E-Rod to make first start tomorrow
Season debut comes week later due to dead arm
Eduardo Rodriguez will make his season debut a week later than originally planned.
The Red Sox left-hander will return this week and start on Thursday afternoon against the Orioles at Camden Yards, manager Alex Cora said. Rodriguez had his spring cut short after experiencing a dead arm in his start on March 22, which forced him to be scratched as the Opening Day starter, but the Red Sox are encouraged with his progress enough to bring him back from the injured list this week.
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
“We feel good about him,” Cora said. “He threw a good bullpen (Monday). So if everything goes fine, that’s where we’re at. He’s slated to pitch on Thursday.”
Cora said Rodriguez won’t be on an innings or pitch count limit, saying he thinks he can go deep into the game.
Rodriguez’s return means a corresponding roster move needs to happen, and it seems like Tanner Houck will be sent back to the alternate training site in Worcester. Though no official decision has been made, Cora said during his weekly appearance on WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni & Fauria” that the Red Sox “will probably stick to our plan” with the righthander, who was supposed to start the year in Worcester. Cora said they’re not considering a six-man rotation.
Houck looked strong in Saturday’s loss as he struck out eight, walked one and gave up two earned runs in five innings. He’s now 3-1 with a 1.29 ERA and 29 strikeouts in four career bigleague starts, but looks destined to drive back to Worcester this week.
“You can be successful here, but it doesn’t mean that you have checked all your boxes from our end,” Cora said. “You can keep getting better. We haven’t made a decision yet, so we’ll wait.”
Cora said Houck was available to pitch out of the bullpen on Tuesday with some relievers down.
Devers called up too soon?
Asked about Rafael Devers’ continued defensive struggles at third base on WEEI, Cora suggested that he may have been called up too soon in 2017, when he made his big-league debut. He doubled down on that, saying the Red Sox needed his offense when then-president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made the decision to bring Devers up.
“In the situation they were in in ’17 they needed that bat, right?” Cora said. “They needed Raffy Devers to help offensively. But a guy that young, he needed probably a little bit more on the defensive side or maturity wise. Going through the ups and downs of the season and learn. I’m not saying he can’t handle what’s going on right now but that’s part of player development. I do believe sometimes people rush their players. …
“It’s not right or wrong but people forget that Raffy, he didn’t get his repetitions in the minor leagues. He’s getting his repetitions at the big-league level, at the highest level in the world baseball-wise. He is hard on himself, people are hard on him, and I understand that part but we cannot forget he’s learning at the big-league level and that’s what I mean about that.”
New uniforms well received
The Red Sox unveiled special new yellow and blue Boston Marathon-themed uniforms on Tuesday as part of MLB’s City Connect Series collaboration with Nike that will “capture the spirit of Patriots’ Day weekend and the unique bond between the club and the City of Boston.” They’ll be worn during their games against the White Sox on April 17-18. The Red Sox will continue to wear their white B strong jerseys on April 19, as they’ve done since 2013.
Cora is a fan of the new uniforms.
“I’m all for it,” Cora said. “I think this league has been lacking pushing their players out there and marketing them. We have some good ones right now and we have some good ones here in our city. For them to use a different uniform, hopefully it’s the beginning of something cool and people can recognize these guys not because of the uniform, just because of who they are. I think this is a great idea and looking forward to that weekend to wear those two uniforms.”
Dalbec out again
For the second consecutive game, Bobby Dalbec was out of the Red Sox lineup. Cora said the first baseman will return Wednesday when they wrap up their three-game series with the Rays.
“He didn’t swing the bat well at the end of spring training after he got hit,” Cora said. “He feels like there’s a few things that he’s working on, that he needs to do adjustment-wise. This is a tough righty. (Tyler) Glasnow is tough against righties and lefties, so it doesn’t matter. Tomorrow is a lefty. Just, stay away from him today. Maybe we’ll use him late in the game. And (Wednesday) he’ll be back at first base.” …
Kiké Hernandez was out of the lineup for the first time this season, with Christian Arroyo taking his place at second base and in the leadoff spot. Cora liked the way Arroyo swung in spring training and wanted to give him a chance against Glasnow, who he’s had some success against.