Tag: spring training

Ryan Fitzgerald lifts Red Sox to 1-0 win over Twins as Boston remains perfect in Grapefruit League play

The Red Sox continued their winning ways on Saturday afternoon by improving to 3-0 in Grapefruit League play. They defeated the Twins by a final score of 1-0 at Hammond Stadium.

Nick Pivetta made his first start of the spring for Boston. The right-hander did not allow a single hit, walk, or run while striking out five in his three perfect innings of work. Of the 38 pitches he threw, 28 went for strikes. He also induced four total swings-and-misses and averaged 93.5 mph with his four-seam fastball.

In relief of Pivetta, Austin Davis got the first call out of the Sox bullpen beginning in the middle of the fourth inning. The left-hander gave up back-to-back singles to begin the frame but escaped the jam before making way for Phillips Valdez, who stranded one runner in an otherwise clean bottom of the fifth.

From there, Zack Kelly found himself in immediate trouble when he yielded a leadoff single to Derek Fisher. Connor Wong, however, negated that almost instantly by gunning Fisher at second down on a failed stolen base attempt, ultimately allowing Kelly to get through the bottom of the sixth unscathed.

To that point in the contest, the Red Sox lineup had been held in check by three different Twins pitchers. With one out in the top of the seventh, Ryan Fitzgerald changed that by crushing a one-out solo shot off Minnesota reliever Cody Stashak.

Fitzgerald’s first home run of the spring provided Boston with their first lead of the day at 1-0. Darin Gillies kept it that way in the latter half of the seventh, while Thomas Pannone did so in the eighth.

Pannone came back out for the ninth looking to preserve the shutout, but instead loaded the bases with two outs. The former Blue Jays lefty did manage to get old friend Cole Sturgeon to pop out to center field for the final out of the ninth, though, thus preserving a 1-0 victory for the Red Sox.

All told, Boston pitchers (Pivetta, Davis, Valdez, Kelly, Gillies, and Pannone) combined to allow just six hits and two walks while punching out 13 in the combined shutout bid.

On the injury front, Jonathan Arauz originally started Saturday’s contest at second base. The 23-year-old was forced to leave in the bottom of the fifth inning after colliding with Twins shortstop Nick Gordon and was replaced by Christian Koss.

Next up: Houck vs. Reyes

Tanner Houck is next in line to make his 2022 debut for the Red Sox as he gets the start against the Orioles on Sunday. The right-hander will be opposed by fellow righty Denyi Reyes, who spent the first seven years of his professional career with Boston before signing a minor-league deal with Baltimore last November.

First pitch from JetBlue Park is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time. The game will be broadcasted on NESN.

(Picture of Ryan Fitzgerald: Brace Hemmelgarn/Getty Images)

Christian Koss crushes two home runs as Red Sox walk off Rays, 7-6

The Red Sox improved to 2-0 in Grapefruit League play on Friday afternoon following a 7-6 walk-off victory over the Rays at JetBlue Park.

Nathan Eovaldi, who was recently named the Sox’ Opening Day starter for a third consecutive year, made his 2022 debut for Boston. The veteran right-hander allowed two runs (both earned) on three hits and no walks to go along with three strikeouts over three innings of work.

After retiring each of the first six batters he faced, Eovaldi ran into some trouble in the top half of the third. The 32-year-old issued a leadoff double to Miles Mastrobuoni before yielding a pair of run-scoring hits to Esteban Quiroz and Josh Lowe.

That put Boston in early 2-0 hole, though Eovaldi was able to get through three full frames on 42 frames. His next start should come against the Twins in Fort Myers next Wednesday.

In relief of Eovaldi, Kaleb Ort got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen in the fourth inning and allowed one run on two hits that made it a 3-0 contest in favor of the Rays.

A half-inning later, though, the Sox got all three of those runs back on one swing of the bat. Following back-to-back singles from Christian Arroyo and Rafael Devers, Bobby Dalbec stayed hot and greeted reliever Zack Erwin by demolishing his second home run of the spring over the Fenway South green monster.

Dalbec’s three-run blast knotted things up at three runs a piece going into the fifth, when Durbin Feltman twirled a 1-2-3 frame before 2021 Rule 5 draftee Brian Keller did the very same in the sixth.

Ceddanne Rafaela and Christian Koss led off the bottom of the sixth with a pair of singles off Rays reliever David McKay and both base runners advanced an additional 90 feet on a groundout off the bat of Hudson Potts. Rafaela then scored when Tyler Esplin reached base on a fielder’s choice.

That sequence put the Red Sox up 4-3, although their newfound lead did not last long when Keller served a go-ahead, three-run home run to Ford Proctor that gave the Rays a 6-4 edge. Joan Martinez came on for Keller and recorded the final out of the seventh.

From there, non-roster invitee Silvino Bracho took over for Martinez and maneuvered his way around a two-out single in an otherwise clean inning of work.

To lead off the bottom half of the eighth, the Sox cut into the Rays’ lead when Koss cranked his first home run of the spring to left field off Adrian De Horta. Izzy Wilson followed with a two-out single before Tyreque Reed came through with a game-tying single off former Red Sox farmhand Seth Blair.

Right-handed pitching prospect Victor Santos came on in the top of the ninth and put up one final zero for Boston to pave the way for some late-game heroics in the bottom half.

With two outs and the bases empty, Koss obliterated his second home run of the day. This one was another solo shot and came off Rays reliever Joel Peguero, thus ensuring a 7-6 walk-off victory for the Red Sox.

Next up: Pivetta makes spring debut against Twins

Nick Pivetta will make his 2022 debut for the Red Sox on Saturday as they face off against the Twins — who have yet to name a starter — at Hammond Stadium.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time. The game will be broadcasted on NESN.

(Picture of Christian Koss: Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Red Sox sign left-hander Derek Holland to minor-league deal for 2022 season

The Red Sox have signed left-hander Derek Holland to a minor-league contract for the 2022 season, according to MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams. It’s likely the deal includes an invite to major-league spring training.

Holland, 35, was originally selected by the Rangers in the 25th round of the 2006 amateur draft out of Wallace State Community College. The Ohio native debuted for Texas in 2009 and remained there through the end of the 2016 season.

Since then, Holland has bounced around a bit, spending the 2017 season with the White Sox, the 2018 season with the Giants, the 2019 season between the Giants and Cubs, and the 2020 season with the Pirates.

Most recently, Holland made 39 appearances (one start) for the Tigers in 2021. The veteran lefty posted a 5.07 ERA — but more respectable 3.96 FIP — to go along with 51 strikeouts to 20 walks over over 49 2/3 innings pitched with Detroit before becoming a free agent in November.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 223 pounds, Holland operates with a four-pitch mix that consists of a sinker, curveball, four-seam fastball, and changeup. He induced a 37.2% whiff rate with his curveball last year, per Baseball Savant.

With 1,466 big-league innings under his belt, Holland becomes the latest southpaw the Red Sox have added to their bullpen mix, albeit on a minors pact. Boston made their signings of Jake Diekman and Matt Strahm official earlier this week.

(Picture of Derek Holland: Duane Burleson/Getty Images)

Red Sox bring back Travis Shaw on minor-league deal for 2022 season

The Red Sox have brought back corner infielder Travis Shaw on a minor-league deal for the 2022 season, the club announced on Friday morning. If Shaw is added to the big-league roster, he will earn $1.5 million, according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

Shaw, who turns 32 next month, spent the latter half of the 2021 season with the Red Sox after being claimed off waivers from the Brewers in August. In the process of reuniting with the team he began his big-league career with, the left-handed hitter slashed .238/.319/.524 with three doubles, three home runs, 11 RBIs, six runs scored, five walks, and 17 strikeouts over 28 games spanning 48 plate appearances. He was used strictly as a pinch-hitter in the postseason.

“Obviously, he did a good job for us,” Sox manager Alex Cora said of Shaw when speaking with reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) on Friday. “You never know what can happen from here to the start of the season. It’s somebody that, the way he went about it last year with limited at-bats, the quality of the at-bats and we know he can play good defense. He looks in good shape. He made some adjustments in the off-season. We’ll give him at-bats and see where it takes us.”

A former ninth-round selection of the Red Sox out of Kent State University in 2012, Shaw debuted for Boston in 2015 and crushed 29 home runs over the next two seasons before being traded to Milwaukee for reliever Tyler Thornburg in December 2016.

While Thornburg disappointed in his time with the Sox, Shaw got off to a hot start with the Brewers. He crushed a total of 63 home runs from 2017-2018, but struggled in 2019 and was ultimately released by Milwaukee that December. The Ohio native spent the 2020 campaign with the Blue Jays and returned to the Brewers in 2021 before re-joining the Red Sox last summer.

With Shaw back in the picture, Boston has added a left-handed hitting infielder who could complement the right-handed hitting Bobby Dalbec at first base this year, though he must earn a spot on the major-league roster first.

In addition to Shaw, the Red Sox also announced on Friday that catcher Deivy Grullon has been added to the spring training roster as a non-roster invitee. Boston now has 25 non-roster invitees on their spring training roster.

(Picture of Travis Shaw: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Bobby Dalbec homers as Red Sox blow out Twins, 14-1, in Grapefruit League opener

The Red Sox kicked off Grapefruit League play with a one-sided 14-1 victory over the Twins at JetBlue Park on Thursday afternoon.

Jarren Duran set the tone right away, leading off the bottom of the first inning with an infield single. Bobby Dalbec immediately followed suit, taking Twins starter Cole Sands deep to left field for his first home run of the spring.

Dalbec’s two-run blast gave the Sox an early 2-0 lead. Non-roster invitee Ryan Fitzgerald doubled Boston’s advantage later in the inning when he drove in Franchy Cordero and Jeter Downs on a two-run single of his own.

After right-handers Michael Feliz (Thursday’s starter) and Taylor Cole provided a scoreless frame each out of the gate, left-handed pitching prospect Chris Murphy surrendered his side’s first run when he issued a bases-loaded walk to Miguel Sano in the top half of the third.

Andrew Politi came on to get out of the jam Murphy had created by retiring Gary Sanchez, then sat down the side in order an inning later. Zack Kelly, another non-roster invitee, took over for Politi in the fifth and put up another zero. In the latter half of the frame, Downs scored on a double steal before Yolmer Sanchez crossed home plate on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Roldani Baldwin.

Heading into the sixth inning in possession of a 6-1 lead, Red Sox manager Alex Cora handed things over to John Schreiber out of the bullpen. Schreiber worked his way around a two-out walk in the sixth before fanning one in a clean seventh inning of work.

A half-inning later, the Red Sox continued to pad their lead when the power-hitting Tyreque Reed laced a ground-rule, two-run double off Twins reliever Kody Funderburk.

In the eighth, recently-signed righty Tyler Danish kept Minnesota off the scoreboard once more before the Boston bats pushed across six more runs in their half of the inning. Elih Marrero ripped a bases-clearing, three-run double off Melvi Acosta while Reed collected one more RBI and Nick Sogard drove in two of his own.

That sequence put the Red Sox up 14-1, going into the ninth. Geoff Hartlieb closed things out in 1-2-3 fashion to preserve the blowout win in Boston’s Grapefruit League opener.

All told, the Sox tallied 14 runs on 14 hits and are now 1-0 this spring with 18 exhibition games remaining before Opening Day.

Next up: Eovaldi vs. Mazza

The Red Sox return to JetBlue Park on Friday afternoon to take on the Rays. Opening Day starter Nathan Eovaldi is slated to get the ball for Boston. He will be opposed by former teammate and fellow right-hander Chris Mazza.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time. The game will be broadcasted on NESN.

(Picture of Bobby Dalbec: Boston Red Sox)

Red Sox bring back catcher Deivy Grullón on minor-league deal for 2022 season

The Red Sox have brought back catcher Deivy Grullon on a minor-league contract for the 2022 season, per the team’s transactions log. The deal includes an invite to major-league spring training, though Grullon has already been assigned to Triple-A Worcester.

A former international signee of the Phillies out of the Dominican Republic, Grullon first joined the Red Sox organization when he was claimed off waivers from Philadelphia in September 2020. He appeared in four games for Philly in 2019 and just one game for Boston (against his former team oddly enough) two years ago before being optioned back to the alternate training site.

That December, the Sox designated Grullon for assignment to clear a spot on their 40-man roster for Matt Andriese. He was quickly scooped up by the Reds and spent the 2021 season with three other organizations (Rays, Mets, White Sox) before being released by Chicago late August.

Between three different Triple-A affiliates, the right-handed hitting backstop slashed .196/.270/.441 (85 wRC+) with five doubles, 10 home runs, 25 RBIs, 21 runs scored, 14 walks, and 59 strikeouts over 43 games spanning 159 plate appearances. He also threw out 5 of a possible 36 base stealers from behind the plate.

This off-season, Grullon returned to his home island to suit up for Aguilas Cibaenas of the Dominican Winter League. The Bonao native appeared in seven games with Aguilas and posted a .535 OPS.

Listed at 5-foot-11 and 240 pounds, Grullon is still relatively young as he only just turned 26 years old in February. He should provide the Red Sox with some experienced catching depth in Worcester behind the likes of Connor Wong and Ronaldo Hernandez.

(Picture of Deivy Grullon: Abbie Parr/Getty Images)

Red Sox make signing of Jake Diekman official, place James Paxton on 60-day injured list

The Red Sox have officially signed left-hander Jake Diekman to a two-year deal that also includes a team option for 2024, the club announced on Wednesday. In a corresponding move to make room on the 40-man roster, fellow southpaw James Paxton was unsurprisingly placed on the 60-day injured list as he continues to recover from Tommy John surgery

Diekman, 35, first agreed to a multi-year contract with the Sox over the weekend and was spotted at the Fenway South Complex with Matt Strahm on Monday. He then passed his physical on Wednesday, leading to his signing becoming official.

According to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, Diekman’s deal includes $8 million in guaranteed money. He will earn a base salary of $3.5 million over the next two seasons with the chance to earn an additional $4 million in 2023. If the Red Sox decline his club option, Diekman will net $1 million in the form of a buyout.

A former 30th-round draft choice of the Phillies out of Cloud County Community College in 2007, Diekman has pitched for five different teams over the course of his 10-year big-league career. The Nebraska native became a free agent this winter after spending the last 2 1/2 seasons with the Athletics.

In 67 appearances (third-highest on the team) out of Oakland’s bullpen in 2021, Diekman posted a 3.86 ERA and 4.46 FIP to go along with 83 strikeouts to 34 walks over 60 2/3 innings of work. His splits against left-handed hitters were similar to his splits against right-handed hitters, as he yielded a .716 OPS against the former and a .711 OPS against the latter.

There were 14 left-handed relievers across Major League Baseball who tossed at least 60 innings last year. Among them, Diekman ranked first in strikeouts per nine innings (12.3), first in strikeout rate (31.7%), 11th in walks per nine innings (5.0), 11th in walk rate (13%), ninth in batting average against (.211), 13th in WHIP (1.34), and ninth in xFIP (4.09), per FanGraphs.

Throughout his career, Diekman has primarily been a four-pitch pitcher who operates with a four-seam fastball (averaged 95.3 mph in 2021), a slider, a sinker, and a changeup. Based off the data available on Baseball Savant, the 6-foot-4, 195 pound hurler had one of the top whiff rates (35.1%) in all of baseball last season.

Diekman, who will wear the No. 35 with the Sox, brings plenty of experience to his new team and should prove to be a versatile, high-leverage relief option for manager Alex Cora. He recorded seven of his 14 career saves last year and has otherwise made 479 lifetime appearances between innings seven through nine.

With the additions of Diekman and Strahm, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has bolstered the left side of Boston’s bullpen to complement the likes of Austin Davis, Darwinzon Hernandez, and Josh Taylor.

(Picture of Jake Diekman: Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

Nathan Eovaldi named Red Sox’ Opening Day starter

For the third consecutive year, Nathan Eovaldi has been named the Red Sox’ Opening Day starter, manager Alex Cora announced on Wednesday.

The news comes after Cora revealed earlier this week that Eovaldi would make his first spring training start against the Rays on Friday, lining the right-hander up to get the Opening Day nod on regular rest against the Yankees in the Bronx on April 7.

Eovaldi, who turned 32 last month, is entering the final season of the four-year, $68 million contract he signed with the Red Sox in December 2018. He is coming off a career-best 2021 campaign in which he posted a 3.75 ERA and 2.79 FIP to go along with 195 strikeouts to 35 walks over 32 starts spanning 182 1/3 innings of work while also being named an All-Star for the first time and finishing fourth in American League Cy Young Award voting.

This off-season, Eovaldi spent his winter at home in Houston, throwing bullpens at least once a week to catcher Connor Wong. He did not face hitters during that time, but did so as part of a two-inning live batting practice session at Fenway South on Tuesday.

With that, Eovaldi is expected to go another two innings in his upcoming Grapefruit League start against Tampa Bay at JetBlue Park. The veteran hurler told reporters on Tuesday that he believes he can be stretched out to 100 pitches by the time his name is called on Opening Day.

Since Eovaldi is slated to become a free agent at the conclusion of the 2022 season, he was also asked about his future in Boston. The ACES client responded by saying he has spoken with his agents about exploring a new deal before the year is over.

“I’m very open to staying here with the Red Sox,” Eovaldi said. “I haven’t been in this situation. I usually try not to focus on it.”

As for how the rest of the Sox’ starting rotation will shake out to begin the year, Cora said Wednesday that it is still a work in progress. Chris Sale, of course, is out of the equation since the left-hander will miss the start of the 2022 season due to a stress fracture in his right rib cage.

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

Red Sox ace Chris Sale has stress fracture in right rib cage, will not be ready for start of 2022 season

Red Sox ace Chris Sale has a stress fracture in his right rib cage and will not be ready for the start of the season, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom announced on Wednesday morning.

Sale sustained the injury while throwing a live batting practice at his alma mater — Florida Gulf Coast University — last month. The soon-to-be 33-year-old felt the effects in the following days before meeting with Dr. Patrick Joyner, who diagnosed the stress fracture.

“I was throwing a live session over at FCGU, it was a Thursday and after that felt a little side discomfort, nothing too crazy — I didn’t think anything of it,” Sale explained. “Over the next handful of days, not only did it stick around, it kind of got worse.”

The live bullpen session in question was live streamed on Instagram. Not by Sale, who does not have any social media accounts, but by Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes.

“Probably a lot of you saw the live BP that was streaming on Instagram,” said Bloom. “Obviously we were not in touch with him at that time (because of the MLB lockout). Talking to him, that’s when this happened. That’s actually the last time that he threw. We found about it when we were able to get back in touch with him.”

Sale joked that his injury was the “curse of social media,” noting that “I get on social media for the first time and look what happens.”

As soon as the lockout ended last Thursday, Sale alerted the Red Sox of the injury in his first phone conversations with Bloom and manager Alex Cora. His timetable as of now has yet to be determined, but he will not be ready for Opening Day.

“We’re talking weeks, not days before we can get a baseball back in his hand,” Bloom said of Sale. “Obviously everything he does is rotational. … He’s doing a lot better now than when he first came in. But we don’t know (a timetable). We just know he’s not going to be ready for the start of the season.”

Sale himself seems optimistic about his recovery. Although disappointed by the prospect of another setback as he approaches the two-year anniversary of his Tommy John surgery, the veteran lefty appears to be maintaining a positive outlook.

“I’ve never dealt with this, but I know bones take, what, six to eight weeks to heal,” he said. “That’s a pretty universally across-the-board timeline. I’m like a dog on a chain right now. I can’t wait to get off this thing. The last couple of years have sucked, and I’ve run into some pretty unlucky circumstances, but what can you do?”

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

Don’t forget about Red Sox catching prospect Kole Cottam

When it comes to how the Red Sox view the catching position in the long-term, they already have some intriguing prospects on the 40-man roster in Connor Wong and Ronaldo Hernandez. Boston also used a fifth-round pick on former University of Florida catcher Nathan Hickey in last year’s draft.

With that being said, do not forget about fellow backstop and SEC alumnus Kole Cottam, who the Sox originally selected in the fourth round of the 2018 amateur draft out of the University of Kentucky.

Cottam, who turns 25 in May, may not be one of the more well-known catching prospects in baseball. Still, the Tennessee native is coming off a 2021 season that was inarguably productive.

After the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out Minor League Baseball in 2020, Cottam broke camp last spring with High-A Greenville. The right-handed hitter proceeded to bat a stout .276/.386/.487 (135 wRC+) with 13 doubles, one triple, six home runs, 24 RBIs, 22 runs scored, 25 walks, and 64 strikeouts over 46 games (190 plate appearances) for the Drive.

On July 29, the Red Sox promoted Cottam to Double-A Portland, where he slashed .282/.337/.526 to go along with five doubles, one triple, four homers, nine runs driven in, 11 runs scored, three walks, and 33 strikeouts across 25 games (98 plate appearances) with the Sea Dogs.

Though Cottam’s walk rate fell and strikeout rate increased upon his promotion to Portland, he still finished the year with a .871 OPS and 133 wRC+, meaning he created 33% more runs than the average hitter in 2021.

Defensively, Cottam logged a total of 439 innings behind the plate with the Drive and Sea Dogs last year. The 6-foot-3, 235 pounder threw out eight of a possible 50 base stealers and also saw some time at first base with Portland.

While the Double-A season may have concluded in September, Cottam’s year was not done. He was one of eight Red Sox prospects who made the trek out west to play in the Arizona Fall League.

Suiting up for the Scottsdale Scorpions, Cottam and his moustache crushed three homers, collected 10 RBIs, and posted an OPS of .866 in 15 games. He was named an Arizona Fall League All-Star alongside teammate Triston Casas in November.

Shortly after the AFL season came to a close, Cottam very well could have been added to Boston’s 40-man roster in order to receive protection from the Rule 5 Draft. The Red Sox, however, elected to not include the 24-year-old.

At the time that decision was made, it’s safe to assume Cottam was disappointed with the news. That said, not being added to the 40-man allowed Cottam to stay in contact with Sox coaches throughout the lockout and participate in the team’s Winter Warm-Up program in January.

Not being on the club’s 40-man roster also allowed Cottam to report to minor-league spring training in Fort Myers earlier this month. When the lockout ended, he was one of 12 minor-leaguers who received an invite to big-league camp this past Thursday.

As he takes part in major-league spring training for a second consecutive year, Cottam enters the 2022 season ranked by SoxProspects.com as the No. 56 prospect in the organization.

The former Kentucky Wildcat is projected by the site to return to Portland for the start of the upcoming campaign, though it would not be surprising to see him earn a promotion to Triple-A Worcester at some point this year.

(Picture of Kole Cottam: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox)