Spring Training Game Thread for Week of March 15th

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Early would be my pick as the one guy on the entire staff to give the most consistent starts over the entire season -- a guy the team never has to worry about giving the Sox a regular chance to win...

... I didn't say the best starts, but consistent innings from a repertoire and delivery that seem less likely to have command issues or blow out an elbow -- compared to the rest of the rotation.

Crochet had injury concerns before last year, Gray and Suarez are vets with mileage on their arms, and Bello's career so far has been a Russell Stover box of chocolates. Tolle and Oviedo are monsters but still working on control. 

However, though he deserves to break camp with Boston, Early will probably be sent down because management has more invested in other starters. But as soon as he's promoted to fill in for an injured arm, he'll be up to stay.

Very well said.

Early knows how to to get guys out. He seems to have supreme confidence in himself, but not in a cocky way.

We we certainly will need a 6th starter, probably sooner than we want, and I feel very secure knowing Early could be the first one up.

[drewski6]

Its a bit bittersweet to see Early and Tolle perform so well, considering Breslow made pitching his first and second priority in the off-season.  Im glad they traded some of the glut to bring in Contreras and Durbin and Im very glad it was guys like Harrison and Dobbins whom were dealt vs Tolle and Early. 

The plan is to hold Early and Tolle back and Im not sure exactly when that extra year of control is granted, and I certainly have mixed feelings about not letting the 6 year team control clock start for Early and Tolle when they are both already 23.  But despite how I feel about that, the extra year of control is good for the club in both cases and has a nice added benefit of being able to see how Gray/Ranger/Oviedo/Bello open the season.

If all five "default starters" (Crochet, Gray, Ranger, Oviedo, Bello) are healthy and productive one month into the season (once the service time manipulation holdbacks are complete), you can always make a move then or even go with a 6 man rotation just for a little while.

[Nick]

Cora will need to manage Whitlock's work load. Despite reports of being in a  'pitching shape', he continues to disappoint. He still lacks put away pitch. Afraid to pitch to the leadoff hitter, expending who knows how many pitches. Then throws a lazy changeup over the middle of the plate for a winning hit.

I hope we come up with a better 8th inning solution. Definitely not a closer. Will he be ever the guy remembered as having his best season his rookie year as a Rule 5 guy?

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, drewski6 said:

Its a bit bittersweet to see Early and Tolle perform so well, considering Breslow made pitching his first and second priority in the off-season.  Im glad they traded some of the glut to bring in Contreras and Durbin and Im very glad it was guys like Harrison and Dobbins whom were dealt vs Tolle and Early. 

The plan is to hold Early and Tolle back and Im not sure exactly when that extra year of control is granted, and I certainly have mixed feelings about not letting the 6 year team control clock start for Early and Tolle when they are both already 23.  But despite how I feel about that, the extra year of control is good for the club in both cases and has a nice added benefit of being able to see how Gray/Ranger/Oviedo/Bello open the season.

If all five "default starters" (Crochet, Gray, Ranger, Oviedo, Bello) are healthy and productive one month into the season (once the service time manipulation holdbacks are complete), you can always make a move then or even go with a 6 man rotation just for a little while.

Great summary. 

I've never been one to support a 6 man rotation, but with the depth of starters we have, this may be the exception. The other idea would be to selectively choose one to move to the pen and give it some quality mid to high leverage innings. We will likely need pen help, too.

If everyone stays healthy (little chance) we may have Crawford and Sandoval to take some bulk but meaningful pen innings, and I struggle to imagine using Early or Tolle in pen roles, but if the other 5 are doing very well as starters, that may be what happens. Perhaps, we end up moving Oviedo or Bello to pen roles, but again, this is going on the longshot assumption everyone stays healthy.

It's hard not to view our top 9 SP'ers as one of the best and deepest 9 this team has ever seen.

Crochet, Sanchez, Gray, Bello, Oviedo

Crawford, Sandoval

Early, Tolle

[moonslav59]

15 minutes ago, Nick said:

Cora will need to manage Whitlock's work load. Despite reports of being in a  'pitching shape', he continues to disappoint. He still lacks put away pitch. Afraid to pitch to the leadoff hitter, expending who knows how many pitches. Then throws a lazy changeup over the middle of the plate for a winning hit.

I hope we come up with a better 8th inning solution. Definitely not a closer. Will he be ever the guy remembered as having his best season his rookie year as a Rule 5 guy?

I hope this is sarcasm.

For just one rebuttal: Career

First batter: .185 BA/ .242 OBP/.305 SLG

Men on Base: .230/.300/..366

Late & Close: .199/.256/.310

High Leverage: .198/.265/.326

He might be the best set-up man the Sox have ever had.

 

[Old Red]

9 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I hope this is sarcasm.

I have less worries on Whitlock then I do with Chapman for this coming season.

[mvp 78]

 

[moonslav59]

36 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I have less worries on Whitlock then I do with Chapman for this coming season.

I agree.

The major issue with Whitlock was when they messed with his role. You and others pointed out, at the time that this was a huge mistake, and it was.

As a strict set-up man, he has been amazingly effective.

2025: 30 save situations

24 Holds (just 13% of IH runners scored)

1 Save

4 Blown saves

2021: 22 Save situations

15 Holds (25% of IH runners scored)

2 saves

3 Blown Saves

[Old Red]

23 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I agree.

The major issue with Whitlock was when they messed with his role. You and others pointed out, at the time that this was a huge mistake, and it was.

As a strict set-up man, he has been amazingly effective.

2025: 30 save situations

24 Holds (just 13% of IH runners scored)

1 Save

4 Blown saves

2021: 22 Save situations

15 Holds (25% of IH runners scored)

2 saves

3 Blown Saves

The Red Sox needed starters at the time especially with Sale being frail, and both Whitlock, and Houck were cheap options whom both roles were messed with.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

I hope this is sarcasm.

When one employs the use of sarcasm, it is best to keep it brief.  Nick wrote a small book.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, drewski6 said:

the extra year of control is good for the club in both cases and has a nice added benefit of being able to see how Gray/Ranger/Oviedo/Bello open the season.

i think of it as a W/W/W.  A bit more seasoning, regular work, innings controlled, and the extra season never hurts.  That said, while I think Early is about who he is, I think Tolle can improve.

I also don't want any interruptions.  This can't be controlled, but if/when they are called up, I am hoping that they are told that the starting gig is theirs and there is no going back.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

The Red Sox needed starters at the time especially with Sale being frail, and both Whitlock, and Houck were cheap options whom both roles were messed with.

Yes, and the word was Whitlock wanted a shot at starting, and he'd been one through the Yankee system. I wasn't against the idea, at the time. but it turned out to ba a bad choice.

[JoeBrady]

36 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes, and the word was Whitlock wanted a shot at starting, and he'd been one through the Yankee system. I wasn't against the idea, at the time. but it turned out to ba a bad choice.

Most pitchers with more than two pitches get a shot starting.  Nothing unusual.  In fact, I think it would be more unusual to not give him a shot.

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Most pitchers with more than two pitches get a shot starting.  Nothing unusual.  In fact, I think it would be more unusual to not give him a shot.

Yup.

I'm glad his nitch was found.

 

[moonslav59]

6 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

Most pitchers with more than two pitches get a shot starting.  Nothing unusual.  In fact, I think it would be more unusual to not give him a shot.

Yup.

I'm glad his nitch was found.

 

[moonslav59]

Bello looked good!

[alsoason]

A tad nervous about Crochet's spring heading into today, and he did nothing to ease my concern with this start

[Duran Is The Man]

the entire team sucked ass today. nice job by Sale.

[Old Red]

3 hours ago, alsoason said:

A tad nervous about Crochet's spring heading into today, and he did nothing to ease my concern with this start

As I’ve said this offseason it will be interesting to see how Cro Man fares this season after his first heavy workload in innings last year. It starts counting for real next time out, and that’s all that matters.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

As I’ve said this offseason it will be interesting to see how Cro Man fares this season after his first heavy workload in innings last year. It starts counting for real next time out, and that’s all that matters.

It was his last start before regular season.  He might have been throwing just to keep his arm loose.

[vegasbob]

Spring training, with the WBC insert seems unproductive but it is not as irrelevant as some would like to think.  I agree, let the games begin and the stats be counted.   Didn't some half baked coach say, you play like you practice.   

The hitting weakness in the last 3 games overshadows Crochet's awful game today . Garrett will only pitch every 5 days and the guys will need to hit on the other 4 as well.   

The Sox road game starts the last few seasons are not welcome as they keep the players away from "home" for another week.  

Good Luck, Sox. You need about 90 wins to stay relevant.  Go get 4 on the road.

[JoeBrady]

12 hours ago, vegasbob said:

The Sox road game starts the last few seasons are not welcome

Just more on a macro level, but the first week or so should be played in the south.  Northern weather is too unpredictable.

[notin]

On 3/19/2026 at 11:06 AM, Old Red said:

I have less worries on Whitlock then I do with Chapman for this coming season.

There’s a decent chance Whitlock is closing before the season ends…

[notin]

15 hours ago, vegasbob said:

Spring training, with the WBC insert seems unproductive but it is not as irrelevant as some would like to think.  I agree, let the games begin and the stats be counted.   Didn't some half baked coach say, you play like you practice.   

The hitting weakness in the last 3 games overshadows Crochet's awful game today . Garrett will only pitch every 5 days and the guys will need to hit on the other 4 as well.   

The Sox road game starts the last few seasons are not welcome as they keep the players away from "home" for another week.  

Good Luck, Sox. You need about 90 wins to stay relevant.  Go get 4 on the road.

Spring training stats don’t matter.  Most of us that have been watching baseball for a long time have seen players struggle in spring training and go on to have good  seasons.  And we’ve seen players with good spring training numbers struggle when it matters.

Of course we have also seen players struggle in the spring and go on to struggle in the regular season as well.  And therein lies the worry.  Yes, it’s likely to happen to someone on the Sox, but it’s not as foreseeable as one might think.  Spring training is absolutely not for “practicing as you play” and you only need to follow the increasing trail of IP to realize this.  Spring training is for getting loose and (even more important) not getting hurt.  Most roster decisions have already been made before anyone even dons a uniform for the first time, so trying isn’t necessarily anyone’s priority.  Sure the occasion fringey player like Braiden Ward might try to get noticed.  And the occasional battle for the last bench spot or the last bullpen slot might happen.  But even then, how often are those decisions made by ST performances?

[moonslav59]

36 minutes ago, notin said:

 But even then, how often are those decisions made by ST performances?

It does matter in some cases.

How did Newcomb not only make the 26, but begin the season in the rotation?

Chase Anderson, Raimel Tapia, Phillips Valdez...

[notin]

52 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It does matter in some cases.

How did Newcomb not only make the 26, but begin the season in the rotation?

Chase Anderson, Raimel Tapia, Phillips Valdez...

1.  Does Newcomb make the rotation if Kutter Crawford isn’t hurt? Does he even make the team?  
 

2. Valdez, Tapia, Anderson fall into that “last man on the bench/bullpen”, but even then injuries are usually involved.  Braiden Ward was the hot topic for most of March; did he play himself on to the roster? 
 

If I asked you to nane the Sox 26 man roster on Feb 1st, how many names would you have gotten right?

[Bellhorn04]

Every time I see the name Monasterio I'm made to think about music forum debates over which versions of Beatles albums people like better.

[vegasbob]

12 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Every time I see the name Monasterio I'm made to think about music forum debates over which versions of Beatles albums people like better.

The Beatles are missing 2 of their starters .

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

1.  Does Newcomb make the rotation if Kutter Crawford isn’t hurt? Does he even make the team?  

No, not if he sucked in ST'ing. The guy was never mentioned before ST'ing.
 

2. Valdez, Tapia, Anderson fall into that “last man on the bench/bullpen”, but even then injuries are usually involved.  Braiden Ward was the hot topic for most of March; did he play himself on to the roster? 

Of course injuries play into the choices made, but none of these guys make it w/o decent springs.
 

If I asked you to nane the Sox 26 man roster on Feb 1st, how many names would you have gotten right?

Maybe 23-24 right?

How is this supporting your claim that ST'ing matters very little in who makes the 26?

Okay, injuries matter more, but that doesn't change how the final slots are chosen.

[notin]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Maybe 23-24 right?

How is this supporting your claim that ST'ing matters very little in who makes the 26?

Okay, injuries matter more, but that doesn't change how the final slots are chosen.

Because 23-24 of the decisions for most teams were easily predictable even before games started. And I bet even those last 2-3 roster spots depend are probably already 90% certain before any of us realize it.   As fans, we like to think a lot more is up for grabs than really is.  For example, Braiden Ward has a .904 OPS and a spring training record.  Marcelo Mayer has a .710 OPS this spring and a history of health issues.  Who do you think makes the team?  Or Connor Wong, who posted a pathetic .238 OPS this ST, think Ward gets a roster spot over Wong?  If ST stats determined roster spots, shouldn’t Ward snd his record-setting spring training have won something?

In fact, all spring there was a lot of “you can’t count on Mayer” and how no one had faith in him, etc.  Well, believe it or not, the Sox actually probably have plenty of faith in Mayer, and are even more aware than us of his physical limitations…