Duran positive for COVID
Ottavino has turned a corner recently
After receiving encouraging news in which the Red Sox reported no new positive COVID-19 cases on Thursday, another player had to abruptly isolate from the team as they returned home. Jarren Duran became the latest player to test positive for COVID-19 and will be out “for a while,” manager Alex Cora said.
Duran became the Red Sox’ ninth player to be forced out since their COVID-19 outbreak started last Friday. Eight of those have tested positive, with one, Josh Taylor, deemed a close contact.
Duran was initially in the Red Sox’ lineup on Friday night against the Cleveland Indians, but was scratched because he was feeling symptoms and went home.
Connor Wong was recalled from Worcester to fill Duran’s spot.
Three coaches — quality control coach Ramon Vazquez, strength and conditioning coach Kiyoshi Momose as positive cases, first base coach Tom Goodwin a close contact — are also out due to the outbreak.
Some players seem to be on the mend, though. Kiké Hernandez, who was the first to test positive last Friday, will likely be the first one back. Cora was hopeful he might return this weekend, but it’s more likely he’ll be back at the beginning of next week. Christian Arroyo should follow in the middle of next week, and Xander Bogaerts should return by next week’s series against the White Sox in Chicago.
“That’s where we’re at right now but things might change,” Cora said.
Ottavino stepping up
With Matt Barnes struggling last month and then unfortunately sidelined due to a positive COVID-19 case earlier this week, Adam Ottavino has become the Red Sox’ de facto closer. And he has provided no reason for Cora to go to anyone else in the late innings.
Ottavino, who has not allowed an earned run since Aug. 15 and converted all three of his save opportunities on the last road trip, is even pitching with a little more intensity, according to Cora. He’s made some critical adjustments, particularly with his fastballs.
“What did Chris (Sale) say about his fastball the other day when he threw 98? He said they were, like, F-U fastballs, right?” Cora said. “I do believe (Ottavino’s) throwing F-U fastballs. He understands the nature of where we’re at. He’s been around the league for a long, long time. This is a guy that, as everybody in here, is hungry to play October baseball. I know he went through some struggles in August. Some of them were hard-luck stuff — off-the-end stuff, the Yankees game, (Giancarlo) Stanton and (Gleyber) Torres and all that. There were others that he was inconsistent.
“But I think he has rebounded. It’s magical, the rest part of it. When you’re rested, you pitch well. When you’re not, it’s a struggle. But he doesn’t make excuses. He’s ready to post every day. As you can see, he’s made some adjustments, especially against lefties, and it’s paying off. It’s paying off.”
Dalbec dialed in
After struggling to find consistency for most of the year, Bobby Dalbec entered Friday as one of the Red Sox’ hottest hitters. The rookie carried a seven-game hitting streak into this weekend’s series and was named the American League’s Rookie of the Month for August on Thursday. Entering Friday, he was hitting .386 with seven homers and 23 RBI since Aug. 6.
What’s been the difference for Dalbec? Cora credited both the rookie’s willingness to learn from hitting coaches Tim Hyers and Peter Faste, and his improved swing decisions.
“One thing he’s doing is he’s making better swing decisions because he’s on time,” Cora said. “That’s great. It’s not a coincidence that we have some guys who are preaching that, they’re talking about that. When you are on time, you kind of dictate when you want to swing. He’s been doing that for a long period of time.
“We’re very excited with the way he’s swinging the bat. We’ll protect him with certain righties, but at the same time, he’s putting quality at-bats after quality at-bats, strikeout rate is going down, the walks are going up, he’s hitting the ball in the air to his pull side, so he’s in a great position right now.”
Odds and ends
Two minor league pitchers, Kutter Crawford and Connor Seabold, were scratched from successive starts on Thursday and Friday. Cora didn’t rule out the possibility that either of them could be called up as they continue to deal with a short roster.
“We’ve got to be prepared,” Cora said. …
Darwinzon Hernandez, who’s been out since late July with an oblique injury, could be back soon. The lefty reliever is scheduled to throw another bullpen on Sunday.