The Red Sox have been crushed by Shohei Ohtani from the batter’s field. They’ll get a have a look at him from the pitcher’s mound this week.
The Angels’ two-way celebrity, who’s nursing a minor groin harm, will pitch Thursday towards the Red Sox at Fenway Park so long as he continues to really feel good, in line with supervisor Joe Maddon. Ohtani, who got here off the bench as a pinch-hitter Monday, was again in Los Angeles’ lineup, batting third because the designated hitter, on Tuesday.
Ohtani has had loads of success towards the Red Sox on the plate – which included a game-winning homer in an Angels win at Fenway final season – however he has by no means pitched towards the Sox at Fenway.
The reigning American League MVP, Ohtani has taken baseball by storm during the last couple of years, and there was much more media than normal readily available Tuesday for his return to Boston. Red Sox supervisor Alex Cora made no secret Tuesday about how a lot he admires the two-way sensation.
“With all due respect to all the athletes in baseball, he’s by far the best athlete we have,” Cora mentioned. “You’ve seen his development, and the way in which he’s been in a position to regulate. And to achieve success on each side of the ball is spectacular. I don’t even know what his preparation is so far as bodily what he has to do to be an elite pitcher, an elite hitter, the psychological facet of it, scouting report sensible how lengthy it takes for him to be prepared for us on the mound and be prepared for us on the plate, it needs to be spectacular. I understand how a lot time it takes for us to prepare for a collection, and he has to do this as a participant twice.
“So, he’s been great for the game. It seems like he has a great personality. He has embraced his stage, his platform, the right way. And it’s been great just to see him from afar. With that, I had to see him when we played. Hopefully we can get him out.”
Who’s at catcher?
Kevin Plawecki began at catcher as a substitute of Christian Vázquez, the backup’s seventh begin of the season. The Red Sox haven’t received a lot offensive manufacturing from catcher this season, rating twenty fifth in baseball with a .467 OPS coming into Tuesday, so Cora is exploring matchups.
“We look for certain matchups that we can maximize,” Cora mentioned. “Plaw is a good offensive player, just like Christian is, so we’ll take it day by day.”
Though he leads the majors with six runners caught stealing, Vázquez has struggled offensively to start out the season, slashing .220/.241/.300 with a .541 OPS in 54 plate appearances. That has been maximized with some psychological errors on the bases, together with when he misplaced observe of the variety of outs and price the Red Sox a run on Sunday. But Cora believes the catcher is coming round on the plate.
“I think, swing-wise, Sunday was his best game,” Cora mentioned. “He was staying inside the ball, he was shooting the ball the other way. He was swinging at strikes. Early on, he was chasing pitches up in the zone and swinging and missing at a lot of fastballs up. But if we’re going to talk about his swing, actually Sunday was his best one. To be able to drive the ball the other way, hit line drives the other way, I always say, that’s his forte.”
Odds & ends
Chris Sale is continuous to throw brief bullpens in his restoration from a fractured rib cage. Because he’s on the 60-day injured checklist, he’s not eligible to return till early June. …
Angels reliever Austin Warren was positioned on the injured checklist with a nasal fracture Tuesday after being hit within the face with a stray fly ball throughout Red Sox batting apply, in line with a report. …
Entering Tuesday, the Red Sox ranked tied for fifth within the majors with 14 defensive runs saved. Red Sox outfielders rank second with eight defensive runs saved.
Source: www.bostonherald.com