Before boarding the flight to Boston Tuesday, Alex Cora neatly summed up the Red Sox' 1 1/2 months in Fort Myers.
"We’re ready to play baseball," the Sox manager said. "We have a good baseball team, we do. And obviously we got to go out there and perform. We know there's a division that there's three great teams and one that is on the rise, you know, with their program. And you have to be on point since day one, and I do believe we did an amazing job in spring training. The guys, they bought into the concept of running the bases well and playing good defense and all the stuff that we taught from November until now, we will keep talking about it. But, to put it in an easy way, we have a good baseball team."
Could be.
After witnessing an entire month's worth of spring training baseball while participating in the Red Sox' radio broadcast, I can understand where Cora is coming from. If you base this team's fortunes off what it displayed in the Grapefruit League, there should be some guarded optimism.
And don't think for a second feeling good about yourself heading out of Southwest Florida isn't important. It isn't about the wins and losses, but rather the on-field momentum. Some good Red Sox teams got off to bad starts because of poor late-March play heading into the regular season games, with 2019 serving as the latest example.
Will they go above the 80 1/2 wins Vegas has set for their over-under win total? Will they make a run at the postseason? Will they -- gulp -- actually pull a 2013 and overachieve all the way until late October? Who knows.
All we have to go by is what we have witnessed to date. So, with that in mind, here are some things we learned along the way to Opening Day ...
- First things first, we have to reveal some fun facts picked up on the spring training broadcasts. 1. Joe Castiglione once filled in for Jonny Most for an early 1980's Celtics game; 2. Hall of Fame Joe also did play-by-play for the Muhammad Ali/Chuck Wepner fight one day before his son was born, asking a bloodied Wepner in the middle of the ring after the epic brawl, "Was it worth it?"; 3. Will Flemming's nickname growing up was "Bones"; 4. Joe also recently received a check for 53 cents as payment for his voice appearing on the 1980's television show "St. Elsewhere".
This was simply about getting Casas immersed into better competition without overwhelming him. His 16 plate appearances (1 hit) was about right considering where he is and how much the Red Sox need to prioritize the likes of Bobby Dalbec, Michael Chavis and Marwin Gonzalez at first base. Watching the 21-year-old it's clear he has a ways to go. The approach -- choking up on the bat, slightly hunched over -- clearly has meaning behind it, but it didn't result in many hard-hit balls this time around.
1. My guess is yes. The dead arm happens to a lot of pitchers in spring training. In this case the timing was simply terrible. (It was also striking to me how many people didn't know what "dead arm" was when Rodriguez experienced it in that two-inning outing; 2. The neck issue last Fall really set back Sale, with his COVID diagnosis not helping either. Sale lost at least a month between the two. The good news is that he will be rehabbing in Boston, with throwing off a mound not too far away. Realistically, we're talking a June or July return; 3. Martinez came on at the very end of camp after struggling mightily on pitches on the outside edge, which was seemingly the only place he was being pitched. It's still not the 2019 swing, but it's hard to bet against him considering the only definitive hiccup was a two-month stretch.
That idea seems unrealistic at the moment. Hernandez struggled throughout spring training locking in on throwing consistent strikes, even in the shortest of stints. He got better toward the end of spring training, but isn't entering the regular season carrying the utmost of confidence when it comes to locking down important late-inning outs.
A tremendous amount of credit should go to Chavis for coming into camp with the kind of athleticism that put him in a different conversation. While keeping his power, the infielder showed the ability to play three of the four infield positions at a much more palatable level. But he didn't leave Fort Myers without some of the same questions he came into town with, still needing to consistently master the high fastball. There were times he rifled the pitch to right-center, but that was in the Grapefruit League. He needs to continue his momentum in Worcester in order to truly change the perception that has been built throughout baseball.
I'm going with third. I think they will be better than people think, and I have a feeling either Toronto or Tampa Bay may hit an unexpected bump in the road.
That story has yet to be told.
Matt Andriese was legitimately one of the best pitchers in camp, flashing a difference-making changeup (which he also taught newcomer Garrett Whitlock). This could be a sneaky very important Chaim Bloom acquisition.
The Red Sox' chances begin and end on the arms in the starting rotation. That brings us to the most surprising player on the roster: Garrett Richards. He is getting his chance to show he is more than just the Spin-Rate King. If he can emerge into a top-of-the-rotation option, it will go a long way to changing this team's fortunes. If he doesn't, it might mean one too many round of uncertainy.
Fastest: Hirokazu Sawamura's translator. Slowest: Darwinzon.
1. Devers; 2. Verdugo; 3. Martinez.
We will have to take their word for it because access is so limited, but it definitely appears to be a much livelier bunch than last year. Some of that is the integrations of bigger personalities, including Verdugo actually participating instead on the outskirts due to his back rehab. But an enormous impetus for the new energy level comes from Cora. We have no idea how that might translate into wins and losses, but the energetic chip-on-our-shoulder mentality can't be a bad thing.
No matter what I answer here, the over/under on times we utter something along the lines of "Jackie would have had that" is about 100. For me, Verdugo is the best centerfielder and I would hesitate moving him around too much, even for the sake of covering ground in right field in Fenway Park. Hunter Renfroe can handle right, and he should also be allowed to navigate his new surroundings. (He does have the best arm of the bunch.) Jarren Duran has potential, but is clearly a step behind those two, running into miscommunication with Renfroe multiple times thanks to indecision/bad routes. He will be good. It's just going to take a little more time.
I felt like they viewed Matt Barnes as the guy all along, and when he came out of the gate touching 98 mph while working a smidge faster, that was only reinforced. That said, Adam Ottavino has been legitimate good, breaking out the same Frisbee slider and 94 mph fastball that got him that Yankees contract. The only caveat is that much of Ottavino's dominance came against B-level players in Grapefruit League action, most of whom were completely overmatched.
My off-the-top-of-my-head answer is Richards. But this allows for the Tanner Houck debate. I got the sense he was putting too much pressure on himself out of the gate in spring training, having invested so much time getting prepared with the likes of Noah Syndergaard and Corey Kluber at Cressey Performance Center. But once he settled down, the hard work has translated into more intrigue. There simply aren't many pitchers in baseball with a slider like the one Houck possesses, with his fastball now getting up to 98 mph. If he can somehow find confidence in that third pitch (a split-fingered fastball) this could be one of the Red Sox' most important surprises.
Some other thoughts/observations ...
- Christian Arroyo could be a legitimate everyday second baseman in the majors. At least that's what he has shown as a member of the Red Sox. If that's the case than it frees up to Kiké Hernandez to be used as a fail-safe in an uncertain outfield.
- For those making the Franchy Cordero/Wily Mo Pena comparisons, understand that these two don't share the same body types. Pena was stockier and not as athletic. Cordero reminds me a slightly more muscular Jayson Heyward. It's easy to see the intrigue with Cordero, but it's also probably good the Red Sox pick their spots somewhat until they fully figure out what they have. His spring training basically lined up with every scouting report coming in: 18 plate appearances, seven strikeouts, five hits, solid play in the outfield.
- Cora said Hernandez might be the best defensive second baseman in baseball. After watching him I will say this: Kiké is definitely in the conversation.
- Rafael Devers' defensive inconsistency didn't go anywhere. But it certainly does feel like he will be able to hit the ground running offensively more than most years. His 56 spring training plate appearances were the most of his career.
- Marwin Gonzalez is a better defensive player than I thought, and put on really good swings from both side of the plate. But there might be a bit of a learning curve when it comes to playing the left field wall at Fenway. That was a problem on a couple of occasions.
- While Whitlock is clearly slated to help out of the bullpen, if he keeps going down this road the righty could very well become a viable 2022 starting rotation option. Thirty-eight of his 42 minor-league outings came as a starter, and with his newly-discovered changeup such an idea seems more feasible than ever. If nothing else, his frame and delivery certainly look the part.
- Did I mention Joe Castiglione once filled in for Jonny Most?