Baseball News and Stats
Red Sox Nation Focused
At long last, the Red Sox are poised to start the abbreviated 2020 season. Today the team announced its 30-man roster for the 120th season of Red Sox baseball.
There may have been snow around these parts just yesterday, but Fenway Park will be ready all the same for the Red Sox home opener on Thursday. Today the club showed off to the media the latest round of updates to baseball’s oldest ballpark.
Most visible to fans will be further extensions to Fenway’s protective netting. The new system extends from Field Box Section 79 to Field Box Section 9 (expanded from an area previously covering Field Box Section 61 to Field Box Section 29). The netting stands 12-feet-8-inches off the playing surface and is painted green to help minimize its impact to sight lines.
A new premium seating option, the Jim Beam Dugout, will debut this season for groups of up to 25 people. The experience, which is meant to give fans a view similar to actually being in the dugout, comes with a pregame meal, a Fenway tour, and in-seat service for drinks and snacks.
In addition, 30 new seats have been added just past the Visitors’ dugout for 2018. The new row, which aligns with the camera well, is positioned behind the newly expanded protective netting.
With the new Sam Deck the Sox further expand their relationship with beer makers Samuel Adams this season. The deck will feature a variety of Sam Adams brews and “Sam Adams-inspired food items.” The old “3rd Base Saloon” has also been re-branded as “Sammy’s on 3rd” this season.
As usual, Fenway’s concessionaires have lined up a new array of over-the-top snacks for hungry fans. During the chill of April ice cream stands will instead serve chowder, chili, and hot beverages.
The club reports that over $300 million has been invested in Fenway Park improvements since 2002.
The first game of the Post-Papi Era was a satisfying Red Sox win in a rare visit to Boston by the Pirates for the start the 2017 campaign.
Amid the pomp and ceremony of a new Sox season there were Patriots and fireworks (thanks to an Andrew Benintendi blast over the right field wall), and even well wishes from David Ortiz himself, albeit through social media, not in person.
Good luck guys…. give red sox nation what they deserve 💪🏿 pic.twitter.com/AQZrbWpmKK
— David Ortiz (@davidortiz) April 3, 2017
The Sox, held scoreless into the fifth inning, suddenly erupted for the entirety of their runs, all coming with two outs. After a triple by the club’s 2016 triples leader, Jackie Bradley Jr., a fleet-footed and highly motivated Pablo Sandoval beat out an infield single that put the Sox on the board. A surprising bunt against the shift by Sandy León put two men on in time for a 384-foot blast off the bat of Benintendi.
After the game, Manager John Farrell said the decision to bunt was León’s. “We want our guys to play the game,” Farrell said. “That’s an attack on Sandy’s part that he’s worked on, and it worked here today.”
At 22 years, 271 days old, Monday’s home run made Benintendi the youngest Sox player to homer on Opening Day since Mookie Betts two seasons ago. “For a guy of his stature,” Farrell noted of the latest rookie phenom, “there’s such great timing and fluidity to the swing, he creates easy power.”
The 2016 American League Cy Young Award winner, Rick Porcello, did not disappoint in his first ever Opening Day start. Porcello allowing three earned runs on six hits with a walk and five strikeouts. His 6.1 innings of work marked his 42nd consecutive start with at least 5.0+ IP, the longest such active streak in the league and, after 56 such starts by Luis Tiant, the second longest by a Red Sox pitcher since 1913.
Porcello had held the Pirates scoreless for 23.0 IP before allowing 3 ER in the seventh on Monday. With the win he improved to 3-0, 1.23 ERA in four career starts against the Bucs.
Porcello was followed by Matt Barnes, Robby Scott, Heath Hembree, and Craig Kimbrel, who collected his 20th straight save. For Barnes, the outing marked his 100th career appearance.
Even without the Large Father, the hits kept coming for the Red Sox.
Every Boston batter but Mitch Moreland connected for at least one hit Monday. Xander Bogaerts and León had two apiece.
In all, the Sox amassed 10 hits starting, one would hope, a new string of double-digit hit games. In 2016, fully half of Boston’s games featured 10+ hits, the most of all the major league clubs.
Dustin Pedroia, unquestionably now the leader of a large body of stats for active Red Sox, was 1-for-4 on Monday, his 11th straight Opening Day at second base for Boston. Pedroia’s is the 2nd-longest consecutive Opening Day start streak at any position in club history, trailing only Carl Yastrzemski’s 12-start streak in left field (1961-72). The game also marked Pedey’s 1,399th major league game, tying him with Dom DiMaggio for 11th on the club’s All-Time Games Played List. He’ll need 147 more to meet Jason Varitek at #10 on that list.
We’ve waited patiently and now patience is rewarded. After an 18-14-3 spring, it’s time to start the 2017 Red Sox season!
The Sox open the new season, their 117th, at home facing the Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s only the second time ever the Pirates have played at Fenway following a three-game set a dozen years ago.
For all-time, Boston is 57-58-1 on Opening Day, excluding Game 2 of doubleheaders played in 1903, 1948 and 1982. They’re 9-8 in Day One action since 2000.
After six straight years of Opening Days on the road, 2017 marks the 41st time the Sox will open a season at Fenway. In the last 100 seasons dating back to 1917, Boston is 19-15 in home starts and have won five of their last six, including the two most recent bouts in 2009 versus the Rays and in 2010 facing the Yankees.
The Red Sox will play a National League opponent on Opening Day for the second time in three seasons. Boston walloped the Keystone State’s other franchise, the Phillies, 8-0 on Opening Day 2015 in a game that featured two home runs apiece for Dustin Pedroia and Hanley Ramírez. For good measure, Ramírez’ second roundtripper was a 9th inning grand slam.
For all-time, the Sox are 5-7 in regular season action against the Bucs. The only team Boston has faced fewer times than the Pirates are the Reds (10 total games). The last regular season meeting between Boston and Pittsburgh came in September 2014 at PNC Park, a forgettable three-game Pirates sweep. In Pittsburgh’s only previous regular season visit to Boston in June 2005, they fell to the Sox 2-games-to-1.
Sox history buffs know that Boston beat Pittsburgh in the first ever modern World Series, a best-of-nine set that ended at Boston’s Huntington Avenue Grounds on October 13, 1903. In that series the Boston Americans overcame a 1-game-to-3 deficit to win four straight and the series title 5-games-to-3.
For the Sox 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello will take the mound in his first career Opening Day start (he’s also seven away from the 1,000th strikeout of his career). The club’s record for most Day One pitching starts is held by Roger Clemens (8). Hall of Famer Tom Seaver owns the MLB record for most Opening Day starts (16).
For Dustin Pedroia it will be his 11th Opening Day start at second base with the Red Sox, three behind the franchise record held by Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr (13).
Andrew Benintendi, Heath Hembree, Eduardo Rodriguez, Robby Scott, Steve Selsky, Ben Taylor, and Christian Vazquez are all making their first career Opening Day starts on Monday with the Red Sox.
Craving even more Opening Day Red Sox stats? At the start of last season RSNStats recalled some Opening Day milestones, such as the Red Sox’ only Opening Day walk-off win (it was in 1941). Have a read through as you settle in and gear up for another exciting new Red Sox season!
In the winter, few things can warm you better than the thought of the crack of the bat from Spring Training. After the blur of the holidays, though, January can seem to grind to a standstill. Fortunately, we still have the Patriots while we watch the calendar inch closer to February 13, when Red Sox pitchers and catchers are required to be in Spring Training camp.
Last week, Major League Baseball announced the official 2017 exhibition schedule, which begins with the Diamondbacks, now managed by former Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo, hosting Grand Canyon University at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Arizona on February 22.
The Red Sox’ first game of the spring will come facing the Northeastern University Huskies on Thursday, February 23 at 1:05 ET followed by a match up against the Mets the next day at the same time. The Sox full exhibition schedule runs through March 30.
The official season starts April 3, with ESPN providing national coverage of seven games over that Sunday and Monday. The big Sunday night telecast features the Cubs at the Cardinals.
Once again, the Sox will open their season facing a National League opponent. This year it will be the Pirates, but at home at Fenway on Monday April 4. You can download a printable version of the Red Sox regular season schedule here.
Here are more notes of interest from the past week for Red Sox fans: