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Boston Red Sox Get Burned By Replay

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Boston Red Sox Get Burned By Replay

The Boston Red Sox fell to the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Sunday to end their four game win streak. While the final score is a three run deficit, the game at one point looked a whole lot different.

In the third inning the Red Sox owned a 1-0 lead and where about to bring a second run to the plate to gain a 2-run lead but Christian Vasquez was deemed out at the plate. After video review the play was not overturned.

The homeplate umpire, Brian O’Nora did not hesitate when making the call in real time. And in real time Vasquez actually looked out. But upon further review it looked as if he was able to slide in ahead of the tag. But that wasn’t enough for Major League Baseball to overturn the call.

The decision ended up swinging momentum towards Tampa Bay who wouldn’t give it back for the remainder of the game. For a team in a pennant race, it doesn’t sit well with the Red Sox.

“The explanation was they can’t definitively say if the foot made contact with the plate,” Farrell said. “He beat the tag, it was a high tag, the foot was in prior to the tag, but inconclusive from the standpoint of whether the foot swiped across the surface of the plate.”

“Looking back with only one run on the board, yeah, it’s big, and I think any time you think you’ve got a run scored and it’s taken away, yeah, that’s a missed opportunity. Vazqy runs the bases extremely well going from… on the base hit he ends up at third base after a missed cutoff and again, felt like he was safe.”

Reporters were unable to ask Vasquez about the play after the game with the Red Sox catcher leaving the clubhouse rather quickly.

The decision by the replay crew doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It appears that he was clearly in ahead of the throw and is safe. This was a key swinging moment in the game and could have caused the outcome to go the other way. Which it might have done with Tampa taking the lead and winning the ballgame.

Tanner founded Trifecta Network in Spring of 2016 and has been the Chief of Content for the Network since that time. Currently Tanner covers all the sports teams in Boston and has contacts in many of the teams in the city. Before starting Trifecta, Tanner was a Site Expert for the FanSided site Chowder and Champions before leaving to cover Boston teams on the ground as a member of the media for Trifecta.

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Who’s Going to the Bullpen?

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Who’s Going to the Bullpen In October For The Boston Red Sox?

You’re fooling yourself if you don’t think that the Red Sox will be sending a left-handed starter to the bullpen, come October. Boston’s going to need at least 1 more late-inning southpaw to navigate around playoff caliber line-ups. The only question is: Who will it be?

Recently John Farrell alluded to this bullpen deficiency when commenting on the injury-status of exorbitantly paid lefty David Price. As you may have heard, Price has been making strides towards a regular season return on the mound. He threw a simulated game against Sox hitters last Wednesday. Purportedly he had all his stuff working nicely.

If David Price is to make such an expeditious return (what a fighter), it would come right on the threshold of the playoffs. John Farrell has been asked whether Price could be pitching out of the bullpen in October. His response: “At this point, you can’t rule that out.”

You have to see where Farrell is coming from here. The Sox have just 2 lefty pseudo-specialists in the pen. I tenuously concede that title, to these 2 guys, simply because they’re left-handed pitchers. We’re talking about Robby Scott and Fernando Abad here. That’s it. Those names don’t exactly inspire confidence, do they?

What Is

That’s right, at this juncture, the Red Sox are relying on 2 left-handed pitchers to come out of the bullpen in high leverage situations. The problem lies with the fact that both Scott and Abad are not utilized, nor do they present any real threat, against left-handed hitters.

Fernando Abad has had a good, if not a super-solid year for the Sox as a 7th inning arm. In 42 games, he has a 2.68 ERA. Awesome, for a guy who is just the epitome of mediocrity. What should somewhat concern fans is his ERA against left-handed hitters. It’s actually a tick higher than the mean. Against batters from the same side, Abad has a 2.81 ERA. He has 8 innings fewer, recorded against lefties than he does against righties in 2017. This betrays his role out of the pen. Abad is a general 7th inning guy. He is not the invariable shutdown southpaw that the Red Sox need to face left-handed hitters in critical October situations.

Robby Scott is a middling and shriveling hose on the mound (look at this goofball’s arm slot). Good ol’ “Bob O” is slinging with a 4.05 ERA out of the bullpen. You could call Scott Boston’s lefty-specialist, but he has an inherent weakness. This is something that will definitely rear its repugnant head in the playoffs: His ERA is 7.20 on the road. Ouch! So theoretically, Robby Scott’s only dependable for about half a postseason series.

Thus something’s gotta change.

What Could Be

As our buddy John Farrell suggested, David Price could find himself, in some capacity, pitching out of the bullpen when he returns. Now don’t forget that Farrell has a multitude of options on the table when it comes to the delegation of this staff. Expect to see a roulette-wheel of arms, or a “next man up” sort of rotation in October. It should be fun to watch.

There are 3 guys, Price being one, who are eligible to lead the staff as the “lefty” in the pen.

This youngster has the most untarnished promise: Eduardo Rodriguez. That’s right, E-Rod has already demonstrated his ability and willingness to relieve. Well, kinda. He has pitched 1 inning in relief, in his entire career. In this inning, Rodriguez struck out 2 while giving up not a single hit nor a run. What makes him an enticing option, is that he is still young. This implies that there’s some pliability left in that athlete-psychology of his. If Sox management sells it to the kid tactfully, this move to the pen could have some permanence to it. As a starter, he has a 4.28 career ERA. It’s never too late to find your calling E-Rod!

Drew Pomeranz is another left-handed starter to seriously consider as a bullpen arm, in the postseason. This guy was a full-time reliever in 2015, with the Oakland A’s. That year, he had a 2.61 ERA in 44 games. What amplifies his allure as a potential reliever: His ERA was 2.12 against lefties. Some may be deterred by his underwhelming performance in the 2016 postseason. Last year, in the Cleveland series, Pomeranz pitched 3.2 innings of relief and gave up 2 ER’s. Conversely, he had 7 K’s. These bad numbers were probably a symptom of the nervousness that Pomeranz was experiencing. He was pitching in his first couple and the only, postseason games of his career. Pomeranz is certainly worth another shot.

Lastly, we come to David Price. He is the volatile and toxic pitcher that the Red Sox have handcuffed themselves to for seasons to come. Dave Dombrowski is still desperately trying to produce a bang for his buck with this guy.

General soreness has plagued Price up and down, to his fingertips, since this past Spring. With about 3 weeks left in the regular season, and with Price situated to return after a few more rehab sessions, a decision has to be made. What do you do with this expensive lefty in October?

You can hear it screaming from the tonality of all of David Price’s press conferences: He wants to be loved. But there is also boisterous, yet half-repressed, ego here. Asking a Cy Young winning starter to go to the bullpen is a delicate task. You could kindle an inextinguishable conniption fit, the likes of which we’ve never seen. But if Farrell can spin-doctor the proposal in such a way as to make Price feel like the hero, we might have ourselves a weapon to capitalize on.

Back in 2008, coming out of the bullpen for Tampa, David Price had a 1.58 ERA in 5.2 innings pitched. And this was in the postseason! He was just a wee-little rookie back then. Since these successful relief appearances, which he made nearly a decade ago, Price has established a horrendous track-record in October.

The Hand You’re Dealt

Again, with David Price, the best approach would be to stroke the ace’s ego, when explaining this prospective move to the pen. Pitch it to him like he’d be putting Boston on his back. If the Sox can strategically delay Price’s return, John Farrell could even construe it as a short “rehabilitation period”. You know, just to get things in motion; to shake off the rust David. If I was Price, I would be grateful for any opportunity to restart with a clean slate in October.

As the Red Sox rotation is constituted, practically 70% of their starters are left-handed. Surely a bullpen assignment is on the horizon, for one of these southpaws. With a surplus of starters, the Sox can afford to spin the carousel of this rotation. It’s foreseeable that a right-hander and a left-hander could end up splitting a postseason game almost evenly. Stigmatic honor aside, what matters is the win, not who’s the pitcher on record.

John Farrell is certainly worthy of some sympathy: His bullpen resolution will be a difficult one to reach. Boston has a bunch of cantankerous and talented starter’s here, and all of them want to shine. David Price is the lefty who would be the most suited for a stint in the bullpen. Such a reintroduction would coddle him back into his preferred role as a starter. Farrell admittedly is toying with this exact notion. Let’s just hope that Price is flexible enough to do what’s asked of him.

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Red Sox Get Trampled by Rays

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Red Sox Get Trampled by Rays

The Red Sox on Sunday took a hard blowing defeat by the Rays in a score of 4-1.

Christian Vasquez was able to get in 1 run to make it look as if they weren’t going to be score less. The Rays Lucas Duda and Evan Longoria each hit 1 run while Wilson Ramos got in 2.

This was a hard hit for the Red Sox to take as they are now 81-62. The next game is against the Athletics on September 12.

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JetBlue Park Being Used As Safe Haven During Hurricane Irma

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JetBlue Park Being Used As Safe Haven During Hurricane Irma For Both Boston Red Sox Personal And The City Of Fort Myers

The Boston Red Sox have a major facility down in Fort Myers Florida called JetBlue Park. The team uses the facility for Spring training but it serves the team all year round with rehabbing players spending time their along with extended spring training players.

But the facility will be put under an immense test this weekend with Hurricane Irma coming right for Florida.

According to the Boston Red Sox the facility will be used as a command center for the City of Fort Myers as well as a safe haven for family members of Red Sox players and personnel who work out of the facility. The team had made arrangements to get their own players out of Florida and back up to Boston. But those left behind and their families who live in the area will use the structure for shelter.

Many of the Red Sox players have their offseason homes down in that area of the country so they can use the facilities during the offseason. So it was important for the Red Sox to get anyone unable to evacuate into the facility to keep them safe during the storm.

“What’s going to take place down there, you know, we’ve got a lot of guys that either make offseason homes down there or guys that even at this point have families that are unable to evacuate that are actually going to go over to JetBlue and stay there,” said Red Sox manager John Farrell. “This is a serious situation, and I think in these times that are challenging, the goodness of people start to really come through.”

It is believed the clubhouses will be serving as the primary housing for those seeking shelter, with many of the offices being outlined by windows.

Hitting Coach Victor Rodriguez, catcher Sandy Leon, and bullpen catcher Mani Martinez are among the Red Sox staff that still have family in South Florida. Others who live down there like Chris Sale and Hanley Ramirez have already flown their families up to Boston.

What the Red Sox are most concerened about is people and not the property.

“Property, that’s something that can be repaired, whatever happens to it,” Farrell said. “There’s concern. There’s attention to be paid. Hanley for one, in South Florida, has gotten his family up here. You try to make sure you understand what they’re going through. There’s obviously some kind of compassion that’s got to be given in these situations and hopefully all are going to be available to avoid something severe.”

The Boston Red Sox are doing more than just providing shelter though. Since they operate a full time facility in Florida they have decided to partner up with the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, and the Tampa Bay Rays to raise funds for hurricane reliefs.

Here is the information that the Boston Bruins sent out in the press release:

The Boston Bruins announced today that they will team up with the Boston Red Sox, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Rays tomorrow, September 10, to raise funds for Hurricane Irma relief efforts.

Noel Acciari, Kenny Agostino, Patrice Bergeron, Brandon Carlo, Torey Krug, Adam McQuaid, Kevan Miller, Paul Postma,Ryan Spooner and others will join members of the Red Sox, Panthers and Rays at the gates of Fenway Park to collect donations before and during the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox game slated for 1:35 p.m.

All donations will go to support the Red Cross to assist the region of South Florida. The Boston Bruins Foundation will match the total funds raised at the gates.

Across town the Boston Bruins have taken in the Florida Panthers who evacuated their entire team and families up to Boston to avoid the storm.

With the storm bearing down on Florida it is important to keep everyone down there in your thoughts until the storm passes.

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