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Sox Lose Crochet’s Fenway Debut

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Toronto’s George Springer homered and Easton Lucas pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings to help the visiting Toronto Blue Jays defeat the Boston Red Sox 6-1 on Tuesday in the second game of a four-game series.

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The game was scoreless until Springer hit a solo home run against Garrett Crochet (1-1) in the top of the sixth inning. It was his second home run of the season.

The Blue Jays added three more runs in the sixth, all three unearned as Boston made a pair of two-out throwing errors.

Lucas (2-0) limited Boston to three hits. He struck out eight and walked one.

Crochet, who signed a six-year, $170 million contract extension last week, made his first start at Fenway Park since he joined the Red Sox in an offseason trade with the Chicago White Sox. He allowed four runs (one earned) on five hits in 5 2/3 innings, with four walks and five strikeouts.

Bo Bichette collected three hits and drove in three runs for the Blue Jays, who beat Boston 6-2 on Monday. Springer and Tyler Heineman each had two hits.

After David Schneider reached first on an Alex Bregman throwing error and Myles Straw walked, Toronto extended its lead to 2-0 when Heineman hit an infield single and Schneider scored on second baseman Kristian Campbell’s error on the throw to first. Bichette followed with a two-run single to center that drove in Heineman and Straw to make it 4-0.

Boston scored its lone run in the seventh. Romy Gonzalez doubled and scored on Ceddanne Rafaela’s single. The Red Sox got two hits from both Rafaela and Trevor Story.

The Blue Jays added two runs in the eighth. Bichette drove in Straw with a one-out single, then Heineman scored when Anthony Santander grounded out to second with the bases loaded.

Boston struck out 12 times in the loss.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox vs Cards Postponed

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The Sox-Cardinals game scheduled for Saturday, April 5, at Fenway Park was postponed due to an extended period of rain throughout the Fenway and Greater Boston area.

Saturday’s game has been rescheduled as the first game of a split doubleheader Sunday, April 6, beginning at 1:35 p.m. Tickets for the Saturday game will be good for admission to the rescheduled contest. Sunday Night Baseball’s regularly scheduled game remains at 7:10 p.m.

Tomorrow’s rescheduled game will be televised on NESN, while the regularly scheduled game will be televised on ESPN. Both games will be broadcast in English on WEEI 93.7 FM and in Spanish on WESX 1230 AM/WCCM 1490 AM.

 

It’s Opening Day at Fenway Park

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk (and on site at Fenway Park)

BOSTON – We’ve endured a long winter, but when a deep and dark December turned to the New Year, we started to count down the days until Pitchers and Catchers reported to Spring Training at Little Fenway, down in Fort Myers, Florida. There were 42 days to tear off the wall calendar, from January 1st to February 12th. It seemed to last a lifetime.

Then, it came. The equipment truck left Jersey Street. The veteran players began to arrive – early. Then it was official. Spring Training opened and soon after – February 17th to be exact – the entire squad was stretching and jogging/ jogging and stretching in the Florida sun.

Soon after there were exhibition games and not so much later came the opening day for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs way over in Toyko, Japan. It was set your alarm for real games. There were more on March 27 when everyone except the Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays were throwing out the first pitch of the 2025 season.

Today, it’s Boston turn to host a Major League Baseball game in 2025. The St. Louis Cardinals are in Boston for a three game series and today, at ten after two o’clock, Walker Buehler will throw a baseball as the starting pitcher for the ‘25 Red Sox. A half-inning later, Erick Fedde will take the mound – the cool kids call it ‘the bump’ – and we’ll all see what this hometown baseball team is all about.

The Red Sox limped home yesterday after a seven-game road trip with a 3-4 record, somewhat respectable considering an opening day win was sandwiched with a current two-game winning streak but in between were four losses, three to the tough as nails Texas Rangers and one to the equally talented Baltimore Orioles.

The Orioles and the New York Yankees – once again – are probably the two teams in the American League East standing between the Red Sox and postseason play, but it’s a long way until September when the days are shorter, cooler and the scoreboard watching begins.

Opening Day for the Red Sox begins with a number of storylines.

First and most important is the fact there’s a new third baseman and a new designated hitter for the Sox. Alex Bregman, a gold glove defender, is manning the hot corner which forced Boston manager Alex Cora to name longtime third baseman, Rafael Devers, as the club’s DH. Devers was none too happy and his .111 batting average (3 for 27) with 16 strike-outs tells that tale.

Devers did rip a double down the line at Camden Yards to break his slow start and he scored twice in Baltimore, so his horrible start has nowhere to go but up. Bregman, Wilyer Abreu and rookie Christian Campbell are the bright lights for the offense, as of today and, newly acquired and highly rewarded ($) starting pitcher Garrett Crochet (ERA 1.38) might become the ace that Cora needed.

The Sox faithful might’ve been too far ahead with visions of division titles dancing in their heads during Spring Training. The Red Sox finished 81-81 last season, third in the AL East, and they were five games back of a wild card spot. Now, they’re a half-game back of that pace, but it’s far too early to make any real, keen judgements on this club.

Too many questions remain, and they include:

Can Campbell keep up the pace and be a legit contender for AL Rookie of the Year?

Can Crochet win 20 games and strikeout 200+ batters along the way?

Can the likes of Buehler, Tanner Houck, Richard Fitts, and Sean Newcomb morph into a successful starting rotation while Garrett Whitlock, Arnoldis Chapman, Justin Slaten and a few others hold down a promising and improved bullpen?

Cora said Thursday that pitchers Lucas Giolito (hamstring) and Brayan Bello (shoulder) are “not close” to returning as they sit on the club’s 15-day injured list. Reliever Liam Hendricks (elbow injury and also on the IL) has been throwing at a 120-foot distance, a good sign for April 4th. Kutter Crawford (patellar tendinopathy, a fancy name for tendinitis) is also on the IL with an injury that’s bothered him since his third start of 2024.

Today, the Red Sox begin a stretch of 14 of 20 games to be played at Fenway from April 4-24 and add ton that the fact Boston will play 30 of 48 games (from 4/4-5/25) at Fenway, where Bregman should be a “double machine” and Devers will have comfortable confines to raise his batting average and home run count to normal range.

We’ll see today whether Campbell can perform well after a standing ovation from the Fenway faithful greets him upon introductions and for his first home at bat. And, we’ll also watch Abreu batting as he leads the American League in batting average at .471 – not too shabby, eh?

Otherwise, Boston will do what it does best – throw a party at Fenway which will honor the late, great Luis Tiant and his 1975 teammates while ushering in a 63-degree New England spring day.

Play Ball.

 

Bregman Breaks Out the Bats

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BALTIMORE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) –  Boston’s Alex Bregman, Kristian Campbell and Triston Casas slugged two-run home runs and the Red Sox strung together back-to-back victories for the first time this season, defeating the host Baltimore Orioles 8-4 on Thursday afternoon in the finale of a three-game series.

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Bregman, who added a run-scoring double in the ninth, finished with three hits.

Cedric Mullins homered for the Orioles, who dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Zack Kelly (1-0), the first of four relievers, was the winning pitcher with one inning of relief for the Red Sox. Boston starter Tanner Houck went four innings, giving up three runs on five hits with six strikeouts.

Baltimore starter Charlie Morton (0-2) took the loss, working five innings and allowing five runs on six hits with 10 strikeouts. He reached a double-figure strikeout total for the first time since August 2023, when he was pitching for the Atlanta Braves.

Morton struck out the side in the fifth, including two batters who had earlier homered off him. By then, much of the damage had been done.

Bregman smacked his first home run with the Red Sox in the first inning. Campbell connected for his second homer of the year in the second.

Baltimore trailed 4-2 through three innings, using Mullins’ second-inning homer and Jordan Westburg’s run-scoring single in the third. The blast from Mullins marked the first homer in three home games for the Orioles this season. Baltimore had gone three straight games without a home run.

After Jarren Duran’s sacrifice fly for Boston in the fourth was matched by Urias’ RBI single in the bottom of the inning, neither offense struck until Casas smacked his first home run this season in the seventh off reliever Keegan Akin for a 7-3 lead.

Campbell and Casas each had two hits and teammates Rafael Devers and Wilyer Abreu each scored two runs.

–Field Level Media

Devers Gets Red Sox on Track

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BALTIMORE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox worked through a few glitches in the opening week of the season, but there should be some good mindsets going into their Thursday afternoon game.

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The Red Sox, after snapping a four-game losing streak, will oppose the host Baltimore Orioles in the decisive contest of a three-game series.

Boston designated hitter Rafael Devers said there was no reason for alarm even after he began the season 0-for-19 through Tuesday. He went 0-for-2 to start the Wednesday game at Baltimore, then hit a run-scoring double in the fifth inning and added a single in the eighth during Boston’s 3-0 win.

“I knew it was going to come,” Devers said. “I also received a lot of texts from people worried about me, but I was OK.”

The breakout excited his teammates.

“It makes me happy seeing that reaction,” Dever said. “Because that makes me see they’re paying attention to my at-bat and they’re supporting me.”

Boston’s Trevor Story homered for the game’s first run, his first RBI of the season. He finished 3-for-4 to raise his average from .133 to .263.

“We know the type of players we have and the type of team we are,” Devers said. “We knew everything was going to change.”

Story said there are signs emerging that Boston possesses “a really deep lineup.”

The Orioles didn’t have an extra-base hit on Wednesday, just four singles and two walks. Red Sox starter Garrett Crochet tossed the first eight innings, and Aroldis Chapman handled the ninth.

“We just had a tough time putting pressure on them,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said.

It’s possible that the Orioles could have a significantly different lineup for the series finale. On Wednesday night, shortstop Gunnar Henderson (right intercostal strain) played his fourth game on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk, going 0-for-3 at Charlotte to leave him 5-for-19 (.263) with two homers and four RBIs.

There was a possibility he would be on Baltimore’s lineup card Thursday afternoon.

The Orioles should have Jackson Holliday back in the lineup after he had Wednesday night off. Hyde said the 21-year-old infielder might sit out against certain left-handers.

Boston will give the ball to Tanner Houck (0-1, 6.35 ERA) on Thursday. The right-hander worked 5 2/3 innings and allowed four runs — including a pair of homers — in his season debut at Texas on Friday.

Houck’s career record against the Orioles is 4-3 with a 3.50 ERA in nine outings, including five starts.

Baltimore right-hander Charlie Morton (0-1, 10.80 ERA) will try to bounce back from a rough opening outing in Toronto, where he lasted 3 1/3 innings in his Orioles debut on Friday.

Morton is 8-2 with a 4.21 ERA in 15 career starts against the Red Sox. He has struck out 88 Boston batters in 83 1/3 innings. The eight wins against the Red Sox are the second most he has against any team.

Baltimore has alternated wins and losses across its first six games of the season. The Orioles have scored 29 runs in their three victories, so they are capable of a big breakout despite the sluggish offense they displayed on Wednesday.

“Show up (Thursday) and win the series,” said Zach Eflin, who took the loss on Wednesday after yielding three runs in six innings.

The Thursday contest is the last of seven consecutive road games to begin the season for the Red Sox, who play their home opener on Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals.

–Field Level Media

The A’s Head to Sacramento

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SACRAMENTO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Athletics (formerly of Oakland and Kansas City) formally begin the home portion of their Sacramento era when they host the Chicago Cubs on Monday night in the first-ever Major League Baseball game in the California capital.

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A’s right-hander Joey Estes (7-9, 5.01 ERA), a California native, will get the honor of making the game’s first pitch. He will be opposed by Cubs righty Ben Brown (0-1, 6.75).

All 14,014 tickets have been sold at 10,624-seat Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. Those who don’t have seats will be finding space on the lawn behind the outfield fence.

Among the other unusual aspects of the home opener will be that all A’s players will be wearing No. 24 in tribute to Baseball Hall of Fame member and franchise great Rickey Henderson. The all-time stolen base leader died in December, just days before his 66th birthday.

The A’s opened with a 2-2 split in Seattle, sandwiching 7-0 and 4-2 wins between 4-2 and 2-1 losses. A’s starting pitchers Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, Osvaldo Bido and JP Sears allowed just three earned runs in 23 2/3 innings in the series.

Sears said he was just following the lead of his teammates and hopes Estes can do the same.

“It’s contagious,” he said. “You go out there and you want to do what the guys before you did, or top that. We’ve got a good group of starters that bounce off each other. We’re each different, but we can help each other out.”

Tyler Soderstrom hit three homers in the four Seattle games. Four other A’s went deep against the vaunted Seattle pitching staff, including Brent Rooker, who is excited about what he expects to experience in the team’s new temporary home.

The A’s are expected to spend three seasons in West Sacramento as they await the construction of their permanent home along the Las Vegas Strip. They will share the stadium with the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.

“I think there will be an energetic atmosphere with a lot of fans who are excited for us to be there,” he said. “We’re hoping we get a combination of local longtime A’s fans and people who are maybe new to the fan base we’re hoping to bring on board. We’re excited about it.”

[Read more…] about The A’s Head to Sacramento

ESPN: “Baseball Been Very, Very Bad”

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – ESPN and Major League Baseball will no longer be partners following the 2025 season, as the sides agreed to mutually opt out of their broadcast contract Thursday.

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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred sent a memo to clubs that was obtained by The Athletic, in which he confirmed ESPN had asked the league to “reduce the amount (ESPN) pay for MLB content over the remainder of the term.” MLB put that on the record in a statement released Thursday night.

“Unfortunately in recent years, we have seen ESPN scale back their baseball coverage and investment in a way that is not consistent with the sport’s appeal or performance on their platform,” the statement said in part. “Given that MLB provides strong viewership, valuable demographics, and the exclusive right to cover unique events like the Home Run Derby, ESPN’s demand to reduce rights fees is simply unacceptable. As a result, we have mutually agreed to terminate our agreement.

“… The positive energy around the sport has also led to significant interest from both traditional media companies and streaming services who would like to obtain rights to MLB games. We will be exploring those opportunities for a new agreement which would start in the 2026 season following the conclusion of ESPN’s agreement at the end of this year.”

ESPN’s current deal was for seven years and $550 million annually, and featured Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby and wild-card games. But Apple and Roku have since negotiated slimmer packages of games for less cash.

MLB did not want to renegotiate, and the league felt ESPN wasn’t doing enough to promote baseball on its platforms.

“Furthermore, we have not been pleased with the minimal coverage that MLB has received on ESPN’s platforms over the past several years outside of the actual live game coverage,” Manfred wrote in his memo.

“While ESPN has stated they would like to continue to have MLB on their platform, particularly in light of the upcoming launch of their DTC product, we do not think its beneficial for us to accept a smaller deal to remain on a shrinking platform. In order to best position MLB to optimize our rights going in to our next deal cycle, we believe it is not prudent to devalue our rights with an existing partner but rather to have our marquee regular season games, Home Run Derby and Wild Card playoff round on a new broadcast and/or streaming platform.”

“We are grateful for our longstanding relationship with Major League Baseball and proud of how ESPN’s coverage super-serves fans,” the statement said. “In making this decision, we applied the same discipline and fiscal responsibility that has built ESPN’s industry-leading live events portfolio as we continue to grow our audience across linear, digital and social platforms. As we have been throughout the process, we remain open to exploring new ways to serve MLB fans across our platforms beyond 2025.”

MLB’s other main broadcast partner on linear TV is Fox. Comcast (NBC) and Paramount (CBS) may have interest in working with the league, while Amazon and Netflix are potential streamers to join Apple and Roku as Manfred eyes a larger streaming package for 2028.

–Field Level Media

Sox Officially Ink Bregman

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FT MYERS – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – After a few days of speculation, the Boston Red Sox today signed infielder Alex Bregman to a three-year MLB contract through the 2027 season. He will wear No. 2. To make room on the 40-man roster, Boston placed left-handed pitcher Patrick Sandoval on the 60-Day Injured List. 

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Bregman, 30, is a two-time All-Star (2018-19), two-time World Series Champion (2017, 2022), and winner of the 2019 Silver Slugger Award and 2024 Gold Glove Award at third base. He has earned American League Most Valuable Player votes in four seasons (2018-19, 2022-23), finishing second in 2019 and fifth in 2018, and was named Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP in 2018. The right-handed hitter has batted .272 (1,132-for-4,157) with an .849 OPS, 694 runs scored, 265 doubles, 18 triples, 191 home runs, and 663 RBI in 1,111 career games with the Houston Astros (2016-24). Selected by Houston in the first round (No. 2 overall) of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft, he has made 977 career starts at third base, 107 at shortstop, 13 as the designated hitter, and two at second base.

In 145 games during 2024, Bregman batted .260 (151-for-581) with 30 doubles, two triples, and 26 home runs while making 142 starts at third base and three as the designated hitter. It marked his fifth season with as many as 30 doubles (also 2017-19, 2022) and his fourth season with 25 or more home runs (also 2018-19, 2023). From May 9 through the end of the season, he batted .280 (127-for-454) with 25 doubles, 25 home runs, and an .838 OPS in 112 games.

The two-time World Series Champion has played in the Postseason in each of his eight full Major League seasons (2017-24), tied for the longest current streak in the Majors. In those eight seasons, he has reached the American League Championship Series seven times and the World Series four times. Since his debut in 2016, his 99 Postseason games are tied for most in the Majors. In that span, he ranks second in runs scored (63) and extra-base hits (37), and tied for second in home runs (19) and RBI (54).

Bregman owns the highest OPS (1.240) of any player with at least 75 career plate appearances at Fenway Park and ranks second in on-base percentage (.490), trailing only Ted Williams (.496). In 21 games at the ballpark, Bregman has hit .375 (30-for-80) with 24 runs scored, nine doubles, and seven home runs. The New Mexico native was selected by the Red Sox out of Albuquerque Academy High School in the 29th round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft, but did not sign and attended Louisiana State University.

Along with his wife, Reagan, Alex founded the Bregman Cares Charity to accelerate life-changing resources to those in need. The foundation has focused on autism awareness and at-risk youth, raising two million dollars. He was named the Astros’ Roberto Clemente Award nominee three times (2019-21).

Sandoval, 28, was signed by Boston to a two-year contract on December 23, 2024. The left-hander made 16 starts for the Los Angeles Angels in 2024 before undergoing Tommy John surgery on June 26. Originally selected by the Houston Astros in the 11th round of the First-Year Player Draft, the California native has posted a 4.01 ERA (239 ER/536.0 IP) with 529 strikeouts in 107 career Major League games (100 starts) with the Angels (2019-24).

Baseball Winter Meetings Update

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DALLAS – Super agent Scott Boras negotiated another record-breaking contract as one of his star clients, Juan Soto, reached an agreement with the New York Mets on a 15-year, $765 million deal.

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Boras declined to comment Wednesday on the historic deal involving Soto, who is undergoing his physical before it becomes official. However, Boras did talk about the Mets in general, commending their aggressive pursuit of building a championship-caliber organization after their run to the National League Championship Series last season.

“I think it’s pretty evident that the Mets have decided that they’re going to pursue winning and winning for a long time,” Boras said. “They’ve made it very clear to us that they’re not limited to signing one great player but multiple great players. They’re going to be, I think, a very steady and heavy commitment to acquiring the best talent.”

That was among the many notable comments made by Boras as he held court with reporters on Day 3 of the winter meetings at the Hilton Anatole.

Beyond Soto, Boras’ list of free agents this offseason includes infielders Pete Alonso and Alex Bregman, right-hander Corbin Burnes and left-hander Sean Manaea.

“A lot of market locomotion regarding Pete,” Boras said. “The Polar Bear Express is rolling.”

Boras added that Alonso is open to listening to a lot of teams.

“Certainly his experiences with the Mets were extraordinary, both for them and him,” Boras said.

Boras also shared his thoughts on his other clients.

“We’ve had numerous meetings with teams and owners. We all know what comes after AB, that is the ‘C’ in champions. In Bregman’s case, that is ‘C’ squared,” Boras said. “All of these teams realize what a leader he is, what a champion he is and plus his skill level to boot. So, he’s had a remarkable career to date and is very much in demand.”

On Burnes: “For pitching, for Corbin Burnes, it’s kind of like Elvis. He’s got that ‘Burnes-ing Love’ for a No. 1 starter. You are really feeling it today, and very early this morning for me, I might add.”

On Manaea: “There is a new Sean rising. It’s something that teams have recognized. The demand is really something that I think is going to happen soon.”

Hamilton to Baseball Hall

Cleveland Guardians longtime radio announcer Tom Hamilton was selected as the 2025 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Hamilton started calling games for the Guardians in 1990.

–Drew Davison, Field Level Media

Red Sox Lose O’Neill

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BALTIMORE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Tyler O’Neill has agreed to a three-year, $49.5 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles, multiple media outlets reported Saturday.

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The deal includes an opt-out clause after the first year, per the reports.

O’Neill heads to Baltimore after spending the 2024 campaign with the American League East rival Red Sox. In 2024, he hit .241 with 31 home runs and 61 RBIs in his lone season in Boston, a welcomed spark to an otherwise sluggish offense.

The Orioles, who went 91-71 this year, bring in O’Neill after electing to let Anthony Santander walk in free agency. Santander posted a .235 average while clubbing 44 homers and driving in 102 runs this season. He has yet to sign with another team.

In 590 games with the St. Louis Cardinals (2018-23) and Red Sox (2024), O’Neill, 29, has cracked 109 homers to go along with 278 RBIs. He is a career .246 hitter and has won two Gold Glove Awards.

–Field Level Media