Red Sox lose Spring Training finale, head back to Boston for season opener
The Boston Red Sox wrapped up their 12th Spring Training at JetBlue Park Tuesday afternoon, dropping a 7-5 contest to the Atlanta Braves.
The game marked the final bout before the club headed to Boston in preparation to open the season versus the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park.
With nearly every roster move having been made (one of the final coming hours after the final pitch as the Sox with Jarren Duran optioned to Triple-A), the truck was parked outside the clubhouse to signify it was time to head back up north.
“Excited,” said manager Alex Cora when asked his thoughts on getting ready to start the regular season. “Spring Training this year was a lot different than the last two, as far as the travel and all that. It was a lot longer in a sense and obviously guys playing in the (World Baseball Classic). We’re in a good spot offensively. We’re a good team. We’re not perfect. We’re not great. But we can win ballgames, and that’s the most important thing. Looking forward to getting to Fenway.”
Newcomer and WBC standout Masataka Yoshida made his presence known in the bottom half of the first, taking a Charlie Morton fastball and depositing it over the 420-foot marker in center for a two-run homer, his first of the spring. Yoshida, who signed a 5-year, $90 million deal with Boston this offseason, made the All-WBC team representing the champions in Japan. He hit .409 and led the tournament with 13 RBI.
“This is a real honor to play with the Boston Red Sox, because this is a really traditional team, and a lot of times being World Series champions,” Yoshida said through translator Keiichiro Waka-bayashi. “The only thing I’m focusing on is to play hard every day and contribute to the team winning.”
Of Yoshida’s prowess at the plate, Cora said, “I think obviously he’s still learning. Scouting report is going to come into play. He studies. (Hitting coach Peter Fatse) and the group have done an amazing job giving him direction before at-bats and before games. He’s a smart individual. He understands. One of the things I notice from the tournament and some at-bats here, even the handful he had before he left, with men in scoring position, he knows what he wants to do. He hits the ball in the air, he hits it the other way — he cashes in on those situations, and that’s great.”
A first-round pick in the 2018 Draft, Triston Casas, launched a solo shot to leadoff the second to put the Sox up 3-1. The Florida native will break camp with the club after appearing in 27 games last year at the Big League level. Casas finished the spring hitting .333 with 10 RBI and four home runs.
Kutter Crawford got the pitching start for Boston, and he’ll be Cora’s fourth man in the rotation behind Opening Day starter Corey Kluber, Chris Sale and Tanner Houck. Veteran Nick Pivetta rounds out the group.
Crawford went 4 innings on Tuesday, allowing five earned runs on seven hits, striking out five and giving up one homer. Over four starts and five total appearances this spring, the 26-year-old Okeechobee native pitched to a 4.15 ERA, striking out 19 over 17 1/3 frames.
“The fastball was down, he got hit hard down there, and he threw a lot of strikes,” Cora said of Crawford. “The pitch mix is obviously going to be better when the season starts. He threw a few good cutters in the end. He has a good arsenal, good mix.”
The Braves plated three runs in the third, one in the fourth and one in the fifth to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
In the eighth, catcher Connor Wong, who won the backup spot in camp behind Reese McGuire, launched his own solo shot to center, a good sign for a player who missed a lot of camp with a hamstring strain he suffered in early March.
“We’re comfortable with him. He’s moving well,” Cora said. “What he brings to the equation behind the plate is great, but we know he can do that. He can hit for power. I talked to both (McGuire and Wong), and I’m like, ‘Don’t try to be somebody that you’re not.’ Just do what you have to do offensively and take care of your job defensively. If we do that, we’re gonna be in a good spot.”
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