Will it hit the fan?
Win Monster tix for 2021 if a home run hits your ($500!) plastic cutout
For a cool $500 donation, Red Sox fans can get a plastic cutout of their image placed in the Green Monster seats at Fenway Park for games this season.
And if somebody hits a home run that makes contact with the cutout, the fan will receive an autographed baseball as one of their prizes.
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The Sox announced the program as part of their “Monster Home Run Challenge” that will benefit the Red Sox foundation.
Anyone who purchases a cutout of themselves to be placed in the seats will automatically receive a personalized video message on the right-field videoboard during games. If a ball hits their cutout, they’ll also get the autograph, two Monster seats in 2021 and a custom Red Sox jersey with their name.
The cutouts will be 20 inches by 30 inches and placed prior to each homestand. Fans will receive them when their placement is finished.
The Dodgers are among the teams who are also running a similar program.
E-Rod is back
Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodriguez is back in Boston.
Is he coronavirus-free? The Sox can’t say.
But after being diagnosed from his Florida home two weeks ago, Rodriguez has been away from the team while recovering. That he’s back in Boston now, along with fellow coronavirus-positive lefty Darwinzon Hernandez , is encouraging for manager Ron Roenicke.
“They still have to go through some things before we see them on the field but it’s certainly nice to get them back in town and hopefully we’ll get them out there in a short time,” Roenicke said.
Players must test negative twice before they can return to the field for workouts. And they mustn’t be showing any symptoms.
They’ll have their temperatures taken before entering the park.
Neither player is expected to be ready for the start of the season next Friday.
Neither is lefty Josh Taylor, who also tested positive and had been staying at a nearby hotel.
The Sox aren’t even sure if Rodriguez is ready to begin a throwing program.
“As far as the sense that I have, I really don’t,” Roenicke said. “And I know talking to (pitching coach) Dave Bush, we need to see him throw. So when we get him out there on the field, we’ll have him throw a bullpen. Dave will feel a lot better about what he sees and where he’s at.
“The information Eddie has given us is that he has been throwing quite a bit. I know sometimes as players they think they can come back faster than what they really can, but Eddie has been throwing and we’ll get a read on it, see where he’s at.”
Prospects added to roster
The Sox added nine more players to their 60-man roster for the 2020 season on Friday.
Many are some of the organization’s top prospects, though Triston Casas, widely considered their best prospect, remains on the outside looking in.
Prospects Jeter Downs, Jarren Duran, Tanner Houck, Bryan Mata and Jay Groome joined the roster along with Josh Ockimey, Johnny Pereda, R.J. Alvarez and Bobby Poyner.
Downs was part of the three player package that the Sox acquired from the Dodgers for Mookie Betts and David Price earlier this year.
Along with Alex Verdugo and Connor Wong, all three players are part of the Sox’ 60-man roster for the season, while Price opted out of playing for the Dodgers this year.
“We saw an opportunity here to get some valuable development for some guys who in some cases are in striking distance of the major leagues,” said chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom.
“We’re excited to have all these guys back with us, back with our instructors, getting some real productive reps over there.”
A lot of them will be sent to McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket to continue working out in case they’re needed on the 30-man active roster.
Pillar to roam CF at times
When Jackie Bradley Jr. isn’t playing center field for the Sox this year, expect Kevin Pillar to be out there.
Formerly known as Superman while catching flies for the Blue Jays, Pillar is comfortable in center and will likely play there against left-handed pitching, Roenicke said.
“He told me, ‘center field is no problem, I can go back there anytime,’” Roenicke said of Pillar. “But he needs to be in right field to get used to a lot of ground behind him. You saw how well Mookie played last year and Mookie played it well because he was here a long time and understood. You really need to play it kind of like a center fielder, so when the ball is hit hard over your head, you need to turn and go like you do in center. That’s something Pillar is trying to figure out.
“The ball obviously moves more in the corners. They tend to want to drive toward the lines in center field. It’s a pretty clear read. But off-hand, Pillar would go to center and we’d leave the other two (Andrew Benintendi in left and Alex Verdugo in right), knowing the other two can both go to center if we need them there.”