Thursday night’s 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins felt like too many of last year’s Red Sox games:
Infield errors, both runs unearned, and too many men left on base.
The Red Sox trailed 0-1 until the top of the fifth because of an unearned run in the second. They lost because of a second unearned run in the eighth.
The difference on Thursday evening, however, was who made the errors this time. Two of the three Red Sox errors were made by the two veteran defenders the team is relying on to stabilize the infield defense: Alex Bregman (fielding) and Trevor Story (throwing), who’ve made three errors apiece this spring.
Last season, the Red Sox had to make due with a hodgepodge infield configuration and several young, inexperienced players when Trevor Story, Triston Casas, and Vaughn Grissom all suffered lengthy injuries.
After fracturing the glenoid rim in his left shoulder during the team’s opening road trip last year, Story was expected to miss the rest of the season, but ended up making a late-season comeback. Nevertheless, he’s played a combined 69 regular-season games over the past two years. Some rust is to be expected.
The third error belonged to top prospect Kristian Campbell (fielding). It was his first defensive miscue in what’s been an overall strong defensive preseason, as evidenced by the outfield assist he made to get Byron Buxton out at second to begin the bottom of the first. A top candidate for the second-base job, he played the bulk of the week there, before playing a complete-game in left-field on Thursday night.
The Red Sox only managed four hits and three walks in the contest. They struck out 17 times and were 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position, leaving six men on base. Campbell and fellow second-base candidate David Hamilton (who played the entire game at second) combined for three of the team’s four hits.
In the top of the third, Masataka Yoshida struck out swinging to leave the bases loaded. The Red Sox were one of two teams that didn’t hit a single grand slam during the ‘24 regular season. Will that be the case again this year?
Sean Newcomb, the non-roster invitee candidate for the fifth spot in the starting rotation, continued his impressive spring. Over 4 ⅔ innings he held the Twins to four hits, one unearned run, struck out three, with zero walks.
The closer competition continued, with Liam Hendriks making an appearance in the fifth and Aroldis Chapman pitching the sixth. Later, Hendriks told reporters, including MassLive’s Chris Smith, that Chapman deserves to win the job.
“I think it’s been pretty well-proven this spring training who deserves that spot after earning it this spring, and that’s definitely not me,” Hendriks said. “I’ve always said I wanted to win it, but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t.
“I’m going to go out there and give my best three outs, six outs, or whatever they need me to do. Things will shake out however they shake out, but if you want to talk about the guy who’s looked the best in spring training, that’s Chapman. It’s been unbelievable. He’s been 97-to-100 (mph) pretty much every outing, and he’s looked crisp.”
‘Be selfish’
It’s been difficult for Grissom to find his place in the Red Sox organization since they acquired him from the Atlanta Braves last offseason. Originally slated to be the everyday second baseman last season, he instead spent most of his first Sox season on the injured list and in Triple-A.
There’s significantly more traffic on the path to a starting gig this season, with Kristian Campbell, David Hamilton, and Nick Sogard, among others, in contention. This week, the Red Sox winnowed down the group by optioning Grissom to minor league camp on Wednesday.
On Thursday, manager Alex Cora shared the advice he gave Grissom.
“He did everything possible in the offseason. He killed it,” Cora told reporters, including MLB.com’s Ian Browne, on Thursday. “We asked him to show up at 220 (pounds), he showed up at 221. He turned the double-play well.
“There’s a few things that we talked about that I think he can do better defensively. But it was like, ‘just go down there and do your thing.’ As a player, especially where we’re at [as an organization] right now, ‘Just go down there and kill it. Be selfish. Do your thing, show everybody that you can be a big leaguer, and not only with us, right? I think in the industry. Show them that you’re still young, you’re still a good athlete.’”
“This is the route we’re going,” Cora said. “We haven’t yet made a decision about second base, but we’re getting close, and he’s not in the equation. He needs to play too. He has to go down there and play.”
Roster moves
The Red Sox also optioned catcher Blake Sabol to minor league camp on Thursday. There are 45 players remaining in big-league camp, including 12 non-roster invitees.
Originally Published:
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2025-03-20 19:50:05
