How have the newcomers to the Red Sox roster fared so far?
I don’t think this is the roster anyone envisioned come May 8th.
Craig Breslow has been thrown for quite a loop with long-term injuries plaguing the Red Sox club house. Trevor Story: done for the season. Triston Casa: on the 60-day IL. Masataka Yoshida: TBD as he gets a second opinion on his thumb. Multiple starting pitchers on the schneid: Nick Pivetta (who returns this evening), Brayan Bello (who ostensibly is returning Sunday, bar any setbacks), and Garrett Whitlock (who is throwing live BP Friday). What has separated Breslow from his predecessor is his willingness to bring in outside talent to fill those holes. CB II traded for a right-handed first baseman, a utility infielder, and signed a left-handed first baseman to platoon. He also was finally able to activate his starting second baseman and called up an unlikely arm from Worcester. How have they all fared so far?
Vaughn Grissom
Hello, Vaughn! It’s going to be extremely hard to give Grissom any evaluation in three games, but we can try. I’ll say he made a really strong welcome with his two-run double off the wall in Minnesota on Sunday to increase the lead.
He got a hit last night in his return to Atlanta, confidently running home on a very strange RBI single for Ceddanne Rafalela that deflected off of Aaron Bummer. Where Grissom needs to make a difference—and has so far—is on defense.
Look at how stunning that is! A rip of a grounder, 99.7 MPH of the bat of Trevor Larnach, and he vacuums it up to start a 4-6-3 double play.
Charging in on a trickler from Alex Kiriloff and throwing across your body accurately to get the force out at home? Stunning!
This is the type of reliable defense the Red Sox have needed in the middle infield. No offense (ok maybe some) to David Hamilton and Enmanuel Valdez, but Rafaela (at least for now) and Grissom look to be the athletic duo needed at short and second, respectively. The bat will come with games played, but Grissom should become a consistent factor in the lineup and on the dirt.
Dominic Smith
In five games so far, Dominic Smith…hasn’t looked too bad? For someone who’s pulled the trigger on opt-outs twice this season so far on minor league deals, he’s looking ok, especially at the plate. Not to be intimidated in his debut, he ripped an RBI single to pad the lead in a Red Sox 5-2 victory on May 1st. Two more hits on May 3rd? I’ll take that. And then an RBI double on May 4th to give the Sox a win in Minny? Yeah it was a lucky break, but it was at least good contact on the ball.
No errors in two starts at first base, though he’s played three as a DH. I’m fine so far if he sticks around on the bench once people are healthy!
Garrett Cooper
Has he been poor defensively? No. Has he been poor at the dish? Take a look below:
Congratulations, you’ve seen Garrett Cooper’s only hit in a Boston Red Sox uniform so far. Granted, he did have his own injury scare after getting hit on the inside of his right wrist by a 95 MPH sinker from very tall man and Giants pitcher Sean Hjelle in his first game in Beantown, but in five total games, he’s 1-for-16.
His misses have come in some pretty important moments. May 2nd, bases loaded with two outs in the 1st inning, he flies out. First and second in the bottom of the 3rd with one gone, he grounds into a 5-3 double play. Red Sox lose, 3-1. Two on, two down in the top of the 1st on May 3rd in Minnesota, he grounds out softly to squander a big early scoring chance. The Red Sox lost that game, 5-2.
Am I saying I need Garrett Cooper to produce like Triston Casas? No, those are extremely unrealistic expectations. But there definitely has to be more. Otherwise, we may as well throw a VR headset on Bobby Dalbec and make him believe he’s in Worcester with how well he continues to rake in AAA.
Zack Short
He already has more at-bats with the Red Sox in two games in the month of May than he did in nine games in the month of April for the Mets! That’s the only thing Short has more of so far. He literally has no hits and no walks so far. He has the same amount of strikeouts, four in May and four in April. He at least doesn’t have any errors in the field? If vanilla was a baseball player, it probably looks like Zack Short.
Oh, and the Sox have already DFA’d him with Romy Gonzalez’s return from the IL.
Naoyuki Uwasawa
Just two outings for the Japanese righty out of the bullpen. His MLB debut came at home against the Giants on May 2nd, where he tossed two scoreless frames in a 3-1 loss. He even recorded his first Big League K!
His second outing the next night in Minnesota? Not so successful. Same amount of outs, but two walks and a two-run double to Ryan Jeffers certainly sealed the Red Sox fate. It’s been a couple of days since he’s tossed, and he’s headed right back to AAA as Nick Pivetta gets activated for tonight’s start.
So, three stay and two go. Two look to be adjusting well to their new homes, and one…well isn’t living up to expectations. They’re going to have a lot of time to continue to find their games as they take up their mantles either intentionally or by hazard.