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Sox, Pivetta Strike Back Against Astros

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – After a 13-4 lambasting at the hands of the Houston Astros on Tuesday night, a game that saw the ‘Stros tie a major league record with five home runs in a single inning (2nd vs Nathan Eovaldi), the Boston Red Sox needed to strike back on Wednesday. The pitching rotation called for Boston right-hander Nick Pivetta (1-4, 5.08 ERA) to take the mound vs Houston’s Luis Garcia (3-1, 2.94 ERA).

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When Pivetta faced Astros lead-off man Jose Altuve in the first, it looked as though Houston was picking up where they left off on Tuesday when Altuve took a 3-2 pitch over the Green Monster in left field. That would not be the case over nine innings, as Pivetta earned a 5-1 victory by allowing only one other hit, a double by LF Michael Brantley, to pitch a complete game, two-hitter.

It was the first complete game for a Red Sox pitcher since Chris Sale went nine innings against the Royals in Kansas City on June 5, 2019 (8-0 win) and the first complete game at Fenway Park since Rick Porcello tossed nine against the New York Yankees on August 3, 2018 (4-1 win).

To earn his complete game and two-hitter, Pivetta threw 112 pitches with 78 for strikes. A whopping 23 of those pitches came in the first inning when Pivetta settled down to retire three-straight after the Altuve lead-off HR. Pivetta allowed only the one earned run while striking out eight and walking none.

The Red Sox offense gave Pivetta support immediately, registering two runs in the bottom of the first on a Rafael Devers triple and J.D. Martinez sacrifice fly, then a Xander Bogaerts home run, his fourth of the season. Boston picked-up another un in the third inning when Devers doubled in Kiki Hernandez who led off the inning by reaching first on a Jeremy Pena error at short.

The Sox scattered singles against Garcia to tally two more runs in the fourth, which closed out the scoring.

Boston’s DH, Martinez, had an 18-game hitting streak and 34-game on base streak snapped, and his luck ran out when a seventh inning ground ball to short had to be reviewed by the umpires, to no avail for the .325 hitter who went 0-for-3 with an RBI via the SAC fly, his 20th run batted in this season. He trails only Devers (21) in the team lead for RBI.

After crunching Eovaldi for 13 runs, the Astros bats went dull on their get-away game that started at 6:12pm and was over by 8:50pm (ET). Altuve struck-out twice after hitting the lead-off homer, his eighth of the season, while both 1B Yuli Gurriel and Pena each went down twice to strikes.

NOTES: Boston will host the Seattle Mariners who lost 11 of their last 15, not including this evenings game at Toronto. The Mariners will be at Fenway Park for a Thursday through Sunday, four-game set. Mariners rookie hot pitching prospect George Kirby (0-0, 0.90 ERA) will face veteran Rich Hill (1-1, 2.89 ERA) on Thursday evening. … Tonight’s complete game by Nick Pivetta was only the second of his career, the other coming June 8, 2019 vs the Cincinnati Reds. … Boston SS Xander Bogaerts has six RBI over his last six games. … Houston’s Michael Brantley has reached base safely in 13-straight games and is hitting .306 over that span. … Jose Altuve scored his 900th career run with his HR and is only the fourth player in Houston Astros history to record 900 runs (Craig Biggio-1,844), (Jeff Bagwell-1,517) and (Lance Berkman-1,008)

Sox Call-Up Duran as COVID+ Strikes

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Following a two-game skid while hosting the Los Angeles Angels, the Red Sox were forced to make the following roster moves on Friday before their series opener against the Chicago White Sox.

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  • Placed left-handed pitcher Rich Hill and infielder/outfielder Kiké Hernández on the COVID-19 Related Injured List.
  • Recalled outfielder Jarren Duran from Triple-A Worcester.
  • Selected right-handed pitcher John Schreiber to the active major league roster from Worcester.

Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom made the roster moves.

Hill, 42, allowed one hit over 5.0 scoreless innings yesterday against the Angels, his third consecutive scoreless start. The left-hander became just the fourth player to make as many as three consecutive scoreless starts at the age of 42 or older, joining Phil Niekro (1984), Roger Clemens (2005), and Bartolo Colon (2015).

Hernández, 30, has started 24 of the Red Sox’ 26 games this season in center field. The right-handed hitter ranks tied for second on the team with eight doubles, with nine of his 18 hits going for extra bases. Hernández has eight RBI in his last 12 games.

Duran, 25, is batting .397 (23-for-58) with a 1.116 OPS, 15 runs, eight extra-base hits, 11 RBI, and seven stolen bases in 15 games for Worcester this season. The left-handed hitter made his major league debut with Boston last season, making 25 starts in center field and one in left field. Duran is ranked by Baseball America as the Red Sox’ No.  4 prospect and the No. 84 prospect in baseball.

Duran started in center field on Friday night

Schreiber, 28, made two scoreless relief appearances for Boston during the club’s recent series in Toronto, combining to allow one hit with one strikeout in 2.1 innings. The right-hander has posted a 1.46 ERA (2 ER/12.1 IP) in seven relief appearances for Worcester this season, striking out 15 while issuing three walks.

Red Sox Roster Moves

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official News Releases) – The Boston Red Sox placed left-handed pitcher Rich Hill on the Bereavement/Family Medical Emergency List. To fill Hill’s spot on the active roster, the club recalled catcher Ronaldo Hernández from Triple-A Worcester. Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom made the roster move..

Hill, 42, started yesterday’s game against the Minnesota Twins, allowing four runs in 4.2 innings. The left-hander has made two starts for the Red Sox this season, posting a 7.00 ERA (7 ER/9.0 IP).

Hernández, 24, has played in seven games for Worcester this season, making six starts at catcher. In 106 games between Worcester and Double-A Portland since the start of 2021, the right-handed hitter is batting .274 (107-for-391) with 48 extra-base hits and 62 RBI. His first appearance will be his major league debut.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox made additional roster moves in reaction to yesterdays sidelining of Kevin Plawecki and subsequent medical update on Plawecki’s battery-mate in catcher Christian Vázquez and infielder Jonathan Araúz on the COVID-19 Related Injured List.

Additional moves included:

· Recalled right-hander pitcher Tyler Danish from Triple-A Worcester.

· Selected outfielder Rob Refsnyder to the active major league roster from Worcester.

Vázquez, 31, has started seven of the Red Sox’ first 10 games at catcher, throwing out two of five attempted base stealers (40.0%). The right-handed hitter went 2-for-4 with two RBI in yesterday’s game against the Twins, hitting his first home run of the season in the seventh inning.

Araúz, 23, has appeared in five games this season, making three starts at second base. The switch-hitter most recently appeared as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning on Saturday.

Danish, 27, has not allowed a run in his three relief appearances for Worcester this season, striking out six batters in 3.0 innings. The right-hander posted a 1.29 ERA (1 ER/7.0 IP) in six Grapefruit League appearances for the Red Sox in Spring Training.

Refsnyder, 31, is batting .400 (14-for-35) with 12 runs scored, four doubles, one home run, eight RBI, and nine walks in 11 games for Worcester this season. The right-handed hitter has made eight starts in center field, two in right field, and one at designated hitter.

Sox Plawecki Out on COVID+ List

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BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox placed catcher Kevin Plawecki on the COVID-19 related Injured list and filled his spot on the active roster with catcher Connor Wong from Triple-A Worcester.  Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom made the move.

Plawecki, 31, has played in four games this season, with the Red Sox winning each of his three starts at catcher. The right-handed hitter has batted .297 (74-for-249) with a .757 OPS in 92 games during his three seasons with Boston (2020-22).

Wong, 25, has made four starts at catcher for Triple-A Worcester this season, batting .250 (4-for-16) with three runs scored. The right-handed hitter played in six games for Boston last season, his major league debut, and hit .308 (4-for-13) with one double, one triple, and one RBI.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora noted that two (non-coaching) members of the team staff also tested COVID+ and were asked to quarantine under guidelines previously established. The Red Sox staff members were not identified.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | April 17

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While We’re Young (Ideas) Enjoys the Pageantry of Baseball

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – This weekend, we’ll delve into the wonderful pageantry of the game of Baseball and its place in the sporting fabric of the City of Boston and the United States of America. There’s nothing quite like it as we work towards a return to our normal lives of pre-COVID virus amidst constantly threatening variants.

First and foremost: Happy Easter and a thoughtful and peaceful Passover to those who celebrate. Our simple wish of peace to people of all faiths as Spring 2022 “Springs Eternal” in the Northeast, USA.

A DAY IN THE LIFE: The Boston Red Sox lost their home opener against the Minnesota Twins, 8-4, on Friday. Aside from some early season/limited Spring Training grumbles (see below), nearly every fan left Fenway Park as happy as could be.

First, because of the fact the home opener came six games into the season, on a 65-degree Boston Friday, the assembled fans at Fenway were downright giddy. It seemed as though the entire City of Boston and Commonwealth of Massachusetts shunned their work obligations and their Tax Man duties and will rely on the fact the true income tax deadline is Tuesday, April 19 (because of Passover and Easter). Even the Pope, the Cardinals (Roman Catholic, not St. Louis) and every Monsignor this side of the Berkshires turned their heads and offered some magical Good Friday dispensation to fans guzzling Sam Wicked Easy by the keg full.

Secondly, there was an indescribable air of normalcy at the park, certainly for the first time since September 29, 2019 which fell – get this – 929 days, as in 9/29 – since that 2019 season finale against the Baltimore Orioles. The Sox defeated the hapless O’s on the final day of the regular season but only after the bullpen blew what could’ve been SP Eduardo Rodriguez’ 20th win of the season. BTW, then-Boston OF Mookie Betts went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI to finish his career with the Red Sox.

Maybe things aren’t all that normal, again, as Betts is LONG gone and OF Jackie Bradley Jr. was here-gone-and came back again. But, Friday afternoon certainly beat an Opening Day a year ago with only 4,500 fans in the building.

Of course not to be overlooked, the Red Sox played quite well last season and filled the joint for Postseason games, including a Wild Card win over the rival New York Yankees, a 3-games-to-1 series win over a very good Tampa Bay Rays team, but an ALCS loss to the Houston Astros last October.

At Friday’s opener, the ballpark was packed (36,266) with the sellout crowd enjoying previously mentioned Sam Adams on one outfield deck or some concoction named TRULY on another deck. Progress in marketing, and changing tastes, changing societal norms, changing team personnel amidst this damn global pandemic that just won’t quit, as evidenced by the current lock-down in major cities in China, including Shanghai.

ON SATURDAY: Boston and its Fenway faithful were treated to yet another seasonably-warm late afternoon date – a 4:11pm (ET) first pitch to start the second game of the four-game set between the Sox and Minnesota Twins. The series will conclude Monday, Patriots’ Day in the Commonwealth, with the traditional 11:10am (ET) start as the Boston Marathon runs its way from the suburbs of Hopkinton all the way to Copley.

To celebrate the weekend, the Red Sox are wearing their “City” uniforms, depicted ⬇️.

Many fans, outside of Boston, might wonder about the colors, but they are the official colors of the Boston Marathon and Boston Athletic Association. Those colors became the foundation of the “Boston Strong” civic campaign to help the city and the victims of the senseless 2013 marathon bombing incident begin the road to recovery after some severe post Traumatic Stress. As you might recall, the initial blast killed three people Krystle Marie Campbell, 29; Lü Lingzi, a 23-year old Boston University student and 8-year old Martin Richard who were all in direct proximity of the two blasts. An MIT security man, Sean Collier, was shot three days after the bombing when the two suspects tried to rob him and flee the scene and Dennis Simmonds, a local police officer, died almost a year later from wounds suffered during a shoot-out in Watertown, Mass. … We remember them all every year – FOREVER.

PANIC BUTTON: A glance to the Green Monster and the AL East standings show Boston is “next to last” place in the division (3-4) as Saturday’s game was on-going. Only the poor Baltimore Orioles (2-5) trail. … Yes, it is FAR too early to scoreboard watch and the usual frenzy and negative buzz of Boston sports talk radio and thus the fans is palpable, even if it’s eight games into the season. … The bulk of the reasoning is the lack of trust in the Red Sox starting rotation and bullpen, as evidenced in Friday’s home opener when the Twins knocked Boston SP Nick Pivetta off the mound in two innings and the bullpen coughed up another four runs in the Sox 8-4 loss. … With star SP Chris Sale out indefinitely, the likes of Pivetta, Tanner Houck, Michael Wacha, Rich Hill, and relievers Garrett Whitlock, Matt Barnes and Jake Diekman (L) are under immediate pressure to perform. That pressure comes without a proper MLB Spring Training period and stretch-out time for pitchers. The Red Sox will need a resurgence from RP Ryan Brasier and their current ace SP Nathan Eovaldi who finished fourth in the 2021 AL Cy Young Award voting. … Time will tell on both the basic situation and the possible return of Sale and SP Jim Paxton (2021 Tommy John surgery) who was acquired in the off-season. By the way, Paxton will pocket a cool $10m for his rehab efforts in ‘22 … It seems a bit early in the Spring to be hopefully awaiting the MLB All-Star break.

HOUCK TO THE RESCUE: Continuing the news from Saturday afternoon, Red Sox SP Tanner Houck walked off the mound, hopped over the first base lines in a superstitious kind-of-way and departed the game with a 4-0 lead. Houck went 5.2 innings, tossing two-hit baseball with three walks, four Ks on 89 pitches/50 strikes. He left only two runners on base and only Nick Gordonof the Twins reached third base, harmlessly.

The Red Sox won their Saturday game, 4-0, behind the pitching of Houck and Garrett Whitlock’s tidy work out of the bullpen. All is not lost in the Fens.

For the complete While We’re Young (Ideas) Sunday Sports Notebook, subscribe HERE.

Twins Spoil Red Sox Home Opener, 8-4

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BOSTON – Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan made his second start of the 2022 MLB season – just his seventh career appearance – and spoiled the Boston Red Sox home opener by throwing six innings of five-hit baseball to anchor the Twins’ 8-4 victory over Boston.

Ryan allowed only one run (earned), struck-out seven Sox batters and walked none. He passed the ball to the Twins bullpen with a 6-1 lead with only a home run to Boston LF Alex Verdugo as his lone blemish. Ryan is (1-1) on the season and he lowered his ERA to (2.70) with the outing.

Boston’s starting pitcher, Nick Pivetta, didn’t fare as well. The Twins scored four runs on five hits over the first two innings to knock Pivetta out of the game after throwing 54 pitches in two innings and leaving on the wrong side of a 4-1 score. Minnesota 1B Miguel Sano did the most damage with a two-run homer off Pivetta in the second inning.

The Red Sox would go on to use six pitchers throughout the game and Minnesota scored a pair of insurance runs in both the fifth and ninth innings, hitting-up RP Hirokazu Sawamura for two runs in the fifth and Matt Barnes for another pair in the top of the ninth, sealing the Twins’ victory.

After rallying for three runs in the eighth inning, including two off the bat of Rafael Devers who homered off reliever Jhoan Duran, the Sox bats went limp in the bottom of the ninth. Both newly acquired infielder Trevor Story and veteran first baseman Bobby Dalbec struck-out to end the game in a whimper before a sellout crowd of 36,266 at Fenway Park.

 

It’s Opening Day at Fenway Park

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BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox face the Minnesota Twins in their home opener at Fenway Park after a six-game road trip to open the season. Boston split the six games and meet a Twins team that is (2-4) over their first six contests of 2022.

Between the fact it’s Opening Day, along with MLB’s league-wide tribute to Jackie Robinson, the 75th anniversary of NY/MLB’s first game at Ebbets Field, The Hub’s “ONE Boston” day to memorialize the victims of the April 15, 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and a home opening tribute to longtime Red Sox second baseman and TV commentator Jerry Remy, there’s a lot going on at the ballpark.

The Red Sox are in the midst of a stretch of six consecutive games when they play afternoon baseball. Eight of the Red Sox first 10 games of 2022 are scheduled for day games, including this Monday’s 11:10am (ET) start to celebrate Patriots’ Day in the Commonwealth and the running of the Boston Marathon.

The next time Boston plays a night game will be Monday, April 19th vs Toronto.

Boston will be playing games on 17 consecutive days (April 15-May 1)

TODAY’S STARTING PITCHERS: Twins: Joe Ryan (0-1, 4.50 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, four strikeouts); Red Sox: Nick Pivetta (0-1, 6.35 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, four strikeouts).

 

 

Red Sox Head to Motor City

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox will depart New York after the first ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game against the Yankees, can chill-out in Detroit for a three-game set against the Tigers Monday to Wednesday (two afternoon games) before heading home Thursday for the Friday, April 15, 2:10pm (ET) home opener against the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park.

This Friday, Minnesota’s SP Sonny Gray is scheduled to throw against Boston SP Nick Pivetta unless the weather forecast throws a change-up. The four-game set against the Twins concludes with the 11:10am (ET) start on Patriots’ Day, Monday, April 18th – the holiday in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts known best at the day of the famed Boston Marathon.

Reading the Boston Red Sox Tea party leaves this early in the season is nearly as impossible as forecasting the weather. After all, when the Red Sox were playing the New York Yankees on Saturday, Boston saw sunshine and spring-like settings turn to ominous skies, snow, hail, thunder and rain before returning to a beautiful spring evening.

That unpredictable weather pattern might equate to the Sox pitching roster, once again, as Nathan Eovoldi, Pivetta, Tanner Houck, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill could prove to be a formidable staff which can be super-sized if Sox star Chris Sale can return to form at some point mid-season. Currently, Sale is on the 60-day Injured List with rib injuries. He’ll begin throwing next week.

James Paxton, acquired by Boston for a single year deal for a lofty $10m, is recovering from Tommy John surgery last April when he was a member o0f the Seattle Mariners.

One-time Sox closer Matt Barnes is already banged-up as the season begins but could return soon. Until then, it’s bullpen by committee with newly extended four-year contract holder Garrett Whitlock carrying the load with Ryan Brasier and Hansel Robles. Matt Strohm andJake Diekman round out the relievers from the southpaw side. Josh Taylor, a 61 game reliever last season, has been out on the IL with a bad back but could return within weeks.

If you’re scoring at home, that pans out to create uncertainty every time Eovaldi, Pivetta, Hill, Wacha, Barnes and eventually Sale and Paxton take the pitching mound to start a game, whether it be at Fenway or on the road.

Of course, pitching is the key element for all teams to contend in the American League East as the Toronto Blue Jays, Yankees, and Tampa Bay Rays are all worthy to compete for playoff berths while the Baltimore Orioles are likely to hold up the rear in the division but are fast improving.

Lets take a look at the Vegas odds for the American League title as of Opening Day:

  • Toronto Blue Jays | +400
  • Chicago White Sox | +500
  • Houston Astros | +500
  • New York Yankees | +500
  • Tampa Bay Rays | +850
  • Boston Red Sox | +1000
  • Los Angeles Angels | +1000
  • Seattle Mariners | +1000
  • Minnesota Twins | +1700
  • Detroit Tigers | +2300
  • Cleveland Guardians | +4200
  • Texas Rangers | +4800
  • Kansas City Royals | +5000
  • Oakland Athletics | +6000
  • Baltimore Orioles | +16000

TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook | April 10

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox will depart New York after tonight’s first ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game against the Yankees, then chill-out in Detroit for a three-game set against the Tigers Monday to Wednesday (two afternoon games) before heading home Thursday for the Friday, April 15, 2:10pm (ET) home opener against the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park.

Minnesota’s SP Sonny Gray is scheduled to throw against Boston SP Nick Pivetta unless the weather forecast throws a change-up. The four-game set against the Twins concludes with the 11:10am (ET) start on Patriots’ Day, Monday, April 18th – the holiday in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts known best at the day of the famed Boston Marathon.

Reading the Boston Red Sox Tea party leaves this early in the season is nearly as impossible as forecasting the weather. After all, when the Red Sox were playing the New York Yankees on Saturday, Boston saw sunshine and spring-like settings turn to ominous skies, snow, hail, thunder and rain before returning to a beautiful spring evening.

That unpredictable weather pattern might equate to the Sox pitching roster, once again, as Nathan Eovoldi, Pivetta, Tanner Houck, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill could prove to be a formidable staff which can be super-sized if Sox star Chris Sale can return to form at some point mid-season. Currently, Sale is on the 60-day Injured List with rib injuries. He’ll begin throwing next week.

James Paxton, acquired by Boston for a single year deal for a lofty $10m, is recovering from Tommy John surgery last April when he was a member o0f the Seattle Mariners.

One-time Sox closer Matt Barnes is already banged-up as the season begins but could return soon. Until then, it’s bullpen by committee with newly extended four-year contract holder Garrett Whitlock carrying the load with Ryan Brasier and Hansel Robles. Matt Strohm andJake Diekman round out the relievers from the southpaw side. Josh Taylor, a 61 game reliever last season, has been out on the IL with a bad back but could return within weeks.

If you’re scoring at home, that pans out to create uncertainty every time Eovaldi, Pivetta, Hill, Wacha, Barnes and eventually Sale and Paxton take the pitching mound to start a game, whether it be at Fenway or on the road.

Of course, pitching is the key element for all teams to contend in the American League East as the Toronto Blue Jays, Yankees, and Tampa Bay Rays are all worthy to compete for playoff berths while the Baltimore Orioles are likely to hold up the rear in the division but are fast improving.

Lets take a look at the Vegas odds for the American League title as of Opening Day:

  • Toronto Blue Jays | +400
  • Chicago White Sox | +500
  • Houston Astros | +500
  • New York Yankees | +500
  • Tampa Bay Rays | +850
  • Boston Red Sox | +1000
  • Los Angeles Angels | +1000
  • Seattle Mariners | +1000
  • Minnesota Twins | +1700
  • Detroit Tigers | +2300
  • Cleveland Guardians | +4200
  • Texas Rangers | +4800
  • Kansas City Royals | +5000
  • Oakland Athletics | +6000
  • Baltimore Orioles | +16000

In the National League, there’s rarely a bar room argument that the LA Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres all have an edge and the New York Mets could contend if starters Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer can combine for 35-40 wins. Meanwhile, while last year’s surprise club, the San Francisco Giants, have slipped.

Here are the Vegas Opening Day odds for the National League title:

  • Los Angeles Dodgers | +175
  • New York Mets | +500
  • Atlanta Braves | +550
  • Milwaukee Brewers | +750
  • San Diego Padres | +750
  • Philadelphia Phillies | +1000
  • San Francisco Giants | +1000
  • St. Louis Cardinals | +1400
  • Miami Marlins | +3400
  • Chicago Cubs | +4800
  • Cincinnati Reds | +6500
  • Washington Nationals | +6500
  • Colorado Rockies | +11500
  • Arizona Diamondbacks | +18000
  • Pittsburgh Pirates | +25000

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: As long as the odds are laid out so nicely, there’s no reason not to make early season predictions for Divisional Winners, Wild Cards, League Championship Series contenders and the winner of the 2022 World Series.

Here now, the picks:

American League:

Divisional Winners: Toronto Blue Jays*, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros*

Wild Cards: New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, LA Angels.

ALCS: Toronto vs Houston with the Astros advancing to the World Series.

National League:

Divisional Winners: Atlanta Braves*, Milwaukee Brewers, LA Dodgers*.

Wild Cards: San Diego Padres, New York Mets, SF Giants.

NLCS: LA Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves with the Dodgers advancing.

World Series: LA Dodgers over Houston Astros, 4-games-to-2.

THE MASTERS: There are a few sporting events which take on a “Carnegie Hall” level of prestige in the sports world.

They are:

  1. The Masters
  2. Wimbledon
  3. The Kentucky Derby
  4. The Ryder Cup
  5. The Boston Marathon
  6. The Breeders’ Cup
  7. Tour de France
  8. Monaco Gand Prix

This week’s Masters is living up to its rightful place in sports. The headline-grabbing storyline is the return of Tiger Woods to competitive PGA TOUR golf. While Woods has been both impressive and competitive, his rivals are atop the leaderboard heading into the final round.

The Leaderboard:

Scottie Scheffler – (-9)

Cameron Smith – (-6)

Sungjae Im – (-4)

Shane Lowry – (-4)

Charl Schwartzel – (-4)

Tiger Woods is T-41 at (+7)

Scheffler has won three times in his last five starts on Tour.

IT’s JUST A FANTASY: For this column, rarely do I delve into Fantasy Sports and share my fantasy team ups and downs, whether it be NFL Football or MLB Baseball. And, while we’ve been known to play every kind of fantasy sport imaginable, from Olympic Basketball and Ice Hockey to World Cup to NBA to NBA Playoffs to NFL Playoffs to PGA TOUR Golf to NBA Summer League to – well, you get the idea, the completion for NFL regular season, PGA Golf and the long run of MLB Baseball are the three I’ve settled for over the past five or six years.

The Baseball fantasy league is called the “Teddy Baseball League” to honor the great Ted Williams and its weekly winner is crowned the “Dean RosenTeam of the Week” in memory of one of the league’s former team owners who passed away all too soon. The Teddy is a hybrid of fantasy baseball with the first 17 players for each team picked in “auction” style of bidding, then the final 14 players are picked in snake-draft order to fill-out a 31 player roster for 11 teams.

The standings are rotisserie style, not head-to-head, so it is a long marathon of a season.

The franchise, worth billions – I am sure, is the Chathams, named after one of my favorite places on earth in Chatham, Massachusetts – on The Cape. We are often tagged as “The Cape Codders.” And, that’s alright with me. The Cape Cod Baseball League is a favorite for sure and there will be more on that this summer.

The Chathams have an active owner and a seasoned veteran of a General Manager and head of Analytics in Craig Glazer. The league competition is tough. No team misses a beat, nor a prospect, nor a mistake of a cut. Line-ups are set weekly, on Monday when there’s five minutes before the first pitch of the first game of the week. It’s great.

Our strategy – which has been no secret to our fellow league franchise owners – is to go heavy on offense, grab at least one stud or semi-stud Starting Pitcher, one formidable Reliever for saves and then do our best to fill-out the rest of the line-up. In taking this road to the Teddy Title, we need to thread the needle, acquire a couple up & coming stars who pan out and pray to the heavens our top offensive gems stay healthy.

That was not the case last year when Ronald Acuna Jr. was injured in mid-season and with his injury, so were the days of our Teddy triumph to be. We were also sunk when Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Cody Bellinger, a superstar level player, had his worst season EVVV-AHHH.

That was last year, this is this year. Here is the line-up and I’ll not the bidding numbers for a few of the top players. (A side-note, the most expensive player in the auction was our very own $42 bid for Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals. That came out of a $202 budget).

Here’s our club:

  • Shohei Ohtani LAA, DH – $23 (a surprise that he went for under $30-$40).
  • Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Tor, 1B – $35
  • Juan Soto Wash, RF – $42
  • Gerrit Cole NYY, SP – $35
  • Rafael Devers Bos, 3B – $33
  • Jacob deGrom NYM, SP – $6 (deep discount with 60+ day IL)
  • Marcus Semien Tex, 2B – $17 (shocked he didn’t get more bidding)

That’s where the budget kicked-in and we were left to fill nine players at $1 and one player at $2.

That resulted in the rest of the roster consisting of:

  • Edwin Diaz NYM, RP
  • Taylor Rogers SD, RP
  • Tyler Stephenson Cin, C (a target going into the draft)
  • Austin Meadows Det, LF (shocked he was still available)
  • Amed Rosario Cle, SS
  • Ty France Sea, 1B
  • Jeimer Candelario Det, 3B
  • Eduardo Rodriguez Det, SP
  • Lance Lynn ChW, SP (currently on IL)
  • Josh Bell Wsh, 1B

The snake-draft portion of the night brought:

  • Luis Severino, SP, NYY
  • Andrew Benintendi, OF, KC
  • Jordan Montgomery, SP, NYY
  • Ian Happ, OF, CHC
  • Randal Grichuk, OF, COL
  • Marcus Stroman, SP, CHC
  • Corey Kluber, SP, TB
  • Matt Brash, SP, SEA
  • David Bednar, RP, PIT
  • Reid Detmers, SP, LAA
  • Nick Senzel, OF, CIN
  • Seth Beer, 1B, ARI
  • Josh Rojas, 2B, ARI
  • Kendall Graveman, RP, CWS

A rare, pre-opening day trade sent Senzel, Meadows and Bednar outbound while we filled a weak middle infield position with Dansby Swanson, along with outfielder Anthony Santander of Baltimore and 1B Eric Hosmer.

That’s the club – for now – as transactions have and will continue each and every week of the season. Next update?

How about the 4th of July and then September 1 and October 1?

Red Sox Roster Update – April 4

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Chris Sale to 60-day Injured List

BOSTON – With only three days remaining until Major League Baseball opens the 2022 season, the Boston Red Sox made seven roster moves:

· Right-handed pitcher Tyler Danish was selected to the major league roster.

· Left-handed pitcher Chris Sale was placed on the 60-day injured list with a right rib stress fracture.

· Right-handed pitcher John Schreiber and outfielders Franchy Cordero and Rob Refsnyder were reassigned to the minor leagues.

· Left-handed pitcher Jay Groome and right-handed pitcher Brayan Bello were transferred from Triple-A Worcester to Double-A Portland.

Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom made the announcements and with his roster moves, the Red Sox now have 30 active players remaining in Major League Spring Training camp, including 28 members of the 40-man roster and two non-roster invitees.