‘Good chance’ Sale returns this weekend
Tested positive for COVID-19 last week
It’s possible the Red Sox could have Chris Sale back earlier than expected.
The Red Sox ace tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, which forced him to miss Sunday’s start against the White Sox. But manager Alex Cora said “there’s a good chance” Sale will be back to make his next start when the Red Sox return home for a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles this weekend.
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
“He feels great,” Cora said. “Obviously at home and trying to do whatever he can to stay in shape baseball-wise, but I talked to him today and he was like, ‘Man, whenever the days are done, I’ll be ready.’ No symptoms, no setbacks. He just tested positive and that’s why he’s not with us.”
Sale is in quarantine at his house in Boston, which means he obviously can’t continue to pitch at a field to keep his arm in shape. But Cora thinks he has the right resources at his house to stay loose.
“I do believe he has a huge patio at the house,” Cora said. “I bet he’s either throwing rocks to the trees or throwing baseballs to a net. I believe he’ll find a way to keep his arm sound and he’ll be ready whenever he has to come out.”
Cora wasn’t sure if Sale would need to throw a bullpen before he makes a start. The manager said he needed to get more clarification on exactly when Sale can come out of quarantine.
Sawamura, Davis return
Hirokazu Sawamura and Austin Davis were both activated prior to Monday’s opener in Seattle. Sawamura had tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 31 and Davis had been on paternity leave since Friday.
The returns of both pitchers will be a boost to a bullpen that’s been depleted from the COVID-19 outbreak. Matt Barnes and Martin Perez aren’t back yet.
“It helps,” Cora said. “Obviously the swing-andmiss stuff and what Davis has done against lefties, it’s very important, especially in this series (against the Mariners). With their lefties, we’re going to be able to mix and match. I think Sawamura — obviously we hate the fact that we miss him for X amount of days, but let him recharge, reset and hopefully his fastball and split combination gets some swings and misses.”
Stephen Gonsalves and Brad Peacock were both returned to Worcester in the corresponding moves.
Perez is expected back on Tuesday after pitching a rehab outing in Worcester on Sunday, which will give the Sox another lefty arm out of the bullpen. Barnes will pitch Wednesday for the Portland Sea Dogs at Hartford in a second rehab outing and likely be activated this weekend.
Christian Arroyo and Jarren Duran are both feeling better, Cora said, but it’s uncertain when either of them will return. Cora said Arroyo is close to 100 percent.
Eovaldi stays consistent
In a season that’s included many moving parts, Nathan Eovaldi has continued to be the one constant in the Red Sox’ starting rotation. The All-Star is the Red Sox’ only starter to make all of his starts thus far. He’ll make his 29th start of the season on Tuesday night in Seattle, the second-most of his career after making 33 with the Marlins in 2014.
Everything has come together for Eovaldi this season after a career littered with injuries. And there’s a certain confidence he exudes to the team every time he steps on the mound.
“He’s been so consistent,” Cora said. “I think he understands now that it doesn’t have to be 100 all the time to get people out. He can use his other weapons, and actually he’s more efficient that way. He’s been going deep into games and what they’ve done with him, not only physically but in the training room, everything so far has been amazing. It’s a guy that, every five days, you’re looking forward for him to go out there and you feel as a manager that, OK, for six or seven innings, he’s going to be on top of the game, and then we can mix and match the last two or whatever it is. Whenever he pitches, there’s a calm sense in the clubhouse that we should be OK today.” …
J.D. Martinez, after missing three consecutive games with back spasms, returned to the lineup Monday. … Tanner Houck will pitch Wednesday’s series finale.
There’s only one way for the Red Sox to turn their last six weeks of mediocrity into something meaningful.
“We haven’t had our hot stretch yet,” manager Alex Cora said before the series opener against the Mariners on Monday night. “We got hot for a little bit, but we’ve been a .500 team for a while. But we still have one more run in us. Hopefully it starts here in Seattle.”
Those are words we’ll look back on in a month: “We still have one more run in us.”
If the Red Sox can handle the Mariners and win the series, they’ll shove the M’s down far enough into the standings that they shouldn’t be a concern anymore. It’s the Yankees and Blue Jays the Red Sox have to worry about.
The Yankees won early on Monday afternoon, jumping within a half-game from the Jays and Sox for a three-way tie for the two American League Wild Card spots.
Asked if he was scoreboardwatching, Cora joked, “What do you think, I don’t know who plays who? I almost sent a text to (Rays manager Kevin Cash) today, ‘let’s go! C’mon, do your thing kid.’”
The Rays began a series with the Blue Jays on Monday.
“I know what’s going on,” Cora said. “I know who plays who. I know who we play. At the end of the day we take care of business then you look around. That’s the fun part of it, to see who is where and who is playing who. We know for sure there are a lot of teams that are around us that are going to be banging heads in the upcoming weeks. We still have some big series with some of them, starting here.”
Cora usually has a pretty good read on his clubhouse, and equally as good a read on his players’ engagement level.
It’s not rare for Cora to look into his crystal ball before game day and predict a big game from one of his guys who has been in a slump. He’ll see a guy hitting .200 for two weeks, but notice some good at-bats and a few walks, then predict a breakout. Usually, he’s right.
To envision that the Red Sox have one more hot streak left in them might be a matter of pandering, or simply just trying to give his guys some confidence.
There’s a chance, though, that Cora sees something.
He was expecting two big names back in the middle of the order on Monday: J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts.
Bogaerts just got off the COVID-19 related injury list on Friday but only played twice in the White Sox series before needing Sunday off.
Martinez has been out for three games with back spasms after spending most of the last few weeks in the outfield.
Without either of them, Cora thinks Rafael Devers has been pressing at the plate, trying to do too much to fill the void.
“I mean, Craig Kimbrel wanted no part of Raffy in that situation Sunday,” Cora said. “And it was just a matter of him being really disciplined and don’t swing the bat and take your walk. But I think sometimes in those spots, he gets his pitch and he fouls it straight back. He’s been missing it.
“The way they’re attacking now, I guarantee you before the series they’re like, ‘this guy is not going to beat me in certain situations,’ and they’re going to tease him around the zone, and he’s going to swing. There were a few times during that series, he kept getting his fastball and he kept missing it.”
If Martinez and Bogaerts get back to swinging the way they were in April, the Sox are in business.
They haven’t had a real hot streak since June, when they were two games back of the Rays entering a long road trip, just about the time MLB announced the ban on foreign substances. The Sox went to Atlanta, Kansas City and Tampa, going 4-4 on the trip.
Afterwards, Cora said his guys were about to break out. They took a tough loss in Tampa, but Cora saw something he liked.
When the Sox got back to Boston for a seven-game homestand with the Royals and Yankees, they won all seven games.
The hot streak has to start in Seattle. A series loss would really open up the gates for anybody to steal the Sox’ Wild Card spot.
One final streak before the season ends is just what the Red Sox need.
“I think if we get healthy, that’d be great,” Cora said. “Play better defense. We know that. When we play good defense we become a really good team. And do the little things.”