3 up and 3 down from the Red Sox on Opening Day
Baseball is marathon, not a sprint. But Opening Day requires a football mentality, so in that vein we give you three up and three down from the Red Sox on Opening Day.
First, let’s state the obvious: the day was a success. Against a Texas Rangers team that won the World Series in 2023, the Red Sox grinded their way through eight innings before Wilyer Abreu hit the Rangers with a haymaker in the ninth inning, belting a three-run home run (his second homer of the game) to break a 2-2 tie. The Sox generally played a clean game, but that doesn’t mean everything was perfect.
So, without delay, we give you both positive and negative takeaways from the first of 162:
Three Up
Wilyer Abreu
Pretty obvious, right? He went 3-for-3 with two home runs and four RBI, reaching base four times. For a guy who missed half of camp and officially went 1-for-20 in spring training, he looked to be in midseason form. Abreu’s only real, questionable play came in the second inning, when he seemingly misjudged a ball into the right field corner by Josh Jung. Abreu pulled up to play a carom and the ball hit the very base of the right field wall. Could he have had it? Perhaps. But it certainly felt liked his misread it.
Beyond that, Abreu was terrific. Without him, the Red Sox went 3-for-30 with 13 strikeouts.
Alex Cora
OK, why Cora? Because he made a couple of moves late in the game that paid huge dividends. First, after giving indication that Aroldis Chapman would get the first crack at closing, he brought Chapman into a 2-2 game in the bottom of the eighth inning because the Rangers had the heart of their order due up. To his credit, the historically wild Chapman answered the call, throwing seven of his 11 pitches for strikes and retiring Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia and Jake Burger. Only Wyatt Langford reached base via a single on which Chapman turned the bat into a box of toothpicks.
Cora’s second and equally as important move? He let Abreu bat against lefty Robert Garcia with two outs and a man (Campbell, walk) at first in the seventh inning. Based on the fact that Abreu has a career .183 average against lefties, the situation screamed for Rob Refsnyder. Cora stuck with Abreu, who fell behind 1-2 before grinding out a nine-pitch walk. Two innings later – because he was allowed to remain in the game – Abreu belted the game-winning, three-run homer.
Cora said he will pick and choose his options for both Abreu and Triston Casas against left-handers this year. Here’s the audio:
The bullpen
Entering the game, the bullpen was one of the biggest questions on the team. But in Game 1, it was one of the biggest strengths.
After left-hander Garrett Crochet’s pitch count escalated early, Cora went to Garrett Whitlock (two innings), Aroldis Chapman and Justin Slaten to secure the win – and they answered. The trio combined for four innings while allowing just two hits and no walks, throwing a collective 31-of-47 pitches for strikes. Chapman got the win. Slaten got the save. Does that mean Slaten is the closer? The guess is no. The Sox appear to be positioning themselves for the dreaded closer-by-committee, which will place the onus on Cora to pick the right guy at the right time. In Game 1, it worked perfectly.
Three down
Rafael Devers
After creating a bit of stink in spring training about being pushed off third base, Devers began the season as the designated hitter – and went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He saw 19 pitches in total, swung at 11 and failed to make any contact at all on nine of them. (He fouled one off and grounded out.) Remember: Devers repeatedly put off his spring debut and officially went 3-for-14 in spring training. His time has looked off from the start.
One other note: Trevor Story, Triston Casas and Alex Bregman weren’t productive, either. Combined, the Nos. 2-5 hitters in the Boston lineup went 0-for-15 with eight strikeouts. Only Story (walk) reached base.
Kristian Campbell
Yes, of course, it was his first major league game. And he was clearly nervous. But if the Red Sox are going to put him out there, he’s expected to produce. Campbell ended up securing his first major league hit in his final at-bat, though it easily could have been scored an error. He also swung at a bad pitch to strike out in his first at-bat, which was noteworthy after Cora praised his general command of the strike zone.
The more concerning part? The defense. Campbell looked shaky early, looking tentative. He stayed back on one simple grounder and then pulled a throw on his second chance. Both plays resulted in outs, but he wasn’t smooth. (Again, he looks tight.) Most importantly, one can only wonder whether this played into Cora’s decision to run for Campbell with David Hamilton during the Sox’ rally in the ninth. Cora said after the game that he wanted Hamilton’s speed, but we’re not buying it. The defense had to be in his mind.
Here’s a look at the two Campbell fielding plays we’re talking about:
Garrett Crochet
Was he bad? No. But he’s capable of more. Crochet threw 47 pitches in the first two innings and only made it through five innings, finishing with 88 pitches. He allowed five hits and struck out only four while walking two. The Rangers certainly have a good, competitive lineup – and that should be considered – and it was obviously his first start in a Boston uniform … in March. But the truth is that Nathan Eovaldi was better and outpitched him, even if the score was 2-2 when both starters departed.
“I dug myself a hole with the pitch count early,” Crochet said. “Later in the game, just started trusting the defense and trusting everybody other than myself.”
