Bradley may be left out
OF shines in loss, but could return to bench
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
MIAMI — Mookie Betts returned from a concussion and Hanley Ramirez was held out again with a sore left foot, which presented Jackie Bradley Jr. a chance to play left field last night for the first time since 2013.
Back then Bradley had a clear spot on the Red Sox and was named their Opening Day left fielder until he went 3-for-31 in his first 12 games and was sent back to Triple-A Pawtucket.
He’s missed his fair share of chances since, but Bradley looks like he might be clinging on to his latest opportunity. He had another multi-hit night to pair with a brilliant defensive performance in the Red Sox’ 5-4 loss to the Miami Marlins in 10 innings.
Adeiny Hechavarria’s towering shot to the left field wall in the fourth inning looked like extra bases, but it was robbed by Bradley, a Gold Glove finalist in center field last year. He finished the catch with his face against the electronic videoboard.
Asked about his most recent display of catches, the always-confident Bradley smiled and said, “None of them was hard.”
Knuckleballer Steven Wright shook his head as if he was surprised, but the Red Sox stopped being surprised by Bradley’s defensive prowess long ago.
“It’s just what Jackie does,” Betts said. “It’s amazing and it’s an honor really to go out there and play with him, as good as he is out there.”
Now he’s coming alive with the bat, too. Bradley went 2-for-4 with his second triple in as many games. And if Ramirez does return to the lineup today, as manager John Farrell expects, Bradley may be forced to the bench for a player who has been worth minus-1.1 wins above replacement this year while costing the Red Sox 17 runs in left field, according to fangraphs.com.
If Bradley hits even a little he’d be statistically more valuable than Ramirez has been this season. The Washington Nationals’ Michael Taylor has been worth 2.2 WAR thanks to his outfield defense, and he has just a .663 OPS with 110 strikeouts in 325 at-bats.
With his well-struck triple to right-center, Bradley is 7-for-35 with seven walks since returning from Triple A late last month. He had been one of the International League’s best hitters with a .305 average and .382 onbase percentage in 71 games.
The Sox were lucky to get Betts back after he missed just two weeks with a concussion. And since he’s been the fourth-best defensive center fielder in the game (Betts has saved the Sox’ 12 runs this year), it’s only natural for Betts, 3-for-5 with two RBI in the loss, to slide back into the position he’s played for more than a year.
That likely leaves Bradley back on the bench, fighting for playing time.
“Right now the plan would be to play (Betts) in center field,” Farrell said. “The alignment today is one that we didn’t ever think we would see in spring training. Jackie’s the only one of the three who has played left field so in fairness to all, it’s the repetitions previously that Jackie’s had in left, that’s why he’s there. So we’ll go with this for the time being.”
With Bradley in left, Rusney Castillo earned the start in right field and went 1-for-4 with an RBI single.
The Sox had a 4-0 lead until the bottom of the sixth, when Wright’s knuckler was finally knocked around for a pair of runs.
Junichi Tazawa blew a 4-3 lead in the ninth and Craig Breslow allowed the gamewinning run in the 10th.
Slow go for Pedey
The Red Sox would like to see Dustin Pedroia on the field again this season.
Then again, why push the second baseman?
The last-place Sox have a worthy replacement in Brock Holt and Pedroia’s right hamstring isn’t healing as quickly as anticipated. At this point, the Sox aren’t expecting him to begin baseball activity until the end of August.
“With all the information that’s been gathered on Pedey and everyone weighing in on him, there was a high level of comfort to send him back to Boston and focus solely on gaining some strength in that hamstring,” Farrell said. “Everything points to the final week of August to begin that baseball activity. We’ll take him through another precautionary MRI at that point just to see how the injury has healed up and where he’s at, the strength testing that he’ll go through.”
Asked if Pedroia will play again this season, Farrell said it would beneficial for everyone, but then said the Red Sox are “keeping in mind we don’t want to jeopardize anything.”
The 31-year-old Pedroia is under contract through 2021.
Marrero back down
Infielder Deven Marrero’s stay with the Red Sox didn’t last long as the Sox optioned him back to Triple A prior to the game. In addition to designating Justin Masterson for assignment and putting Koji Uehara on the disabled list, the Sox were creating roster space to activate Betts and recall right-hander Ryan Cook and left-hander Tommy Layne.
Lovullo fills in
Bench coach Torey Lovullo managed the Red Sox while Farrell was recovering from hernia surgery, performed Monday in Detroit.
The 53-year-old manager said he injured himself while tossing an equipment bag during last week’s series in New York. He was walking with a heavy limp yesterday afternoon, showed up to Marlins Park for less than two hours and then went back to the team hotel before the 7:10 p.m. start. . . .
David Ortiz made the start at first base in a National League park. Farrell said he anticipated giving Ortiz today off, but the 39-year-old said after the game that he expected to play.