Young takes over in LF
Injury forces Farrell to choose
Showing a continuation of his newer managing style that relies on recency bias and urgency instead of historic track records, John Farrell has chosen Chris Young.
Even against right-handed pitching.
With Jackie Bradley Jr. now on the 10-day disabled list and Andrew Benintendi sliding over to center field from left, Farrell has a suitable alternative to Young in Brock Holt, a former All-Star and left-handed hitter.
But it was Young who was in the Red Sox lineup in left field against Baltimore Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy last night. And he will continue to be there, Farrell said.
“Right now, Chris has had the highest quality of at-bats of the guys,” Farrell said. “So we’re scuffling out of the gate to gain some traction from an offensive standpoint. He’s had quality at-bats, even though you don’t look at the bottomline batting average as the true indicator. There have been some walks mixed in, some hard hits mixed in, so right now he’s the guy.”
Young rewarded Farrell with a 2-for-4 game in which he also reached on an error and scored three runs, including the eventual game-winning run on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning of an 8-1 win against the Orioles.
Farrell likes what he’s seen from Young. That’s certainly reasonable, but the career numbers of each player present a much different story.
Young is a career .225 hitter against right-handers while Holt hits .271 against righties. And even though Holt has the platoon advantage, Farrell’s plan is to stick with Young.
The Red Sox are hoping to get Bradley back relatively soon from a hyperextended right knee, so this arrangement might not last all that long.
“I feel great,” Bradley said. “Just want to give it some time. An injury that’s serious enough, timing is the only thing that’s going to heal it. I don’t feel sore right now. It’s going to take some time.”
Barnes sets up well
With 32⁄ mostly impressive 3 innings from Matt Barnes to start the year, Farrell is now looking at the right-handed reliever to handle the eighth inning.
“As best we can and as rapidly as we can to settle into roles, we’re moving in that direction,” Farrell said.
In the opener of the two-game series with the Orioles, Barnes came on with a 5-1 lead and threw a dominant eighth inning. He struck out pinch-hitter Seth Smith and Adam Jones, then got Manny Machado to fly out to center field.
Farrell said Barnes’ role hasn’t been cemented.
“I don’t know if it’s necessarily locked into the eighth inning,” Farrell said. “But your set-up guy has probably separated himself out from the group in addition to your closer. Then you’ve got the flexibility, probably in your highest leverage spot, probably in the seventh inning depending where you are in the lineup, could also be in the eighth inning.” . . .
Injured reliever Tyler Thornburg, on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation, was cleared to begin a throwing program. . . .
Reliever Robbie Ross Jr., who went on the disabled list because of the flu, will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket today.
Healthy rivalry
The Red Sox aren’t the only ones dealing with the flu and other illnesses. Orioles manager Buck Showalter appeared to take a dig at his team’s AL East rivals during a pregame briefing with Baltimore beat reporters.
“Everybody in the league has had that issue,” Showalter said. “I’ve had it, and it’s a different strain, I’ll tell you. It lingers for a long time. Some of them seem to be a little more noteworthy, it seems like, but our guys have fought their way through it. I know we’ve got a lot of guys that aren’t 100 percent with it, but so do a lot of clubs. So nobody really wants to hear somebody else complain about it. Our guys have done a good job not broadcasting it to the world.”
Reliever Darren O’Day is the only Orioles player who is known to have missed time with the flu.
Farrell wasn’t asking for sympathy for his team’s 3-3 start.
“We’ve got a little bit of a MASH unit,” Farrell said. “But, I mean the one thing I will say is that not anyone has made an excuse. We’ve got to go out and play. No one outside of our walls cares about what we’re going through, and we don’t care what others are going through. We’ve got to take care of ourselves and get guys back healthy, and we’re getting close to that point.”
Big numbers
Forbes released its annual report about all 30 Major League Baseball teams’ revenues and values.
The Red Sox had an operating income of $434 million and were valued at $2.7 billion, third in the majors behind the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, and up 17 percent from a year ago. It’s the 20th straight year the Yankees, at $3.7 billion, came out on top. The Dodgers came in at $2.75 billion to edge the Sox, and the Chicago Cubs were fourth at $2.68 billion.
The average MLB team is worth $1.54 billion, up 19 percent from 2016.