Tag: tampa bay rays

Red Sox’ Franchy Cordero suffers right ankle sprain, will undergo MRI on Tuesday

Red Sox left fielder Franchy Cordero sprained his right ankle in the fifth inning of Monday’s 4-3 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field.

With one out and one runner on, Cordero attempted to track down a 358-foot fly ball off the bat of Randy Arozarena. He wound up running into the wall, however, as his right cleat got caught in the padding of the left field fence. That caused him to land awkwardly and hit the ground in pain.

After remaining on the warning track for a brief period, Cordero was visited by Red Sox manager Alex Cora and associate head athletic trainer Brandon Henry. Unable to put any weight on that right leg, Cordero was carted off the field and replaced in left by Rob Refsnyder.

While Cordero was initially diagnosed with a right ankle sprain, Cora provided an update after the game and revealed that the 28-year-old would be undergoing an MRI on Tuesday to ensure that there is no ligament damage.

“Franchy, he’s OK,” Cora said. “He’s going to get an MRI tomorrow to see if there’s ligament damage. We doubt it. But of course, we have to wait and see. He’s sore, of course, but we’ll wait and see for tomorrow.”

Both Cora and Cordero feared for the worst when contact was made with the wall. But Cordero seemed to be in better spirits despite being on crutches when explaining what went wrong on the play that ultimately resulted in an RBI double for Arozarena.

“I tried to field the ball and in this ballpark with the artificial grass you don’t feel the warning track, so you don’t know how close you are to the wall,” Cordero said through interpreter Carlos Villoria Benítez. “But so far the scans of everything have been negative. It’s just a sprained ankle.

“In the beginning, it felt really bad, but as I was coming to the clubhouse it was feeling better,” he added. “At first, I felt it was something worse than it was.”

As of now, it is not yet clear how much time Cordero — who went 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts on Monday — will miss because of this ankle sprain. Tuesday’s MRI will likely provide the Red Sox with more information as well as a possible timetable.

(Picture of Franchy Cordero: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

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Nick Pivetta gives up season-high 7 runs as Red Sox fall to Rays, 8-4

The Red Sox saw their mini two-game winning streak come to an end on a rainy Tuesday night with an 8-4 loss at the hands of the Rays at Fenway Park.

Nick Pivetta, making his 17th start of the season for Boston, struggled for the first time in a a while. Over 5 2/3 innings of work, the right-hander allowed a season-high seven earned runs on eight hits, two walks, and one hit batsman to go along with just four strikeouts on the night.

Three of those seven runs came right away in the first inning, as Pivetta allowed the first three batters of the game to reach base before giving up a bases-clearing, three-run double to Kevin Kiermaier with one out. He escaped any further damage by getting Taylor Walls to line into an inning-ending double play.

Despite falling behind by three runs before taking their first at-bats, the Red Sox did not back down to the Rays. Matched up against old friend Jeffrey Springs, J.D. Martinez accounted for Boston’s first hit of the night on a two-out double in the bottom of the first. Moments later, Xander Bogaerts crushed a 413-foot two-run home run to dead centerfield off his former teammate to account for his side’s first two runs.

Bogaerts’ seventh home run of the season — and first in more than a month — left his bat at 103.9 mph and cut the Sox’ deficit down to one run at 3-2. In the bottom of the second, Trevor Story led things off by clubbing his 14th homer of the year — a 383-foot solo shot over the Green Monster that knotted the game up at 3-3.

Pivetta, meanwhile, was able to settle into his outing by stringing together four consecutive scoreless frames before running into more trouble in the sixth. There, he issued a leadoff walk to Wander Franco, who later scored on an RBI force out off the bat of Kiermaier that broke the 3-3 tie. After Randy Arozarena doubled to put runners at second and third, Walls drove in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly and Rene Pinto plated another on an infield single that was aided by some quality baserunning from Arozarena.

Pinto would prove to be the final batter Pivetta would face as he was got the hook from Sox manager Alex Cora. Jake Diekman relieved Pivetta and officially closed the book on the righty’s night by allowing the runner he inherited to score before ending things in the sixth.

Of the 85 pitches Pivetta threw on Tuesday, 56 went for strikes and only five of those were swing-and-miss inducing. The 29-year-old hurler was also charged with his sixth loss of the season as his ERA now sits at 3.68.

Moments before Pivetta took the mound in the sixth, the Red Sox had a golden opportunity to take their first lead of the night in the fifth. With Ryan Thompson now in the game for Tampa Bay, Rob Refsnyder and Martinez led off with a single and double to put runners at second and third with no outs. But neither runner was able to advance as Bogaerts grounded out, Christian Vazquez popped out, and Trevor Story struck out.

Hansel Robles was next out of the Boston bullpen in the seventh. His recent struggles only persisted as he walked two and gave up one run on an Isaac Paredes RBI single.

In the latter half of the seventh, the Sox were able to get that run back when Jarren Duran led off with a double and eventually scored on a Bogaerts sacrifice fly to cut Tampa Bay’s lead down to four runs at 8-4.

Tyler Danish held the Rays at eight runs by tossing a pair of scoreless innings, meaning the Red Sox were still trailing by four going into their half of the ninth. Duran and Refsnyder led off with back-to-back singles off Jason Adam. Adam followed that sequence by fanning Martinez and Bogaerts. Vazquez was then struck by a changeup to load the bases for Story.

Story, representing the potential tying run, popped out to Franco to end the game and ensure that Boston would go just 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position while leaving 11 runners on base as a team.

With the loss, the Red Sox wrap up the first half of the 2022 season with a record of 45-36. They also fall to 9-17 against the American League East this year.

Next up: Bello Day

In the rubber match of this three-game set on Wednesday, it will be Brayan Bello making his first career start for the Red Sox. The 23-year-old right-hander is regarded by Baseball America as the top pitching prospect in Boston’s farm system.

On the other side of things, the Rays will counter with a seasoned veteran in right-hander Corey Kluber. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)

Red Sox activate Rich Hill from bereavement list, option Tyler Danish to Triple-A Worcester

Before dropping Sunday’s series finale against the Rays by a final score of 5-2, the Red Sox activated Rich Hill from the bereavement list and, in a corresponding move, optioned Tyler Danish to Triple-A Worcester.

Hill spent five days on the bereavement list after his father, Lloyd, passed away at the age of 94 last week. The 42-year-old had been away from the team to attend his father’s services in Milton.

In his return to the mound on Sunday, Hill was certainly not at his best, but he still grinded his way through four scoreless innings of work at Tropicana Field. Over those four frames, the veteran left-hander yielded four hits and three walks while hitting one batter and striking out another.

With some defensive help from the likes of Rob Refsnyder and Christian Vazquez, Hill finished with a final pitch count of 62 (35 strikes) on Sunday. He relied primarily on his four-seam fastball and curveball combo and induced a total of three swings-and-misses on the afternoon.

While he did not factor into Sunday’s decision, Hill did lower his ERA on the season to 4.85 through three starts spanning 13 innings pitched. It is unclear when the Massachusetts native will make his next start, though it will likely come in Baltimore at some point next weekend.

With the Red Sox activating Hill earlier Sunday morning, they cleared a spot for the lefty by sending down Danish. Danish, 27, was called up from Worcester for the first time last Tuesday and appeared in two games with the big-league club.

In those two outings, the right-hander twirled three cumulative scoreless innings while allowing no hits and two walks. He also struck out five of the 10 batters he faced.

On the surface, it may appear as though Danish will be returning to the WooSox. That said, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reports that Danish is still with the Red Sox and is a candidate to be called up once more ahead of this week’s series against the Blue Jays in Toronto.

To add on to that, The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham tweets that Danish is indeed flying with the team to Toronto and will be replacing a pitcher who is placed on the restricted list on Monday.

As noted by Cotillo, the Sox will be leaving a number of players — including Tanner Houck — behind for their trip north of the border since they are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Regardless of the number of players placed on the restricted list on Monday, Danish will find himself back in the big-leagues and presumably pitching out of Boston’s bullpen at Rogers Centre.

(Picture of Rich Hill: Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Red Sox lose Ralph Garza Jr. on waivers to Rays

Less than two hours after designating him for assignment, the Red Sox have lost right-hander Ralph Garza Jr. on waivers to the Rays, according to the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin.

Garza Jr., who celebrated his 28th birthday on Wednesday, was originally claimed off waivers by the Sox on March 24 after being designated for assignment by the Twins two days prior.

Boston immediately optioned Garza Jr. to Triple-A Worcester upon acquiring him from Minnesota. The righty travelled with the WooSox for their first series of the season against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp this week, though he did not appear in a game for the affiliate.

All told, Garza Jr. spent just two weeks with the Red Sox, as he and fellow reliever Eduard Bazardo lost their respective spots on the 40-man roster on Thursday so the club could add the likes of Hansel Robles and Travis Shaw to their Opening Day squad.

(Picture of Ralph Garza Jr.: Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

Red Sox infield prospect Nick Sogard did a lot of traveling in 2021

It was one year ago Thursday when the Red Sox acquired catching prospect Ronaldo Hernandez and infield prospect Nick Sogard from the Rays for recently-designated relievers Chris Mazza and Jeffrey Springs.

Hernandez, 24, had a solid 2021 season with Double-A Portland and wound up finishing the year with Triple-A Worcester. For the purposes of this article, though, we will strictly be focusing on the year Sogard had.

The younger cousin of veteran big-league infielder Eric Sogard, Nick was originally selected by the Rays in the 12th round of the 2019 amateur draft out of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

After the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out what would have been his first full season of pro ball in 2020, Sogard was traded from Tampa Bay to Boston and opened the 2021 minor-league campaign with High-A Greenville.

In his first 47 games (208 plate appearances) with the Drive, the switch-hitter batted .262/.339/.473 (109 wRC+) with 10 doubles, one triple, eight home runs, 24 RBIs, 32 runs scored, five stolen bases, 20 walks, and 36 strikeouts through July 22.

The following day, Sogard traveled from Greenville, S.C. to Portland, Maine to make his Double-A debut for the Portland Sea Dogs in their contest against the Harrisburg Senators at Hadlock Field. He went 1-for-4 with an RBI single and then remained with the Sea Dogs to fill in for players who left for the Summer Olympics. .

For the next two-plus weeks, Sogard appeared in a total of 15 games for Portland and hit .280/.345/.320 (84 wRC+). 13 of his 14 hits went for singles and he was sent back down to Greenville when Triston Casas returned from Tokyo on August 10.

Sogard’s second stint with the Drive began when he was inserted back into Iggy Suarez’s lineup on Aug. 11. This time around, the California native impressed to the tune of a .341/400/.568 (155 wRC+) over 11 games and exactly 50 trips to the plate. He clubbed three homers and collected 12 RBI during that stretch before receiving another call-up to Portland on the final day of August.

With the Sea Dogs for a second time, Sogard appeared in just two games and went 1-for-5 with a single during a doubleheader against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in Manchester on September 3. He was again sent down to Greenville and returned to the Drive’s lineup on Sept. 15.

From there, Sogard closed out his first season in the Red Sox organization on a solid note, going 4-for-13 (.308) with a pair of home runs and four RBI in four games against the Aberdeen IronBirds.

To summarize, Sogard — who turned 24 in September — posted a .279/.349/.500 (123 wRC+) slash line with 12 doubles, one triple, 13 homers, 40 RBI, 44 runs scored, seven stolen bases, 27 walks, and 48 strikeouts across 62 games (275 plate appearances) at the High-A level last year.

At the Double-A level, he slashed .263/.333/.298 (76 wRC+) to go along with one triple, two runs driven in, eight runs scored, one stolen base, five walks, and 11 strikeouts across 18 games spanning 63 plate appearances.

Defensively, Sogard saw playing time at three different infield positions between Greenville and Portland over the course of the 2021 campaign. In total, the 6-foot-1, 180 pounder logged 309 innings at second base, 192 innings at third base (all at High-A), and 138 innings at shortstop.

Per his SoxProspects.com scouting report, Sogard has an “advanced feel for the game and strong instincts.” It also notes that he has average arm strength, but still has the ability to make throws from all over the infield, thus allowing him to stick at shortstop and play second and third base.

As things currently stand, Sogard is not regarded by any major publication (like Baseball America or MLB Pipeline) as one of the top prospects in the Red Sox farm system.

That being said, Sogard is projected by SoxProspects.com to begin the 2022 season with Double-A Portland. The 24-year-old speedster can become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time in his career this winter, meaning he would need to be added to Boston’s 40-man roster by the November deadline if the club wants to prevent that from happening.

(Picture of Nick Sogard: Greenville Drive/Twitter)