Dalbec cools, Schwarber gets call
Cora playing percentages with season on the line
Bobby Dalbec has appeared to cool off and the Red Sox have taken notice.
The rookie first baseman was held out of the lineup on Thursday night, despite the Sox playing against a lefthanded pitcher, Orioles southpaw Alexander Wells.
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
Dalbec had started every game against a lefty since Aug. 27 and had only been on the bench against a lefty five times all year.
But he’s just 1-for-16 with 10 strikeouts over the last week and manager Alex Cora isn’t liking Dalbec’s atbats.
“I think he has been chasing pitches up in the zone and at the same time that bullpen is very heavy righthanded so we kind of switched it up with Kyle (Schwarber) in there,” Cora said.
Dalbec is hitting .277 with an .864 OPS against lefties this year, but just .213 with a .736 OPS against righties. Schwarber hits left-handed but is still hitting a respectable .271 with a .794 OPS off southpaws while demolishing right-handers with a .263 average and .983 OPS.
“I think it will be good having Kyle hitting second, grinding out at-bats and getting on base,” Cora said. “He hasn’t slugged vs. lefties but his on-base percentage is high, so that’s the thought process. I think obviously you always think about, yeah, Dalbec might run into one and hit a homer against a left-handed pitcher, but at the same time, I think the last few days he has been chasing pitches out of the zone so it will be good to take a breather and we went with that lineup.”
It’s not a good time to be falling out of favor with the manager, seeing as the playoffs are just around the corner.
This weekend, the Sox finish the regular season with three games in Washington, where they’ll be without the designated hitter while playing with National League rules.
It could be tough for Dalbec to get in the lineup.
“We’ve been talking about it and we’ll see how we do it,” Cora said. “Obviously we’ve got some good offensive players that can change games with one swing and at the same time, we have to create the balance with the defense but we’ll see.
“It’s a tricky one. It’s not perfect. But we’ll prepare. I think we can be creative in the early part of the game and then make adjustments throughout games.”
Who is the closer?
The big question as the Sox try to lock up a playoff spot is who will close games for them if they advance to the postseason.
Matt Barnes threw his best appearance in weeks on Wednesday night, working a one-two-three inning on just nine pitches to close out the Sox’ 6-0 win.
“I think at one point before, until Sunday, somebody is going to have get big outs for us including him,” Cora said. “He did a good job yesterday, I think, fastball-wise, to be able to throw it in the strike zone, and also that swing and miss by Trey Mancini on the breaking ball. That was another positive. We’ll keep working with him. He’s feeling better about himself. Let’s see how the games play out and how we’re going to use him.”
Ryan Brasier has a 1.86 ERA in 10 appearances since making it back to the big leagues and Hansel Robles hasn’t allowed a run in 13 appearances, with a sparkling 16-to-2 strike-out-to-walk ratio in that span.
Cora said Brasier is looking as good as ever.
“I guarantee you it’s that F-U attitude” Cora said. “Like, ‘you guys sent me down and somebody got hurt and I’m back, I’m going to prove to you that I belong here.’ I’m glad that he’s doing that. He did a great job last week. Yesterday, he was good. It feels like the fastball of 2018, the fastball of last year, those are good signs.”
Scoreboard watching
The Sox entered Thursday a half-game up on the Mariners and a full game up on the Jays for the second Wild Card spot.
“I stayed up all night watching Seattle and Oakland,” Cora said. “It’s been a fun ride. It’s been a fun year with all the obstacles. I think the guys understand you have to enjoy it. You have to actually enjoy every moment because you never know what can happen next year.
“They came from a season last year where they came from a 60-game season with everything we were living with in the world. So you can’t take a day for granted and I think they are doing an outstanding job of staying in the moment and having fun with it.”