Cora sticks with Vazquez
Catcher stays hot with HR
TORONTO — Chris Sale has been paired far more often than not this season with catcher Sandy Leon ,but the hot bat of catcher Christian Vazquez meant Cora did not have to debate the choice for too long.
“I know the guy on the mound, he’s good and he can do it but sometimes we don’t score a lot of runs for Chris so hopefully we prevent them and we can score here,” said Cora, who had Vazquez behind the plate with Sale on the mound last night against the Blue Jays. “He’s one of the best catchers in the league. I think I saw today he’s No. 1 in (f)WAR so that was amazing. Good game planning. He’s pitched to Christian before. He’s been good with him, too. He’s swinging the bat too good right now for us to sit him.”
With his solo home run in the fourth inning last night, Vazquez has homered in three straight games and six of his last 13, and has hit safely in each of his last 14 starts.
With 13 homers and 37 RBI, Vazquez already has shattered his career highs and is on track for one very successful season.
Cora credited Vazquez’ offseason dedication to revamping his swing to a more uppercut stroke.
“He’s been very consistent with it, he understands what he wants to do,” said Cora. “He understands pitchers, what to do, and it’s not like he’s going out there just to swing for the fences just to swing. So I’m very proud of him. His approach is great, with two strikes he can go the other way. There’s a few things he needs to get better and he knows it, too. But he’s not stopping.”
Vazquez has caught Sale in six of his 18 starts this season. Leon has caught him the other dozen times. But Sale’s struggles continued as he gave up five runs on nine hits, including three home runs, in 5 ⅔ innings in a 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays.
Eovaldi throws
Nathan Eovaldi threw a 20pitch bullpen session yesterday. His next bullpen will be on Saturday in Detroit.
He’s excited about returning to action as Red Sox closer sometime soon after the All-Star break, although he views his latest assignment as a temporary one.
“I still view myself as a starter and I want to keep doing that but right now, I feel like the fastest way for me to come back and help the team out is coming out of the bullpen,” Eovaldi said.
When asked if he initiated the idea or the Red Sox asked him to consider it, Eovaldi said, “I told (Cora), I said, ‘Any way I can help out, I don’t have to come back to the starting rotation, if I need to come into the bullpen and eat some innings there I’m more than happy to do so.’ The bullpen’s been doing an amazing job for us this year. They’ve had to fill in a lot of the holes, I felt like a lot of it was on me, being that fifth man down, they had to step up and they’ve been doing a great job.”
Eovaldi voiced optimism about a return sooner than later but there is no precision to a timetable when it comes to the oft-injured right-hander.
“”I felt really good during the bullpen, I just threw my fastballs,” Eovaldi said. “Just depends how fast they want to move it. We don’t really want to jump too far ahead because we don’t want to have any setbacks or anything like that but right now I feel really good and I don’t think it’s going to take too long.”
Bogaerts All-Star
Xander Bogaerts only has the highest fWAR of any shortstop in the league, and he is on the short list of Red SoxMVPsthisseason.Soit came as somewhat of an “of course he is” moment when Major League Baseball announced Bogaerts would be going to the All-Star Game after all. Because three spots opened on the squad, Bogaerts — as well as Tampa Bay infielder Brandon Lowe and Minnesota starter Jose Berrios — were named to the AL squad.
“It’s good, very proud of him, he’s done an amazing job throughout the season,” Cora said. “He’s been one of the best players in all of baseball so very happy he’s going to be with us during Cleveland.”
Hunter Pence of Texas had to pull out because of a hamstring injury, so J.D. Martinez will be the starting DH.
Outfielder Mookie Betts is the third and final Red Sox member of the AL All-Star squad. It will be managed by Cora, who will be joined by his coaches as well as Indians manager Terry Francona.
Hembree back
Reliever Heath Hembree returned to the ballclub after a rehab assignment with the PawSox. He said he feels much better — he was sidelined June 11 by a right elbow extensor strain — and is looking forward to getting back in action.
That could come as soon as tonight’s game or by tomorrow’s series opener in Detroit.
Hector Velazquez remains the likely starter tonight. …
First baseman Mitch Moreland is approaching a full month out of action, after being placed on the IL on June 8 with a right quad strain. One complicating factor in his rehab is that preparation for the two nights of Phish concerts at FenwayPark.
“He’s feeling better,” Cora said. “Just one of those — there’s a few things going on at Fenway that we have to make adjustments as far as where we do the treatment and all that stuff. That’s part of the equation. But he’s feeling better. I talked to him today. He ran the bases actually today. He’s been swinging the bat. Bouncing back well the next day. I don’t know when but it seems like he’s getting closer.”