Red Sox - Mariners -Eduardo Rodriguez / James Paxton
Betts, RFAL East: The Yankees are 2.5 GB and the Rays are 3.5 GB. ... BAL/TB; NYY off.
Young, DHBenintendi, LF
Pedroia, 2B
Ramirez, 1B
Bradley, CF
Bogaerts, SSYoung, DH
Holt, LFMarrero, SS
Vazquez, C
Marrero, 3BHolt, 3B
While in California, I spoke with six people who witnessed the Price-Eckersley incident and another handful of folks close to the situation. Few would agree to be quoted — Eckersley and Price would not comment — but here's the narrative of what went down ...So the next day, when Price told the media, "Some people just don't understand how hard this game is", he was referring to Eckersley.
At Fenway, there has been clubhouse disgruntlement about Eckersley's style for some time.
For Price, the tipping point came when he learned Eckersley said "Yuck" when Eduardo Rodriguez's poor stats were flashed on the NESN screen after a rehab start in Pawtucket June 29.
On the day of the episode, Price was standing near the middle of the team aircraft, surrounded by fellow players, waiting for Eckersley. When Eckersley approached, on his way to the back of the plane (Sox broadcasters traditionally sit in the rear of the aircraft), a grandstanding Price stood in front of Eckersley and shouted, "Here he is — the greatest pitcher who ever lived! This game is easy for him!"
When a stunned Eckersley tried to speak, Price shot back with, "Get the [expletive] out of here!"
Many players applauded.
Eckersley made his way to the back of the plane as players in the middle of the plane started their card games. In the middle of the short flight, Eckersley got up and walked toward the front where Sox boss Dave Dombrowski was seated. When Eckersley passed through the card-playing section in the middle, Price went at him again, shouting, "Get the [expletive] out of here!"
When Price was asked about it the next day, he said only, "Some people just don't understand how hard this game is."
After his next start, Price said, "I stand up for my teammates. Whatever crap I catch for that, I'm fine with it."
One would think that [Eckersley's] Hall of Fame resume and 24 major league seasons (which included two divorces, getting released, career-threatening injuries, and being a stand-up guy after epic failures) would insulate him from the anger of today's players."Shaughnessy reports that many Red Sox players have disliked Eckersley for years because of his blunt, on-air criticisms. (Eck often speaks the truth when someone does poorly, but he is also very willing to give a tremendous amount of praise when warranted.) Price's actions always seemed like a calculated attempt to build himself up in the eyes of his teammates. From this report, it sounds like it worked.
We've been constantly keeping track of him as far as his performance. We moved him to Triple-A to get a pulse of how he would handle that on the field, first of all, which he's handled it very well. Secondly, from a mental perspective, and our people just say that he continues to handle the challenges that are given to him. Our biggest concern with him has been that if we brought him up and he struggles, like a lot of guys do, how would he handle it? And our people feel that he would handle it well at this point. They said that he's ready to tackle that next step.Dombrowski added that a lack of appealing third-base trade candidates played a part in his decision:
Our people said, "Well, why would you try that [trade]? Why don't you try him?" He's in a position. We think he can do it. The request for some of the guys that would be minimally better for us have been very large, and so we think that he gives us as good a chance as anybody we've had a chance to acquire -- for third base.More Dombrowski:
I have been on the phone probably as much on him as I have been on any player maybe in my career. On a daily basis, just talking to people to see how he's handling it. ... He thinks he's ready to handle it, so we figure we'll give him the challenge.Jen McCaffrey of the Springfield Republican/MassLive tweeted: "[Rick] Porcello said he faced Devers six times in spring training. Called him a pain in the ass to face. 'I love his swing and everything he does.'"
Hit: Fluid, easy swing. Natural hitter. Strong, quick wrists. ... Easy plus bat speed and an advanced approach for his age. Solid swing mechanics and separation in stride. Very controlled for someone with his bat speed and ability to drive the baseball. Able to recognize spin, and has decent knowledge of the strike zone. Can let the ball get deep on the outer half and still have the strength to drive it the other way.When they say Devers can hit with power to all fields, they aren't kidding. Check out his spray chart for 2017!:
Power: Plus-to-better power potential (30 home runs). Present strength allows him to drive the ball to all fields. Will still get stronger. ... Displayed precocious power to all fields even during his professional debut.
Arm: Plus arm strength that can play at third base. Footwork has greatly improved since he signed, but still can get a bit sloppy at times. Has the arm strength to make all the throws both deep behind the base and charging while on the run.
Field: Has soft hands and his footwork is surprisingly good given his build. Comfortable charging the ball and making smooth transfers from glove to throwing hand. Agile for his size and has average range. Projects as at least an average defender at third base. Should be able to stick at the position long-term unless his body gets away from him as he matures. ...
Run: Below-average speed at present. Not a part of his game. ...
Summation: All-Star potential regardless of position due to his value at the plate. Potential to be a plus hitter for average with plus-to-better power. One of the most exciting young players in the system in years. Mature approach for his age; has shown the ability to handle aggressive assignments and make adjustments to periods of struggle. Glove plays at third base. Surprisingly agile given his build and will make the routine plays and some of the tough ones. ...
Red Sox - 000 011 000 - 2 6 0 Angels - 000 101 10x - 3 5 0Rick Porcello threw his second complete game (8-5-3-1-6, 96) of the year, but he gave up three solo home runs and came out on the losing end. The Red Sox dropped two of the three games to the Angels.
Betts, RFPorcello has pitched at least six innings in 17 consecutive starts (and in 19 of his 20 starts this season). The breakdown of innings of those 17 starts is:
Benintendi, LF
Bradley, CF
Ramirez, DH
Moreland, 1B
Bogaerts, SS
Leon, C
Holt, 2B
Marrero, 3B
Going deep into games and not putting undue pressure on the bullpen is good, but Porcello has a 4.14 ERA in those starts and opponents are hitting .294/.327/.488/.815. The Red Sox are 6-11 in those games.6.0 IP - 8 6.1 IP - 4 6.2 IP - 2 7.0 IP - 2 8.0 IP - 1
The pitcher gets paid to be able to place a pitch on the black, right at the knees, and to see an umpire make mistake after mistake - with impunity - and get away with it, defies explanation.Cuzzi is still pissing players off in 2017.
Give me a process that gets the correct calls as close to 100% of the time as possible. It has been shown time and time again that humans cannot do it. So let's use technology. In track meets, we don't have guys muttering "one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand ...", we have sophisticated machines that can tell us, with certainty, the winning time was 28.735 seconds.Seven years later, MLB remains content to have the umpires - not the players - decide the outcome of games every single night.
Red Sox - 120 000 000 - 3 6 2 Angels - 004 021 00x - 7 10 1The Red Sox staked David Price (5-7-6-3-5, 102) to an early 3-0 lead, but he quickly gave that away.
Betts, RFThese two pitchers faced off on June 24 at Fenway Park. Ramirez (6-4-1-0-5, 95) came out on top that day as the Angels beat Price (6-6-3-1-5, 103) and the Red Sox 6-3.
Benintendi, LF
Pedroia, 2B
Ramirez, 1B
Bradley, CF
Bogaerts, SS
Moreland, DH
Vazquez, C
Holt, 3B
Red Sox - 500 100 000 - 6 9 0 Angels - 000 000 101 - 2 7 0The Red Sox exploded for five runs before Chris Sale threw his first pitch. Not that Sale (6-4-0-2-9, 112) needed such generous run support. His six shutout innings meant that the Red Sox easily won the first game of this two-city, west coast swing.
Nolan Ryan 1977 Angels 19 starts Randy Johnson 1999 Diamondbacks 19 starts Randy Johnson 2000 Diamondbacks 20 starts Pedro Martinez 2000 Red Sox 20 starts Randy Johnson 2001 Diamondbacks 19 starts Chris Sale 2017 Red Sox 20 startsBoston's five-run first inning was the team's biggest inning since July 2, when they scored eight times in the seventh at Toronto. Mookie Betts doubled and Andrew Benintendi singled him home (and took second on the throw to the plate). Dustin Pedroia grounded out to second, as Benintendi went to third. Mitch Moreland singled to right, scoring Benintendi. Hanley Ramirez singled and the Red Sox had runners at first and third. A wild pitch by Ricky Nolasco scored Moreland and Ramirez advanced to second. Xander Bogaerts singled to right, and Ramirez scored. Jackie Bradley's double scored Bogaerts, but Bradley was tagged out off the bag. Sandy Leon ended the inning with a grounder to shortstop. Singles in the fourth by Bradley, Brock Holt, and Betts made it 6-0.
Betts, RFSale leads the AL in ERA (2.59), WHIP (0.887), innings pitched (135.1), fewest hits/9 (6.4), best K:BB ratio (7.96). He leads MLB in strikeouts (191) and K/9 (12.7). In his last eight starts, he has allowed more than three runs only once. In four of his last six starts, he has allowed one or no runs.
Benintendi, LF
Pedroia, 2B
Moreland, 1B
Ramirez, DH
Bogaerts, SS
Bradley, CF
Leon, C
Holt, 3B
If the Royals don't pick up the pace, they could make a late decision to trade away players and [Mike] Moustakas could hit home runs at Fenway from the left side because he prefers to hit to the opposite field.In truth, only one of Moustakas's 25 home runs this season has been hit to the opposite field. I've indicated that home run with a big red arrow.
Blue Jays - 104 011 001 - 8 10 1 Red Sox - 030 000 300 - 6 9 0After the Red Sox struck for three runs in the second inning, with Mookie Betts's two-run single being the big blow driving Francisco Liriano (1.2-5-3-1-1, 54) from the mound, Boston manager John Farrell sat and watched as Doug Fister (4.1-7-6-4-3, 100) gave the game away in the top of the third.
Betts, RFFister (6.75 ERA) makes his fourth start of the season. After today, he will likely head to the bullpen, since Eduardo Rodriguez has rejoined the rotation.
Young, LF
Pedroia, DH
Ramirez, 1B
Bradley, CF
Bogaerts, SS
Leon, C
Marrero, 3B
Holt, 2B
Blue Jays - 000 010 000 - 1 5 1 Red Sox - 040 100 00x - 5 7 1After Toronto's 3-2-5 double play in the second inning seemed to short-circuit a Red Sox rally, leaving the team with a man on third and two outs, the Red Sox (more than a little help from the Blue Jays) continued batting until they had scored four times. That was more than enough runs for Drew Pomeranz (6.2-3-1-5-3, 116), who turned in yet another solid start, his second-longest of the year, despite tying a season-high with five walks.
Betts, RFWhile Drew Pomeranz has a 2.90 ERA over his last 11 starts, he is also fifth in the majors in most pitches per inning (18.0), so he rarely goes deep in any start. And because the Red Sox have played 58 innings in the last four days, the team has made a couple of roster moves to provide help in the bullpen: Right-handers Ben Taylor and Kyle Martin have been called up, with Brian Johnson and Hector Velazquez being sent to Pawtucket. Taylor has a 6.59 ERA in 11 games for Boston this year, while Martin has not yet pitched in the major leagues.
Benintendi, LF
Pedroia, 2B
Moreland, 1B
Young, DH
Bradley, CF
Vazquez, C
Holt, 3B
Marrero, SS
