5 things we learned from Red Sox spring training this week
Red Sox fans won't get to see Trevor Story this weekend, but they did get a glimpse of Marcelo Mayer and Triston Casas while they waited.
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A couple of weeks ago, people were still wondering if there would be a 162-game baseball season. Now, believe it or not, the Red Sox’ first meaningful game of the 2022 MLB season is less than two weeks away.
2021’s biggest surprise team will be largely the same aside from one major addition — second baseman Trevor Story. But that doesn’t mean a few things won’t be different about how the Red Sox try to build on last year’s success.
Also, this accelerated spring training gives fans much less of a chance to see some of the organization’s brightest young stars in the hectic lead-up to the season. Still, observers have to like what they see in last year’s first-round pick Marcelo Mayer.
Here are a few things we learned about the Red Sox, both present and future, down in Fort Myers this week.
Fans will have to wait for Trevor Story’s Red Sox debut …
Life is coming Trevor Story’s way pretty fast these days.
After Alex Cora said Thursday the new Red Sox second baseman would make his debut with the team on Saturday, Story left camp on Friday and will reportedly be gone a few days.
It’s for a good reason: Story’s wife is expecting a baby, and he will presumably be back after the baby is born.
That will mean Story, who saw some live batting practice earlier this week but no game action yet, will have an even more accelerated ramp-up for Opening Day on April 7.
But that hasn’t quelled the excitement about what the dynamic infield bat will bring to the lineup.
“They’re excited,” Cora said of the Sox’s reaction to adding Story. “They knew we were going to get better. It was just a matter of being patient. We had different plans and different ideas. We went through the process and ended up with him. I think, so far, even before he was here, it has been a great camp.”
… and Story might not be the team’s leadoff hitter.
Though Story will certainly play most of his games this season at second base, there’s been little clarity about where exactly he will fit into the lineup.
Of course, it’s been a popular notion to put the fleet-footed Story, who has stolen 15 or more bases in each of his last four seasons, in the leadoff spot. But Cora’s comments this week seem to suggest he’s looking at leaving Kiké Hernández, who slashed .254/.342/.799 as a leadoff hitter last season, in that role.
“Our leadoff hitter did a good job last season, too,” Cora said. “I know what people are thinking but sometimes I think the other way.”
An educated guess suggests Story might fit better in the second slot in the order.
Of Story’s 3,136 career plate appearances, 930 of them (almost 30 percent) have come in the No. 1 slot. His other more frequent deployments have come in the fourth (634 PAs) and fifth (549 PAs) holes. By contrast, he rarely hit first during his time with the Rockies by comparison (109 PAs).
More likely than not, Story won’t hit leadoff too much in the Red Sox’ full-strength lineup.
J.D. Martinez is going to play some oufield.
While Hernández (center field) and Alex Verdugo (left field) have two of the Red Sox’ outfield spots well in hand at this point, the team’s right-field situation hasn’t been as clear. The newly re-acquired Jackie Bradley Jr. would be the natural choice to start, of course, but his bat isn’t been nearly as reliable as his glove.
That led Cora to reveal this week that J.D. Martinez will once again factor more prominently into the outfield rotation as a right fielder after playing 36 games in the field last season.
“It helps that J.D. can play the outfield,” Cora said Thursday. “It’s going to help us. That way I can give Xander (Bogaerts) and (Rafael Devers) a few days DHing against lefties, even Trevor (Story). Then Bobby Dalbec will do his thing. We put him in a spot and he makes the plays.”
Under Cora’s proposed platoon, Martinez would start in the outfield against lefties, whom he hits very well, while Bradley, who hits…better against righties, will get starts in the other case. Of course, this doesn’t preclude Martinez from being a DH against right-handed pitchers.
The trick will be not playing Martinez in the outfield too often as his numbers suffered badly last season when he played in the field, with Cora acknowledging the Sox “ran (Martinez) in the ground.” Bradley Jr.’s addition adds a bit more flexibility in that regard.
Tanner Houck will be a starter.
Though Cora stopped short of officially proclaiming Houck a member of the starting rotation, Chris Sale’s injury and Cora’s positive remarks earlier this week suggest it’s going to happen.
“He did an amazing job last year. Looking forward to him to take the next step,” Cora said. “It was a different role and he was really good for us. Now, it’s just a matter of putting everything together and keep improving. It’s a guy that we trust. It’s a guy we’re going to stretch out.
“I do believe he’s built to go deeper into games. If he’s part of the rotation, now it’s different.”
Sounds like the training wheels are coming off for Houck, who had a multi-faceted role in 2021 that included some spot starts but had him coming out of the bullpen in the playoffs.
“My plan coming into camp was to work and not really take anything to granted,” Houck said. “For me to earn that spot and for them to have the trust in me, thank you to them. I hope to do them proud.”
Marcelo Mayer and Triston Casas got their first big-league hacks in.
The Red Sox got a small glimpse of their future this week as both Mayer and Casas got their first at-bats of the spring.
The 19-year-old Mayer, the No. 4 overall pick in last year’s MLB draft, got two plate appearances in against the Orioles Thursday. In his first, he battled back from a 1-2 hole to work an impressive-looking walk against Travis Lakins in the seventh inning.
On the second, he went down swinging on a changeup from Marcos Diplán to end the game.
Casas, meanwhile, struck out in his one and only plate appearance of the spring before he was sent back down to minor league camp. From there, the sturdy, power-hitting lefty will likely head to Triple-A Worcester, where he finished out last season, and await his call to the big leagues.
Mayer, of course, hasn’t yet played higher than rookie ball and needs a few years of seasoning before his clock can truly start. On top of that, there’s an infield logjam ahead of him that could take a few years to sort out.
It might be a minute before they get their calls to the show, especially in Mayer’s case, but they might end up being two of the most important pieces of the Red Sox’ future when they do.
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