routine in his eight seasons patrolling center field for the Sox from 2013-2020.

For Verdugo, who only logged eight innings in center field last season, those are certainly sizable shoes to fill, but the Arizona native is not worrying about that too much.

“To me, it’s another outfield position,” Verdugo said in regards to center field. “Everybody talks about how you have to be the fastest guy, all that. I don’t believe in that. I don’t think you have to. I think it’s about your initial jumps, your reactions, and your routes to the ball. I feel like I have good instincts out there. And for the most part, I can read a hitter’s swing pretty well and know what our pitcher is trying to do and have a good idea of where I need to be.

“I don’t have a problem with bouncing around. Right, left, center, or any of it,” he added. “When I get out there, the only priority is to catch the ball and run it down.”

In his last season with the Dodgers in 2019, the left-handed throwing Verdugo played 61 games and logged 475 2/3 innings in center field.

Over the course of those 61 contests in center, the 6-foot, 205 pounder was worth positive-4 defensive runs saved while posting an ultimate zone rating (UZR) of 1.1, which translates to an UZR of 3.6 over 150 defensive games, per FanGraphs.

Verdugo was also worth zero outs above average over that same span, per Baseball Savant, which essentially means he was average defensively at that position two years ago.

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