Martinez placed on COVID-19 injured list
BALTIMORE — J.D. Martinez was placed on the COVID-19 Related Injured List just before Saturday evening’s game against the Baltimore Orioles.
Michael Chavis, who is in Baltimore as a player on the team’s taxi squad, was recalled from the team’s alternate site.
Prior to the game, manager Alex Cora intimated Martinez was dealing with just a common cold. COVID19 protocols require Martinez to undergo a series of testing, including both a rapid test and a more in depth polymerase chain reaction test. That, of course, includes a waiting period.
“We’ll have more information throughout the night or tomorrow morning,” Cora said. “But, obviously, we have to wait. I’ll just wait for the [team doctors] to let me know what’s going on.”
Martinez is hitting .433/.469/.867 with 2 homers and 7 doubles. He is the first Red Sox player and fifth major leaguer with at least one extra-base hit in each of a team’s first seven games.
Verdugo finding groove at plate: Alex Verdugo went his first 12 plate appearances without a hit. Despite hitting a number of pitches on the screws, each at-bat ended without good fortune and a long walk back to the dugout.
Yet, that didn’t deter Verdugo from his process at the plate, believing that his numbers would eventually even out.
“I feel like with that, it’s like you know, you have one or two at-bats where you’re like, ‘I hit it right on the button,’ ” Verdugo explained. “And then you have one or two at-bats where you’re like, ‘man what just happened?’ So before you know it you’re 0 for 4, but in reality it’s like you went 2 for 4 in quality at-bats.”
An enlightened perspective at the plate keeps the sometimes-rambunctious Verdugo in check. Instead of focusing on the result, his primary goal in each at-bat is to hit the ball hard. If he does that, he can live with the result.
“If I saw pitches, worked the count, if my swing felt good, and I hit it hard, I won that at-bat,” Verdugo explained. “Yeah, he got me out. But I won the mental side of it.”
Verdugo collected his first hit of the year in the Red Sox’ April 5 contest when he doubled off Tampa Bay Rays starter Michael Wacha in the bottom of the third inning.
Since then, Verdugo is sporting a three-game hitting streak. On Thursday, Verdugo was 2 for 5 with two doubles. He line to line with both, slicing his first double down the left field line, followed by another one down the right field line.
Renfroe gets weekend off: The Red Sox are giving Hunter Renfroe a breather. Renfroe came up a bit sore after making a sliding catch during Wednesday’s game against the Rays. Cora is giving Renfroe the weekend off and expects him to be ready for the team’s upcoming series against the Tampa Bay Rays.