Pomeranz gets healthy report
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
Drew Pomeranz did not expect anything serious, and an MRI seems to have confirmed his intuition.
Tests at Massachusetts General Hospital yesterday showed no changes compared to previous images, the Red Sox announced, and Pomeranz will join the team in St. Louis to resume baseball activities.
“At this point, I should be fine for my next start,” Pomeranz said on Sunday. “We’ll see how the next few days unfold, but I don’t think it’s going to be too big of an issue that keeps me out of any games.”
Warming up for Sunday’s fourth inning, Pomeranz felt tightness in his left triceps and left after pitching just three innings. The initial diagnosis was similar to the injury that caused Pomeranz to open the season on the disabled list, but a return to the DL now seems unlikely following yesterday’s test results.
Even so, the Sox still have a rotation change in the works. Eduardo Rodriguez and Rick Porcello will start the two games against the Cardinals, and it seems possible, if not likely, that the team will insert a fresh starter into the mix on Thursday in Oakland, because manager John Farrell wants to split Porcello and Chris Sale, the two pitchers who have most consistently pitched deep into games.
Hector Velazquez, who’s impressed since signing a minor league deal out of the Mexican League, lines up perfectly for that Thursday start. Velazquez has a 1.55 ERA and opponents have hit just .180 against him in Triple A. As of last night, Pawtucket listed its Thursday starter as TBA.
“We’re going to take the next couple of days here just to make sure we know who that candidate is coming from Pawtucket to slot in,” Farrell said.
Set-up man woes
It was the sixth inning when Matt Barnes entered Sunday’s game. He’s been the Red Sox set-up man most of the season, but there he was, in a onerun game with 10 outs to go, matching up against a right-handed hitter.
Barnes fell behind in the count before getting a line out to right. Back out for the seventh, Barnes walked the leadoff hitter. Two hits and two strikeouts later, his day was done.
“Right now,” said Farrell, “(it) looks like (his) delivery is a little out of sync.”
Almost from the very beginning of the season, Barnes was the Sox most trusted reliever aside from Craig Kimbrel. With both Tyler Thornburg and Carson Smith on the disabled list, Barnes was given an opportunity and ran with it. Through his first seven outings, he allowed just three hits and no runs.
Since April 18, though, nine outings with nine hits and eight runs. Perhaps most troubling, he’s had five walks with just four strikeouts in that span. Of the past 14 batters he faced, seven have reached base, four on walks.
“Looks like his body is getting ahead of him a hair where you’re seeing some balls that leak back to the arm side, not as crisp or sharp (in terms of) command,” Farrell said. “And it’s run into about four outings now where the work he’s doing in between outings, the early work, the flat grounds, the bullpens, even before games are addressing that.”
With Heath Hembree also struggling, it seems Joe Kelly emerged as the newest set-up favorite. Kelly pitched a scoreless eighth in a one-run game on Saturday, and he’s allowed just four hits, one walk and no runs in 52⁄ innings in the month of May.
Betts wins award
First hardware of the season for Mookie Betts, who was named the American League Player of the Week. Betts hit three home runs and four doubles in six games. He also had 11 RBI, pushing himself into the team lead with 25.
This is Betts’ second Player of the Week honor, and the first came in 2015, when Betts was establishing himself as an everyday player.
Betts’ slash line through 34 games this season — .285 batting average with a .375 on-base percentage and .526 slugging — is nearly identical to last season when he finished second in MVP voting. He’s reached base more frequently and hit for slightly less power, leading to an OPS that’s actually four points better than last year.
If last week was expanded, Betts’ case for the award would have only improved. In the game immediately before, he had three hits including another home run and another double.
Benintendi staggers
It’s only five games, but Andrew Benintendi’s in his first real big league slump, going hitless in his last 19 at-bats. He’d been red hot before, but his batting average has dropped from .339 to .294.
“He’s kind of been caught in between a little bit,” Farrell said. “There’s kind of been a steady dose of change of speeds to him. It’s been hard in, it’s been up and in, it’s been changeups away. I think he’s got expanded a little bit on some changeups that’s been a little more in these last 15 at-bats than previous, so like I said, I think he’s a little caught in between right now on the change of speed.”
What does Benintendi need to snap out of it?
“Having one fall,” he said. “A little bleeder. Anything like that.”