Before we hit you with five takeaways from the Red Sox’ season-opening win, a preamble:
Over the last five baseball seasons in Boston, wins have been relatively hard to come by. The Red Sox posted a 356-352 record from 2019-2023, and nobody expects a team with a payroll exceeding $200 million to have an astonishingly mediocre record, especially in the beefy American League East. That record ranks 16th in baseball and might qualify as medicore against the field as a whole, but it will get you last-place place finishes in the division, which is precisely where the Red Sox have finished in three of the last five seasons.
Capisce? Just because most everyone is picking the Red Sox to finish last again, that hardly means we should lower the standards. Au contraire. In a market like Boston, the demands should increase if and when the product deteriorates.
That said, baseball – life all sports – is a results-oriented business. At the end of the day, the Red Sox won their season opener late last night by a 6-4 score over a Seattle Mariners team that has been one of the better clubs in the American League over the last three years – at least during the regular season. Whether the Mariners can be classified as a heavyweight is entirely debatable, but this we know for certain: they’ve been better than the Red Sox.
Given last night’s 10 p.m. starting time, it’s reasonable to assume that many Sox fans passed on the chance to watch any, much or all of the team’s first meaningful game of the year – and nobody blames you. Expectations for the Sox have been low – celebrating the simplest and basest of things – and the Red Sox indisputably have more questions than answers. We all know that the final verdict will take place over the bigger picture, but we will nonetheless offer what Theo Epstein once called “snapshot evaluations.”
So, here are a handful of thoughts off last night’s game:
Brayan Bello was competitive, but the Sox will need more
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – MARCH 28: Brayan Bello #66 of the Boston Red Sox throws a pitch during the first inning of the Opening Day game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on March 28, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
Five innings, five hits, two runs, two strikeouts. On paper, it’s entirely acceptable. Bello handed the Red Sox a lead when he left the game, which is a definite plus given whom he was matched against (Luis Castillo). That said, Bello threw 84 pitches and just 49 strikes, and he was a little all-over-the-place. Opening night jitters? Early-season rust? It’s all possible. But the Red Sox didn’t just give him $55 million for the hell of it. He got a big double play in the first inning but settled down in the third and fourth innings. For Day 1, it was fine. But if he’s going to be a front-end guy, he needs to be more pitch efficient and more consistent.
The home run he allowed to Mitch Haniger? It was a hanging slider that might as well have been dipped in marinara sauce. Fortunately, the Sox already had a 3-0 at the time, which is pretty much how the game went. The Sox pitched well enough. But they won the game in other ways.
The Sox are, indeed, more athletic
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – MARCH 28: Ceddanne Rafaela #43 of the Boston Red Sox is called safe by third base umpire Chris Segal #96 against Josh Rojas #4 of the Seattle Mariners during the sixth inning of the Opening Day game at T-Mobile Park on March 28, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
You want a buzzword or catchphrase that you’re going to be fed so many times that you’ll start to gag. The Sox are more athletic. Alex Cora kept saying it. The media people around the team are now echoing it. And it’s definitely true. How it translates on the field remains to be seen. Last night, the Sox stole three bases and Ceddanne Rafaela had a hustle triple on a ball hit into the left field corner that produced a run in the sixth. Trevor Story also beat out an infield single on a routine grounder in the ninth, though the play had as much or more to do with the uncertainty of third baseman Luis Urias, whom the Sox traded to Seattle over the winter.
Relatively speaking, the Sox had a lot of relative youth on the field – and youth usually brings energy. That’s good. But youth can also lead to carelessness, which is something we’ve seen a lot of over the last couple of years.
The defense definitely looked better (other than Enmanuel Valdez)
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – MARCH 28: Enmanuel Valdez #47 of the Boston Red Sox throws to first base for a double play against Jorge Polanco #7 of the Seattle Mariners during the first inning of Opening Day game at T-Mobile Park on March 28, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
Let’s be clear here – better doesn’t mean elite. But progress is often measured in small steps. In left field, especially, Jarren Duran looked light years ahead of where he was two years ago, though where he was two years ago was pre-school. In center, Rafaela looked fast and fluid, which is something the Sox have badly lacked at the position. In right, O’Neill got good reads and looked very sure of himself, which is something Christian Arroyo (remember that?) wasn’t as part of the right-field mix two years ago.
The negatives? I could do without O’Neill launching himself when throwing to the plate, as he did last night. (It feels out-of-control and is, frankly, a hardo move.) Valdez nearly botched that double-play turn in the first inning and still moves like his legs are tied together. (Pablo Reyes replaced him after five innings.) And left-handed reliever Joely Rodriguez struck out a batter for the second out in the seventh inning … then walked toward the dugout as if the inning were over. Was that last one a physical mistake? No. But it was sloppy. And the of the last 4-5 years have been too sloppy.
The bullpen, as always, needs to be sorted out
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – MARCH 28: Kenley Jansen #74 of the Boston Red Sox hugs Connor Wong #12 after the Opening Day game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on March 28, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. The Boston Red Sox won 6-4. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
No matter the year or team, the bullpen bears watching at the start of every season, if for no other reason than to determine the starting point from which manager Alex Cora will be operating. After Bello left the game, Cora opted for right-hander Isaiah Campbell (acquired from Seattle in that Luis Urias trade) and then Rodriguez, which seemed a little curious. (Not a second guess, per se, but why not Josh Winckowski?) Mariners manager Scott Servais greeted Rodriguez by pinch-hitting Dylan Moore, who promptly belted a two-run homer to make a 5-2 game a 5-4 nail biter. Cora finished up with Chris Martin (in the eighth) and Kenley Jansen in the ninth, and the latter began his stint by walking the leadoff man in a 6-4 game.
Ultimately, the Sox won. Campbell was effective and threw almost nothing but sliders. Rodriguez got better at the end of his outing. Jansen looked a little shaky. Martin didn’t have his best stuff but throws so many strikes that he inspires confidence.
In the ninth, Jarren Duran messed with Triston Casas’ at-bat
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – MARCH 28: Jarren Duran #16 of the Boston Red Sox is safe against Jorge Polanco #7 of the Seattle Mariners tag during the ninth inning of the Opening Day game at T-Mobile Park on March 28, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. The Boston Red Sox won 6-4. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
After Story beat out a single to avoid the third out and extend the inning, the Sox had a chance to blow the game open with runners at first and third – and with Casas at the plate. Duran started creeping down the third base line and seemingly disrupted the focus of Casas, who didn’t seem happy after uncharacteristically striking out on a pitch that was down, in and significantly out of the strike zone. On the NESN broadcast, Kevin Youkilis wisely pointed out that Duran’s antics did more harm than good. At one point, Youkilis even suggested that Cora (from the dugout) told Duran to cut the sh**, though that didn’t stop Duran from coming more than halfway home on the pitch that Casas whiffed on.
Why are we telling you this? Because it felt dumb, needless and childish. Casas is hitting fourth for a reason. The Sox effectively took the bat out of his hands. The communication between Duran, Casas and the staff was poor. Frankly, Casas looked pissed. Hard to blame him.
