Rule 5 pick Slaten has impressed Sox

There was a time when Red Sox officials attended the annual Rule 5 Draft only to see if any of their prospects were taken.

That changed when Garrett Whitlock was plucked from the Yankees in 2020. He’s provided 4.9 WAR since.

In December, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow arranged for the Mets to take righthander Justin Slaten from the Rangers with the seventh pick, then traded a prospect for him.

Through Friday, Slaten had pitched 5‚ innings in five Grapefruit League games, allowing one unearned run on two hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

At this stage, it’s not a question of if the Sox will keep him. It’s how much they could use the 26-year-old.

“He’s been great. Swing-and-miss stuff,” manager Alex Cora said. “Throwing strikes, which is the most important thing.

“We’ve added things during camp that he needs to do to be a big leaguer: holding runners, expanding the [strike] zone with your stuff, getting ahead.”

Slaten was a third-round pick by the Rangers in 2019 and reached Triple A last season. The Sox see him as being able to work two innings at a time out of the bullpen.

“His stuff will play at this level,” Cora said. “Just like Garrett said a few years ago, they don’t want to go back. They want to be here. They want to be big leaguers and he has a shot.”

A few other observations on the Red Sox:

● A few readers have emailed suggesting the Sox must have missed a preexisting injury with Lucas Giolito when he had his physical.

That’s a convenient excuse but incorrect in this case. Giolito had a physical before he signed in January and again at the start of camp, and the team’s medical staff did its due diligence.

The Sox also had access to information from the physicals he took last season after being traded to the Angels in July, then claimed off waivers by the Guardians in August.

That Giolito had Tommy John surgery in 2012 would have triggered an even more extensive look at his elbow.

Sometimes it’s just one pitch. That can happen with pitchers.

● During a conference call to discuss ESPN’s coverage of the coming season, vice president of production Phil Orlins praised Eduardo Perez for his ability to interview Latin American players.

“A guy like Rafael Devers, who doesn’t do many interviews at all, especially in English, he’s happy to go on and catch a pop fly and talk about his favorite flavor of ice cream in a mix of Spanish and English,” Orlins said. “It really opens up access to the stars of the game.”

Orlins is right, Perez does an excellent job. But Devers does plenty of interviews and is increasingly comfortable speaking in English with reporters he knows. Compared with a few years ago, he’s come a long way.

But it does speak to the national perception of Devers, which is that he’s a star player in the shadows. Devers has a $313.5 million contract, so what does he care about public relations? But perhaps it’s something he, the Sox, and his agents should discuss.

● That baseball has changed from even just a few years ago is evident every time you watch a game. But how can that be put into a statistical context?

Like this: Cora feels a team would be “just fine” to get 25 innings from its rotation through one turn. That’s only five innings per pitcher.

“Nobody’s going to be like the 2005 White Sox [who had four starters with at least 204 innings]. We know that,” Cora said. “That’s in the past.”

Anything short of that, Cora said, is a problem because it will wear down the bullpen.

“If you get 30, you’re gold,” Cora said. “Those six innings are huge.”

Cora looked at the 2021 Sox as having ample innings with Nate Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta, and Eduardo Rodriguez

combining for 495 innings.

The Sox have not had a pitcher reach 200 innings since Rodriguez had 203‚ in 2019. Only five pitchers — Logan Webb (Giants), Zac Gallen (Diamondbacks), Gerrit Cole (Yankees), Miles Mikolas (Cardinals), and Chris Bassitt (Blue Jays) — did it last season.

● Joe Dunand, a 28-year-old infielder, was in major league camp before being assigned to the minors on March 7. He is the nephew of Alex Rodriguez.

● If you ever visited McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, R.I., you likely saw the large murals of the players who advanced to the majors. With the ballpark headed for the wrecking ball, they are up for auction.

So if you ever wanted Bo Diaz or Chico Walker to grace your Sox collection, this is your chance. The more notable players have higher starting bids.

Go to bidlive.bruneauandco.com for information.