Sox spring training nuts, bolts
NESN drops ball on broadcasts, Winckowski shows promise
Stay away from the beaches. That was Red Sox manager Alex Cora’s warning to his team ahead of Monday’s off-day in Fort Myers, where the Sox are 3-4 after their first seven Grapefruit League games.
Their record could not be more meaningless.
Some observations from early in camp:
■ MLB’s new spring training version of Little League mercy rules are nothing to be offended about. Spring training games have never meant anything anyway. They’re for players to get reps, not to win games. Whoop-de-doo if teams can now end innings before getting three outs to save their pitchers from getting hurt, or end a game after six innings instead of playing nine. This is the preseason, folks.
■ Still, it’s hard to fathom why NESN is broadcasting only 11 spring training games. This is nothing new; they often hand-pick just a few games this time of year. But with so many New Englanders working from home during the pandemic and the Sox coming off a season in which ratings took a massive hit, you’d think NESN would want to get the product in front of their fans as often as possible. A spokesperson never responded when asked if someone wanted to explain NESN’s thought process.
■ The frustrating part is that NESN’s broadcasts have actually been pretty good. Lenny DiNardo is blossoming as a color man and does a great job weaving in personal stories and connections from his playing days while breaking down what pitchers are trying to do in individual at-bats. One has to wonder if NESN will try to incorporate more of the 41-yearold lefty, who last pitched in the big leagues in 2009.
■ J.D. Martinez had a revealing moment while he was mic’d up during batting practice. Talking about an ankle injury that hindered him in ‘18, Martinez broke down his swing and explained how he formed some bad habits. He also said that by not playing the outfield as much the last two years, his shoulder has gotten tight from the lack of throwing. A decrease in shoulder flexibility made his swing clunky.
■ Did anyone catch prospect Josh Winckowski pitch a scoreless inning in relief against some Atlanta Braves big leaguers on Sunday? This kid looks like the real deal. He’s 6-foot-4, 220 pounds and is just 22 years old. He was acquired from the Mets as part of the three-team Andrew Benintendi trade. Matt Barnes watched him warm up on Sunday and said, “he looks like he’s got firm, good stuff. It looks like the ball jumps out of his hand. He has a heavy fastball.”
■ Why won’t Cora name Barnes the closer already? He’s one of the longest-tenured players on the team. He’s a leader. He’s probably the best strikeout pitcher the Sox have. Why not just say he’s the closer and give some confidence to a pitcher who is plenty good enough, but can nibble too much when he’s not attacking hitters in the zone? Usually Cora comes into spring with a plan and knows what he wants to do. It’s weird he hasn’t moved forward with the closer situation.
■ Jarren Duran is fun to watch, but he’s clearly still learning the outfield, which is a big reason why the 24-year-old is likely to start the year in Triple-A Worcester. He makes an adventure out of everything, but the Sox are hoping his speed and quickness will make up for it. He’s mistakenly thrown to the wrong base, much to the dismay of his manager. And there was a funny moment on Saturday when he caught a ball that was probably Hunter Renfroe’s in right field, and Renfroe appeared to let him know.
■ Kiké Hernandez seems to be embracing the leadoff role. If he hits leadoff and Alex Verdugo hits second, does Cora go with Xander Bogaerts third, Martinez fourth and Rafael Devers fifth? Or Martinez third, Devers fourth and
Bogaerts fifth?
■ Promising young lefty Darwinzon Hernandez has yet to appear in a spring training game.
■ Garrett Richards looks to be the biggest challenge of Dave Bush’s young career as a pitching coach. Richards throws triple-digit fastballs and knee-bending curves, and doesn’t seem to know where they’re going. The Sox took a $10 million gamble and there’s a lot of pressure on the coaching staff to make it worth it.
■ Nathan Eovaldi was scratched from his start on Saturday due to personal reasons. It’s never smart to assume, but whenever Eovaldi misses a start for any reason, the first instinct is to be concerned.
■ Chris Sale is a lone wolf this spring. Cora said he rarely talks to him. They say hello in the morning, Cora hits the fields to coach and Sale goes somewhere else to do his throwing program. Thinking ahead, it’s going to be hard to pace his recovery carefully if the team gets off to a bad start. There’s no question the kind of competitor he is and he might try to rush himself to get back out there. Just another reason they need to play well early in the year.
■ Bobby Dalbec is the most physically imposing player in the batter’s box for the Red Sox since David Ortiz retired.
■ He’s listed at 6 feet, 4 inches and 227 pounds. The only three players with official heights and weights as imposing as Dalbec to get regular playing time for the Sox are Travis Shaw, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jose Canseco.