Mookie in the middle
Cora to try plan this week
FORT MYERS — Mookie Betts will be back in center field soon.
Betts, who has won two straight Gold Gloves in right field, is likely to play some spring training games in center before the regular season begins on March 29 on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Betts has yet to play center this spring — and he hasn’t played center at all since 2015.
Manager Alex Cora has laid out his plans to use Betts in center field occasionally during road games this season in a scenario that would have J.D. Martinez on the field in one of the corner spots while giving Jackie Bradley Jr. some rest.
Getting Betts some reps at center has yet to be a priority during Grapefruit League action, but that will soon change.
“I’m glad you brought it up because I have to do that in the next few days,” Cora said. “It’s just that you get caught up, not get caught up, but I want to see (Andrew Benintendi) in center, (Blake) Swihart in left, J.D. in right and left. We’re pretty sure (Betts) can play center. He can do that. But obviously now that you brought it up that’s a good idea. We’ll see when we do it.”
Benintendi has just two major league starts in center field while Betts played there regularly back in 2015, when he ranked fourth in the American League with nine defensive runs saved and showed above-average range and an above-average arm.
Cora said he’s already spoken to Betts about playing center and the 25-yearold is up for it.
“He works hard at his craft,” Cora said. “Throwing — he does more than the regular outfielders. He’s very low fielding grounders. He hits the cutoff guy. He rarely messes up. He does a lot of things fundamentally sound out there. For a guy that has been playing outfield for a short period of time, it’s amazing the things he does.
“You see him out there and there’s certain balls that, in the dugout, you’re like, ‘No way he’s going to catch it.’ He’s playing with it, ‘Yeah, I got it.’ He’s awesome. He’s such an athletic guy that sometimes it amazes me what he does in right field.”
Porcello solid late
Rick Porcello looked up at the video screen on the third base side a few times to check his velocity, but that was merely to check his own temperature.
If he’s pitching the way he did late in his outing last night, velocity doesn’t matter.
After allowing a pair of doubles in a shaky first inning, Porcello settled in to retire 11 of the last 12 he faced in his best outing of the spring as the Sox topped the Twins, 4-2.
“I’m throwing all twoseamers and that’s a pitch that, velocity isn’t a huge factor me,” he said. “It’s about late movement and location. So the ball feels like it’s coming out good. I’ve only looked up at the board a couple times and it’s not anything I’m focused on right now. If I’m throwing four-seamers I want to be up there in the low-tomid-90s, but with the sinker it’s all about the movement in location. I really don’t care if it’s 85 or 95 as long as it’s moving and they’re hitting the top half of the ball. That’s all I want.”
Porcello stayed strong for five innings, allowing four hits and two runs.
The fifth inning was “by far my best inning of the game and all spring,” he said.
Porcello has a 4.91 ERA, his best spring mark in three years, and should have two spring starts left before he’s lined up to face Tampa Bay in Game 3 of the regular season.
For starters …
Eduardo Rodriguez is now on a five-day schedule. The next time he’ll be on the mound will be early next week for a start in a minor league game on the back fields at JetBlue Park, Cora said. Typically, those games are followed by Grapefruit League starts, which would leave enough time for Rodriguez to make one start before the regular season begins.
Knuckleballer Steven Wright will throw a threeinning live batting practice session today and could make his first minor league start on the back fields five days after that, putting him slightly behind Rodriguez.
Drew Pomeranz, who was last seen walking off the mound with a flexor tendon strain, will throw two innings in a controlled game tomorrow. It’s unlikely he’d be ready for a big league start five days later, making his readiness for Opening Day highly unlikely.
Work up north
Still in Boston with his family while his newborn daughter, Lydia Joy, recovers from surgery due to a heart defect, Craig Kimbrel has found a way to keep his arm loose.
Cora said Kimbrel threw a live batting practice session in Boston on Thursday. His daughter is also making progress.
“Things are getting better, Cora said. “He feels that he’s actually in a better place as far as his strength and his arm than the previous years. So that’s a good sign. We’re still waiting but obviously it’s about Lydia. If she keeps improving, they’ll make a decision as a family. Whatever they decide, we’ll agree with. If he has to stay up there (in Boston), he stays. If he comes down, he comes down.”