Vax status on deck for Sox
Houck will be among players unavailable on trip to Toronto
The Red Sox will be without one of their best pitchers for a key divisional series with the Toronto Blue Jays next week.
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
Tanner Houck, who threw 5 2/3 shutout innings against the Twins on Saturday, told the Globe on Sunday that he is not vaccinated and will thus be ineligible to travel into Canada for the fourgame set beginning Monday, April 25. Houck was lined up to pitch the second game of that series, but the Red Sox will make other plans.
Manager Alex Cora confirmed the news after the Sox’ 8-1 over the Twins on Sunday.
“We knew it beforehand, so we’ll plan accordingly,” Cora said.
Cora said there are additional players who will not be available for that series due to their vaccination status.
The Red Sox were one of the least vaccinated teams in MLB last year and had to maintain stricter COVID-19 guidelines because of it. They suffered an outbreak of the virus late in the year and barely hung onto their playoff spot, winning the last game of the regular season to secure their place as a Wild Card team.
Chris Sale is among those who said recently he is still unvaccinated, though he is on the 60-day injured list while recovering from a fractured rib and won’t be ready until at least June.
Xander Bogaerts and Christian Arroyo are among those who said they were unvaccinated last year, but got vaccinated before this season.
MLB does not mandate vaccinations for big leaguers. “We do not have any control or say over player vaccination,” Sox president Sam Kennedy said during spring training. “Other than to say we’re supportive of vaccinations and have encouraged it ever since the vaccine became available. We established Fenway twice as a mass vaccination center and a booster shot location. So hopefully with continued education and understanding, everyone will be vaccinated as we get into the season. But again, we cannot mandate that our players get vaccinated.”
Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said recently that he was concerned about vaccination status keeping some players off the field.
“We’ll do everything we can to encourage everybody to get vaccinated,” he said.
Verdugo finds power
Cora found a comparison he likes for Alex Verdugo.
Cora suggested that Verdugo’s early-season power spike is a reminder that Verdugo could follow the path of Jose Ramirez, a perennial MVP candidate with the Cleveland Guardians.
“It’s kind of like — this guy is a freak, one of the best hitters in the big leagues, Jose Ramirez,” Cora said of Verdugo. “He went from hitting 50 doubles to hitting 30 doubles and almost 40 home runs. That’s the progression. Hopefully this is the beginning of something great.
“We went through this path before. I don’t want him to try to hit homers. I want him to just hit homers. This guy can hit 40 doubles and 20 homers. If he does that we’ll be very happy. If he runs into 30, that’ll be great.”
Ramirez hit 46 doubles with 11 homers in his third big leagues season in 2016, then became an elite power hitter who has eclipsed 30 home runs twice, including a 39-homer season in 2018.
Verdugo, in his fourth full season, is coming off a year in which he hit 32 doubles with 13 homers.
With three homers through the team’s first nine games, Verdugo is on pace to come close to a 60-homer year.
“I feel like each year I always try to say, I’m going to hit 30 and I hit like 12,” Verdugo said. “So this year, it’s really the other way around. Just trying to hit the ball hard, try to hit as many doubles as I can and just finding it at the moment they’re carrying a little further.”
Devers shows range
Sunday was an outstanding day for Rafael Devers in the field, where he turned a double play at shortstop in the fourth inning, then sprinted into center field to make an over-the-shoulder catch to rob Trevor Lamach of a single in the fifth.
“That was unreal,” Cora said. “That’s a lot of points in his defensive runs saved, or whatever. That’s what he’s doing. He’s taking charge. He saw what happened in Game 1 (when a ball dropped in shallow left) here in the home opener. I saw him running out there. Usually you have to get out of the way. Kiké (Hernandez) was pretty smart to get out of the way. That’s a big boy.
“That’s what we’re talking about defensively, he’s taking charge. There’s no hesitation.”
Hill on the mound
Rich Hill will start the 11 a.m. game on Marathon Monday, though the Sox are expected to bench some of their regulars with the unusual start time.
Among the changes, Trevor Story will be out of the lineup and first baseman Travis Shaw will make a start.
Hill will be pitching with a heavy heart after losing his father, Lloyd Hill, on Friday.
Hill, who lived in Milton, was 94 years old.
Cora said Rich Hill “flew here on Wednesday, early, and obviously our thoughts and prayers to his family. It’s tough, but he’s in a good place. Just go out there and pitch. I know it means a lot to him, his family, to us, and we’ll be pulling for him as we always do.”