8 observations on the 2021 Red Sox start as spring training

Here’s a little baseball about something that … well, inside baseball.

Do you know all the goodies of statistical data that your friendly writers (or a wise acre columnist) use to populate their stories daily with facts and context?

Not all come from the authors’ own accounting and research. Some do, perhaps even most for the more enterprising writers who have mastered baseball-reference.com’s Stathead search feature.

But even independent homework is often backed up by information provided by the daily note-taking package offered by Justin Long and the Red Sox liaison staff. During the season, the pack is a miracle, requiring daily information, such as: ‘Xander Bogaerts has played six home games in his last twelve games against the California-born right pitchers at Camden Yards’, or’ The veteran left has won seven. running in his last 17 overs and may want to consider an apprenticeship in a trade over the winter. Plumbers earn really good money. ”

OK, you know I’m kidding with the last one. There are no suggestions for snoring, editoriality or career change in the game notes. No, sir. Just the facts, and lots of them. They are very helpful, not to mention the fun to watch, just to get a baseball solution before the games start.

So it was a pleasant surprise – and one of the best confirmations so far, yes, the season and hopefully better days are finally near – when an email from long Tuesday appeared in my inbox, titled Red Sox Spring Training Game Notes.

The notes were full of interesting information about the composition of the Red Sox’s 40-man roster – and let me tell you, it’s necessary, with so much turnover from last year’s ball club.

Here are some revelations and facts of the notes, followed by my usual deviations and tangents on what they mean …

Twelve of their 31 RHPs are new to the Red Sox organization in 2021. Quick, how many of those dozen can you name on top of your head? There’s Adam Ottavino, for whom you may have heard of Northeastern. (This is the baseball version of ‘Did You Know Chris Hogan played lacrosse?’) There’s Garrett Richards, his intriguing turnaround and his Carl Pavano – like injury history. There are Matt Andriese, Hirokazu Sawamura and Garrett Whitlock from Rule 5.

How much is it? Just five? Hmmm … is Alfredo Aceves back? John Wasdin? The original Pat Mahomes? Maybe Dominican mistress Robinson Checo has finally arrived at the camp? (The correct answers are: Matt Carasiti, Frank German, Daniel Gossett, Zac Grotz, Kevin McCarthy, Kaleb Ort and Josh Winckowski, non-roster. Do not worry, I will not ask you to identify them in a series their headshots.)

The Sox led the AL with a .265 batting average in 2020. They also finished third in percentage on base (.330), slugging (.445) and OPS (.776). Not that the batting average was still glamorous during Wade Boggs’ heyday, but I have to admit I had no idea the Red Sox were the first league side to hit last season – or that they were third in the other important categories. The Rangers hit .217 in reverse as a team. How does this happen? They were basically a compilation of the contemporary Stan Papis (career average .218.)

Either way, although the Red Sox were only fifth in runs per game last season (4.87), it’s a further confirmation that offense is not the issue for this team, and especially not if JD Martinez can start fast again. do not turn.

The 2020 Red Sox used an MLB-high 16 starter, three of which started just one game as ‘openers’. And that, friends, is a further confirmation that the staff members auditioned last season while having a worst franchise series. 5.58 ERA. Even with the use of openers – something we as baseball fans need to get used to – 16 entrees is an absurd total, especially for a 60-match season. In 2004, the Red Sox used eight starters in 162 games, with Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Derek Lowe, Bronson Arroyo and Tim Wakefield making 157 from the start. (Pedro Astacio, Abe Alvarez and Byung-Hyun Kim made the other five.) The 2007 champions used nine entrees, while the ’13 and ’18 champions used 11 each.

The key to the 2021 Red Sox is by far the starting rotation – either through the return of Eduardo Rodriguez and, in the summer, Chris Sale, the rise of Tanner Houck or Nick Pivetta, the good health and form of Richards and Nathan Eovaldi, or all of the above, offers reliability and quality. Last year they did not have one.

The oldest Red Sox player in the camp is 35-year-old Adam Ottavino. Maybe it’s because his collegiate years with the Huskies were so revisited after the Red Sox acquired him from the Yankees earlier this month, but I had no idea he was their oldest player. Everyone else on the roster is 33 or younger. While Chaim Bloom builds the quality depth on the 40-man series, he also makes the Red Sox younger on the edge. The plan is taking shape. You see it, right?

Christian Vázquez (draft of June 2008), Xander Bogaerts (international free agent of 2009) and Matt Barnes (draft of June 2011) are the longest-serving members of the Red Sox organization. Consider it more proof of the relative youth of the Red Sox roster, or use it with a fair amount of cynicism in general to note that veteran players are not given the opportunity to pursue their careers deep into their thirties knit as before. But it should also be noted that in terms of MLB tenure, Vazquez (six years, 31 days), Bogaerts (seven years, 42 days) and Barnes (five years, 110 days) have less cumulative time with the Red Sox than Carl Yastrzemski entered the 1980 season.

Matt Barnes made 323 appearances for the Red Sox, fourth in franchise history behind only Bob Stanley (552), Mike Timlin (394) and Jonathan Papelbon (393): This Barnes fact did not surprise me. He was the late-turn auctioneer who is just effective enough to stay in an important role for five seasons now. (He’s such a mainstay in the bullpen that it’s easy to forget he started games for the Red Sox, some in 2015.) But I was impressed, if not surprised, that Timlin finished second on has the Red Sox performance rankings, if only because he was almost 37 years old when Theo Epstein signed him in January 2003. If Koji Uehara was the biggest troublemaker approaching, the one who always stayed calm and got outs, then Timlin holds the title for setbacks. The Sox must have cloned him for future generations when they had him.

Only two duos have already started as many as four consecutive opening days at SS and 3B for the Red Sox. Bogaerts and Rafael Devers, who have so far formed three opening days on the left side of the infield, are ready to join the company that includes shortstops Freddy Parent / third baseman Jimmy Collins (1901-06) and Everett Scott / Larry Gardner ( 1914-) include. 17). As a kid of the ’70s, I will admit that I was surprised and embittered that Rick Burleson and Butch Hobson did not succeed here. They started together in 1977-78 and ’80, but Jack Brohamer started on Opening Day ’79 at third base alongside The Rooster. Hobson was still recovering from, even if you suspect, an elbow operation.

Among MLB and the NFL, NBA and NHL, the only other franchises to have won as many as the Red Sox’s four championships since early 2002 are the New England Patriots (6), San Antonio Spurs (4) and Los Angeles. Lakers (4).

You would never know that listening to us? Imagine telling your devastated October 1978 self, or your shattered October 1986 self, or your bitter October 2003 self that there would one day be a time when they would win four World Series championships in a 19-year-old team. win, and we would still find ways to get fed up with it.