Q ratings: Quintana has fun on Fallon show
NEW YORK — Jose Quintana was all smiles describing his time with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday.
“He was a good guy, a natural guy,’’ Quintana said. “It was a fun, great experience for me, and he asked me a lot about baseball. We spent a good time together.’’
Fallon made Quintana feel at ease in the brief segment they taped for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” while the Sox were in New York playing the Yankees. Quintana had said watching Fallon’s show helped him learn to speak English, so the TV host asked Quintana to teach him a little Spanish in the bit they did for the show.
Quintana received thumbs- up reviews from teammates.
“Great job!” David Robertson said when Quintana entered the clubhouse Wednesday.
“I told him he needs to pay for [ shared] Uber [ rides] now that he’s famous,” Derek Holland said.
“They said, ‘ You’re the funny guy right now,’ ’’ Quintana said. “They said he’s the [ most] famous guy in the country. And I said, ‘ I know, I know. I watched his show.’ ’’
Manager Rick Renteria enjoyed seeing Quintana spread his wings.
“Make sure that people see him as a well- rounded individual,’’ Renteria said. “Hopefully, that’s an example for everybody else . . . take advantage of some of the opportunities they are going to be getting. He did a nice job with it.’’
Waiting for Anderson
It would be easy to blame shortstop Tim Anderson’s slow start on the $ 25 million contract he signed during spring training. He wouldn’t be the first player to put extra pressure on himself in trying to justify an employer’s significant investment.
“That’s a good question, but I don’t think so,’’ Renteria said. “Most of these young men know that contracts and what the market bears and what they get is just a result of the way it is. The bottom line is, once they get between the lines, they’re only thinking about playing the game.’’
Anderson, 23, is batting .164. In his second at- bat, he drove Masahiro Tanaka’s first pitch off the left- center- field fence for a 399- foot double, his first of the season.
It’s not like Anderson, an aggressive hitter who had walked only once, is swinging at everything in sight.
“I don’t see him being aggressive on the pitches he usually hits,’’ third- base coach Nick Capra said before the game. “When I see a fastball close to the zone, he usually gets off on it, and I’ve seen him take some for strikes more than he normally does.’’
Capra talked to Anderson last weekend in Minnesota, encouraging him to be himself and not overthink things.
“He makes adjustments as much as anyone in the game,’’ Capra said. “If you think about stuff too much, you can get in your own way.’’
This and that
Todd Frazier, recovering from the flu, was out of the starting lineup again as he continues to build up strength but likely will start Friday, when the Sox open a six- game homestand against the Indians.
A scoring change from the 7- 4 loss Monday gave Jose Abreu an error on a dribbler by Jacoby Ellsbury, altering Holland’s line from seven runs ( six earned) allowed to seven and two. Holland’s ERA drops from 4.32 to 2.16.
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