Owings has a rough debut
The Red Sox went with an unexpected choice as the leadoff hitter yesterday afternoon.
Chris Owings, a seven-year big league veteran who had been released by the Royals in June after hitting .133 with two homers in 40 games, was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket and immediately inserted into the starting lineup, batting first and playing second base.
Mookie Betts was scheduled for a routine day off as the Sox completed their series the Angels before flying to Cleveland for a crucial three-game set with the Tribe.
“I think offensively, after the All-Star break the bottom part of the lineup has been inconsistent,” manager Alex Cora said. “So the mix and match is going to help us to do that. Today, he’s playing obviously with Mookie’s off-day. Just put him there. Swing the bat well. He’s playing well. Every report I get from (Pawtucket) are positive. Veteran guy that might bring something different.”
Owings had an awful game in the Sox’ 5-4 loss in 10 innings. He went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, including a strikeout with the bases loaded in the second inning. He swung through down-the-middle fastballs on several occasions.
“I mean it’s one game,” the manager said. “Just one game. That happens at the big league level.”
While Owings struggled at the big league level this year, he’s been on a tear for Pawtucket since signing a minor league contract with on June 17. He’s hit .325 with 11 doubles, 11 homers and a .980 OPS in 44 games with the PawSox.
“Obviously, it was a rough first two months,” said Owings, who turns 28 today. “Basically, once I got that phone call and got let go by K.C., I really took some time and figured out what I needed to do differently. The past two years have been a little tough, so kind of went back to the drawing board.”
From July 20 thorugh July 25, Owings homered in six consectuive games.
“I got hot there that one week and caught some homers, but I think it’s really just putting together some good at-bats,” he said.
He said he barely slept Saturday night and flew out of Detroit on the first flight yesterday morning, arriving in Boston around 7 a.m.
“It’s nice to be on a contender, and just kind of be here and play hard and see what happens,” he said.
Chavis struggling
Michael Chavis’ struggles at second base opened the door for another right-handed hitter to come in and help out.
“RIght now it’s one of those he’s chasing up and chasing down,” Cora said. “We talk about controlling the strike zone and he’s not controlling right now. He’s been working hard with (hitting coaches Tim Hyers and Andy Barkett), trying to get to that pitch up in the zone, get on top of it. When he makes contact good things happen, even when he goes the other way. Right now, there’s a lot of swings and misses.”
Chavis is in an 0-for-12 stretch and was 0-for-2 yesterday after going 0-for-5 with three strikeouts on Saturday. His season stats are down to a .254 average and .766 OPS.
New plans
Is Rick Porcello’s spot in the rotation in jeopardy?
Porcello’s rough outing Saturday pushed his MLBworst ERA to 5.67. Asked if Porcello will make his next start, Cora said, “We’ll talk about it tomorrow and have a plan over the week. We have the off-day Thursday so we’ll talk about it and come up with a plan.”
Cora has previously discussed the idea of getting creative with the rotation, perhaps using starters in the bullpen or moving to an opener, though he hasn’t shared his plans yet.
He was asked if it might be time to start resting Chris Sale to save bullets for next year.
“I’m not planning on doing that,” Cora said. “That’s something that if it comes up, we’ll address it. But as of now, we know where we’re at, we know what we have to do and we have a shot. And we have a real shot, it’s not a fake one.”
Taylor shines
Josh Taylor had 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief yesterday, striking out five, and has lowered his ERA to 3.34.
“Probably had his best fastball and combination of pitches, fastball and slider,” Cora said. “At that point we felt we were going to win the game. The way he threw the ball gave us a chance. They did an oustanding job throughout…It was a tough one. We’re in a tough situation the last few days as far as relievers and length.”