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Red Sox ALDS Roster

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Here’s the Red Sox major league roster for the American League Division Series, which starts Thursday in Houston.

Major league rules stipulate that on players already on the 40-man roster, the 60-day disabled list or the bereavement/family medical emergency list as of midnight ET on August 31 are eligible for a postseason roster. Players acquired via September trades or signed as free agents in September are ineligible for postseason play. Players who have served a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs in a given season are likewise ineligible for postseason play that year.


Notes For Red Sox Fans on a Day Without Baseball

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On this day without baseball, a few notes of interest to Red Sox fans as we get closer to the start of the 2017 American League Division Series.

If you’d allow me just one personal note, a quick thought on the terrible news from Las Vegas today. Long-time followers of RSNStats on Twitter may know that Vegas was my home, until recently, for the past 15 or so years. It’s the place I’ve lightheartedly called, “RSNStats World Headquarters.”

Visitors—and there were always visitors—would ask what it’s like to live in Las Vegas. I’d always say the same thing: Vegas is like anywhere else. We have schools, libraries, banks and bakeries, churches, parks, and now, even major sports teams. It’s like anywhere else, just hotter.

It’s easy to think of Las Vegas as “sin city” or expect it to be all just like The Strip, but in reality, off the Strip, it’s feels like any other American city. There are a lot of good people there and I’m relieved to say I have heard of none, so far, to have been directly impacted by the events of October 1. Of course, all of them will be indirectly affected in the weeks, months, and even years ahead. Keep them in your thoughts.

Incidentally, former Red Sox reliever Mike Timlin was at the Route 91 Harvest Festival concert on Sunday, tweeting out a picture before the shooting. He tweeted later that he and his party were OK.

Now, on to more pleasant topics…

  • We won’t have Pete Rose comments to scratch our heads about this post-season. Fox Sports is finally moving away from Rose after allegations this summer that he committed statutory rape more than 40 years ago. All the lurid details are covered by ESPN, but the good news for Sox fans is that the network coverage will instead feature All-Stars Keith Hernandez and David Ortiz. Papi called the network call-up, “the next best thing to stepping on that field in a uniform.”
  • What are your ten biggest, best postseason memories for the Red Sox? Bosox Injection took a crack at building a definitive list and, while you may quibble with the order, it’s hard to argue with the No. 1 spot on the list.
  • NESN analyst Tom Caron, writing for the Portland Press Herald, reminds the Nation that while the regular season is a marathon, the postseason is a sprint. And in any sprint, how you get out of the box can be the most important thing. For the Red Sox, that puts more pressure than ever on Chris Sale when he faces Justin Verlander in Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Thursday.
  • Ted Barrett, a 20-year MLB umpiring veteran, will be the crew chief for the Sox and Astros’ ALDS. He’ll be at second base for Game 1 on Thursday. “Reverend Doctor Crew Chief” is an ordained minister at a non-denominational church in Arizona. Dan Bellino, who himself holds a law degree, will be the umpire at home plate. At first base will be Angel Hernandez while Mark Wegner will handle third base. For postseason games, there are also outfield umpires on the crew. Mike Everitt and Marty Foster will man the left and right field lines, respectively. This crew will stay with the teams for the entirety of this series.

Red Sox Are 2017 AL East Champs

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The Red Sox did as we hoped, took matters into their own hands, and beat the Astros on Saturday to secure a ninth AL East Division Championship. It’s the first back-to-back division crown in club history, since division play was introduced in 1969.

With a loss in an all-but-meaningless game on Sunday, the Sox finished the 2017 season with a 93-69 record, matching exactly their production in the last season.

Now the focus is on the American League Division Series, which opens on Thursday at 4:00 ET/1:00 PT in Houston. Game 2 of that series will be on Friday at 2:00 ET/11:00 PT. Game 3 will be at Fenway on Sunday at a time to be announced.

After the game, Manager John Farrell credited his team to staying focused on winning the division, despite the Yankees’ late surge. “We’ve been challenged throughout this six, seven weeks to close out this season, [so there] hasn’t been an opportunity to rest guys along the way,” Farrell said. “We’ve pushed and pushed and our guys have responded in a great way. The resiliency that we talk about with this group is there.” But Farrell said the start of the ALDS is a whole new ball game. “Come Thursday, it will undoubtedly take a different tone.”

The Red Sox have a day off Monday, followed by a full workout on Tuesday ahead of the trip to Houston.


Red Sox Honor Club’s Top Minor Leaguers

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On Saturday, the Red Sox will honor the organization’s top minor league players of the year in a Saturday afternoon pre-game ceremony.

Third baseman Michael Chavis (pictured right), 22, is the Offensive Player of the Year after finishing the season tied for fifth among all minor leaguers with 31 home runs between High-A Salem and Double-A Portland (126 total games). Overall, Chavis was sixth among qualifying Sox farmhands with a .282 batting average (133-for-471). Chavis has now played in four minor league seasons since being selected in the first round of the 2014 June Draft.

With a career-low 3.29 ERA in 26 starts between Double- and Triple-A this season, lefty Jalen Beeks, 24, is the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Twice this season (April & July) Beeks was Starting Pitcher of the Month. His season included a 25.0-inning scoreless streak from April 22 through May 18, the second-longest in Portland franchise history.

Catcher Austin Rei, 23, is Defensive Player of the Year; Outfielder Tate Matheny, 23, is Baserunner of the Year; Infield/outfielder Keibert Petit, 19, is Latin Program Player of the Year; Pitcher Luis Rivero, 19, is Latin Program Pitcher of the Year.

Johnson Earns Lou Gorman Award

The Sox are recognizing pitcher Brian Johnson, 25, with the Lou Gorman Award. The achievement goes annually to the minor leaguer who has demonstrated dedication and perseverance in overcoming obstacles while working his way to the major league team.

Fans will, no doubt, recall the tenacity Johnson has repeatedly demonstrated to make it to the big leagues, including coming back after twice being struck in the head by a line drive. This May facing the Mariners, Johnson became the first Red Sox pitcher since Pedro Martinez with a nine-inning shutout in his Fenway Park debut. He owns a 32-26, 3.18 ERA record in 103 career minor league games.

Now some other news and notes of interest to Red Sox fans:

  • Ticket prices for the 2018 Red Sox games will go up 2.5% on average over this year’s prices, the club Sox said this week. It will cost you between $1 and $5 more next season for seats in the Field Boxes (sections 17-70), Loge Boxes (103-155), the Bud Deck Barstools, Grandstand (13-27), Outfield Grandstand, Right Field Box, Right Field Roof Box, Terrace, Bleachers, and Upper Bleachers. All other section prices will be unchanged. Including this year’s increase, the Sox say they have held ticket prices in four of the past 10 seasons. The average annual increase since 2009 is 1.7% per year.
  • Terry Francona is “the best manager in baseball, no doubt about it,” says David Ortiz. Hard to argue.
  • Carl Crawford, who incidentally calls his former manager, Joe Maddon, “the most positive person I’ve ever been around,” says he’s more the happy to sit around and collect his paycheck for doing nothing. Crawford is still being paid the $22 million left on the contract he originally signed with the Sox, but now the responsibility of the Dodgers, who released him in June 2016. What remained of Crawford’s $142 million deal with Boston went to Los Angeles, along with Josh Beckett and Adrian Gonzalez in mid-2012. Crawford minces no words about his tough time in Boston. “I carried hate for that city for a long time,” he told Bleacher Report. “But now, I’m over that.”

Red Sox Overcome First Inning Hole, Again

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The Red Sox came away with a 10-7 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday. In doing so, they avoided a sweep and lowered their magic number for a consecutive division crown to two.

Starting pitcher Rick Porcello once again put Boston into an immediate first-inning hole, allowing three quick runs before the Sox had even come to the plate. “Thank God our offense put up those runs,” Porcello said afterwards.

Porcello has now allowed a club-high 26 runs this season in the first frame. His 6.55 first-inning ERA is the club’s highest single-season mark by a pitcher with at least 30 starts since John Burkett‘s 10.12 ERA in 2003.

Porcello is averaging 0.78 runs per first innings pitched this season. Only Doug Fister (1.07) has a higher such ratio on the club. Porcello and Drew Pomeranz are among the 25 major league pitchers averaging the most first inning runs per innings pitched this season (minimum 30 starts).

For all its strengths, Red Sox pitching this season has now allowed exactly 100 first-inning runs, the 3rd-most in the American League. That ties this year’s crew with the 2003 club for the second-most such runs over the past 15 seasons.

2017 is just the 10th time in the last 50 Red Sox seasons that Boston has allowed 100 or more first-inning runs. The record is the forgettable 2012 season, when the Red Sox gave up 126 runs to first inning batters, the most runs allowed in any inning in that span of time.

Porcello’s Tough Season

Porcello, last year’s American League Cy Young Award winner, has struggled with his control throughout the season. He’s allowed the most runs in the American League in 2017 (125) and the most two-out runs (39) on the club, including two on Wednesday night.

With home runs by Jose Bautista and Darwin Barney, Porcello tied the Red Sox club record for most games in a single season with multiple home runs allowed (11). The others to do this were Tim Wakefield in 1996 and 2005 and Earl Wilson in 1964.

Porcello finishes the 2017 regular season 11-17 with a 4.65 ERA in 33 starts, setting new career highs for hits (236), runs (125), earned runs (105), and home runs (38) allowed. His 181 strikeouts were good for a career-best 8.0 SO per 9.0 innings pitched ratio.

Porcello gave the Red Sox 19 quality starts this season, in which he worked at least 6.0 IP and allowed three or fewer earned runs. He suffered a club-high nine losses in those starts. The righty worked two complete games, but had no shutouts.

For 2017 Porcello earned $20.1 million. His contract guarantees him $21.1 million for both the 2018 and 2019 seasons.