The Tuesday, August 11, 2020

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The Red Sox had plenty of chances, but couldn’t finish the job

Julian McWilliams

The Red Sox surrendered 25 baserunners to the on Monday night at Fenway Park, and yet went into the bottom of the ninth — more than four hours after first pitch — within one run. It was, if nothing else, a symbolic victory.

It was the only victory to be had by the home team, which lost, 8-7.

Jeffrey Springs entered Monday with a 13.50 ERA, pitching just 3⅓ innings this year. summoned him from the bullpen with two outs in the fifth for a lefty-on-lefty matchup, facing . It worked, with Springs striking out Kiermaier to end the frame.

But they met again in the seventh inning of a 5-5 tie, and Kiermaier knocked in two on a double to left field, putting the Rays ahead for the final time.

The Sox used as their opener to start a parade of seven . pickup Jonathan Araúz gave the Sox a chance in the eighth, his third of the game a two-out, two-RBI single with the bases loaded.

The Rays stranded 13 runners. The teams combined for 28 hits, the last J.D. Martinez’s one-out single in the ninth, but lined out and struck out to end it.

Here are some observations from the game.

No Moreland but more Springs

▪ had a two-homer game on Sunday. He has six homers in just 33 plate appearances, but with the tying run at home plate, it was Chavis, not Moreland who was at the dish. That raised some eyebrows. But Moreland had the day off, Roenicke said afterward, and his left knee was bothering him. The plan from the day’s start was to rest Moreland’s barking knee, otherwise, it probably would have been Moreland facing Rays .

“[Moreland] did walk over by me [in the dugout] and we talked a little bit,” Roenicke said. “We weren’t going to use him today.”

Getting back to the sixth and the seventh inning, though, the fact that Springs was in the game in such a high-leverage situation lets you know how much the Sox are suffering from the lack of pitching.

“It was because we were trying to stay away from two guys in our bullpen that we’ve been using a lot and we needed [Springs] to go. It was a good matchup for him with all the lefthanders in the lineup.”

The two arms he was most likely trying to stay away from were and . Hembree had appeared in three straight outings before Monday, while Barnes had appeared in three of the last five Red Sox games. His last outing was also Sunday. During this 17-game stretch that started last Friday, the Sox will lean on their bullpen heavily, as they have the entire season. Entering Monday, the relievers had already accounted for 70 ⅓ innings.

“We can’t keep pitching the same guys all the time every time we have a close game,” Roenicke said. “It’s the case of staying away from some people and hoping that [Springs] could get through some innings for us.

Fourth inning, sloppy defense

⋅ The Red Sox kicked around the ball and had some mental lapses in the fourth inning. Jose Peraza booted a routine Yoshi Tsutsugo grounder at second to start it, then a bloop that should have been caught dropped between Jackie Bradley Jr. and Peraza.

At first glance, it appeared as if Bradley should have had it. After all, it’s easier for him to come in than it is for Peraza to run back. But if you consider where Bradley was playing, he didn’t have a chance.

Furthermore, Peraza turned the wrong way. Instead of drop stepping with his right foot, Peraza opened up glove-side, and then tried to revert once he realized the ball was over his right shoulder. Bradley, meanwhile, tried to deke the runner, acting as if he was camped under it.

Hold on, there’s more. On a Kevin Kiermaier comebacker with one out, Colten Brewer looked to first before shuffling his feet and throwing the ball to second. That brief pause killed any chance of the Sox doubling up the speedy Kiermaier.

Two runs would later score on another blooped single to center.

⋅ Then came Bradley’s mistake. With a runner on first, hit a deep fly that appeared it was going to at least hit off the wall. Bradley thought so, too, so instead of trying to camp under it, he prepared to play the carom. Instead, it hit off the base of the wall — a catchable ball.

“It’s just judgment, going back to the wall with Jackie,” Roenicke said. “Sometimes you look at the ball and anticipate it’s going to hit off the wall and you play it differently.”

Xander Bogaerts gunned down the runner, Michael Perez, at home, and the Sox escaped the inning still up, 4-3. So, it didn’t hurt the Sox.

“The other plays, without a doubt it cost us a couple runs,” Roenicke said. “But that’s baseball. That’s what we deal with. I thought we did a great job of overcoming that.”

Ideally, you want your bulk guy to give you innings two through six. Brewer needed 19 pitches to get through the fourth and was done after that, forcing the Sox to go to Marcus Walden for two-thirds of an inning.

Red Sox get to Yarbrough's cutter

⋅ The Red Sox pounced on the Rays’ crafty lefthander early, scoring three runs in the first, beginning with an single up the middle, a Martinez walk, and a Bogaerts RBI double off the Green Monster.

Yarbrough tried to go to his cutter early, throwing 11 in the first inning, but the Red Sox were all over it. (Even Kevin Pillar’s leadoff lineout to left field came off the bat at 102.8 miles per hour.) Bogaerts’ double off the wall also came on a cutter The third run came on a Chavis groundout that scored Martinez.

The Sox would add on more in the second inning against Yarbrough’s cutter, a pitch Martinez sent over the Green Monster for a solo shot. Yarbrough basically ditched the cutter altogether after the third, throwing it just seven times over the remainder of his 4⅓ innings.

More on Martinez

Before Monday, Martinez hadn’t homered all season, marking the longest streak he’s gone without a homer since he revamped his swing in 2013-14. Overall, he was in a funk before his three-hit game Monday. The Blue Jays were pounding him inside relentlessly during their weekend series, resulting in a ton of weak contact. His bat looked slow. But, on Monday, even before the game, Roenicke was impressed by Martinez’s batting practice.

“His batting practice today was great,” Roenicke said. “That’s the best I’ve seen him swing in a while. [Bench ] Jerry Narron who really knows him well from their days together in Arizona said the same thing. He said ‘That’s the J.D. swing that I know.”

Arauz's three-hit game

Arauz went 3 for 4 with a double, two singles, and two RBIs. His first hit, a single in the fifth, was his first major-league hit.

“It felt great,” Arauz said. “Three hits is good to have, but I wish we would have got the win instead.”

He’s played exceptionally well for the Red Sox, particularly in the field, and has made a strong case to stay on this roster through the season.

Red Sox grant ’s release request

Julian McWilliams

Lefthander Brian Johnson’s days with the Red Sox are over, the team granting his request to be released, manager Ron Roenicke confirmed Monday afternoon.

Johnson, who was a part of the taxi squad in Pawtucket, returned home to Florida.

“He just felt like he wanted an opportunity,” Roenicke said before the series opener against the Rays. ”Sometimes you need to go other places to have a better opportunity . . . [Chief Baseball Officer] Chaim Bloom didn’t want to keep him from an opportunity that he could get back to the big leagues.”

Johnson, drafted by the Sox in the 2012 first round out of the University of Florida, made his debut in 2015. His best season by the numbers came in 2018, when Johnson pitched 99⅓ innings both as a starter and reliever to a 4.17 ERA for the champions.

He pitched just 40⅓ innings last season, as he battled a slew of injuries. Johnson posted a 6.02 ERA in 2019, but proved to be serviceable in three- or four-inning spurts once and were lost to injuries.

Johnson came into this year as a potential tweener: He wasn’t quite good enough to be a starter, but perhaps could have been the bulk guy to eat up innings after the opener. But he had a down summer camp and was outrighted with the expectation that he might help the team at some point during the season.

Johnson was out of options, however, making it difficult to shuffle him between the rosters.

“It’s [about] your roster situation and where you are,” Roenicke said. “So, it’s an easier move, without a doubt, when you have somebody on your 40-man roster, to bring him up and down. It’s easier if you have an option because if you need arms, fresh arms like we probably will soon, it’s easier to make those moves and still keep the same personnel.”

Kyle Hart closing on his chance Once the Sox optioned starter Ryan Weber on Saturday, the focus suddenly shifted to pitching prospect Kyle Hart. As the Red Sox continue to piece together the rotation, Hart continues to hone his craft in Pawtucket with the taxi squad.

But that might not be for too much longer. Hart could hear that call-up soon.

“I’m not going to play dumb,” Hart said. “I know how close I am. I also know that there’s a long way to go. [But] I think I can provide some value to this team right now. I can roll out of bed and throw 100 pitches. I’m focused on getting us five, six good innings. Not just some ho-hum five, six runs in 100 pitches. I want to make my pitches quality.”

Hart was a starter throughout the minors, and in 156⅓ innings between Double A Portland and A Pawtucket last season, Hart compiled a 3.52 ERA and 140 .

The Red Sox still don’t have a starter for Thursday. Hart could fill that role and remain on schedule, having pitched on Saturday.

“I do think about it. I think about pitching in the big leagues every day,” Hart said. “Every pitch that I’m executing here, you have to trick yourself into thinking that those are big-league pitches you’re trying to make. In terms of this week, I’m preparing to pitch here. I’m just going to continue to prepare just like I have been and if the [big league team] needs a guy, they can call me. I’ll be there.”

Martin Perez settling in Martin Perez has settled in after a shaky start. He’s allowed just two runs and six hits in his last 10⅔ innings of work. Wednesday against the Rays, he went five shutout innings, striking out four in the Sox’ 5- 0 win.

“I feel strong, not trying to throw too many strikes to these guys and it worked,” said Perez, who’ll take the ball against them again on Tuesday. “I’m trying to move the ball. It was a great game [against the Rays last time]. Let’s see what the plan is tomorrow and do my job tomorrow.”

Perez said that in the past, he wasn’t able to clear his hips when he pitched. He focused on that mechanical tweak entering this season and it’s helped him, in addition to his arsenal of pitches.

“Now I feel great, I feel 100 percent,” he said. “When I got the cutter, it made me feel good. I can throw my pitches where I want it. That’s how I feel right now. I believe in my stuff and the cutter is right there. I’m trying to locate my in and, after that, expanding the zone a little bit.”

Loose threads didn’t play Monday after tweaking his ankle in the first inning of Sunday’s matchup against the Blue Jays. Devers hurt himself lunging for first base, attempting to beat out a ground ball, and had a boot on before their Monday night game against Rays, which the Sox lost, 8-7. But Roenicke said that was just to keep the swelling down on a minor sprain. The team will talk with their medical staff Tuesday to assess Devers’ status, but it’s unlikely that he starts the game. . . Sox righthander Dylan Covey, recalled in Weber’s roster spot, pitched the ninth inning Monday, allowing just one hit and no runs.

Brian Johnson’s departure sprouts from an extended Red Sox failure

Alex Speier

Typically, it is not a question of whether a draft will come with regrets, but instead what the magnitude of those regrets will be. But even with that caveat, the 2012 draft represents a particularly disappointing one for the Red Sox, a notion that received a final reminder with the news on Monday that lefthander Brian Johnson had requested and been granted his release.

In 2012, the Sox were armed with three of the first 37 picks. They strongly considered , , and — all now difference-making position players.

A bit further down in the draft, the Sox also considered using their sizable bonus pool on an immensely talented high school pitcher, but the team ultimately felt that slight righty was too physically underdeveloped to justify a huge outlay before he went to Vanderbilt, where he developed into a 2015 first-rounder.

Instead, the Sox selected shortstop and pitchers Johnson and with their three top picks, and made its higher-risk outlay on high school pitcher Ty Buttrey in the fourth round. The team received some payoff from each of them — Johnson as a contributor, and Marrero ( in 2018), Light ( in 2017), and Buttrey ( in 2018) as modest trade chips.

Even so, Johnson’s departure offered the Red Sox yet another unwanted reminder of the value of starting pitching depth and the cost of the inability to develop it. Marooned at the team’s alternate training site in Pawtucket, Johnson concluded that he’d been buried on the depth chart. It’s hard to argue the point, thus explaining why the Red Sox granted the request.

“He just felt like he wanted an opportunity. Sometimes you need to go to other places to have a better opportunity, so he asked for his release,” explained Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke. “Although we would like to have him here for depth, that’s a decision that Brian wanted.”

Though he’d thrown well in the initial and in the team’s July training camp, the writing had been on the wall for Johnson for some time. He’d been bypassed as a depth option in the team’s eyes by fellow lefthanded starter Kyle Hart, who was added to the 40-man roster this winter as Johnson was outrighted off of it.

Johnson cleared waivers and thus remained in the organization. But even as injuries to Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez, and the trade of David Price, created a starting pitching carousel, the Red Sox repeatedly gave opportunities to other pitchers. That wasn’t about to change. According to multiple team sources, while the team has yet to announce a starter for Thursday’s game, Johnson wasn’t a consideration.

Thus ends the Red Sox tenure of a pitcher who entered the organization to considerable hype, and was viewed in 2014-15 as one of the best bets in the minors to emerge as a big-league starter. But a dizzying array of physical woes, as well as struggles with anxiety and depression, hindered his career.

That Johnson overcame those challenges to emerge as an important contributor in the 2018 championship season — often called him one of the team’s MVPs for his do-everything role on the pitching staff — served as a testament to his talent and determination. That said, he never forged a lasting spot in the big league rotation, and while his Red Sox career featured some memorable moments, he concluded it with a 7-9 record and 4.74 ERA in 171 innings.

Johnson didn’t make the sustained impact once envisioned for him. All the same, he’s the only Red Sox draftee since 2007 to make at least 20 big league starts. The modesty of that bar — and the inability of so many to exceed it — helps explain the uncomfortable position of the 2020 Red Sox.

Leaks in homegrown starting pitching pipelines can be patched for a time. The 2016 Cubs, 2017 Astros, and 2018 Red Sox all won titles with heavily imported rotations. But when short-term rotation solutions acquired at great cost in free agency or trade falter due to injury or performance declines, a team’s depth — or lack thereof — becomes painfully exposed. And in 2020, the absence of Johnson or any other homegrown starter as an option of first resort has left the Sox in an ongoing scramble.

In Pawtucket, there have been glimmers of hope. Hart’s rise from a 19th round selection to the cusp of a big league opportunity represents a potential success story. Meanwhile, righthander Bryan Mata and lefthander have shown eye-opening potential as potential mid-rotation starters while working in Pawtucket.

But those pitchers remain unproven prospects. And until the Red Sox prove they can help them take the next step and solidify their status as big league rotation members, it’s hard to avoid skepticism about the organization’s ability to do so.

The Red Sox acknowledge that they need more than what they have.

“When you look under the hood, I think there is more reason for optimism than the quick, public takes,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said of his team’s pitching pipeline. “But there’s no question we can stand to be a lot deeper. I think there’s both players in the system and things being done in the system behind the scenes that are going to yield good results in the future. . . . [But] you don’t ever want to rest until you have a prospect in every single rotation spot and relief spot up and down your system. Until you’re at that point, you’re never really satisfied.”

Johnson’s departure offers a reminder of how little reason the Red Sox have for satisfaction right now.

In praise of Mitch Moreland, and other thoughts on the Red Sox

Chad Finn

Playing nine innings while marveling that the baseball season is already a quarter complete . . .

1. Mitch Moreland’s most similar players statistically read like a Who’s Who of interchangeable league- average lefthanded-hitting first basemen, semi-memorable guys like Paul Sorrento, Pat Putnam, and Lee Stevens, one of whom inevitably was found in every pack of baseball cards you ever bought.

Moreland has had a nice career, hitting 172 home runs so far, banking more than $30 million, and making an All-Star team, but it’s also a pretty familiar type of career in the annals of baseball. His time with the Red Sox, however, should be remembered fondly by fans. He is one of those players who always seems replaceable, right up until he’s gone and you realize time and again how much he is missed.

2. Moreland, who hit two home runs Sunday, including a walkoff, has been the quintessential pro in his four seasons with the franchise, playing smooth defense at first base and delivering in more than a few big spots. His three-run in the seventh inning of Game 4 of the 2018 might be the most unheralded clutch home run in franchise history.

Moreland has a team-best six homers this year at a time when many of the bigger names are struggling. I’m all for dealing veterans before the Aug. 31 trade deadline, but the Red Sox would be a lesser team in a lot of ways if Moreland were among them.

3. I used to think was the second coming of Mike Greenwell, and before you snicker, remember that Greenie hit .328 with 19 homers at age 23 as a rookie in 1987, then finished second in the Most Valuable Player balloting in 1988 after hitting .325 with 22 homers and 119 RBIs. Early-career Greenie was a heck of a hitter.

Now, though, after a mediocre 2018 season and an absolutely brutal start this year, I’m wondering whether Benintendi is the second coming of Todd Benzinger, a contemporary of Greenwell and Ellis Burks as a prized homegrown prospect who had a picturesque swing but never produced the way it looked like he should.

4. Benintendi has had better seasons already than Benzinger ever did, and he probably will be better in the long run … but his struggles to even hit the ball hard right now are just so bewildering.

Benintendi is hitting .056 with a .344 OPS, and his of .083 (he has one measly double) would look miserable for even a poor-hitting pitcher. The situation is desperate enough that Ron Roenicke lifted him for pinch hitter Kevin Pillar in the fourth inning Saturday against the Blue Jays, a decision that made sense but would have been unfathomable even a year ago.

I trust he’ll snap out of it, because that Fred Lynn swing inspires belief, but blind faith is about all we have to go on right now.

5. Was it just last season that we were comparing the Red Sox’ outfield (Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr., and ) to the best in franchise history — and sometimes favorably? Why, I do recall writing such a piece for the 2019 Globe baseball preview section, and I regret nothing.

But it’s amazing how fast things have changed. Benintendi has 13 homers in 662 plate appearances since the start of last season, Bradley, a free agent-to-be, is probably in his last enigmatic season in Boston, and Betts is tied for fourth in the National League in Wins Above Replacement while revealing to Dodgers fans what a joy it is to watch him play every day. Life sure comes at you fast.

6. Roenicke tried to handle it with discretion, but it sure sounded like J.D. Martinez opted out of the chance to pinch hit as the potential tying run in the Red Sox’ 5-2 loss to the Yankees Aug. 1. Benintendi struck out on four pitches with two runners on to end the game.

It would have been an ideal situation to use Martinez, but according to Roenicke’s jumbled explanation, he needed more time to get loose or something.

Martinez is a perfectionist regarding preparation, but this is a terrible look. This story would be a much bigger deal in normal circumstances when reporters have in-person access to the team.

7. All right, here’s one fun thing about following the team this year: the animated banter between Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers while they’re holding down their defensive positions at shortstop and third base. Bogaerts alternates between exaggerated expressions of amusement and exasperation at Devers, who seems to have a good laugh at everything Bogaerts says to him.

It’s not quite the second coming of the Adrian Beltre/Elvis Andrus comedy duo, but the good-natured ribbing between teammates is fun to watch.

8. It’s clear that one of the purposes of this weird, abbreviated season for Chaim Bloom is to try to find a couple of keepers among the players he is cycling from Boston to the Alternate Site in Pawtucket. It’s similar to what Dan Duquette did in the mid ‘90s, when he found Tim Wakefield, Troy O’Leary, and Rich Garces (among others) among the discards.

There hasn’t been much to get intrigued about so far, though if you told me Phillips Valdez and Austin Brice will be useful parts of the bullpen two seasons from now, I might believe you.

9. Nate Eovaldi has been decent (4.09 ERA, 24 strikeouts, one win, league-high 25 hits allowed in 22 innings) and not much more than that. But his turn in the rotation amid this group of openers, castoffs, who’s-hes? and never-weres feels like watching vintage Nolan Ryan by comparison.

My goodness, how are they ever going to repair this pitching staff over the next couple of years?

* The Boston Herald

Ron Roenicke was set up to fail as Red Sox manager

Jason Mastrodonato

It’s time to state the obvious: Ron Roenicke was set up to fail as the manager of the Red Sox.

After a 8-7 loss to the Rays surely resulted in the most loyal members of the Sox’ audience scratching their heads over some managerial decisions, Roenicke sat down for his Zoom call with reporters and explained what happened.

Mitch Moreland, the team’s hottest hitter, was not used off the bench in the ninth inning with two outs and the tying run on first base because Moreland was hurt. Michael Chavis struck out to end the game while Moreland looked on from the dugout. Roenicke said he had to stay away from Moreland because of a knee injury, although he’s expected to play on Tuesday, which must be a tough pill for the manager to swallow.

And reliever Jeffrey Springs saw his 13.50 ERA jump to 15.43 after Roenicke left him out for 51 pitches in the heart of the game because the Sox didn’t have anybody else.

“It was just because we were trying to stay away from two guys in our bullpen that we’ve been using a lot,” Roenicke said. “We needed (Springs) to go. It was a good matchup for him with all the lefthanders in the lineup. But we just can’t keep pitching the same guys all the time, every time we have a close game.”

From the beginning back in March, Roenicke never had much of a chance this season.

After the Sox “mutually” parted ways with former manager Alex Cora, who was subsequently banned from baseball for one year for his role in the Astros’ cheating scandal, the Sox made the easy choice to promote Roenicke from the bench.

The players already liked him. They already knew him. And they liked the hands-off approach to the clubhouse that Cora had been operating. They trusted that Roenicke would support the same environment, which by all accounts, he has.

He hadn’t managed in five years, since the Brewers fired him following a .508 winning percentage over parts of five seasons. His name wasn’t one of the few that kept coming up in baseball circles when interviews would start for the few openings each offseason.

But Roenicke was the safe choice for continuity.

The 2020 season was going to be a bridge year. The Sox knew from the beginning, when they said there’s only so many $30-million players you can have on one team. Mookie Betts was traded in February, Chris Sale re-injured his elbow shortly thereafter (though the Sox already knew of his elbow issues from last year), and the club spent little money replacing any of their lost stars.

Fast forward through the coronavirus pandemic and the few pillars began to crumble.

The team’s three best left-handed pitchers after Sale, who underwent Tommy John surgery, all came down with the virus. Eduardo Rodriguez is now out for the year with heart complications (a scary and dangerous trend among athletes who contract the virus), while Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor have yet to pitch and remain at least a week or two away from doing so.

What has Roenicke had to work with?

He’s got a rotation fronted by the injury-prone . It stops there. Martin Perez can eat innings and there’s nobody else. The Sox are going with bullpen games three or four times a week.

And naturally, the oft-worked bullpen is now short on guys.

Take a look at Roenicke’s options in the middle of a tie game in the fifth inning against the division rival Rays on Monday night. The Rays are stacked with left-handed hitters, including their first two batters (and arguably their two best), Austin Meadows and . There were seven left-handed hitters in the game. The only lefties the Sox in the ‘pen are Springs and Matt Hall, a pair of castoffs from other teams who Chaim Bloom acquired this offseason.

That’s it.

It’s no wonder Roenicke felt like he had to ride the underwhelming Springs for 51 pitches on Monday. It’s no wonder the Sox entered the day ranked 27th in MLB by allowing a ridiculous .452 slugging percentage against left-handed hitters.

Remarkably, the Rule 5 pick that Roenicke was stuck with, Jonathan Arauz, broke out of his 0-for-9 start to his career with a three-hit game that gave the Red Sox a chance. Roenicke wasn’t a fan of carrying Rule 5 picks in the past, but has grown to like Arauz, who could get more playing time after a strong showing.

But there aren’t many quality backups around the diamond for Roenicke to use, especially while the training staff recommends additional rest for some of the best players, like Moreland and Christian Vazquez.

Jose Peraza, Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr. are putting up too many non-competitive at-bats and Roenicke has little choice but to keep using them.

Eventually, Bloom should publicly admit he didn’t give Roenicke much to work with.

Even if the Sox re-hire Cora after this season, Roenicke will have deserved better.

Three takeaways from Red Sox’ 8-7 loss to Rays: Ron Roenicke has an interesting night

Jason Mastrodonato

Red Sox 7, Rays 8

Mitch Moreland walked off on the Blue Jays on Sunday night and should’ve had a chance to walk off on the Rays on Monday.

But with the tying run on first base and two outs, Moreland was never used off the bench. Manager Ron Roenicke stuck with Michael Chavis against right-handed pitcher Andrew Kittredge and struck out to end the game.

It was a confusing decision by Roenicke and ended a nearly 4-1/2 hour game that went back and forth in sloppy fashion.

Here are the three takeaways:

1. Jeffrey Springs pitched forever. In a tight game. Against a division rival. With the scored tied 4-4 in the fifth inning and the Red Sox in a back-and-forth battle against the Rays, Roenicke called on lefty Jeffrey Springs, who took his 13.50 ERA into the game.

Ten batters later, Springs walked off the mound with a 15.43 ERA.

It’s hard to fault Roenicke for wanting to stick with a left-handed pitcher against a Rays lineup that was loaded with lefty hitters, including their two most dangerous hitters, Austin Meadows and Brandon Lowe.

Unfortunately for Roenicke, he’s been without his best lefties all year. Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor have been monstrous losses for this team and their absence is felt multiple times a week, especially in a game like this one.

The problem is that Springs hasn’t shown any consistent success in the big leagues and hasn’t been effective for the Red Sox since coming over from Texas in a trade for . And yet Roenicke let him stay in the game for 51 pitches. He allowed three runs on five hits, walking one and striking out one.

Before the game, Roenicke was asked if he feels like he can properly manage the team with this short pitching staff or if he’s forced to use whoever is healthy and/or available.

“It’s a little of both,” he said frankly. “Whoever’s healthy and fresher, certainly we’re looking to put in that night.”

It’s a shame considering the Red Sox could still compete if they had just a few decent pitchers, but their total lack of depth at the position hasn’t been this glaring since the stretch run in 2011.

2. The Rays ran all over Plawecki has always been a questionable defender of the , but the Rays had a clear plan to trample the dirt at Fenway Park on Monday.

They were running early and often, stealing second base three times and third base once. Plawecki’s throws weren’t really close, either, until there was a video replay call that went his way on a caught stealing on Meadows late in the game.

It’s bad enough the Red Sox don’t have many pitchers they can trust for these long bullpen games. But to give away 90 feet four times is a cost the Sox can’t afford to pay.

Plawecki, who was 3-for-4 with three singles at the plate, has now allowed six stolen bases on seven tries this year. Over his career he’s only caught 23% of attempted base-stealers, well below the league average of 28%.

Christian Vazquez has caught 40% of bas-sstealers in his career.

The Sox made some other defensive mistakes, too. Jose Pereza botched a routine grounder to start the fourth inning. And the ball found him on the very next play, too, when a pop-fly was hit behind second base. Peraza was late to chase it and it dropped between him and Jackie Bradley Jr. in center. He’s been underwhelming in his first year as the Sox’ second baseman.

3. Jonathan Arauz made us forget about Rafael Devers… for one game Devers was out with a sore ankle and seen in a walking boot before the game, paving way for the Rule 5 pick, Arauz, to make a rare start.

He was 0-for-9 entering the game but picked up his first big league hit on a single to center field in the fifth inning, then roped one off the Green Monster for another single in the seventh.

In the biggest spot of the game in the eighth inning, Arauz hit with the bases loaded and roped a double to left-center to score two and cut the Rays’ lead to one.

A year ago, he was playing shortstop for the Corpus Christi Hooks in his eighth career game above Single- A. Monday, he finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs. He also made a difficult play on a hard-hit grounder at third base and finished it with a perfectly-thrown bullet to first base.

Devers is day-to-day and as long as he’s out, the Sox might as well see what they’ve got in Arauz.

BONUS TAKEAWAY: J.D. Martinez hit his first homer of the year It was a moonshot over everything in left field off an inside cutter. Martinez looked relieved in the dugout afterward.

Red Sox notes: Rafael Devers in a walking boot

Jason Mastrodonato

Just as he was starting to break out, Rafael Devers found himself back on the bench for the Red Sox on Monday night.

It’s not performance-based.

Devers hurt his ankle while on the bases of the Sox’ 5-3 win over the Blue Jays on Sunday, manager Ron Roenicke revealed.

“He jumped at the first-base bag (Sunday) night,” Roenicke said. “His ankle is a little iffy today. That’s why he’s not in the lineup. The trainers are working on him. He may be available tonight, later.”

But TV cameras at Fenway Park caught footage of Devers sitting outside his sweet and wearing a walking boot that extended halfway up his left leg, a sign that his ankle could be a more serious issue than Roenicke led on.

Told about the walking boot, Roenicke said, “I don’t know. It’s not a bad sprain or anything. I think, just make sure there’s no swelling in there. A lot of times they put on compression things to make sure that it won’t swell. If you can get that liquid out of there faster, you’re going to heal better.”

Devers has been quiet most of the 2020 season, but has shown signs of breaking out with a game-tying homer against the Jays on Sunday and two sparkling plays at third base.

The Sox had been hitting him second in the order to spark the slow offense. In his absence, Roenicke put Kevin Pillar in the leadoff spot and moved Alex Verdugo to the No. 2 spot for Monday’s series-opener against Rays lefty Ryan Yarbrough.

Jonathan Arauz took over at third base. The Rule 5 pick has struggled in his first big league season, going 0-for-9 at the plate with just sporadic playing time thus far.

“His first four at-bats were great,” Roenicke said of Arauz. “He had a chance to get a hit on all four of them. His last game that he played in Tampa wasn’t so good, but also great pitching and they really pitched him tough. He was really disappointed after the last game. He wants to get that first big league hit. So hopefully tonight, he’s pretty calm, he’s relaxed in most everything he does as you guys can see. We’re very confident in what he can do. He doesn’t look like a guy who spent most of the time in A-ball last year. So hopefully tonight’s a good night for him.”

Johnson let go

Left-hander Brian Johnson was supposed to be an extra starting pitcher for the Red Sox this season, but instead was granted his release in a surprise move on Monday afternoon.

The soft-tossing lefty did not make the team for the start of the season, but was staying in shape in Pawtucket awaiting the call for an opportunity.

He requested his release and the Sox granted it to him.

“He just felt like that he wanted an opportunity,” Roenicke said. “Sometimes you need to go to other places to have a better opportunity, so he asked for his released. Chaim (Bloom) did not want to keep him from an opportunity that he could get back to the big leagues, although we would like to have him here for depth, that’s a decision that Brian (O’Halloran) wanted.”

Eovaldi gets extra rest

Nathan Eovaldi has been strong through four starts this year, but he hasn’t made it through a season healthy from start to finish since 2014.

He’s throwing 100 mph already early in the season and the Sox are trying to slow him down a bit in an attempt to keep him healthy all year.

“I think any time you have the opportunity to give him that extra day off, you try to do it,” Roenicke said. “I know he was set on pitching (Sunday) and this next time, he’ll be on six days (instead of five). So just trying to get the opportunity, when we can, to back off on him some.

“But as you know, he’s a full effort guy. The first pitch you see is always big time velocity. So he doesn’t really ease into things but that’s the way he pitches. Hopefully the medical staff, I know they work with him all the time, and they talk to him about different things to keep him healthy and we’ll continue to do that and continue to try to make sure we keep him healthy all year.”

Perez eager for Fenway start

Martin Perez, who starts Tuesday vs. the Rays, has walked nine and fanned 11 batters through 15-⅔ innings over his first three starts since signing with the Red Sox.

Over his career he’s struck out just 5.8 batters per nine innings, though he did set a career-high last year with 7.3 strikeouts per nine.

“First half last year was good but the second half was not good with my hips,” he said. “A lot of ups and downs. But I was able to throw harder, too, and adding the cutter to my sequence was good too. Now I feel great. I feel 100% and I trust all my stuff.”

Perez said his signature cutter is feeling powerful again. He’ll likely need to miss more bats to be successful at the hitter-friendly confines of Fenway.

“I feel great when I pitch here in Fenway,” he said. “I feel comfortable. That’s important. Just something that I’ve been looking forward to when I was little. To have a chance to pitch at Fenway is special for me. Just going to go out there and enjoy it and give my 100% every time.”

* The Providence Journal

This Red Sox loss came straight from the top

Bill Koch

BOSTON --- Monday night was an organizational loss for the Red Sox.

This went above manager Ron Roenicke, who suffered through a 16th game of limited pitching options this season. Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom must shoulder a share of the blame for assembling this staff of rather nondescript parts that allowed 16 hits to the visiting Rays.

But as always, in all matters of sports and business, the buck stops with ownership. This is the unwatchable product John Henry deserves for his infamous “goal, not a mandate” to bring Boston’s payroll under the lowest threshold of the Competitive Balance Tax.

Tampa Bay’s 8-7 victory took 264 minutes and was a complete eyesore. The empty seats at Fenway Park, had they been filled to capacity at any point like in pre-pandemic days, would have been mostly vacant by the time Boston rallied in the bottom of the ninth inning. The clock was approaching midnight when Michael Chavis struck out swinging to end it.

Roster moves have been made based on dollars and cents, not performance and sense. Bloom is only doing the job he was brought in to carry out, and Roenicke has been left helpless in the home dugout. This was the 10th time the Red Sox have used at least five pitchers in a game this season, and few of them would have been granted an appearance two years ago for the World Series winners.

“We can’t keep pitching the same guys every time we have a close game,” Roenicke said. “That seems to be what we’re playing.”

Seven of Boston’s nine available relievers had worked at some point over the last two days against the Blue Jays. Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree and Austin Brice all would have been summoned for the third time in four games. These nine innings were collateral damage suffered through three turns of what is a nonexistent starting rotation.

Ryan Weber and Matt Hall have already been optioned to the alternate site at Pawtucket. The Red Sox began the season with a vacant fifth spot designed to use an opener, the strategy thrifty franchises like the Rays and Athletics require just to survive. Henry hoped for a similar approach – winning baseball at a bargain price – when he hired Bloom away from the Tampa Bay front office in October.

Monday was a perfect example of why quality pitchers like and Max Scherzer take home their annual buckets of cash. Boston built leads of 3-0 and 4-1 that were given back by Colten Brewer, Marcus Walden, Jeffrey Springs and Phillips Valdez. Brewer surrendered three runs in three innings while Springs allowed Tampa Bay to take the lead in both the sixth and seventh.

“It was just because we were trying to stay away from two guys in our bullpen who we’ve been using a lot,” Roenicke said. “We needed (Springs) to go.”

Nobody could have foreseen Eduardo Rodriguez (COVID-19) being lost for the season. But the Red Sox certainly had the best look at Chris Sale’s medical records – the club had to know his left elbow was seriously ailing ahead of his Tommy John surgery. Nothing of real substance was done during the winter months or prior to the sport’s July restart other than signing Martin Perez to a potential two-year deal, and he’s now your No. 2 starter.

Henry, to be fair, has generally paid top dollar for past rosters during his tenure in charge. But this notable exception is jarring to witness, and Boston could already be playing its way out of any realistic hopes of a postseason berth. The Red Sox sunk to 6-10 with a defeat that was wholly avoidable with another serviceable arm or two.

Then again, perhaps winning games wasn’t the franchise’s sole aim this season. And it’s a good thing, because there doesn’t appear to be too much immediate on-field glory on the horizon.

Rays 8, Red Sox 7: Boston pitching buckles too often against Tampa Bay

Bill Koch

BOSTON --- So much for the Red Sox carrying any momentum from their weekend series win.

Boston suffered through a series of stops and starts against the Rays on Monday night. A procession of bullpen arms came and went from the Fenway Park pitcher’s mound, and all but Ryan Brasier and Dylan Covey carried with them a further scuff to the earned-run average.

Tampa Bay was relentless, wiping out an early deficit with relative ease. The Rays did just enough swinging to make up for their own wobbly pitching ranks in the late innings, hanging on for an 8-7 triumph.

Former Red Sox prospect Manuel Margot enjoyed a career night for Tampa Bay, driving in the eventual winning run on an RBI double to left against Phillips Valdez in the top of the eighth inning. Kevin Kiermaier’s two-run double to left-center in the top of the seventh put the Rays in front for good, snapping a 5-5 tie. That came off Jeffrey Springs, who was sent back out after allowing what had been the go-ahead run to score in the sixth.

“It’s a case of staying away from some people and hoping he can get through some innings for us,” Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said. “Confident enough that we think he can.”

Boston’s late rally was fueled by rookie Jonathan Arauz, who liked his first big league hit in the fifth so much he decided to go 3-for-4. Arauz singled to center, ripped a long single off the Monster in the seventh and came up in a tight spot with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth. Arauz sent another liner to center for a two-run single against Jose Alvarado, cutting Tampa Bay’s three-run lead to just one.

“I was trying to get him to throw the ball a little bit higher so I could make some good contact, and that’s exactly what happened,” Arauz said through translator Bryan Almonte. “Trying to give a good at-bat as I always do.”

The Red Sox brought the potential winning run to the plate in the ninth after J.D. Martinez sent a one-out single to center. Andrew Kittredge struck out Michael Chavis to end it with Mitch Moreland (left knee) and Rafael Devers (left ankle) both unavailable off the bench. The announced time of four hours, 24 minutes made this one the longest nine-inning game here since May 2017.

Margot added a walk and two runs scored to what was a perfect 4-for-4 night at the plate. The was an international signing from the Dominican Republic by the Red Sox way back in 2011. Margot’s effort was a reminder of why both the Padres and Rays have swung trades to acquire him prior to his 25th birthday.

Boston certainly started brightly enough. Bogaerts smashed an RBI double off the Monster, Chavis plated a second run on a groundout and Kevin Plawecki singled through the right side. It was 3-0 Red Sox after one.

Ryan Yarbrough still hadn’t settled completely by the third. He left a cut-fastball inside at the belt for Martinez to collect his first home run of the season. This blast to deep left sailed well beyond Landsdowne Street and gave Boston a 4-1 lead.

“His batting practice today was great,” Roenicke said. “I sat out there and watched it, and that’s the best I’ve seen him swing in a while.”

The Rays proceeded to score at least one run in each of the next five innings. Michael Perez’s looping two- run single to center came against Colten Brewer in the fourth and ’s RBI triple to deep left center dented Marcus Walden in the fifth. Ji-Man Choi’s run-scoring single inside the bag at first started the trouble against Springs in the sixth.

Sore ankle puts Devers on the bench

Bill Koch

BOSTON — Rafael Devers was out of the Red Sox lineup on Monday night.

The third baseman was spotted outside his suite during the afternoon with what appeared to be a soft cast on his left ankle. Boston manager Ron Roenicke said Devers was receiving treatment after landing awkwardly on the first-base bag in Sunday’s game against the Blue Jays.

“His ankle is a little iffy today,” Roenicke said. “That’s why he’s not in the lineup. The trainers are working on him. He may be available tonight later, but right now that’s why he’s not in there.”

Devers was running out a batted ball and reaching for the bag with his final stride when he suffered the injury. He homered earlier in the contest, a solo shot to the center-field bleachers in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Devers enjoyed a breakout 2019 season, slashing .311/.361/.555 with 32 home runs and 54 doubles. His 390 led the big leagues. Devers appeared in a career-high 156 games. He was on the disabled list three times in 2018, battling a pair of left hamstring strains and left shoulder inflammation.

“It’s not a bad sprain or anything,” Roenicke said. “I think they just make sure there’s no swelling in there. A lot of times they put on compression things to make sure it won’t swell.”

Jonathan Arauz made his third big-league start at third base. The Rule 5 Draft selection from the Astros celebrated his 22nd birthday exactly one week ago. Arauz had never appeared in a game above the Double- A level prior to 2020.

Waiting for a call

The Red Sox have yet to name a starting pitcher for Thursday’s series finale against the Rays.

That fact hasn’t escaped the attention of left-hander Kyle Hart, who would be scheduled to work at the alternate site in Pawtucket. The 27-year-old has yet to make his Boston debut and could be among the candidates to take the ball for the first time at Fenway Park.

“I’m not going to play dumb,” Hart said. “I know how close I am. But I also know there’s a long way to go.”

Hart has retired 34 of the last 38 men he’s faced in a pair of simulated games at McCoy Stadium. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster during the offseason after being selected in the 19th round out of Indiana in 2016. Hart pitched across two levels in 2019, making a combined 24 starts at Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket.

“In terms of this week, I’m preparing to pitch here,” Hart said. “I’m in Pawtucket right now. I’m just going to continue to prepare just like I have been.

“If they need a guy, they can call me. I’ll be there. I’ll be ready.”

The Red Sox have Martin Perez scheduled for Tuesday, Zack Godley for Wednesday and a likely bullpen day on Friday at the Yankees. They’ll give Nathan Eovaldi an extra day of rest prior to his Saturday start in the Bronx.

“Whoever is pitching well, we want to give more opportunities to,” Roenicke said. “I think it will continue to change the personnel we have, especially through these periods where we don’t have many days off.”

Hart posted a 3.86 earned-run average with the PawSox last season. Hart’s 31 victories with the Hoosiers rank him second in program history, and he recorded 17 of those against Big Ten foes.

Around the bases

The Red Sox had dropped their last seven series at Fenway Park prior to the weekend.

Boston’s pair of victories over the Blue Jays snapped a rather embarrassing skid. The last series victory recorded by the Red Sox came during a sweep of the Orioles from Aug. 16-18 last season.

Walkoff hero Mitch Moreland was out of the Monday lineup against Rays left-hander Ryan Yarbrough. Michael Chavis, who went 3-for-4 against Tampa Bay in a Yarbrough start last week, opened at first base. Kevin Pillar served as the leadoff hitter while Alex Verdugo dropped to second and Andrew Benintendi took a seat.

Kevin Plawecki also earned his first start behind the plate since Aug. 2 against the Yankees. The veteran offseason signing from Cleveland said Christian Vazquez and have been his best reference points in terms of learning the various Boston pitchers he’s worked with on the mound.

“We’ve had enough time now to spend time with each other,” Plawecki said. “Given the circumstances it’s been a lot of fun getting to know them and whoever is on the mound.”

Johnson requests, is granted, his release by Red Sox

Bill Koch

BOSTON — The last remaining member of the 2012 Red Sox draft class is no longer with the organization.

Brian Johnson asked for and was granted his release on Monday. The left-hander was a non-roster invitee to both spring training and Summer Camp.

Johnson was outrighted off the 40-man in November, less than a month after chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom was hired away from the Rays. The 29-year-old Johnson had clearly fallen down the pecking order among Boston’s potential starting pitchers, surpassed by the likes of new acquisitions Martin Perez, Zack Godley and Matt Hall.

“He just felt like he wanted an opportunity,” Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said. “Sometimes you need to go other places to have a better opportunity. He asked for his release.

“Chaim did not want to keep him from an opportunity where he could get back to the big leagues. We would like to have him here for depth, but that’s the decision Brian wanted.”

Johnson made 65 appearances with the Red Sox, including 26 starts. He was 7-9 with a 4.64 earned-run average and struck out 142 in 171 innings. Johnson made 38 appearances and worked 99 1/3 innings as a bullpen long man while Boston bulldozed its way to a crown.

Johnson debuted in 2015 and was on each of the last two rosters. His first Fenway Park start in 2017 was a five-hit shutout of the Mariners, one of two fired by rookies that season. Johnson was among the contenders for a rotation spot when the Red Sox reconvened in July, but he ultimately was sent to McCoy Stadium as part of the 60-man player pool.

“It’s hard when a guy is out of options,” Roenicke said. “It’s hard when a guy isn’t on the roster. But certainly, when guys are doing great and we feel like they’re doing better than everybody else, we would make that move.

“I don’t want to say why he’s down on the depth chart. It’s just an easier move when the pieces you have can be switched around in your organization.”

Johnson was the 31st overall pick out of Florida eight years ago. He was named to the SEC’s All-Freshman Team in 2010 and earned the Award as college baseball’s best two-way player as a junior. Johnson passed up his senior season with the Gators by signing for full slot value with Boston.

Johnson earned the organization’s Lou Gorman Award in 2017, which is given annually to the Red Sox player who demonstrates dedication and perseverance while working his way onto the major-league roster. Johnson suffered a facial fracture when he was hit by a line drive during a 2012 start and missed part of the 2016 season while seeking treatment for anxiety. He was honored with the Unsung Hero Award by the Boston Baseball Writers for his contributions to the 2018 title winners.

Johnson was one of 12 future big-leaguers drafted by Boston in 2012. Nine of them eventually signed with the club while (Vanderbilt), (LSU) and Hunter Wood (Howard College) honored their respective college commitments. Deven Marrero, Johnson, Pat Light, Jamie Callahan, Austin Maddox and Ty Buttrey were the first six Red Sox picks that June.

Johnson threw five scoreless innings in his last simulated game at Pawtucket, striking out six. He was one of multiple pitchers being stretched out elsewhere alongside Kyle Hart, and Mike Shawaryn. Hart is on the 40-man roster and could be in contention to start Thursday after retiring 34 of the last 38 men he’s faced in simulated game action.

* MassLive.com

Jonathan Arauz records first 3 big league hits, J.D. Martinez homers but Boston Red Sox lose to Rays

Christopher Smith

BOSTON — Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke left in reliever Jeffrey Springs to pitch the seventh inning with the game tied 5-5 against Tampa Bay on Monday. The left-hander already had thrown 34 pitches in his first 1 ⅓ innings.

Springs — who finished with 51 pitches — allowed singles to Yoshi Tsutsugo and Manuel Margot, then gave up a two-run double to Kevin Kiermaier. The Rays won 8-7 over the Red Sox here at Fenway Park.

Rookie Jonathan Arauz cut the deficit to one with a two-out, two-run single in the eighth inning. Arauz had a memorable game, collecting his first three major league hits.

Roenicke also stuck with Michael Chavis against the righty in the ninth with the tying run at first and two outs instead of using Mitch Moreland as a pinch hitter. Chavis struck out to end the game.

Arauz records first hit, then two more

Arauz recorded his first three major league hits after Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier robbed him on a 96.3-mph 377-foot liner in the second inning.

Arauz, who turned 22 on Aug. 3, singled to center field to lead off the fifth inning. He smashed a single off the Green Monster to lead off the bottom of the seventh. He then recorded his first two big league RBIs with his eighth-inning single.

The Red Sox selected him in last December’s Rule 5 Draft. He played 87 games at High-A Fayetteville and 28 games at Double-A Corpus Christi last year.

Where were Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree and Austin Brice?

Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree and Austin Brice likely were unavailable because of recent heavy workloads, but Roenicke will be asked to explain his pitching decisions during his postgame press conference.

If Barnes or Brice pitched Monday, they both would have made their third appearance in four days and fourth outing in six days.

It would have been Hembree’s third appearance in four days. Hembree also struggled in his last outing Saturday.

Ryan Brasier, Colten Brewer and Marcus Walden pitched before Springs.

Martinez homers

J.D. Martinez blasted his first home run of the 2020 season.

His 425-foot, 104.5-mph blast traveled over the Green Monster and gave Boston a 4-1 lead in the third.

Three in the first inning

The Red Sox have had little success in first innings this year, batting only .173 with a .246 on-base percentage, .288 slugging percentage and .534 OPS entering Monday.

But they scored three times in the first inning. Xander Bogaerts ripped an RBI double against Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough. Michael Chavis had an RBI groundout and Kevin Plawecki added an RBI single the opposite way in right field.

Shaky defense, then a strong throw

Second baseman Jose Peraza’s error allowed Yoshi Tsutsugo to reach begin the fourth inning.

Manuel Margot fly ball to center field fell between Jackie Bradley Jr. and Peraza. Bradley seemed to get a late break on a ball he should have caught.

Michael Perez then singled off Colten Brewer to plate both Tsutsugo and Margot.

Austin Meadows doubled but a nice relay from left fielder Alex Verdugo to Xander Bogaerts to Kevin Plawecki caught Perez trying to score.

The relay kept the Red Sox ahead 4-3.

The lead didn’t last long though. The Rays tied it 4-4 in the fifth on Joey Wendle’s triple, then jumped ahead 5-4 in the sixth on Ji-Man Choi’s RBI single.

Jonathan Arauz, Boston Red Sox’s Rule 5 pick, collects first 3 major-league hits in loss: ‘He continues to not act like he’s out of A-ball’

Chris Cotillo

The Red Sox are making a big commitment by giving Rule 5 pick Jonathan Arauz a roster spot for the entire 2020 season. In Monday’s loss to the Rays, Arauz showed a glimpse of why Boston is so high on him.

Starting at third base in place of the hobbled Rafael Devers, Arauz was one of the offensive stars for Boston in an 8-7 loss, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs in his fifth career major-league game. The 22-year-old had leadoff singles in the fifth and seventh before providing Boston’s most clutch hit of the night -- a two- run, two-out single to bring the Red Sox within a run of Tampa Bay in the eighth.

Before Monday, Arauz had made two starts, both at second base. He was 0-for-10 in his first nine major- league at-bats before breaking through for his first hit off Rays lefty Ryan Yarbrough.

“It was pretty cool,” said Sox manager Ron Roenicke. “”Anytime you see a guy get his first major-league hit. I know he was really down after the last game in Tampa Bay, so for him to do that... and he killed that ball to center field, too, before that, and they made a nice play on it. With him, I tell you, he continues to not act like he’s out of A-ball. He’s calm, he’s good from both sides of the plate, does a great job, made a nice play defensively. He’s doing a great job.”

Arauz, a Panama native who first broke into pro ball with the Phillies in 2015, had never played above Double-A before this season. In December, the Red Sox selected him from the Astros in the Rule 5 draft, meaning they have to keep him on the active big-league roster for the entirety of the regular season or have to offer him back to Houston.

The strange rules of the 2020 season make it easier for teams to carry Rule 5 players, as rosters have been expanded to 28 players and it’s obviously easy to carry someone for 60 games than it would be over the course of 162. Arauz made Boston’s Opening Day roster and is playing a utility infield role behind Devers and second baseman Jose Peraza.

In the second inning of Monday’s loss, Arauz looked like he had his first big-league hit on a line drive to center field but was robbed by Kevin Kiermaier near the warning track. For someone who was hitless through nine big-league at-bats entering the game, the play felt like a missed opportunity.

“Obviously, was just a great play by him,” Arauz said through translator Bryan Almonte. “It’s something that happens in baseball. I just tried to make good contact and tee up any pitches that I can and get a good at-bat in. I knew it was going to come eventually, but in that moment, it just didn’t. Credit to him, he made a good play.”

Arauz made up for it in his next three at-bats.

“It felt great,” he said. “Obviously, my goal today was just to help the team win. Three hits is good to have, but I wish we would have gotten the win instead.”

Boston Red Sox’s Kyle Hart, lefty who has dominated intrasquad games at Pawtucket, could make big-league debut Thursday: ‘If they need a guy, they can call me and I’ll be there'

Chris Cotillo

With the Red Sox in need of a starter for Thursday’s series finale against the Rays, the stars may be aligning for left-hander Kyle Hart to make his big-league debut.

Hart, a 27-year-old former 19th round pick out of the University of Indiana, has been one of Boston’s most dominant pitchers during intrasquad games at the club’s alternate training site in Pawtucket this summer. In his last two outings (last Monday and this past Saturday), Hart has tossed 11 ⅓ scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out 11 batters and issuing a single walk.

Hart’s next turn to pitch is scheduled for Thursday, which would be five days since his last outing Saturday at McCoy Stadium. The Red Sox have declined to name a starter for their game that day. Hart knows how the calendar lines up.

“I do think about it. I think about pitching in the big leagues every day,” he said Monday on a Zoom call with reporters. “Every pitch that I’m executing here, you have to trick yourself into thinking those are big- league pitches you’re trying to make. In terms of this week, I’m preparing to pitch here. I’m in Pawtucket right now. I’m just going to continue to prepare like I have been. If they need a guy, they can call me and I’ll be there. I’ll be ready.”

Hart has always been a relatively unknown prospect but has pitched well at every level, posting a combined 3.13 ERA in 77 outings (71 starts) in the minors since being drafted in 2016. He pitched well enough in 2019 (3.52 ERA in 156 innings split between AA Portland and AAA Pawtucket) to be added to the Sox’ 40-man roster over the winter and be invited to major-league spring training.

Hart is the 42nd-ranked prospect in Boston’s system, according to SoxProspects.com, but he’s one of only a handful of pitchers at the alternate site who could be considered to make a start in the big leagues this season. With Chris Sale (Tommy John surgery) and Eduardo Rodriguez (COVID-19 complications) out for the season and replacement options Ryan Weber and Matt Hall having both been demoted to Pawtucket, the Red Sox are searching for someone to give them length.

“When they need a starter, I think he has definitely put his name up there and is going to get some serious consideration,” said PawSox manager Billy McMillon. “When that happens, who knows? What we’ve been trying to tell Kyle is that with this unprecedented season you’ve just got to be ready. So in between the days you take the mound, you’ve still got to go through your stuff the right way. You’ve got to go through your sides and your pens and your study sessions, just like you would during the season. The way he’s pitched the last couple times, hopefully it happens soon. But with what’s going on, who knows what’s going to happen? He has definitely put himself in a good position.”

In the first 16 games of the season, the Red Sox have had eight pitchers make starts so far this season. Behind top starters Nathan Eovaldi and Martin Perez, the team has had to dip into its depth pool, starting Weber, Hall, Zack Godley and three openers (Ryan Brasier, Austin Brice and Josh Osich).

The Red Sox only have a few pitchers who are capable of starting and going deep into games. Righty Dylan Covey is on the major-league roster and might get the chance to make a start. At Pawtucket, righties Tanner Houck, Bryan Mata, and Mike Shawaryn could be candidates to give the big club some length. Lefty Brian Johnson was a candidate for a similar role but asked for and was granted his release Monday.

Hart thinks he could be stretched out to 120 or 130 pitches in his next outing. More realistically, he said he could give the Red Sox 90 to 100 in a start.

“I’m not going to beat around it,” he said. “I think I’m really close and I think I can provide some value to this team right now. I can roll out of bed and throw 100 pitches, whether that’s a quality 100 pitches, that’s what I’m focused on. Can I get us five, six good innings? Not just some ho-hum five or six runs in 100 pitches.”

With no minor-league season, Hart has had to audition for the big-league club in an unusual setting. Even though he has faced the same teammates over and over, he has made an impression that could result in his first big-league promotion.

“You’ve got to go out there and walk the line of trying to get better and develop and also realize that the results -- even though we’re not playing real games -- the results do carry weight and there are people paying attention,” he said. “You’re down here for a reason, to get better and to get your work in, but you also have to perform.”

Mitch Moreland (knee) was unavailable for Boston Red Sox on Monday, explaining why he didn’t pinch-hit for Michael Chavis in 9th inning of loss

Chris Cotillo

Red Sox Mitch Moreland wasn’t available off the bench due to a sore left knee Monday night, explaining why he didn’t pinch-hit for Michael Chavis with the game on the line in the ninth inning.

In an 8-7 game, the Red Sox had the tying run on first base with two outs against Rays righty Andrew Kittredge. Instead of using the left-handed hitting Moreland, Roenicke stuck with the right-handed hitting Chavis, who struck out to end the ballgame.

Moreland stayed on the bench after complaining about knee soreness after Sunday’s win, in which he hit two home runs -- including a walk-off homer that won the game in the ninth.

“I knew the whole way I wasn’t going to use him today but he did walk over by me and we talked a little bit,” Roenicke said. “We weren’t going to use him today.”

Roenicke also said third baseman Rafael Devers, who was dealing with ankle soreness, was unavailable to pinch hit. Devers would have also been a better matchup against Kittredge than Chavis.

Roenicke said Devers is doubtful to start Tuesday’s game but Moreland is expected to be in the lineup. The Rays are planning on using Kittredge as an opener.

“I think (Moreland) is planning on being okay for tomorrow,” Roenicke said. “He’s going to come in, check with the medical crew and see how he’s doing. But hopefully he’s available.”

The Red Sox used all 10 of their available position players in the loss, utilizing Andrew Benintendi and Christian Vazquez as pinch-hitters and Tzu-Wei Lin as a pinch-runner. On Sunday, Roenicke identified Moreland as a player he had to be careful with because of the veteran’s history of minor injuries.

“I know we still have to be careful with him,” Roenicke said. “He’s a gamer. He’ll go out there and play. If his games aren’t feeling good, he’ll still go out there and play. In the long run, we can’t really take a chance this year because of the short season. If I think a guy needs a day off, I need to give him a day off. If I leave him out there too long and he goes down, now we’re at 10 days on the IL. In this season, to be on the IL, it pretty much kills your team. Even though we know it’s important to put those guys out there, it’s probably more important that I don’t push them to the point where they end up on the IL.

Boston Red Sox’s Ron Roenicke explains decision to stay with Jeffrey Springs in tie game in 7th, after lefty threw 34 pitches

Christopher Smith

BOSTON — Manager Ron Roenicke left in reliever Jeffrey Springs to pitch the seventh inning with Boston and Tampa Bay tied 5-5 here Monday. The left-hander already had thrown 34 pitches in his first 1 ⅓ innings.

Springs — who finished with 51 pitches — allowed singles to Yoshi Tsutsugo and Manuel Margot, then gave up a two-run double to Kevin Kiermaier. The Rays won 8-7 over the Red Sox here at Fenway Park.

“It was just because we were trying to stay away from two guys in our bullpen that we’ve been using a lot,” Roenicke said. “And we needed him (Springs) to go. It was a good matchup for him with all the left- handers in the lineup.”

Tsutsugo and Kiermaier both are left-handed hitters.

“But we just can’t keep pitching the same guys all the time, every time we have a close game, because that seems to be what we’re playing,” Roenicke added. “So it’s just the case of staying away from some people and hoping he can get through some innings for us — and confident enough that we think he can.”

Relievers Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree and Austin Brice all have had heavy workloads recently.

Barnes and Brice both would have made their third appearance in four days and fourth outing in six days if they had pitched Monday.

It would have been Hembree’s third appearance in four days if he pitched. Hembree also struggled in his last outing Saturday.

Ryan Brasier, Colten Brewer and Marcus Walden pitched before Springs. Phillips Valdez relieved Springs, then Dylan Covey pitched the ninth.

The Red Sox likely won’t make any transactions to add a fresh reliever from their alternate training site, Pawtucket, before Tuesday’s game. But Boston could add a fresh reliever or relievers before Wednesday’s game vs. Tampa Bay.

Martin Perez will start Tuesday. Zack Godley will pitch Wednesday.

“We’re going to see what happens here tomorrow and then try to make that decision,” Roenicke said. “So if we feel like we can’t get by with the arms we have, then we’ll grab somebody. Hopefully Martin gives us a lot of innings tomorrow and a lead, and then we’re good. We’ll go with the guys we know we usually go with when we have that lead and hopefully that’s the way it plays out tomorrow.”

Jay Groome’s curveball had Boston Red Sox teammates talking during simulated game at Pawtucket

Christopher Smith

Prospect Jay Groome threw two innings in a simulated game Monday at Boston’s alternate training site, Triple-A Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium.

The lefty, who turns 22 on Aug. 23, struck out three, all on his curveball, while his fastball was at 94-95 mph, PawSox broadcaster Jim Cain reported via Twitter.

Groome, the 12th overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft, made only five starts in 2018-19 combined after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2018.

Groome returned at the end of last season to start two Gulf Coast League games and three games for Short Season Lowell (including two postseason starts).

“This is a tough time because he’s missed a whole season,” PawSox manager Billy McMillon said Monday on a Zoom conference call after Groome pitched. “And throughout his career, he’s battled some injuries. So getting him in a game-like situation I think one, is very important. And two, I think this gives him a taste of what the upper levels of the game is going to be like. I think there were some nerves out there, some rust. But overall, I liked what I saw. I thought he competed well. And guys were really talking about his breaking ball and how effective he was.

“I think if you go back to his first batter, I think he was 3-0 to his first batter and then (ended) up giving a really good at-bat,” McMillon added. “There’s a lot to like about Jay and hopefully he uses this as a steppingstone to get him going and give him some confidence.”

Baseball America has Groome ranked the No. 8 prospect in Boston’s system.

Groome must be added to the 40-man roster by this coming offseason to protect him from December’s Rule 5 Draft.

“I think he walks away from this knowing that an adjustment here, an adjustment there, and that he can compete at the highest levels,” McMillon added.

Could Hart make MLB debut Thursday?

Kyle Hart, who the Red Sox added to the 40-man roster this past offseason, retired 34 of 38 batters he faced in two recent starts at Pawtucket.

Overall, he pitched 11 ⅓ scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out 11.

The Red Sox have yet to announce a starter for Thursday and likely will promote someone from Pawtucket. Hart is believed to be a candidate.

“When they need a starter, I think he has definitely put his name up there and is going to get some serious consideration,” McMillon said. “When that happens, who knows? What we’ve been trying to tell Kyle is that with this unprecedented season you’ve just got to be ready. So in between the days you take the mound, you’ve still got to go through your stuff the right way. You’ve got to go through your sides and your pens and your study sessions, just like you would during the season. The way he’s pitched the last couple times, hopefully it happens soon. But with what’s going on, who knows what’s going to happen? He has definitely put himself in a good position.”

Chatham, Ockimey could get reps in left

McMillon said C.J. Chatham, a second base/shortstop, and Josh Ockimey, a first baseman, could receive reps in left field at Boston’s alternate site in Pawtucket.

Chatham is on Boston’s 40-man roster.

“We may try to do some interesting things like throw Ockimey in left or throw Chatham in left field just to help those guys get a little more versatility, maybe creating more opportunities for those guys,” McMillon said.

Rafael Devers has sore ankle, but Boston Red Sox slugger ‘may be available’ later in game vs. Rays on Monday

Christopher Smith

BOSTON — Slugger Rafael Devers who blasted a home run Sunday, is not in the Boston Red Sox lineup vs. the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday because his ankle is a little sore.

“He jumped at the first base bag last night. His ankle is a little iffy today,” Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said Monday during a Zoom conference call. “So that’s why he’s not in the lineup. The trainers are working on him and he may be available tonight later. "

Rookie Jonathan Arauz will start at third base in place of Devers.

Devers is just 10 for 57 (.175 batting average) with a .242 on-base percentage, .351 slugging percentage, .593 OPS, two home runs, four doubles, three RBIs and eight runs in 15 games this season. He has struck out 21 times and walked only three times.

But he homered Sunday. His blast went 449 feet with a 108 mph exit velocity.

“It’s not a bad sprain or anything,” Roenicke added about Devers. “Just make sure there’s no swelling in there. A lot of times they put on compression things to make sure it won’t swell. If you can get that liquid out of there faster, you’re going to heal better.”

Arauz, a Rule 5 Draft pick who turned 22 earlier this month, is 0 for 9 with two strikeouts and one run this year. This marks his third start.

“(Arauz’s) first four at-bats were great,” Roenicke said. “He had a chance to get a hit on all four of them. Squared up the ball. The last game he played in Tampa wasn’t so good. But also great pitching and they really pitched him tough. They made great pitches on him. So he was really disappointed after the last game. And he wants to get that first big league hit. So hopefully tonight. He’s pretty calm. He’s relaxed in most everything he does. But we’re very confident in what he can do. He definitely doesn’t look like a guy that spent most of the time in A-ball last year.”

Brian Johnson leaves Boston Red Sox’s alternate training site in Pawtucket to return home, per sources

Christopher Smith

Brian Johnson has left the Red Sox’s alternate training site, Triple-A Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium, to return home to Florida, according to two sources.

The Red Sox granted him his release and he’s free to sign elsewhere.

The 29-year-old left-handed pitcher was part of Boston’s 60-man player pool. He was not on the 40-man roster, but he was a depth starter option. He threw a simulated game at McCoy Stadium on Friday, pitching 5 ⅓ innings and allowing one run, three hits and one walk while striking out six.

Boston ranks 27th in the majors in starter ERA (5.49), last in WHIP (1.58) and 29th in batting average against (.278).

The Red Sox need to promote a starter for Thursday’s game against the Rays after optioning right-hander Ryan Weber to Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday. Kyle Hart and Tanner Houck would be on regular rest Thursday. Johnson previously also was seen as a potential candidate.

Hart is a member of the 40-man roster. Houck, a 2017 first round draft pick out of Mizzou, is not on the 40- man roster.

Johnson, a 2012 first round pick out of the University of Florida, posted a 4.17 ERA in 38 outings (13 starts) for Boston in 2018. His 99 ⅓ innings were important in keeping the starting rotation fresh for the postseason.

He struggled last season, posting a 6.02 ERA in 21 outings (seven starts). He pitched only 40 ⅓ innings and spent two stints on the (left elbow inflammation and non-baseball related medical matter).

Boston placed Johnson on outright waivers Nov. 25. He cleared waivers and was sent to Pawtucket on Nov. 27.

Boston Red Sox release Brian Johnson; lefty asked team to cut him to pursue opportunities elsewhere

Chris Cotillo

The Red Sox have granted left-hander Brian Johnson his release, multiple sources confirmed Monday afternoon. MassLive’s Chris Smith reported earlier in the day that Johnson had departed the club’s alternate training site in Pawtucket and had flown home to Florida.

Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said Johnson asked the club for his release, citing a desire to pursue major-league opportunities elsewhere. Johnson is not on Boston’s 40-man roster, has not pitched in the majors this year and had been pitching in Pawtucket since the end of summer training camp.

“He just felt like he wanted an opportunity,” Roenicke said. “Sometimes you have to go other places to have a better opportunity. He asked for his release. (Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom) did not want to keep him from an opportunity where he could get back to the big leagues. Although we would like to have him here for depth, that’s the decision that Brian wanted.”

With Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez out for the season, the Red Sox entered the year with only Nathan Eovaldi, Martin Perez and Ryan Weber locked into their rotation. Though Johnson pitched well at times during summer camp and was known to be a candidate for a back-end rotation spot, the club ultimately chose to prioritize other arms, including Weber, Matt Hall, Chris Mazza, Zack Godle and Dylan Covey.

Weber and Hall struggled in the majors and have since been optioned to the alternate site. Even with two rotation openings at present, it doesn’t appear as though the Red Sox considered promoting Johnson.

Johnson was outrighted off the 40-man roster in November, complicating his future with the club. He’s also out of options, meaning the Red Sox would have to expose him to waivers if they wanted to send him down.

“It’s hard when a guy is out of options,” Roenicke said. “It’s hard when a guy isn’t on the roster. But certainly, when guys are doing great and we feel like they’re definitely better than everybody else, we would make that move. I don’t want to say why he is down on the depth chart, but it’s just an easier move when you know, where the pieces are, you can switch them around and still have them in the organization.”

The move marks the end of an eight-year tenure in the Sox’ organization for Johnson, a former first-round pick (31st overall) out of Florida. The lefty made 65 appearances (26 starts) over parts of four seasons and was especially valuable as a swingman in 2018, posting a 4.17 ERA in 99 ⅓ innings over 38 outings (13 starts).

* RedSox.com

J.D.'s first '20 HR bright spot in long-haul loss

Ian Browne

BOSTON -- J.D. Martinez was the home run king of baseball the last three seasons, bashing 124 of them in that span, seven more than any other player.

But when he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the third inning of Monday night's 8-7 loss to the Rays at Fenway Park, Martinez had gone his first 63 plate appearances of 2020 without a long ball.

In the seventh pitch of that at-bat, he turned on a 2-2 cutter by Rays lefty Ryan Yarbrough for a moonshot that soared over everything in left field. Statcast projected the blast at 425 feet. And Martinez playfully raised his arms in triumph as he walked back to the dugout -- his team leading 4-1 at the time.

It was part of a 3-for-4 night from Martinez.

“His batting practice today was great,” said Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke. “I sat out there and watched it, and that’s the best I’ve seen him swing in a while. [Bench coach] Jerry Narron, who really knows him well from their days together in Arizona, said the same thing. He came in and said, ‘That’s the J.D. swing that I know,’ and it goes into the game and it shows up, so it was really good to see.”

Martinez had never come close to starting a season with 63 homerless plate appearances. His previous longest stretch? The first 42 plate appearances of the 2014 season, when Martinez had just joined the Tigers after being released by the Astros.

The Red Sox, their pitching spread thin, couldn’t get the win in the opener of a four-game series against the Rays. But if the payoff for the defeat is that it winds up being the start of a hot streak for Martinez, then it is worth it.

He can carry an offense when he’s in a groove. For the first 15 games of the season, Martinez searched and searched for his swing, with little to show for it. Now, he has something tangible he can take into Tuesday’s game.

“J.D. looked good today, so hopefully that’s a good sign of what’s going to happen here for the next two months or hopefully longer than that,” said Roenicke. “I think there were a lot of good things that happened in that game.”

Yes, aside from Martinez’s slump-busting performances, there were some other things to unpack from a game that lasted four hours and 24 minutes and required six Boston pitchers to throw 199 pitches.

Why not Moreland for Chavis? In the bottom of the ninth, a one-out single by Martinez put the tying run on base.

With two outs, and Michael Chavis due up, it seemed like an ideal spot for Roenicke to send the red-hot Mitch Moreland (two homers on Sunday, including a walk-off) up as a pinch-hitter against Rays righty Andrew Kittredge.

Instead, Chavis struck out swinging to end the game. It turns out there was a good reason Moreland didn’t hit.

“Mitch wasn’t available tonight. He came in, his [left] knee was bugging him after that day game yesterday,” Roenicke said.

Rafael Devers, who didn’t start due to soreness in his left ankle, was also unavailable to pinch-hit.

Rule 5 Draft pick stands out Jonathan Araúz, the versatile infielder the Red Sox selected from the Astros in the Rule 5 Draft back in December, came into the night 0-for-9.

He left the ballpark with the first three hits of his career in his back pocket. The switch-hitter got the start at third base in place of the ailing Devers.

“I tell you, he continues to not act like he’s out of A-ball,” said Roenicke. “He’s calm. He’s good from both sides of the plate. Does a great job. Made a nice play defensively, so he’s doing a nice job.”

Araúz was robbed in the second when Kevin Kiermaier made a leaping catch in front of the wall in center field. But he came back with a single to center field in the fifth, a single off the Monster in the seventh and then a two-run single to center in the eighth that slimmed Tampa Bay’s lead to 8-7.

“It felt great,” said Araúz. “Obviously my goal today was just to try to help the team win. Three hits is good to have, but wish we would have got the win instead.”

Where were leverage relievers? In the top of the seventh, with the game tied at 5, Roenicke kept low-leverage long man Jeffrey Springs in there. The lefty had given up two hits, a walk and a run in the previous inning.

It seemed to be a situation where Roenicke would have called on Heath Hembree or Matt Barnes. However, it appears neither key righty was available.

Due to Boston’s lack of rotation depth, the key relievers have been used a lot of late.

Springs (1 1/3 innings, 5 hits, 3 ER, 51 pitches) gave up a two-run double in the seventh to Kiermaier to put the Red Sox in a 7-5 hole that they wouldn’t overcome.

“It was just because we were trying to stay away from two guys in our bullpen that we’ve been using a lot,” Roenicke said. “We needed [Springs] to go. It was a good matchup for him with all the lefthanders in the lineup, but we just can’t keep pitching the same guys all the time, every time we have a close game. That seems to be what we’re playing. It’s the case of staying away from some people, hoping that he can get through some innings for us, and confident enough that we think he can.”

With a 15.43 ERA in three appearances, Springs could be a prime candidate to be sent down to the alternate training site if the Red Sox want to replenish their pitching before Tuesday’s game.

Notes: Johnson released, Devers rests ankle

Ian Browne

BOSTON -- Brian Johnson's association with the Red Sox started back in 2012, when the club took the lefty from the University of Florida with the 31st overall pick in the Draft.

It ended on Monday, after Johnson, frustrated by a lack of opportunity this season, asked for his release. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom granted it, and Johnson is now free to sign with any other team.

With two to three spots in the rotation serving as a revolving door for the Red Sox this season, lefty Johnson felt, before the season, that he would get chances in 2020 to prove he could bounce back from a 2019 season in which he was plagued by injuries and a non-baseball medical issue.

Instead, Johnson was sent to the alternate training site in Pawtucket, R.I., to start the season. And even as opportunities have continued to arise in Boston’s rotation, Johnson continued to not get his name called.

By Monday, he had enough, and asked to return to his home in Florida. Boston’s player pool is down to 59 following the release of Johnson.

“He just felt that he wanted an opportunity,” said Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke. “Sometimes you need to go to other places to have a better opportunity, so he asked for his release. Chaim did not want to keep him from an opportunity that he could get back to the big leagues, although we would like to have him here for depth. That’s a decision that Brian wanted.”

There were many ups and downs for Johnson in his time in the Red Sox organization. Things started inauspiciously when he was hit in the face on Aug. 18, 2012, pitching for Lowell in the Futures at Fenway game. Johnson was wheeled out on a stretcher with multiple orbital bone fractures on the side of his face.

He returned to the mound with a solid 2013 season split between the Gulf Coast League Red Sox and Class A affiliates Greenville and Salem.

Johnson continued to rise through the farm system and got his chance to debut for the Red Sox for a start in Houston on July 21, 2015. The only problem is that Johnson’s elbow was bothering him at the time, and he didn’t tell the training staff. It was a mediocre start and he was then shut down for the season.

In May of 2016, Johnson took a medical leave to treat his anxiety and depression. He returned to the Red Sox triumphantly by pitching a complete-game shutout against the Mariners at Fenway Park on May 27, 2017.

By 2018, Johnson became an invaluable swingman for the World Series champion Red Sox, making 38 appearances, including 13 starts, and going 4-5 with a 4.17 ERA.

But last season, Johnson bottomed out with a 6.02 ERA in 21 appearances -- seven of them starts.

Johnson’s stock started to fall last November, when the Red Sox took him off their 40-man roster. Roenicke admitted Johnson’s non-roster status may have contributed to him not getting a chance this season.

“It’s hard when a guy’s out of options,” Roenicke said. “It’s hard when a guy isn’t on the roster. But certainly, when guys are doing great, and we feel like they’re definitely better than everybody else, we would make that move. I don’t want to say why he is down on the depth chart, but it’s just an easier move when you know the pieces are that you can move them around and still have them in your organization.”

Devers rests ankle One day after Rafael Devers hit a Statcast-projected 449-foot blast and then made a brilliant defensive play to spark a win for the Red Sox, he was out of the lineup.

The reason? Devers banged up his left ankle crossing first base late in the game.

“His left ankle is a little iffy today. That’s why he’s not in the lineup. The trainers are working on him,” said Roenicke. “He may be available tonight, later. That’s why he’s not in there.”

Devers could be seen sitting in his outdoor suite -- which the players are using as personal locker rooms this season -- wearing a walking boot. Roenicke said that was not cause for alarm.

“It’s not a bad sprain or anything,” Roenicke said. “I think, just make sure there’s no swelling in there. A lot of times they put in compression things to make sure that it won’t swell. If you can get that liquid out of there faster, you’re going to heal better.”

* WEEI.com

The Red Sox' 'weird season' only keeps getting weirder

Rob Bradford

This was the first line of Ron Roenicke's pregame meeting with the media Monday: "We’re in this weird season."

Amen.

Predicting things isn't a good idea these days.

For example, if you thought the Red Sox were going roll to a win Monday night after they jumped out to a 4-1 lead after three innings that would have been a bad idea. They lost to the Rays, 8-7, at Fenway Park. (For a complete box score, click here.)

And within those 4 hours, 24 minutes of baseball were there were plenty of other realities which should have made you wake up Tuesday morning with a "How in the world did I get here?" type of vibe.

For instance ...

- J.D. Martinez hit a home run. This would seem to be an expected outcome in any other season. But by the time the launched his 425-foot bomb over everything in left field he had begun the season with 63 plate appearance without a homer. Consider this: The longest previous stretch had endured without a home run to start a campaign was 2014 when it took him 42 plate appearances.

"His batting practice today was great," said Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke. “I sat out there and watched it, and that’s the best I’ve seen him swing in a while. (Bench coach) Jerry Narron, who really knows him well from their days together in Arizona, said the same thing. He came in and said, ‘That’s the J.D. swing that I know,’ and it goes into the game and it shows up, so it was really good to see."

- Sixteen games into the season Rule 5 pick Jonathan Arauz has more hits than Andrew Benintendi. This nugget was made possible by Arauz's three-hit night Monday. It also came to fruition because Benintendi is still sitting with the worst batting average in the majors, having started the season going 2-for-36. (Benintendi did walk after pinch-hitting for Jose Peraza.)

"Arauz was pretty cool," Roenicke noted. "Any time you see a guy get his first major league hit. I know he was really down after that last game in Tampa Bay, so for him to do that. He killed that ball to centerfield too and they made a nice play on it, so with him, I tell you, he continues to not act like he’s out of A ball. He’s calm. He’s good from both sides of the plate. Does a great job. Made a nice play defensively, so he’s doing a nice job."

- The Red Sox had to hinge their hopes on Jeffrey Springs - he of the 15.43 ERA - to keep it close. Springs is one of many pitchers who Chaim Bloom is taking a flyer on after less-than-spectacular recent results in other organizations. In Springs' case, he was traded to the Red Sox in exchange for first baseman Sam Travis. Some who started the season with the big league club such as Matt Hall (who also has a 15.43 ERA) or Ryan Weber have already been sent down. Others have shown some semblance of possessing potential, with Phillips Valdez and Austin Brice offering some hope. But the unknown in some key spots has offered less-than-ideal results. Example: Monday night.

"It was just because we were trying to stay away from two guys in our bullpen that we’ve been using a lot," Roenicke explained. "We needed him to go. It was a good matchup for him with all the lefthanders in the lineup, but it was, we just can’t keep pitching the same guys all the time, every time we have a close game. That seems to be what we’re playing. It’s the case of staying away from some people, hoping that he can get through some innings for us, and confident enough that we think he can."

- The injury mysteries isn't a comfortable dynamic. Roenicke finally uttered the word "knee" when mentioning why Mitch Moreland was unavailable to pinch-hit for Michael Chavis with the tying run on base in the ninth inning. (Chavis struck out.) Up until that point, the manager was offering the narrative of tired legs when asked each and every time why the first baseman wasn't playing. And before the game, it was learned Rafael Devers had a bad ankle which was classified by the manager as Devers’ situation, "a little iffy today. That’s why he’s not in the lineup. The trainers are working on him. He may be available tonight, later. That’s why he’s not in there." And then following the game -- after the media witnessed Devers sitting in his suite with a boot on -- Roenicke explained, "Probably doubtful that he'll start the game tomorrow, but hopefully maybe we can get him and use him for a pinch hitter in a big situation." All of this comes in the wake of the manager initially classifying Eduardo Rodriguez's myocarditis as a "minor complication" when first revealing the pitcher was shut down. They would point to competitive advantages and disadvantages when classifying these ailments. Let's just say it seems like it can be nuanced a bit more effectively.

- The Red Sox are still searching for an everyday second baseman. The excitement surrounding Jose Peraza to begin the season has turned in a hurry. Not only has his batting average dipped to .245 while carrying an OPS of .588, but he has been really uncomfortable in the field. Peraza has now made five errors, including the mishandling of a routine ground ball to lead off the Rays' two-run fourth inning. Perhaps Tzu-Wei Lin or Arauz end up getting more of an opportunity, or maybe Chavis (who still hasn't played second base this season) slides over when Moreland can play first. But there is no doubt that part of the blueprint coming into the season was having Peraza man the position on a regular basis. That plan isn't exactly trending well. Oh, and since the official start of the Dustin Pedroia-free era at second base, the Red Sox carrying the majors third-worst OPS (.651) while turning the third-fewest double plays.

Brian Johnson leaves Red Sox' alternate training site

Rob Bradford

It doesn't look like Brian Johnson will be an option for the Red Sox' starting rotation this season.

The lefty has returned home to Florida after it appeared as though a spot on the Red Sox' 28-man roster wasn't coming in the foreseeable future.

Johnson, who is not on the 40-man roster, had been working out at the organization's alternate training site at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket.

He appeared in just 21 games in 2019, making seven starts while battling injuries and an ailment. The previous season Johnson as a key component in the Red Sox' world championship run, pitching in 38 games including 12 starts, posting a 4.17 ERA.

The Red Sox most recently recalled Dylan Covey to their pitching staff, having sent down Ryan Weber.

MassLive.com was first to report Johnson's departure from camp.

Red Sox grant release to Brian Johnson

Ryan Hannable

Brian Johnson is free to sign with any other team.

The left-handed pitcher was granted his release by the organization on Monday after returning to his Florida home from the Red Sox' alternate training site at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket.

“Chaim (Bloom) came out with what’s kind of going on with him," manager Ron Roenicke told reporters. "He just felt like that he wanted an opportunity. Sometimes you need to go to other places to have a better opportunity, so he asked for his released. Chaim did not want to keep him from an opportunity that he could get back to the big leagues, although we would like to have him here for depth, that’s a decision that Brian wanted.”

Johnson appeared in just 21 games in 2019, making seven starts while battling injuries and an ailment. The previous season Johnson as a key component in the Red Sox' world championship run, pitching in 38 games including 12 starts, posting a 4.17 ERA.

The Red Sox recently recalled Dylan Covey to their pitching staff, having sent down Ryan Weber.

The Red Sox really need Andrew Benintendi to figure things out

Rob Bradford

What has happened to Andrew Benintendi?

Of all the questions being thrown about regarding this out-of-the-ordinary baseball season and Boston baseball team, this one has jumped to the top of the list. Sure, J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers haven't been themselves. And, yes, figuring out who is going to take up three of the five spots in the rotation has become a fun guessing game. But all if it pales in comparison to the Benintendi conundrum.

This is a player who was on his way to All-Star status in many peoples' eyes as recently as a season ago, and now? He sits with the worst batting average in the major leagues (.056), going 2-for-36 to start 2020.

So we asked:

SCOUT 1

"He's had that uppercut swing that can cause him trouble with the ball up and that continues. Love to see him try and work down through the ball as opposed to what he's doing now. But aside from that, at the moment it appears to be a timing/confidence issue. He's not getting his foot down on time and he's late to the ball. He's also not staying behind the ball. Needs to get his Fenway swing back, think opposite field. Too much dip and rip, pull swing right now."

SCOUT 2

"Timing looks way off. Late on and out front on off-speed. Seems to go back and forth with using his leg kick and ditching it. Tough to hit if you're thinking about that stuff. Also, dropping his back knee and hooking ball 100 feet foul is another example of erratic timing and lack of balance."

HITTING COACH

"Yeah, I think some of his bad habits have crept back into his swing. You remember in the spring 20 when we came back, he was killing the ball. He was on base all the time. He was using the wall. He was using the whole field. I think right now he’s losing his barrel and you see he fouls off a lot of pitches in the zone that he wishes he could end the at-bat instead of falling behind. When you foul it off, it’s just you work deeper in the counts. I know he’s working hard. I think the biggest issue is his swing plane and his posture. We’ve seen him get to one knee and kind of lose his lower half more than probably in the past so one positive is he’s seeing the baseball pretty good, walks are up, but he’s fouling a lot of pitches in play that he should foul off and end the at-bat and now when he falls behind you’ve got to battle some pretty good pitchers with some stuff with two strikes. It’s not easy."

All of it is hard to argue. But what is up for debate involves how we should view Benintendi going forward.

In the short-term, the issue the left fielder's slump offers the Red Sox is one less offensive option they thought would be a fail-safe coming into the season. Yes, the overall takeaway from 2019 was that it resembled a step in the wrong direction. But there were signs of the player so many were high on, such as a mid-summer run starting in late July that saw him hit .338 with a .985 in 34 games.

Much of the inconsistency, particularly in the first few months of 2019, was chalked to a player who had bulked up too much, was miscast in the lineup, and had abandoned a batting approach that got him to the majors. It's why the Red Sox had no problem counting on him in 2020, going so far as to make him that leadoff guy once again.

They even signed him to a contract extension instead of just defaulting to the year-by-year arbitration path, committing two years, $10 million with the outfielder scheduled to make $6.6 million in what would be his second year of arbitration.

Now? A team with a very uncertain future has one unexpected question mark.

The blueprint for 2021 seemed fairly certain. Jackie Bradley Jr. is most likely testing the free-agent waters, paving the way for prospect Jarren Duran. And with the semi-proven commodities, Benintendi and Alex Verdugo, locked up in left and right field, respectively, the Red Sox could allocate their time, attention and resources elsewhere. But this version of Benintendi complicates things.

If nothing else, the Red Sox will have to find a right-handed-hitting outfield option, along the lines of what they have in Kevin Pillar this season. But Pillar was viewed more of a security blanket because of Verdugo's back and Bradley Jr.'s propensity to go on streaks. It had little to do with Benintendi. The narrative has now at least been budged a bit.

Are there so many concerns that the Red Sox will need to dip into their Mookie Money and pay for the likes of George Springer or Marcell Ozuna? Still unlikely. But there are plenty of other types of Pillar- esque solutions who will be available.

And what about the long-term? That could be tricky. Benintendi is under the Red Sox' control through the 2022 season. Prior to this season, a legitimate conversation could be had about identifying the lefty hitter as a piece of the Sox' foundation beyond 2022, which would be a welcome notion considering the team's lack of outfield options in their minor-league system. After Duran, Gilberto Jimenez is next best available outfielder in the minors, but he is light-years away, having been slated to play at Single-A Greenville this season. (They did draft an outfielder in the second round in 2018, Nick Decker, but he hasn't played above short-season Single-A Lowell.)

The best bet is that Benintendi finds his level. Prior to 2019, he was a legitimate star-in-the-making thanks to everyday production at the plate and in the field the previous two seasons. As Hyers pointed out, he also looked the part as recently as Spring Training, 2.0. This, however, has at least spawned a conversation, one the Red Sox most likely never saw coming.

* BostonSportsJournal.com

With the season only weeks old, Red Sox already running out of mound options

Sean McAdam

The season is not yet three weeks old, and in the middle of their drawn-out 8-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays Monday night, the Red Sox came to the realization that they don’t have enough pitching.

Literally. As in, not enough available arms.

It was obvious from the start, of course, that quality was going to be an issue, but it’s now evident that they have a problem with quantity, too. Of course, the two are related. When you don’t have the former, eventually, the latter is going to become problematic, too.

On Friday night, the Red Sox used seven pitchers in a win over the . On Saturday, it was the same story: seven pitchers, this time in a loss. Sunday’s walk-off victory required a mere four, thanks to starter Nathan Eovaldi providing six innings all by himself.

But with an opener on tap for Monday, it was obvious that the series opener with Tampa Bay was going to be something of a slog. Colten Brewer, in relief of opener Ryan Brasier, was tagged for three runs in three innings as an early three-run lead ebbed away.

Then the parade from the bullpen began in earnest. Next was Marcus Walden, then Jeffrey Springs. Springs overstayed his welcome, allowing five hits and three runs in just an inning and a third. He needed an incredible 51 pitches to record just four outs, but even as he ran the count full to seemingly every hitter who came to the plate, he remained in the game.

It seemed absurd that, having gotten the final out in the fifth before allowing two hits, a walk and a run in the sixth, that Springs returned to start the seventh.

Worse, for the longest stretch, no one was so much as warming up in the bullpen, much less coming in to put him out of his misery.

Here was a one-run game, against a division rival ahead of the Red Sox in the standings, and there was the unremarkable lefty still on the mound.

“It was just because we were trying to stay away from two guys (Heath Hembree and Matt Barnes) in our bullpen,” explained Ron Roenicke after the defeat, “that we’ve been using a lot. We needed (Springs) for him to go. It was a good matchup for him, with all the lefthanders in the lineup. But we can’t keep pitching the same guys all the time, every time we have a close game, because that seems to be what we’re playing.

“It was a case of staying away from some people and hoping he can get through some innings for us.”

That hope, as turned out, was largely misplaced, as Springs was charged with the loss. Phillips Valdez followed, and though he had been previously effective, unscored upon in his first five outings this season, he, too, faltered, giving up a run over two innings.

The Red Sox gamely rallied late with two runs in the eighth and had the potential tying run on base in the ninth before ultimately coming up short.

It’s unlikely we’ve seen the last of that scenario. For now, the Sox have but two legitimate major league starters — Eovaldi and Martin Perez, who goes Tuesday night.

In the other three spots, Roenicke is forced to patch and fill, auditioning journeyman like Zach Godley, having already discarded the likes of Matt Hall and, for the time being, Ryan Weber. There will be more use of openers, more games in which the Sox attempt to piggy-back two pitchers to give them three or so innings apiece.

But there will also be nights when, even when games are winnable and within reach, Roenicke will have to resist the temptation to go with some of his high-leverage relievers for a third straight night or the fourth time in five days. That’s not sustainable either.

Perhaps later, the Red Sox will have the cover of non-contention and the time to have prepared the likes of Tanner Houck and Darwinzon Hernandez to take some of the inning load. There’s no guarantee that they’re ready for those roles, but at least their outings will represent an investment in the future.

It’s hard to believe that someone like Springs can make that same claim. But there are also nights when there simply are no alternatives.

The Sox were undecided on whether to summon replacements for Tuesday, but could still swap out some bodies from their alternate training site.

It’s not unusual, after all, for pitching staffs to run out of gas in the heat of August.

But it is unusual when that team has been playing for less than three weeks. And yet, here we are.

BSJ Game Report: Rays 8, Red Sox 7 – Sox use six pitchers and lose marathon

Sean McAdam

HEADLINES

Sloppy fourth inning proves costly: The Rays scored two runs in the fourth inning as they battled out from a 4-1 hole, and they had the Sox to thank. First, Jose Peraza, on the outfield grass and shifted around on Yoshi Tsutsugo, bobbled a grounder hit right to him, allowing the leadoff man to reach base. Two batters later, the Rays had runners at first and second with no out and Colten Brewer proved indecisive for a few seconds on a comebacker, costing the Sox a chance at a double play. Two batters after that, Austin Meadows belted a ball to the warning track that Jackie Bradley Jr. believed was going to reach the left- center wall. Instead, the ball landed on the dirt in front of the wall. “I know mistakes are made,” said Ron Roenicke. “You have to forget about them and move on.”

Arauz gets his first hit — and second and third: Jonathan Arauz got the start at third base, searching for his first major league hit. When Tampa Bay outfielder Kevin Kiermaier made a diving catch on the warning track to rob of him of extra bases in the second inning, it seemed the rookie’s hitless stretch may go on forever. But next time up, Arauz rapped a solid liner to center. He also singled to left in the seventh before delivering a bases-loaded two-run single in the eighth. “It felt great,” said Arauz. “Three hits is good to have, but I wish we could have gotten the win instead.” If the three hits weren’t enough, he made a brilliant backhand stop in the sixth to a run, gloving a hot shot from Joey Wendle and gunning a strong throw across the infield for the final out of the inning.

Bench options were limited: The Red Sox played the game short-handed because of a few nagging injuries. Third baseman Rafael Devers was unavailable after twisting his ankle on the first base bag Sunday afternoon. Devers got some treatment before the game and Roenicke was hopeful that he might be able to use him off the bench, but that proved not to be the case. In need of a lefty bat to hit for Jose Peraza in the eighth, he had to go with the slumping Andrew Benintendi instead. First baseman Mitch Moreland, who won Sunday’s game with a walk-off homer, couldn’t go because of a sore left knee. There was an obvious spot for him in the ninth with the potential tying run on first and two outs and righty Andrew Kittredge on the mound. Instead, the Sox stayed with Michael Chavis, who fanned for the final out. “(Moreland) came in, and his (left) knee was bugging him,” said Roenicke. “I think he’s planning on being OK for tomorrow. He’s going to come in and check with the medical crew and hopefully, he’s available then.”

TURNING POINT

Trailing 4-3, the Red Sox had the bases loaded with one out in the fifth and Xander Bogaerts at the plate, and seemed poised to re-take the lead. But a hard-hit groundball to shortstop Joey Wendle proved to be the start of a big double play for the Rays and the end of a threat for the Red Sox.

TWO UP

J.D. Martinez: Martinez broke out with his first homer of the year in the third inning before adding two singles later in the game. It was Martinez’s first three-hit game since the season opener more two weeks ago and gave the Sox hope that an important run producer is ready to contribute. Roenicke liked what he saw of Martinez’s swing in BP and was glad it carried over to the game.

Kevin Plawecki: The backup catcher got a rare start and made the most of his chance with a three-hit night, knocking in two runs and scoring another.

ONE DOWN

Jackie Bradley Jr.: Bradley was 0-for-3 at the plate before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth, but also had a difficult time in the field, botching a ball by Austin Meadows that appeared catchable and resulted in two runs scoring.

QUOTE OF NOTE

“We can’t keep pitching the same guys all the time, every time we have a close game because that seems to be what we’re playing.” — Ron Roenicke on staying with reliever Jeffrey Springs for 51 pitches.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

Alex Verdugo recorded his third outfield assist of the season. Kevin Plawecki has hit safely in each of his four starts this year. After an 0-for-25 stretch, Michael Chavis is 7-for-20. J.D. Martinez matched a season-high with three hits.

UP NEXT

The Red Sox and Rays continue their series at 7:30 Tuesday with LHP Martin Perez (2-1, 3.45) vs. TBD.

* The Athletic

The Red Sox need a starter … again. Kyle Hart is ready for his shot

Chad Jennings

The calendar is no different in Pawtucket than it is in Boston, and it takes no particular insight to realize the Red Sox need starting pitching. Players on the 40-man roster are the easiest to call up, and opportunities tend to come for those who are pitching well.

All of that is to say, Kyle Hart is well aware he could make his big-league debut as early as Thursday.

“I’m not going to play dumb,” the 27-year-old lefty said. “I know how close I am. I also know that there’s a long way to go. … There’s a lot of baseball left, and hopefully a lot left in my career, but I’m not going to beat around it. I think I’m really close.”

Put the pieces together and see if you come to the same conclusion. Hart last pitched on Saturday, putting him on turn for Thursday’s TBD start against the Rays. The Red Sox currently have only three real starting pitchers in their rotation, and one of those was signed to a minor-league contract just last month. Hart was added to the 40-man roster in the offseason, he spent most of last season in Triple A, and he’s pitched 11 1/3 scoreless innings in his past two minor-league intrasquad games. He’s retired 34 of the past 38 batters he’s faced.

If not him, who? If not now, when?

“I think about pitching in the big leagues every day,” said Hart, who’s been working with the Red Sox spillover players in Pawtucket. “I mean, every pitch that I’m executing here, you have to trick yourself into pretending that those are big-league pitches you’re trying to make.”

There’s an old truth about Triple-A baseball: No one wants to be there. The veterans are itching to get back to the big leagues, the journeymen are holding on for one last shot at the majors, and the prospects are so close they can taste it. It seems that feeling remains largely intact even when the games aren’t real.

The Red Sox alternate training site is Pawtucket’s McCoy Field, where there aren’t enough position players to scrimmage with full teams. There are only two extra in the player pool, so the taxi squads sometimes play with none and coaches determine whether balls in play count as hits or outs. Innings can end with runners on base when a pitch count is reached. Facing teammates means everyone knows basically what’s coming.

But the players are still competing for precious call-up opportunities.

“Even though (the games) don’t count, they count to somebody,” Hart said.

So far this season, the Red Sox have found their depth in veteran players with big-league track records. They acquired experienced starters Zack Godley and Dylan Covey late in summer camp, and those two have been among their early call-ups. Veteran catcher Jonathan Lucroy was on the Opening Day bench only to be designated for assignment six days later. So many new additions have gotten chances that longtime Red Sox pitcher Brian Johnson asked for and was granted his release from the taxi squad Monday. He wanted to look for a different team that would give him a chance.

All of the Red Sox prospects are also waiting for a chance. Even with an expanded 30-man roster for two weeks, Rule 5 pick Jonathan Arauz is the only Red Sox player to make his big league debut this season, but some of the system’s most intriguing young talent is trying to change that one intrasquad at-bat at a time.

“We are watching everything they do,” manager Ron Roenicke said. “… The effort level is still going to be there, so we are able to make evaluations. It’s just not as easy as if there was a season going on.”

Trackman and other advanced-data-gathering tools track every pitch and every hit in the player pool, so the Red Sox not only can judge spin and exit velocity but also can determine expected batting average and expected ERA. They also can evaluate real stats kept in each intrasquad game, and they can listen to the experienced evaluation of the six minor-league instructors on hand.

“All told, I think we’re going to have enough information to relay to Boston about who we think is ready,” Pawtucket manager Billy McMillon said.

So, is Hart ready?

“When they need a starter, I think he has definitely put his name up there and is going to get some serious consideration,” McMillon said. “When that happens, who knows? But what we’ve been trying to tell Kyle is, in this unprecedented season, you’ve just got to be ready.”

Hart is not the most hyped prospect in the player pool. He had Tommy John surgery in college, fell to the 19th round of the 2016 draft and doesn’t have an overpowering fastball. But he does have a 3.13 ERA in the minors. He pitched well enough in Triple A last season to land a spot on the 40-man roster, and the Red Sox gave him two starts in spring training. Bryan Mata, Tanner Houck and Jay Groome are more highly touted starting pitchers in the player pool, but Hart might be better positioned for a call-up at the moment. One evaluator said Hart has “shaken off the rust” in his past two outings and there’s reason to believe in his recent success.

“I think I can provide some value to this team right now,” Hart said. “I can roll out of bed and throw 100 pitches, you know? Whether that’s a quality 100 pitches, that’s what I’m focused on. Can I give us five or six good innings, not just some ho-hum, five (or) six runs and 100 pitches? I want to make my pitches quality and really bring value to a team.”

The Red Sox have not announced a starter for Thursday’s game, nor have they given any outward indication that Hart will get the call, but Roenicke acknowledged that the Red Sox could need additional pitching relatively soon and said he plans to give opportunities to “whoever’s pitching well.”

Pitching well in awkward intrasquad games isn’t the same as pitching well in a competitive Triple-A environment, but it’s all the Red Sox have to go on this season.

“If they need a guy, they can call me and I’ll be there,” Hart said. “I’ll be ready.”

Until then, he’ll be waiting.

* The New York Times

Sure? No. But Rob Manfred Is Still Optimistic About This Season.

Tyler Kepner

In ordinary times, a baseball fan might wake up in the wee hours of the morning and check the late-night scores. In the throes of a pandemic, the sport’s commissioner wakes up around the same time and checks the overnight coronavirus test results for the 30 major league teams.

The news comes to Rob Manfred, the commissioner of , in an email from the league’s drug, health and safety department. Its contents set the agenda for the day: calm or crisis?

“The test results from today will come in about 2:30 in the morning tomorrow,” Manfred said in a phone interview on Monday. “I wake up sometime between 2:30 and 4:30, and the most important email is what we had that day.

“I love the days when there’s a little line that says: ‘We reported 1,247 tests and there were no new positives.’ That’s headed for a good day.”

All things considered, most days are good for Manfred. After months of acrimonious negotiations with the players’ union, baseball is back. Charlie Blackmon is hitting over .400 for Colorado; is on a home run tear for the Yankees; Fernando Tatis Jr. is breaking out as a superstar for San Diego.

But on Monday, for the 15th day in a row, the M.L.B. schedule included at least one postponement because of the coronavirus. The are back from their outbreak, but now the St. Louis Cardinals are shut down through Thursday, at least, and haven’t played since late July.

The Marlins had 20 positive tests, including 18 players. The Cardinals have had 17 positives, including 10 players. The infections have limited St. Louis to just five games this season; other teams will have played as many as 18 through Monday.

That has created a perplexing scheduling issue: If the Cardinals return as scheduled on Friday, they will need to squeeze 55 games into 45 days to reach their originally scheduled 60 games. Baseball could be forced to accept that some teams may not play all their games, and award playoff berths based on winning percentage.

But if the Cardinals cannot slow their outbreak, which first emerged July 30, how can they play enough games to have a legitimate season?

“Until we know exactly when we get back on the field, it’s hard for us to make decisions about rescheduling,” Manfred said. “But there will be games that will be rescheduled that will get them back closer to the 60 number. Probably won’t get all the way there, but closer to the 60 number.”

Doubleheader games are limited to seven innings this season, but even so, the strain of making up so many games will be significant. The Marlins are scheduled for 28 games in the season’s final 24 days, without an off day. The Cardinals already have four doubleheaders scheduled for September. They also must make up the three-game series with Pittsburgh that was scheduled to start on Monday.

While some of the infected Cardinals are asymptomatic, others have been treated in the emergency room. They have dealt with fevers, coughs, headaches and uncertainty.

“It’s real,” John Mozeliak, the Cardinals’ president of baseball operations, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “People are sick. It’s scary because they just don’t know what the next day is going to bring for them.”

How does Manfred know it is responsible to play, considering the travel involved in using 30 venues across the country?

“Can I tell you I’m 100 percent sure? No,” Manfred acknowledged. “Do I think about it every day? Yes. But I’ll just give you a couple of things that are important.”

The commissioner then listed three factors: “No. 1, throughout tens of thousands of tests, we have a positive rate that’s less than one-half of 1 percent. That’s way better than wandering around in the general population. No. 2, the bulk of our activity is outdoors. Just look at what’s going on in the rest of the world: outdoors is better than indoors, and our sport is generally distanced. And No. 3, we have not cross- contaminated. I think that’s a really important thing. Those three things give me some level of comfort that we can continue to do this in a way that’s safe.”

The league has shown significant caution with the Marlins and the Cardinals. After Miami’s outbreak, M.L.B. sidelined both the Marlins and the Phillies — the team they had played after learning of four positive tests — for a week. But there is no mandate for shutting teams down as soon as a player tests positive.

“There are guidelines that we have, but they’re just guidelines,” Dr. Gary Green, M.L.B.’s medical director, said in an interview Monday. “We have to look at the totality of the situation — where the cases are coming from, the number of cases. I don’t think you can say that this is going to be the way we approach everything. It’s so individual. What the contact tracing is like? What does the spread pattern looks like? It’s going to be on a case-by-case basis going forward.”

The ’ weekend case illustrates how tempting it can be for players to violate pandemic protocols. On Sunday, they sent starter Zach Plesac back to Cleveland, via rental car, after learning that he had left the hotel to go out in Chicago. Another starter, Mike Clevinger, stayed with the team and flew home with his teammates but was found on Monday to have also violated the rules in Chicago. The Indians said in a statement that Clevinger — like Plesac — would be quarantined and undergo testing, and they named Adam Plutko to replace him as the starter on Tuesday.

From a business standpoint, baseball is essentially racing to the postseason, staging regular-season games without ticket revenue in hopes of reaping the lucrative rights fees from TV networks for playoff games in October. A large-scale outbreak would be especially chaotic and painful for the league then, so it could make sense for M.L.B. to adopt a so-called bubble approach in the playoffs, with fewer teams and a shorter timeline.

“All I’m going to say about that is we are doing contingency planning with respect to the postseason,” Manfred said.

In M.L.B.’s new playoff format, a 16-team field will be whittled to eight teams — a much more manageable number — after a best-of-three first round. If the league staged the rest of the postseason at neutral sites, it would avoid the risks of travel and theoretically have a better chance of keeping the players safe.

“We’d have to look at the logistics with baseball operations, but if you were able to get down to a point where you had a limited number of teams for a limited number of games, I think that type of thing could work better,” Dr. Green said. “I think that’s certainly a lot more feasible than playing a whole season in a bubble.”

Then again, he added, it is impossible to predict how and where the virus will spread by October. Players and teams must be disciplined, the league must be nimble — and the doctors must stay on high alert.

“The majority of teams are doing a really good job with this, and I’m hopeful we’ll get through,” Dr. Green said. “But I don’t think I’ll relax until the end of the World Series.”

* Associated Press

Kiermaier, Margot lead hit parade as Rays beat Red Sox 8-7

BOSTON -- Kevin Kiermaier hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the seventh inning, Manuel Margot had four hits and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 8-7 on Monday night.

Kiermaier's opposite-field line drive off reliever Jeffrey Springs (0-1) rolled all the way to the wall in left- center field. Yoshi Tsutsugo and Margot scored after both singled to start the inning. Kiermaier had three RBI.

"Any win is nice. Lot of offense today, which is encouraging," Rays manager said. "Manny Margot is probably at the top of the list. We all wanted to have a big game and he did."

Margot's double in the eighth made it 8-5. The former Red Sox prospect said his father's recent passing was a motivating factor in his big day at the plate.

"It was good to have a game like today. I felt like he was there with me," Margot said through an interpreter. "Being a baseball family, I have four brothers who also signed and four nephews who have played , so anytime I struggled he was the guy I called for positivity."

Kiermaier finished 2 for 4, Michael Perez (2 for 5) had a two-run single and Joey Wendle hit an RBI triple for the Rays, who had a season-high 16 hits.

Tampa Bay has won four of five after taking three of four against the at home prior to this season-high 10-game road trip.

Aaron Loup (1-0) struck out three in a scoreless inning. Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough allowed four runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings after giving up five runs over five innings in a 5-0 home loss to Boston last Wednesday.

"We've got to somehow find a way to get him into a little bit better rhythm," Cash said of Yarbrough. "He's had a couple outings where it was like he was searching for it a little bit. Today was one."

J.D. Martinez (3 for 4) hit a solo shot for his first home run of the season, Jonathan Arauz collected his first major league hit and finished 3 for 4 with two RBI, and Kevin Plawecki went 3 for 4 with two RBI for the Red Sox.

"It felt great (to get my first hits)," Arauz said through an interpreter. "Obviously my goal today was just to try to help the team win. You know, three hits is good to have, but wish we would've got the win instead."

Boston had won three of four after dropping eight of 10.

Arauz brought the Red Sox within a run on his bases-loaded, two-out double in the eighth. Kevin Pillar grounded out to end the rally.

Ji-Man Choi singled down the right-field line to give Tampa Bay its first lead at 5-4 in the sixth after Wendle's triple tied it an inning earlier.

Boston led 3-0 after the first. Martinez ended a drought of 64 at-bats without a home run in the third when he took Yarbrough deep over the Green Monster in left.

"J.D. looked good today, so hopefully that's a good sign of what's going to happen here for the next two months -- or hopefully longer than that," Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said.

GIVE AND TAKE

After being thrown out trying to advance on his second-inning RBI single, Kiermaier made a leaping catch at the warning track in center to rob Arauz to open the bottom of the inning. Arauz later got his first hit on a bloop single to center to lead off the fifth.

"I know (my first hit) was gonna come eventually, but in that moment it just didn't," Arauz said. "Credit to him -- he made a great play."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Rays: RHP Charlie Morton was placed on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his pitching shoulder. "We caught it at the right time. We're pretty optimistic that he's gonna be right back," Cash said. ... LHP Jose Alvarado was reinstated from the paternity list.

Red Sox: 3B Rafael Devers was not in the lineup after he tweaked his left ankle during Sunday's game against Toronto. Devers was spotted in a walking boot outside his locker suite. Roenicke said he is "doubtful" to start Tuesday. ... 1B Mitch Moreland was unavailable as a pinch hitter after injuring his left knee Sunday. He will be re-evaluated Tuesday. . LHP Brian Johnson was granted his release from the team's minor league roster.

UP NEXT

Rays: RHP Andrew Kittredge (0-0, 2.35 ERA) will start Tuesday after recording the final two outs on Monday for his first career save.

Red Sox: LHP Martin Perez (2-1, 3.45 ERA) looks to win his third straight start. He threw five scoreless innings and struck out four last Wednesday against Tampa Bay.