A precarious position
Bogaerts back to 3B for WBC
FORT MYERS — Starting tomorrow, Xander Bogaerts is in the hands of Team Netherlands for a while.
Bogaerts was 2-for-3 while playing five innings of shortstop for the Red Sox in their 7-2 loss to the Cardinals in what should be his last game at the position until at least mid-March. He’s also been taking reps at third base, the position he’s slated to play for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.
“It was comfortable (at third) the first day,” Bogaerts said. “I probably got grounders hit right at me, so probably that’s why. The other days it was a bit challenging from side to side. It’s been awhile since I’ve been over there. I have a few practice games over there, so hopefully I’ll be good.”
The last time Bogaerts was moved to third, it hampered his strong 2014 season, and he later admitted being incredibly uncomfortable with the position switch. He’s taken a more confident and casual approach this time around. The Red Sox don’t have much say in the matter.
“There’s conversation there, but once those players report, they’re at the disposal of those teams as far as positioning,” manager John Farrell said.
Said Bogaerts, “I’m going to play baseball, I’m not going on vacation. I’ll be in baseball mode, and I’ll be playing in some competitive games, playing for some real important things for the country and playing with teammates you grew up playing with or against, so it should be fun.”
He leaves today for a 15-hour flight from Atlanta to South Korea.
“I’ve been talking to the doctors here, and they’ve been trying to put a plan for me to go over there to not be as tired as possible or to try to adjust to that time zone quick,” he said.
Bogaerts will begin games with the Netherlands on March 7.
Brock Holt will play shortstop for most of the Red Sox games in his absence, though they’re also eyeing some opportunities for Marco
Hernandez and Deven Marrero. Farrell still prefers Josh Rutledge as the likely complement to Holt and the last position player on the 25-man roster when the regular season begins, particularly because Rutledge hits right-handed and both Holt and Hernandez hit lefty.
Still, Farrell implied there could be competition.
“Marco has the ability to open a lot of eyes and force his way to the big leagues based on his skills,” he said.
Leon unpredictable
It was a rough day at the plate for Sandy Leon, who struck out and hit into a double play.
Leon, who is 0-for-3 in his first two Grapefruit League games, is expected to be the team’s starting catcher ahead of Christian Vazquez and Blake Swihart. But Farrell is cautious when it comes to projecting Leon’s numbers at the plate.
The switch-hitting catcher was a career .187 hitter before he hit .310 last year.
“I don’t want to say we know what we have,” Farrell said. “And I say that in a positive way because last year we didn’t anticipate the offensive production as it exploded in some ways. But I think the workload started to get to him late in the season and we saw him expand the strike zone more than he did in the earlier months. So he would have the lead on that position right now, clearly. But I’d like to see that disciplined strike zone that he demonstrated early on last year.”
Vazquez is 1-for-2 with a double, and Swihart is 1-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
Farrell’s favor
It was a gift, from one manager to another.
Knowing first-hand how difficult it is for a major league manager to find time to watch his son play, Farrell provided Cardinals manager Mike Matheny with a chance to see his son in action at JetBlue Park yesterday.
Matheny’s son, Tate, is an outfielder in the Sox system. He hit .277 with a .706 OPS in Single-A Greenville last season and primarily spends his time on the minor league fields during spring training. Farrell’s desire to see Matheny with the big league squad yesterday wasn’t purely baseball-related.
“That’s something where you pay respect to a guy who hasn’t seen his kid play that often over the last few years because of the schedules,” Farrell said. “Just an opportunity to do so.”
Matheny came on to play right field in the fifth inning and struck out in his only at-bat.
Rough start
Following up on his successful outing against Northeastern last week, Brian Johnson got the start yesterday and gave up three runs in 22⁄ innings. Depth at Triple A 3 is important, and Johnson should provide that this season as long as he improves his command and aggressiveness. Eduardo Rodriguez will make his debut on Thursday. He’s expected to throw two innings and