Sox Notes

Some Red Sox content to start your weekend off right

Thinking through the Red Sox chances of making the playoffs (more on this soon), there are clearly many different things that need to go the Red Sox way. This isn’t the 2018 team that lost Chris Sale for August and September and was fine. The 2021 team will need everyone healthy and playing their best possible ball to reach their goal. That will start with the starting pitching, and there’s not a more pivotal player there than Eduardo Rodriguez.

Rodriguez isn’t Gerrit Cole or Jacob deGrom, but when he’s healthy he’s an above average starter who can take the ball just about every day. Those don’t grow on trees, as Red Sox fans know, and when you look at Boston’s rotation right now, Rodriguez is arguably the only one who fits that description. It was Rodriguez’s absence in 2020 as much as Sale’s that doomed the Red Sox.

It was more than an absence though, as Rodriguez came down with a particularly nasty case of COVID-19 and then developed myocarditis, which the Mayo Clinic says is an inflammation of the heart muscle that can lead to heart failure. Rodriguez was bedridden, unable to stand and walk, and had difficulty breathing, so it’s all the more amazing that he was back on the mound yesterday, throwing two innings agains the Rays.

The results don’t particularly matter. What mattered was that he was there, that he stood on the mound and did the thing. But it doesn’t hurt that he pitched fine and felt good afterwards. Rodriguez is an easy guy to root for and as the rare starter who came up from Boston’s farm system (albeit he did arrive from Baltimore’s system before that), he has a special connection to the fans and the team. He’s a free agent after the season and I have no idea how the team or Rodriguez’s agent can properly articulate what he’s worth on the open market after his non-existent 2020 season. Perhaps there’s a way to find a contract that is palatable to both sides, but my guess is this might be the last season in Boston for Rodriguez. Which would be sad, but at this point, well, we’ve seen how these things go.

That is (likely) for another time though, as there is still the small matter of the 2021 season, and for that, the Red Sox need Rodriguez very much. GM Chaim Bloom has assembled a deep rotation, but not one with much star power or, if we’re being honest, with huge upside. The return of Chris Sale offers some high level potential, but until then, the Red Sox will need the calm every start quality that Rodriguez can offer. It’s good he’s healthy, it’s good he’s on a mound again, and it’s good he’s still in a Red Sox uniform.

The Xman

Sticking with a similar theme, if you had to pick a most important position player for the Red Sox this year, it would easily be Xander Bogaerts. First of all, the team doesn’t really have another starting-quality shortstop in the majors or in Triple-A, so the drop-off from Bogaerts to whomever took his place would be significant. Secondly, with Pedroia, Betts, Price gone and Sale on the DL, and Bogaerts is the face of the Red Sox. He’s the guy. It’s his team and his locker room and it only helps matters that he might also be the best hitter on the team.

Unfortunately, Bogaerts has been limited by a shoulder injury that has kept him off the field thus far this spring. He said he should be healthy and hopes to be back on the field soon, but not really in a way that indicated “soon” meant tomorrow. More like it meant some time [gestures generally] you know over there. That’s fine for now. He says he’s healing, and as this year looks to be a regular 162 game season, missing a few games at the start of the year won’t be nearly as damaging as it would have been last season. This is supposed to be good news, you see.

Since 2014 when Bogaerts became the starter, he’s been the second most valuable shortstop in baseball behind only Francisco Lindor. Which is to say he’s really good and the Red Sox need him. Fortunately, they have him, and when opening day rolls around, he and Eduardo should be there, standing on the foul lines during the introductions. The two guys the team needs most are there, and should be healthy when the flags drop. There’s some good news to start your weekend off with.