Tuesday’s postgame news conference by manager Alex Cora lasted less than thirty seconds. However, he didn’t even need to take that long to evaluate Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen, two backend relievers.
In Tuesday’s 4-1 Boston victory in an exhibition game against the Rangers, Jansen and Martin both pitched shutout innings. With that, both should be prepared for Thursday’s Opening Day in Seattle.
“They’re decent,” Cora remarked. “We’ll check in with them tomorrow, but everything went pretty well. They had a successful day and completed their reps.
After the last preseason game, that was the biggest story—and the only one discussed.
Jansen tossed an 11-pitch shutout in the seventh inning, giving up no runs. He had made three appearances in the previous six days. After a right lat strain hindered him during the first three weeks of camp, there were doubts over Jansen’s availability. After he eventually got rolling and threw his first game, he subsequently experienced a sore back, but he hasn’t mentioned any problems since.
Martin then proceeded to toss 16 pitches in a scoreless eighth inning, striking out one.
Early in camp, the 37-year-old deliberately took things slow before dealing with a groyne injury. However, he has now made three outings in the last six days without any problems, much like Jansen.
Martin stated, “Felt OK.” “I feel good physically, but I’m still working on some things, like getting the delivery in sync.”
The late-inning tandem of Jansen and Martin adds some valuable experience to a Red Sox squad that has made several new additions. With 420 saves in his career, Jansen intends to add another 30 to 40 this year. Martin is coming off a season in which he produced a 1.05 ERA across 55 games with the Red Sox. He has made 324 career appearances.
staying flexible
“Flexibility” has been a buzzword for Cora in describing the roster as the Red Sox have been finalizing it this week.
“We’ve never had this before,” Cora said during his pregame news conference. “Sometimes you felt like you had your hands tied.”
That won’t be the case this season as the roster features athletic and versatile players.
Cora mentioned center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, MLB Pipeline’s No. 76 overall prospect, as a player who could start games at second base and shortstop too. Bobby Dalbec and Triston Casas provide versatility at the corner infield positions, and Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu can be used at both corner outfield spots. If Duran and Abreu are both in the starting lineup, Cora said, Duran will be in left and Abreu in right.
As far as the pitching staff, the Red Sox are expected to carry just one left-hander in Joely Rodríguez. But, Cora said the team likes right-hander Isaiah Campbell matching up against lefties as well out of the bullpen.
At the end of the day, Cora seemed pleased with the number of options this roster presents on a daily basis.
“We feel good with the group that we have,” Cora said. “I do believe we’re ready to play on Thursday.”
Being positive
Optioning left-hander Brennan Bernardino to Triple-A ranked among the most difficult roster decisions in the final week. However, Cora hopes that Bernardino and every other player who didn’t make the Opening Day roster continue to push for a spot in the big leagues.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got 26 on Thursday. Hopefully, you get 26 in October and that 26 in October is different than the 26 on Opening Day,” Cora said. “Is Opening Day special? Yeah, it’s special. People are disappointed because they’re not going to be there. At the end of the day, what are you going to do to get back to this situation? You have to push and you have to do your job wherever you go and come back to this environment.
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