It is the midpoint of March in Spring Training for the Major Leagues. The Boston Red Sox have shown a lot of new faces and roles in their 9-5 Grapefruit League run so far. Boston has shown what tools they have to work with after losing the star that we once beheld, Xander Bogaerts.
The Red Sox have added many new faces since the end of their lackluster season in 2022. Boston dissapointed heavily with a 78-84 record. Changes were necessary, of which there were plenty.
Click the video below to get a recap of Boston’s tumultuous off-season.
Spring Training Thus Far
Some of the players in the hot seat are players such as the veteran DH/1B Justin Turner, Japanese sensation Masataka Yoshida, seasoned pitchers Corey Kluber and Kenley Jansen, and more. Meanwhile, some fresher faces within the organization are showing great promise.
Emmanuel Valdez hit this home run on 2/28 against the Marlins with absolute authority.
Someone who we have seen have severe ups and downs is back on the radar with Bobby Dalbec. Some are hoping he can become a key player in playing around other first baseman/Designated hitters such as Justin Turner and Triston Casas
Speaking of Casas…
Casas is showing huge promise after being one of the top up and comers in the Red Sox organization. Some say that there is pressure on players like Casas and Jarren Duran to have a high-performing spring training in order to make an impact on the Red Sox regular season.
They have taken note of this and have, so far, shown the world they are capable. Casas is batting with an OPS of 1.119 as of March 15th.
Duran Duran
Jarren Duran was also someone who was shown here and there last season, with some games that looked worthy of keeping him in the bigs for a while. Other times seemed to be a bit tougher.
Duran has been showing out in the Spring, though only playing 4 games. Duran had 3 hits and 1 strikeout in his 4 games, which is a huge sign of improvement after seeing 63 strikeouts in 58 games last season.
If players like Casas and Duran can stay consistent in what they are doing right. Sox fans can rest assured in them performing when we need them most.
No Xander, No Problem
Without Xander Boegarts in the organization anymore, a lot of fans, critics, and overall fans of baseball have wondered how the Sox would make do. So far, the answer has fallen to the familiar Swiss-Army Knife himself, Kiké Hernández.
Kiké Hernández can fill the role of a dependable shortstop as long as injuries are allowing him to do so. Hernández is who Chaim Bloom is believing in, and so far, Kiké has delivered.
Most of the key players for the Sox are currently in the WBC, so we will not see how the team as a whole will be together, but we still get to see the Sox icons playing at a high level before the regular season begins.
These players will include Rafael Devers, Alex Verdugo, Jarren Duran, Kiké Hernández, Nick Pivetta, Masataka Yoshida, Yu Chang, Kenley Jansen, and more.
Injuries Ensue
It was already established that Trevor Story was going to be out for quite some time having shoulder surgery. Garrett Whitlock is ruled out after a hip injury along with other pitchers Brayan Bello and James Paxton.
Connor Wong and Justin Turner are listed as day-to-day. The Justin Turner story is a wild one, I think you are gonna like it.
Turner sadly got injured from a wild pitch hitting him in the face. The baseball community as a whole was devastated. Turner then proceeded to get SIXTEEN stitches and is already taking grounders and hitting BP in a week’s time. Turner is giving the Red Sox his all and we are all here for it.
WBC Sox so far
Some of the Sox have put their countries on their backs in the WBC so far. A prime example is Yu Chang. Chang performed extraordinarily well in pool play, batting 7-16, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB. He was named the pool MVP.
Masataka Yoshida went 3-3 with 4 RBI against Korea to light things up as well.
Kiké Hernández went 2-4 against Israel, hitting a mercy rule walk-off hit.
The perfect story to close out mid March Sox is the new sponsorship held by Kiké Hernández. He “let it slip” that in one world series performance of his, he accidentally “sharted” while he was at bat, and had to strike out as fast as possible to go assess the damage.
Luckily for him, Dude Wipes has recently hooked him up with a season’s worth of Dude Wipes!