8 Red Sox players who stood out in the first week of spring training action
Boston is off to an impressive 6-0-3 start so far in the exhibition season.
Spring training is underway for the Red Sox down in Florida and so far, they’ve actually played quite well.
Boston improved to 6-0-3 in spring training with a 4-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Sunday. Of course, teams don’t play their usual squads for the entirety of every game in spring training, but the Red Sox have gotten some solid performances from players on their 40-man roster and some from players off it.
Here are some of the players that have stood out so far through the first week of spring training games.
Triston Casas
As he prepares for his first full season in the big leagues, Casas has gotten off to a good start in the exhibition games. He’s 6-for-15 at the plate with two home runs, a walk, and five RBIs in six games.
The most impressive part of Casas’s spring so far is that the lefty hit both of his home runs off left-handed pitchers. Obviously, a week of spring training play won’t prove any prior notions wrong, but it’s still something to be optimistic about.
Corey Kluber
The biggest addition to the Red Sox’ starting rotation has thrown 4 2/3 shutout innings over his first two spring training starts. Kluber’s allowed just four hits and two walks, striking out five hitters in his early spring training appearances.
In his start against the Marlins on Sunday, Kluber opened the game by striking out the side in order. He got two Marlins hitters to strikeout swinging while Jorge Soler took a third strike in between.
Christian Arroyo
The Red Sox’ likely starting second baseman on Opening Day is 4-for-15 at the plate over his first six games of spring action, but he had a monster day against the Phillies on Thursday.
In the second inning, Arroyo hit a solo shot to right center off Phillies starter Bailey Falter. An inning later, Arroyo crushed a pitch from Griff McGary over the mini Green Monster at Fenway South for a grand slam.
Arroyo hasn’t hit too well in his five other spring training games while striking four times without drawing a walk so far. However, they’ll need some pop from someone other than Rafael Devers in the lineup. If Arroyo can bring performances like he had on Thursday every once in a while, Boston might be able to live with the rest.
Kutter Crawford
As a couple of spots in the Red Sox’ starting rotation appear likely to be open come Opening Day, Crawford’s putting in a solid case that he should be in there.
Crawford’s thrown five shutout innings over two appearances so far this spring, striking out five hitters while allowing just two hits and no walks. After starting against the Twins on Feb. 27, Crawford pitched three perfect innings of relief against the Marlins on Sunday.
Bobby Dalbec
As he looks to stay in the mix at first base and third base this season, Dalbec has hit the ball well to start the spring. He hit a home run in the spring training opener against the Braves, going opposite field.
Through six games, Dalbec is 6-for-14 at the plate. He’s also hit three doubles, knocking in three runners, but has struck out four times and has drawn just one walk.
Dalbec has done well in spring training in the past, hitting .277 with a .945 OPS and 12 home runs over 75 career spring training games. The Red Sox are certainly hoping that one of their former top prospects can turn his spring training performances into valuable regular-season production like he did at the end of the 2021 season.
Josh Winckowski
Winckowski might be competing with Crawford for one of the open spots in the Red Sox’ starting rotation come Opening Day. Like Crawford, Winckowski has made the most of his early appearances so far.
Winckowski has also thrown five shutout innings, striking out seven hitters while giving up three hits and three walks.
Similar to Crawford, Winckowski had a two-inning start in his first outing of the spring before throwing three innings out of the bullpen in his second appearance. He struck out four Astros hitters over three innings on Saturday, needing just 26 pitches to get through the outing.
Raimel Tapia
The left-handed hitting outfielder has been a doubles machine so far for the Red Sox in spring training.
Tapia’s hit four doubles over five games, going opposite field on some of his hits as he’s gone 5-for-14 so far.
Tapia had a big late-inning double in the Red Sox’ tie against the Astros on Saturday, hitting one down the left field line to score two runners while using his speed to beat the throw to second base.
Tapia signed a minor-league deal with the Red Sox over the offseason, so he isn’t guaranteed to be on the big league roster on Opening Day. However, with the Red Sox shifting Kiké Hernández to shortstop this season, Tapia could make his way on the Opening Day squad as a depth piece.
Jorge Alfaro
The other position player making a push to be included on the Opening Day roster without a guarantee is Alfaro.
The catcher has hit well in three games, going 4-for-7 with a pair of doubles. Alfarao has impressed Red Sox manager Alex Cora and catching instructor Jason Varitek, according to MLB.com’s Ian Browne, who noted that they’re working with Alfaro on his “receiving” ability behind the plate.
Alfaro is in an interesting spot. If the Red Sox haven’t placed him on the 40-man roster by March 25, he can seek a 40-man roster spot somewhere else as he’s currently on a minor league deal with an “upward mobility clause,” according to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo.
Alfaro’s path to making the roster might have been made easier earlier in March though as catcher Connor Wong suffered a Grade 1 hamstring strain, leaving him out for an unspecified amount of time.
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