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Home , Aaron Boone, Baseball Talk, Bill Lajoie, Brian Cashman, Bronx Bombers (play), Danny Burawa

The Tuesday, April 10, 2018

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Red Sox-Yankees rivalry renewed and recharged

Christopher L. Gasper

The rivalry has been revived and so has the debate. Who is better, the Red Sox or the ? Who is better positioned to deliver the next winner from the East, the Red Sox or the Yankees?

The Yankees, with arguably the best farm system in and prospect capital the Sox can only dream of right now, look like a club with a long-term blueprint. With baseball’s highest payroll and a three-year championship window that’s in Year 2, the Red Sox look like the club with an exigent, Steinbrennerian mandate to capitalize on their talent now.

Baseball’s War of the Roses resumes Tuesday at when the Red Sox and Yankees meet for the first time in the 2018 season — the opening game of a three-game series and the opening scene in a dramatic passion play that seems destined for an October denouement. The Red Sox and Yankees have made their rivalry fascinating and relevant again.

After an offseason arms race (or bats race), escalated by the Yankees trading for , we finally get to measure the two teams on the field in meaningful baseball games.

Baseball’s best and most intense rivalry is once again rife with subtext, subplots, intrigue, and a little animosity, stemming from last season’s smart watch-aided sign-stealing shenanigans by the Red Sox. The strong dislike between the Red Sox and Yankees emanates from the fan bases. To say the two organizations detest each other is hyperbolic, but to say they distrust each other and enjoy needling the other is not.

Yankees general called the Red Sox the Golden State Warriors of baseball after they acquired . Red Sox president of baseball operations intimated that Cashman tattled when he went straight to with the Yankees sign-stealing concerns instead of confronting his Boston counterpart.

As enjoyable as it has been to watch the Red Sox compile the best nine-game start in franchise history (8-1) against two teams with marine monikers that are happily existing in a tank, now we get to see how they stack up against a contender. The two effete Florida teams, the and ’s , are much to the than the Pinstripes.

Last year was the first time since the Sox’ great collapse of 2011 that the ancient adversaries were legitimate World Series contenders concurrently. The Red Sox have won the last two titles, but, mirroring the history of the rivalry, it feels like the Red Sox are chasing the Yankees.

The Yankees took the season-series last year, 11-8, and outscored the Sox, 82-59. The are the ones who were one win away from playing in the World Series. The Red Sox have won one playoff game the last two seasons. The Yankees are ahead of schedule to compete for a title. The Red Sox are racing against time to take advantage of the fully-loaded roster before free agency breaks it up.

The Red Sox and the Yankees have a common objective this season and a lot in common.

Both sides have rookie managers not too far removed from their playing days who boasted no previous major league managerial experience. Now, they’re managing teams that are expected to break out the decorative bunting and the bubbly in October. , who broke the hearts of Red Sox fans in the 2003 American League Championship Series, has gone from the broadcast booth to Yankee skipper. has gone from bench to managing personalities and expectations in the fishbowl of Boston baseball.

Both teams have high-profile new sluggers with high expectations who are working to connect with their new fan bases in Stanton and J.D. Martinez. Stanton is just struggling to connect, period.

Uniting Stanton, who led the majors last season in home runs with 59, with and Gary Sanchez was supposed to give the Yankees a Millennial Murderers’ Row. But Stanton’s stint in pinstripes is off to an ignominious start. With an 0 for 7, five- effort on Sunday in a loss to the , he became the first player in the live-ball era to fan five times in two games in the same season. He accomplished it on the same homestand.

Stanton is batting .167 with three home runs and 20 in 42 at-bats. Martinez, who was homerless in 47 at-bats, finally his first home as a member of the Red Sox on Saturday. But he is batting .226 and has struck out a team-high 11 times in 31 at-bats.

Both teams have hyperspeed hard-throwing closers in and . But the rest of their relief corps has underperformed and underwhelmed so far.

Both teams will send their aces to the mound Tuesday. The Sox turn to Chris Sale. The Yankees counter with 24-year-old flame-thrower . Last season, Sale pitched well against the Yankees — 2.65 ERA and 50 strikeouts and just 7 walks in 34 innings — but was winless against them in five starts.

Don’t tell these teams these are just early-season encounters. The Sox are rolling out their three aces in the series with Sale, Price, and Porcello. The Bronx Bombers are expected to counter with their top three — Severino, , and Sonny Gray.

Unlike when the Red Sox-Yankees drama was at its 21st-century peak in 2003 and 2004, the carries much greater risk as a postseason path now. Instead of a best-of-five division series, the wild card only earns you a one-game playoff against the other wild-card entrant for the right to advance to a playoff series. Both the Red Sox and the Yankees have invested too much in their teams this season to want to leave it all to chance in a one-game playoff. They stand in each other’s way in the AL East, and any of their 19 scheduled games could make a difference.

The curse has been reversed. So, have the teams’ approaches. It’s the Red Sox who are brandishing the most expensive team in baseball. It’s the Yankees who are showing restraint and avoiding a luxury tax bill.

The Yankees’ player development machine and a luxury tax re-set that will enable them to chase premium free agents such as and Bryce Harper are why the Yankees are in a more enviable long- term position than the Red Sox. The Red Sox are a team of right now and next year.

The Red Sox and the Yankees are forever foils in competition. It’s great to have that competition back with Tuesday’s first pitch and back at fever pitch.

While Yankees have holes, Red Sox are on a roll

Julian Benbow

In theory, one early-season platinum sombrero is something a big leaguer can shake off.

An 0-for-5, five-strikeout day can happen.

But piling on with an 0-for-7 five-strikeout day five games later is the kind of disaster that brings out the boo-birds. Especially if you’re a slugger with a 13-year, $325 million price tag playing in arguably the most demanding market in baseball.

The question the New York Yankees face as they arrive in Boston for a three-game series that begins Tuesday is how Giancarlo Stanton handles the hole he’s sunken into over his first 10 games in pinstripes.

Since he put on a show in the Yankees opener — mashing two homers and going 3 for 5 with four RBIs — Stanton has struggled to find his sea legs in New York.

He is hitting just .167 with 20 strikeouts. In his first six games at , Stanton went 3 for 28 with 16 strikeouts. Just 10 games into the season, he owns the dubious distinction as the only player in the live-ball era with two five-strikeout o-fers in a season.

He got an early taste of how harsh New York life can be when he was booed twice at Yankee Stadium Sunday.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Stanton had braced himself for the heightened scrutiny he’d face coming from Miami to New York.

“I really feel like he’s prepared himself,” Boone said Sunday. “I don’t feel like he came here on a whim. I think he’s very prepared for a big change in walking into this and I think he’s such a diligent worker and his prep is so detailed and I think he’ll get locked into that.”

But as a first-year manager who is himself adjusting to life under the New York microscope, Boone understands that his star is still getting a handle on a new situation.

“I think in time he’ll be fine,” Boone said. “He’s too good a player. That’s just something that’s the nature of it. You’ve got to be able to deal with that, especially early in the season. Someone from everywhere, especially if you’re coming into a new situation, if you don’t get off right away, that’s just something you have to deal with as a big leaguer, and I feel quite certain he will. Before long it’ll be an old story.”

While the Yankees are a team in transition as they stumble into Fenway Park, the Red Sox couldn’t be more carefree.

The Yankees went 3-3 on their first homestead of the season, dropping three of four to the Orioles. Meanwhile, the Sox haven’t lost since Opening Day, stretching their winning streak to eight games Sunday with an 8-7 come-from-behind win over the Rays, fueled by an improbable six-run eighth inning.

“They don’t even know what’s going on,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “They’re just playing baseball and having fun with it. Every team plays hard, but they’re just having fun right now.”

The Sox have been anchored by the best pitching staff in baseball so far, but they’ve also figured out different ways to pull out wins. They’ve put together five comeback victories. They’ve won four times while scoring three runs or fewer. They’ve won by scoring more than six runs three times. They’re 5-0 in one-run games.

“We’ve been able to find those ways,” said. “We don’t give up. Anything can happen, especially in this game. So we just try to put together good at-bats and see what happens.”

Their 8-1 start is the best through nine games in franchise history. Their eight-game winning streak matches their longest streak of 2017.

But they aren’t getting ahead of themselves.

“We’ve been doing well, but we’ve got 162,” said outfielder . “It’s not necessarily how you start, but where you finish.”

The Sox can thank in part a soft early schedule for their jump-start. Their two opponents — Tampa Bay and Miami — are cinder blocks at the bottom of their divisions with a combined 4-14 record.

But Cora sensed in spring training that his team was clicking. Over the first nine games of the season, he has seen that chemistry continue to come along.

“It’s getting better,” Cora said. “There’s a lot of communication there, a lot of baseball talk. It’s getting louder and louder. I stand there and listen and sometimes I’m like, ‘Really, you said that?’ But it’s good, it’s good. Good teams talk baseball.

“It seems like this team, they enjoy this game. They really do. We still have a lot of things that we have to improve, but we’re 8-1. No way you’re going to take that away from us. It’s a good start.”

Injury to Xander Bogaerts presents a real challenge for Red Sox

Alex Speier

Now comes the real test.

Since the beginning of spring training, Red Sox manager Alex Cora has had his eye on the big picture, working in preemptive off-days in the first days of the season in hopes of sustaining his team’s peak performance into October. But a single day off is a different proposition than a longer absence of a player who has been enormously important to his team’s early-season success.

Xander Bogaerts’ left ankle injury after a slide into the Rays dugout confronts the Red Sox with the sort of issue that savaged their lineup’s production last year. Members of the organization could be forgiven if they experienced a familiar feeling of dread at the sight of the – off to a brilliant .368/.400/.711 start – being helped down the dugout stairs with the support of two trainers after his injury.

A strong case can be made that shortstop is the position where the Sox possess the least depth. While Eduardo Nunez has played short, he’s graded as below-average in limited time over the last couple of seasons – before last year’s knee injury diminished his already limited range. has played short sparingly in the big leagues, and is considered an adequate but below-average option there. Meanwhile, the insertion of Holt or Tzu-Wei Lin into the bottom of the order would represent a potentially significant production dropoff from a player who has exploded out of the gates with nine extra-base hits in as many contests.

And yet the Sox would do well to avoid repeating the sins of 2017 in their efforts to get Bogaerts back on the field. As the Sox learned that Bogaerts will miss 10-14 days with a small crack in his ankle, it’s worth revisiting what happened with several key players who dealt with injuries a year ago.

Bogaerts himself offers a cautionary tale. Hit in the right hand by a pitch on July 6, he and the Red Sox heaved a sigh of relief that nothing was broken. Yet after one day off, he was back in the lineup and playing through pain on July 8 and then played in 68 of his team’s final 75 games, his offense sputtering to a .232/.321/.340 line (down from .308/.363/.455 through July 6) over those final months. In retrospect, Bogaerts recognizes that he should have gone on the DL in order to return to something close to full health rather than remaining in the lineup as a reduced player.

Of course, the hand presents a different scenario than the left ankle. Yet the Sox had plenty of experience last year with hitters who suffered injuries to their front legs and saw their performances get derailed.

Jackie Bradley Jr. hit everything hard for the first four games of last season but then suffered a right knee injury when running the bases. He landed on the DL but hurried off of it, wearing a knee brace when he returned after just under two weeks on the sidelines. Over the next three and a half weeks, he hit .159/.209/.270; it was only after the removal of the brace left him feeling less stiff and freer to transfer his weight to his front leg that he returned to hitting the ball with authority over the next three months.

Dustin Pedroia spent most of the 2017 season trying to play on one leg. He lost the ability to drive the ball with any authority over the duration of the year before undergoing his offseason surgery.

Mitch Moreland got off to a terrific start in Boston, hitting .282/.382/.495 through his first 61 games before a pitch broke the big toe on his left foot. From that point forward, he hit just .218/.284/.405 over 88 games.

“I couldn’t get on my backside. I couldn’t hold my ground without my foot,” Moreland recalled. “I had to make some adjustments, figure out a way to stay as square as I possibly could, let my hands work for a little while until I got my feel back, which I don’t think I did too well. But like I’ve said, I’d rather play than watch. Did it help me? Probably not. Did it hurt me? Probably some. But I was out there trying to help my team and competing, whether it was with the bat or in other ways.”

While such efforts are laudable, and members of the Red Sox received praise for their toughness and willingness to contribute even in a reduced state, hindsight suggests that the team may have been better served with a more conservative approach to injury management.

Cora repeatedly has discussed the significance of managing his players not for individual games or series but instead for the long haul. The ability of a player to contribute over months is more valuable than his ability to hurry back for a limited slate of games – even with the Sox preparing for a three-game series against the Yankees followed by a four-game set against the Orioles and a trip to the West Coast to face the Angels, who are off to a 7-3 start.

Bogaerts presents the 2018 Red Sox with their first real challenge in injury management. The contrast between what he’s shown thus far this season and how he finished last year suggests that a considerable amount is at stake in how they proceed.

Minor league baseball’s new extra innings rule gets first test in Pawtucket

John Vitti

McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, R.I., was home to some more baseball history Monday night.

The PawSox lost to the Buffalo Bisons, 4-3, on Tim Lopes’s RBI single in the top of the 12th in the first game played with new extra-innings rules designed to finish games quicker.

Under the pace-of-play initiative, each and every extra inning begins with a runner placed at second base. Despite the advantage, the Bisons and PawSox still needed three innings and six turns at bat to score.

The PawSox had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the 12th with leadoff batter Mike Miller singling to left, moving automatic baserunner Jantzen Witte to third. However, Rusney Castillo flied to right, Witte was caught off third on a fielder’s choice, and Ivan DeJesus Jr. flied out.

Time of game: 4 hours 1 minute.

Back in 1981, McCoy Stadium was home to the longest game, a 33-inning game that was played on three days and lasted 8 hours 25 minutes.

There was a bright side for the PawSox, as five combined for 20 strikeouts, the most by its staff since 2002.

Starter Jalen Beeks struck out eight in four innings of one-run work, but the lefthander was done after 92 pitches.

* The Boston Herald

Red Sox, Yankees off to different starts

Jason Mastrodonato

For the first time this year, the Red Sox and New York Yankees get to square off under their new managers, Alex Cora and Aaron Boone.

There will be energy at Fenway Park. Expect countless pitching changes and the games to take forever.

The two teams rank among the five slowest teams in baseball this year. Each has averaged 3 hours, 24 minutes per game. And this is after the Red Sox set the major league record last year when they averaged 3:21.

Each of the teams’ is off to a great start but only one will be in action this week. Xander Bogaerts is hitting .368 with an 1.111 OPS but was placed on the disabled list yesterday with an injured foot. is hitting .375 with a 1.430 OPS for the Yanks.

Neither team has had a big impact from its superstar offseason acquisition. J.D. Martinez is hitting .226 with a .705 OPS and one while Giancarlo Stanton already has been booed in New York while hitting .167 with a .669 OPS and three homers.

But mostly the Red Sox (8-1) and the Yankees (5-5) have looked like two very different teams out of the gates.

Here are the five most noticeable differences through the first 10 days:

Yankees’ all-or-nothing at the plate vs. Red Sox’ nickel-and-dime approach:

The Yankees have struck out 89 times; the Red Sox just 56.

The Sox have one player who has struck out more than eight times: Martinez, with 11 strikeouts in 35 plate appearances.

The Yankees have four players who have struck out more than 10 times: Stanton (20 Ks in 48 PAs), Aaron Judge (13 Ks, 48 PAs), (12 Ks, 51 PAs) and (11 Ks, 31 PAs).

Under Cora and new hitting coach , the Red Sox offense has made drastic changes in their plate approach through the first nine games. They’ve swung and missed at just 8.1 percent of the total pitches they’ve seen this year, lowest in the majors. And this despite their newfound aggression — they’re swinging way more often than last year, from 43.9 percent (29th in MLB) to 47.2 percent (fifth).

Of course the Yankees have hit 13 homers, tied for fifth-most, while the Red Sox have seven homers, tied for 21st.

Cora’s moves are working, Boone’s aren’t:

Boone already has been on the back pages for questionable decisions during losses. was left in for two innings and 40 pitches in the third game of the season and took the loss after allowing two runs in his second frame. In the next contest, Boone chose to intentionally walk the right-handed-hitting to have right-hander David Robertson face switch-hitter with the bases loaded. Smoak hit a .

After the Yankees lost on Friday night, Boone told reporters in New York that he slept at the ballpark to try to figure out a way to win on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Cora was questioned after the Opening Day loss for not using Craig Kimbrel in the eighth inning but has otherwise had a seamless first 10 days as manager. He’s navigated his way through the late innings with a bullpen that lacks any sure-thing set-up guys. From Double-A to the majors, Bobby Poyner has become a key part of Cora’s plans while Carson Smith, and have gotten some important outs.

Red Sox come from behind, Yankees don’t:

The Red Sox are 4-0 this season when the opponent scores first. Because their starters have bounced back after giving up runs early, it’s made it easier on the offense to slowly work its way back into games.

The Yankees are just 1-3 in games in which they didn’t score first.

The Red Sox are 5-0 in one-run games; the Yankees are 0-1.

Red Sox are getting strong efforts from their starting almost every game:

Red Sox starters have a 1.70 ERA; the Yankees starters are at 3.19.

Chris Sale and have been lights-out, as have Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka. Sale and Severino square off tonight; Price and Tanaka tomorrow.

But the back end of the Sox rotation has outperformed the Yanks’ by a large margin. And Sox starters are going deeper in games, averaging 5.9 innings per start compared to the Yanks’ 5.4.

Overall, the Red Sox pitching staff has a 2.69 ERA, while the Yankees check in at 3.94. Sox hurlers have allowed five homers vs. the Yankees’ 12.

The Yankees pitching staff does have more strikeouts, however. They’re leading the majors with 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings. The Red sox are seventh at 9.3.

Yankees have been hit harder by the injury bug:

The Bogaerts news not withstanding, the Red Sox have been relatively fortunate with their health early this season.

Starters Eduardo Rodriguez, and Steven Wright began the year on the disabled list, but Rodriguez already has returned and the other two are close. Eduardo Nunez was signed to provide a quality fill-in for . Tyler Thornburg was never expected to be a reliever the Sox could count on. Overall, they haven’t had any sizable holes because of injuries.

The Yankees, though, have already lost Gary Sanchez (questionable for tonight’s game), Greg Bird (DL), Brandon Drury (DL), (DL), (DL but could be activated today), (DL), (illness) and CC Sabathia (DL), among others.

Red Sox notebook: Ankle crack lands Xander Bogaerts on disabled list

Jason Mastrodonato

The Red Sox will be without their hottest position player for at least two weeks.

Xander Bogaerts was placed on the 10-day disabled list yesterday because of a small crack in the talus bone in his left ankle.

Bogaerts is hitting a team-high .368 with an MLB-leading seven doubles. He was injured Sunday when he took a bad relay throw from J.D. Martinez in left field and made a blind flip to third base, where there was nobody covering. The ball started rolling toward the visitors dugout, and Bogaerts slid to save it. He hurt himself when he landed on the dugout steps.

He’s expected to miss 10-14 days, the team said.

Tzu-Wei Lin, the scrappy utility player who hit .268 in 25 games for the Sox last year, was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket to take Bogaerts’ spot on the roster. Lin and Brock Holt likely will share time at shortstop until Bogaerts returns.

Holt is a natural who has handled shortstop duties in the past. He won the final roster spot ahead of Deven Marrero, a natural shortstop known for his defensive prowess. Marrero was out of options and traded to the at the end of spring training.

“I feel comfortable at shortstop, second base, third base, pretty much anywhere,” Holt said Sunday. “It’s a tough, tough team to crack the lineup. You hate to see (Bogaerts) get injured there, especially with his spot coming up in the order in a big spot there, but I feel like I can step in and do a good job. I was happy to do it.”

Cold, hard facts

The temperature for first pitch between the Red Sox and New York Yankees tonight is expected to be 40 degrees, according to The Weather Channel. This will be the third Sox game this season played in temperatures of 40 or less, and they’ve won both thus far. The Sox are 6-2 in such conditions dating to 2012, having won the past four.

Chris Sale has only started twice when the temperature is 40 or below, and he’s pitched seven innings both times, allowing three total runs.

Opposing Sale is Luis Severino, who has only made one career start in cold weather. He allowed three runs on 10 hits in five innings against the .

Sale will be on extra rest. He has a career 1.81 ERA in 25 games when pitching on extra rest.

Everyone loves winner

The Sox’ 8-1 start has produced some big-time ratings on NESN.

Ratings are up 40 percent from where they were during the first nine games last year, according to an industry source.

Tonight’s game will be on ESPN. Former Sox will be in the booth with and play-by-play man . . . .

The PawSox are offering free admission for a three-game stretch that began last night. The other games are tonight 6:15 and tomorrow at 12:05.

Fans who already have purchased tickets for any of these games will receive a free flex ticket for a future game.

Pomeranz not ready

Left-hander Drew Pomeranz will need another rehab start before he returns to the big leagues. He’ll start for Double-A Portland on Friday.

Pomeranz suffered a forearm flexor strain March 2 in a spring training start and has been a bit behind since.

He felt good, but the results for Pawtucket were poor Sunday, when he walked six batters and allowed two hits and two runs in 41⁄3 innings.

“I was going out there working on stuff,” Pomeranz said. “Generally I don’t go out into big league games working on things, but today I’m trying to get ready for the big leagues. Like I said, I was working a little more than I generally would, so I kept missing, missing, missing. But those last couple innings I felt like I locked it in and got to where I needed to be.” . . .

Los Angeles Angels rookie Shohei Ohtani became the first two-way player to win American League Player of the Week honors. He hit .462 with three homers and seven RBI in three games as the while also throwing seven shutout innings, allowing just one run and striking out 12 in his only start.

* The Providence Journal

Red Sox and Yankees ready to resume their longtime rivalry

Bill Koch

BOSTON — With all due respect to Tampa Bay and Miami, it’s reasonable to think most Red Sox fans had Tuesday circled on their calendars as the real beginning of the 2018 season.

The first of 19 matchups against the Yankees arrives with Boston enjoying a historic start and New York’s prized offseason acquisition hearing it from the boo birds in his home park. Fenway Park is the setting for the opening skirmish between the two teams picked by just about all of the game’s followers to battle for supremacy in the American League East.

Two straight years of playoff flameouts and a combined 1-6 record against the Indians and Astros in the A.L. Division Series make it easy to forget the Red Sox are the two-time division champions. Boston has its gaze fixed on loftier goals, and that starts with dispatching what will almost certainly be its chief competition throughout the regular season.

The Red Sox are 8-1 for the first time after Sunday’s improbable 8-7 win over the Rays, one that featured six runs on six straight two-out hits in the bottom of the eighth inning.

“We’ve been able to find those ways,” said outfielder Andrew Benintendi, whose RBI double capped Sunday’s rally. “We don’t give up. Anything can happen, especially in this game.”

To Benintendi’s point, there is a different feel around the Red Sox in the early going. The Red Sox are 5-0 when the opponent scores first and have won a pair of games in extra innings. Eduardo Rodriguez was the first to allow more than three earned runs in an outing, a number only reached by after he was sent back out for the eighth with an eight-run lead on Saturday.

“We’ve been playing good baseball for a month now,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “I know spring training doesn’t count. I know the record doesn’t count. But we were playing good baseball.”

Are some of these trends unsustainable? Certainly, especially considering the season to date has been played against two teams who lost by a combined 30-4 on Saturday. The Marlins have stripped their roster almost to the bone in the name of rebuilding under new chief executive officer Derek Jeter.

One of the first orders of business for the former Yankees shortstop was to deal one of his Miami stars to his old team. Slugging outfielder Giancarlo Stanton and the remaining 10 years of his groundbreaking $325-million contract was shipped to New York in the offseason, settling into a lineup that can now appropriately be called the Bronx Bombers again. Stanton is finding life in the spotlight’s glare a little more difficult, finishing his first homestand 3-for-28 with 16 strikeouts.

Like Boston with shortstop Xander Bogaerts (left ankle), the Yankees have also been hit early by the injury bug. Pitcher CC Sabathia (right hip strain) and Brandon Drury (severe migraines) are the latest to be placed on the disabled list, joining Greg Bird (right ankle surgery) and Jacoby Ellsbury (oblique strain), Clint Frazier (concussion), Aaron Hicks (right intercostal strain) and Billy McKinney (left shoulder sprain). The Red Sox were hoping Bogaerts could avoid a similar fate after suffering his injury sliding for an errant throw late in Sunday’s game.

Both teams figure to have the resources to weather most storms, and even a diminished version of each roster makes for great theater when they meet. The first time arrives at 7:10 p.m. on Tuesday, with Boston left-hander Chris Sale and New York right-hander Luis Severino taking the ball in a duel of aces.

“I don’t know if that group needs confidence down there,” Cora said of his players. “They said it yesterday — they don’t even know what’s going on. They’re just playing baseball and having fun with it.”

* MassLive.com

Eduardo Nunez's teammates love his 'unbelievable' laugh, ex-Giants teammate can impersonate it

Christopher Smith

BOSTON -- Eduardo Nunez crushed a ball during batting practice on one of the backfields at the Boston Red Sox's JetBlue Park complex in Florida during spring training.

At least he thought he crushed it.

"Where's the ball? That's a big homer," he recalled bragging to his teammates.

"It hit the wall," Brock Holt told him.

"No," a surprised Nunez replied.

Nunez laughed -- his recognizable, one of a kind laugh -- as Holt, and Andrew Benintendi stood around the batting cage. Holt tried to show him where the ball landed.

"So it didn't even go out," Nunez told MassLive.com last week, laughing. "So they were laughing at me."

Nunez -- who re-signed with Boston for $4 million in 2018 with a $4 million option for 2019 -- batted .321 with a .353 on-base percentage, .539 , .892 OPS and eight homers in 38 games after being traded to the Sox from the Giants last July 26. He's hitting .265 with five extra-base hits in his first eight games for Boston in 2018.

He has fun playing baseball, plain and simple. His teammates love his energy and they certainly love his laugh. They can't get enough of it. It might be the league's best.

"It's a kick," Xander Bogaerts said. "You won't get tired of it."

Benintendi added, "It's a unique laugh. It's hilarious. It makes everybody else laugh."

The video right below has Nunez laughing twice, including the anecdote mentioned above of when he thought he homered on one of the backfields:

Nunez's former Giants teammate Denard Span, now with the Rays, mentioned Nunez's laugh to MassLive.com without even being asked about it.

"I felt like he was always loose," Span said. "Always in a good mood. He's just one of those guys that's infectious. Just his personality, his laugh. I'm sure you've heard his laugh ..."

Span is able to impersonate the laugh to perfection. He did it here in the visitor's clubhouse at Fenway Park last Thursday.

"Everybody that knows him, we always say, 'That guy's laugh is unbelievable,'" Span said.

People have been commenting to Nunez about his laugh his entire life.

"A lot. I don't know why," Nunez said, smiling. "I just think it's normal laugh. I like to laugh. I like to have fun."

Nunez often laughs out there because he plays his best when he's relaxed.

"I love the game. I love what I do," Nunez said. "This game is so stressful. It make you stressed. You have to be relaxed.

"It's little decisions you make that make a big difference," he added. "If you're stressed out, you're going to make a lot of mistakes because your mind is not clear. You have to have fun. It doesn't matter what kind of game, what situation. You have to be you. You have to do everything you can and be relaxed."

Him being relaxed also means laughing ... often.

He's glad if he's able to help teammates stay relaxed. Meanwhile, he thinks his hustle has an influence on them.

"They push someone, too. If somebody see me like that, they're going to play like that because they don't want to look bad. They don't want to look lazy. So we play together."

Nunez brings an edge and an intensity similar to what and other members of the 2013 club brought.

We saw it last year when he bunted against Yankees starter CC Sabathia, his former teammate and friend. Sabathia called the Red Sox "weak."

Nunez responded, "If I have to bunt four times in a row, I'll do it. I don't care if he's mad or not."

He said he never emulated anyone's playing style growing up.

"I think everybody has a different, own personality," he said. "God gave me my personality."

Does he consider himself a leader?

"I don't try to be a leader," Nunez said. "It's just you have to do everything for your teammates. Do everything for your team. And when they see that, they appreciate that."

The Red Sox open a three-game series today against Nunez's former team, the Yankees. He came up through the Yankees system and served as a utility player for them from 2010-2013.

"He just plays the game, attacks the game fearlessly, and he does something for a ballclub that I think is not seen that much around the game in this era," Span said.

"He has that edge. He has that chip on his shoulder," Span added. "I think it's because the majority of his career he was slept on and he was a utility player up until two years ago. So I think he's always had to carry that chip that he felt like he deserved the opportunity that he's getting now. He probably should have gotten it when he was younger. But I think that has helped mold the type of player he is today."

Span also mentioned Nunez's ability to connect with players of different cultures in the clubhouse.

"Obviously he's a Latin guy ... but his English is pretty good as well," Span said. "He makes an attempt to mingle with the Americans and he makes himself available on both sides. So that's cool."

His blue-collar style on the field certainly fits the personality of Boston. The fans have embraced him.

"He's a competitor, you know?" Bogaerts said. "And he's a worker. He likes working. He enjoys it. It doesn't matter how good or bad he is playing at the moment, he's going to work. We enjoy having him around. He obviously was a big part in what we did last year and he's definitely a big part of what we're trying to accomplish this year."

Nunez said, "The fans, you don't control how they react. The only control you can control is yourself. The only thing I can promise is I'm going to do every game 100 percent. That's the only thing I can control. And when they see that, they appreciate that."

Pomeranz injury update: Red Sox SP will make second rehab start Friday with Double-A Portland

Kevin Dillon

The Boston Red Sox will have to wait one more turn through the rotation before Drew Pomeranz makes his return.

The team announced Monday that Pomeranz will make his second rehab start since going on the disabled list Friday with Double-A Portland. Pomeranz went on the disabled list due to a mild flexor strain suffered in his first spring training start.

The lefty went 4 1/3 innings in his first rehab start Sunday with Triple-A Pawtucket, throwing 85 pitches (47 for strikes). He gave up two runs in the outing -- a two-run home run in the first inning.

Without Pomeranz, the Red Sox have used Hector Velazquez and Brian Johnson in the starting rotation. Both of them pitched in the bullpen Sunday, as the Red Sox' schedule allowed them to skip their fifth starter in favor of Chris Sale Tuesday against the New York Yankees.

Xander Bogaerts injury news: Boston Red Sox SS has small fracture in ankle, will go on 10-day DL

Kevin Dillon

The Boston Red Sox will be without their starting shortstop for the near future.

The team announced Monday that Xander Bogaerts will head to the 10-day disabled list after suffering a left ankle injury Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays. He has a "small crack in the talus bone in his left ankle," and will not require surgery. He is expected to return in approximately 10-14 days.

Bogaerts has been the Red Sox' best offensive player through the first nine games, batting .368 BA/.400 OBP/ .711 SLG with seven doubles, two home runs and nine RBIs. The Red Sox announced he left Sunday's game with a left ankle injury after he slid toward the Rays' dugout trying to prevent the ball from going out of play.

The Red Sox will have a few different options at shortstop with Bogaerts out. Tsu-Wei Lin will be called up from Triple-A Pawtucket on Tuesday. Brock Holt came in for Bogaerts Sunday, and said he is open to playing shortstop. Eduardo Nunez is No. 2 on the Red Sox' shortstop depth chart on their team site, but he is currently playing second base with Dustin Pedroia on the disabled list.

Boston Red Sox have 'Fortnite' fever, are using 'Take the L' dance as newest celebration

Kevin Dillon

BOSTON - Xander Bogaerts turned to his dugout, made an L with his forefinger and thumb on his forehead and waddled his feet on either side of second base. It was Opening Day, he just hit a double, and it was his first chance to give his new dance a try.

Over the past few years, the Red Sox have used Michael Jackson and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as inspiration for their "Win, Dance, Repeat" dances. Mookie Betts made a habit of pretending to sprinkle salt toward the dugout after big hits, like the man from the viral video.

With a new season beginning, Bogaerts decided it was time to try something fresh. So he turned to Fortnite.

"That's the one we're doing right now and I think we kind of like it," Bogaerts said.

Fortnite is a cartoonish third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games that has swept the nation in recent months. Rapper Drake played a live streamed broadcast of Fortnite recently, which shattered viewership records. Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward, an avid gamer, streamed himself playing as well recently, which led to a viral video of his daughter distracting him mid-battle.

In Fortnite, there are several silly "emotes," or dances, one can perform mid-battle royale - just for fun. One of the most popular emotes has been the 'Take the L' dance, which Bogaerts adapted for Red Sox use.

Since then, several other Red Sox players have done the dance after big plays. Mookie Betts did it after Bogaerts' grand slam Saturday. and Eduardo Nunez and others have joined in on the fun. Hanley Ramirez, who in true dad fashion said he only knows about Fortnite because his kids are obsessed with it, even mixed in the game's "Best Mates" dance after hitting a double.

Bogaerts has been playing Fortnite for a few months now, but mostly with friends from home. Late in spring training, however, some of the Red Sox players began to play together on the same squad. Bogaerts, Eduardo Rodriguez, Carson Smith, David Price, Matt Barnes, Craig Kimbrel and are among the Red Sox players who have played together, whether during spring training or on their road trips in Tampa Bay and Miami. Smith said Dustin Pedroia might be trying it out too, but he has not played with his teammates just yet. Devers does not play, but likes watching his teammates when they do.

Smith is the undisputed best Fortnite player on the team. When the players join together on a squad, he is the one who organizes where everyone should go on the game's map.

At the beginning of each round, Fortnite players have a choice of which location they would like to drop toward to begin their battle. Bogaerts chooses some of the more popular marked locations on the map, like "Anarchy Acres," "Fatal Fields," "Pleasant Park" and the formidable "Tilted Towers." Smith gets a little more creative than that.

"It's actually a place we call 'Scar Factory,'" Smith said. "It's an unnamed location just next to Flush Factory."

So far Smith said Red Sox players have collected around a dozen squad victories in Fortnite, which is pretty impressive considering they have only been playing together for a few weeks. Fortnite has been a nice team bonding activity for the players.

"This game is all about helping out and having fun at the same time," Bogaerts said. "I play baseball as a team, so I like playing in squads."

The game is a hit with the players now, but it's too early to tell if the Red Sox will be doing the same "Take the L" dance all season. Bogaerts did not rule out trying something different as the season went along. The team celebrations are just for fun, after all, and there is always room for something new to take over.

"It's early on," Bogaerts said. "Who knows what we'll be doing next? But right now, we are doing that, and we are enjoying that so far."

* RedSox.com

Yanks, Sox begin anew with Severino-Sale duel

Ian Browne

BOSTON -- Aaron Boone took a big swing in 2003 that ended a baseball season for the Red Sox and sent the Yankees to the World Series. In the ensuing years, Boone said he's been treated well in his visits to Boston.

That is all about to change, starting tonight, when the rivals meet at Fenway Park for the opener of a three- game series, as well as the first of 19 head-to-head encounters that could help determine the American League East race between two heavyweight teams.

As the rookie manager of the Yankees, Boone is a much more annoying presence to Red Sox fans than he was while wearing a snazzy suit around the ballpark as an ESPN commentator.

Expect Boone to get booed each time he walks to the mound to remove a pitcher.

That's part of the spirit of an ageless rivalry that has some new elements this season that could bring the intensity back to what it was in 2003-04.

For the first two games of the series, the pitching matchups are fantastic. Game 1 pits two aces -- Chris Sale for the Red Sox and Luis Severino for the Yankees. Two former All-Star pitchers on a comeback mission this year square off on Wednesday in David Price and Masahiro Tanaka.

For the rivalry to be at its best, both teams have to be at their best. And that could well be the case this season. The Red Sox have shown that already, starting 8-1 for the first time in team history. The 5-5 Yankees are sure to get hot soon. Boston just hopes it's not in the next three days.

After finishing two games behind the Red Sox in the AL East last year, New York went a round further than Boston in the postseason, going all the way to Game 7 of the AL Championship Series before losing to the Astros.

But that didn't stop the Bombers from adding a premier slugger during the offseason in Giancarlo Stanton. He joins Aaron Judge to give the Bombers what could be a right-handed-hitting version of the Maris- Mantle duo all those years ago.

It took a while for Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski to counter, but once he did, he got J.D. Martinez, who walloped 45 homers last season while leading the Majors with a .690 slugging percentage.

After getting his first eight games as a member of the Red Sox under his belt, Martinez will now see what the ultimate matchups are all about.

"It should be awesome," Martinez said. "Obviously, I can't speak from experience, but from what I see on TV, it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun."

After the Yankees got Stanton, many pundits were quick to surmise there would be a flip in the standings this season. But the Red Sox take pride in the fact they won the division the past two years, and they have their entire nucleus back from last season.

By adding Martinez to a lineup that already includes Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Hanley Ramirez, Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts, the Red Sox look formidable at the plate. But Boston will be without Bogaerts for the next 10-14 days as the star shortstop recovers from a left ankle injury that revealed a small crack but won't require surgery.

For all the times players try to downplay the rivalry, it's refreshing when someone admits how excited they are for the games.

Ramirez tweeted: "Are we hot or what? Bring them on, it's gonna be fun. Hope X is good."

After an exhausting weekend series against the Orioles in which they lost three out of four, including one in 14 innings and another in 12, perhaps the adrenaline of Fenway will give the Yankees the extra jolt they need when they take the field Tuesday night.

"It's always a great atmosphere up there," said Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner. "We've got a lot of young guys who experienced that for the first time last year or will for the first time this year. It's an exciting place to play. They've got a really good team this year, and I'm sure we'll be battling those guys for 19 games."

Boone isn't the only new manager. Alex Cora is also in his first season with the Red Sox, marking the first time both sides of the rivalry have had new skippers since 1992.

Uniquely, Cora and Boone both played for the teams they are managing, meaning they know all about the rivalry.

"It seems like everybody wants to go to that series, everybody really wants to watch it, everybody wants tickets," said Cora. "From a personal standpoint, I told my mom, I said, 'Mom, I know people want to watch the Yankees and the Red Sox, but the Red Sox play the Rays a lot of times in [St. Petesrburg], it's a lot easier to go to Tampa.' So, it's a big deal, man. It's going to be fun."

For these three days, April could feel more like September or October.

"I love it," said Yankees reliever Dellin Betances. "It's a great atmosphere. Those games feel like playoff games."

After tuning up on the Rays and Marlins during their hot start, the Red Sox now look forward to seeing how they stack up against the best.

"Yeah, we've got everything," said Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez. "If we pitch together and follow the reports and do everything, we're going to be fine. We have the pitchers, we have the hitters, and I think it's going to be a fun series and I hope we sweep it."

Bogaerts placed on 10-day DL with ankle injury

Ian Browne

BOSTON -- The Red Sox placed red-hot shortstop Xander Bogaerts on the 10-day disabled list on Monday, after an X-ray and MRI revealed a small crack in the talus bone in his left ankle.

The good news is that the injury won't require surgery, and the Red Sox only expect Bogaerts to miss 10 to 14 days.

Infielder Tzu-Wei Lin, who spent multiple stints on the roster last season, will be recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket in time for Tuesday's home game against the Yankees to take the roster spot vacated by Bogaerts.

Brock Holt and Lin will share time at shortstop while Bogaerts is out.

The injury was sustained when Bogaerts slid into the open stairwell of the third-base dugout, attempting to recover an errant throw to prevent a run from scoring.

Prior to the injury, Bogaerts was leading the Red Sox with a .368 average and had a career-best six RBIs, including a grand slam hit in Saturday's win vs. the Rays. This is his first stint on the DL since suffering a concussion in August 2014.

In additional news, the Red Sox announced that left-hander Drew Pomeranz (left forearm flexor strain) will make his next rehab start for Double-A Portland on Friday against Binghamton.

* ESPNBoston.com

Boone, Cora scout each other's rosters as Yanks, Sox battle in Boston

Coley Harvey and Scott Lauber

BOSTON -- Fans here don't think much anymore about the home run Aaron Boone tucked just inside Yankee Stadium's left-field foul pole in October 2003.

The Boston Red Sox, after all, have won three World Series since then, including putting an end to their so- called curse a year after that American League Championship Series defeat.

But in New York, it's a different story. Virtually anywhere Boone has gone in the Big Apple during the 15 years following his 11th-inning walk-off that put the New York Yankees in another World Series, a stranger has had a story to tell him.

Keep the Yankees in the Yard

Can you strike out the Yankees? It's your turn to pitch to Judge, Stanton and Sanchez. Play the game »

Just this past Sunday morning, on his way to the Bronx for the series finale against the Orioles, Boone, now the Yankees' manager, listened patiently as his Uber driver giddily recalled a bloody mess he made of himself the night of Game 7.

"He jumped over something and he cut his arm and stuff," Boone says, grinning. "He was pretty fired up."

Starting Tuesday night, Boone and his fellow first-year manager, Boston's Alex Cora, will attempt to keep their emotions in check as they battle for the first time in 2018. Ahead of the three-game set at Fenway, we caught up with the managers and former ESPN broadcasters to get their take on each other's teams, and on what they believe they'll bring to the old rivalry in their new roles.

Cora: 'We've got to wait and see which Stanton we get' When the Astros -- with Cora as the team's bench coach -- visited Miami last May, Giancarlo Stanton was in the midst of a 14-game homerless stretch, the longest drought of his MVP season. He was particularly quiet against the Astros, going 2-for-9 with one double, two walks and four strikeouts.

But as Cora watched a Marlins game on television later in the season, he noticed Stanton had changed his mechanics at the plate.

"I know he made an adjustment with his front leg," Cora says, referring to Stanton moving his front foot closer to the plate than his back foot, making his swing more compact while maintaining his power. "I think he's more disciplined on the inside part of the plate now, and that's why he's been able to cover the plate more because he's been disciplined.

"We've got to wait and see which Stanton we get [this] week. These guys, they change a lot. For how great they are, they have their weeks that they're aggressive, others they're passive and others they're hitting home runs. Hopefully we get the aggressive ones. Obviously he's very talented. It's going to be very difficult, we know that. But I think you take a look at our [starting pitching] staff and it's a pretty good one, too. You've got to be ready, but we feel that we have the pitching to compete with them."

Stanton enters this series having gone 3-for-28 (.107) with 16 strikeouts in the Yankees' six-game homestand. He recorded two five-strikeout games this past week, drawing boos from the home crowd.

Boone: Betts/Boston's outfield is 'special'

Right fielder Betts (pictured with Cora) represents for Boone an athletic Boston team that's "kind of different than the old-school Red Sox that will kind of bash you to death." Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports Defense is what primarily jumps out at Boone when he scans Boston's outfield.

"They're really good athletes," he says.

One way to quantify that observation: outs above average. OAA measures fielding skill by accounting for the number of plays made and their individual difficulty. For outfielders, catches made while having to cover long distances can make for strong OAA numbers.

A pair of Red Sox outfielders had two of the seven highest OAAs in all of baseball last season. Mookie Betts ranked fifth among qualifying fielders, while Jackie Bradley Jr. tied for seventh with Cincinnati speedster Billy Hamilton.

Part of what impresses Boone about Betts, specifically, is the way he can cover expansive spaces -- particularly at home.

"Mookie in right, especially in their building, with all the ground he's got to cover out there, that's special," Boone said. "Jackie can really go get it in center field. [Andrew] Benintendi is one of the young stars in the game.

"And these are guys that are good on both sides of the ball."

Betts has been the offensive hero of that trio in this young season, hitting .364 with three doubles and a home run.

Tackling Yankees 'tight end' -- er, slugger -- Judge As enticing as the must have looked to Aaron Judge during his superhuman rookie season, it wound up having the effect of an emerald-colored wall of Kryptonite.

Judge homered in his first at-bat against the Red Sox last April 26 -- his birthday -- at Fenway Park. He didn't go deep again until his second-to-last at-bat there -- 86 plate appearances later -- on Sept. 3. Overall, he was 11-for-73 with two homers and 30 strikeouts against the Sox, who attacked him with elevated and cutters. Thirty-one percent of the pitches Judge saw from Boston were in the upper-third of the strike zone, according to ESPN Stats & Information, and he batted .097 and slugged .194 against those pitches.

But while pitching coach Dana LeVangie, the lone holdover from last year's coaching staff, figures to tap into that successful scouting report, Cora won't assume the Red Sox have solved the riddle of Judge.

"For whatever people think, he has his holes, but this guy controls the strike zone," Cora says. "He does an outstanding job of not expanding. At that stage of the playoffs, it's different and the stuff he was seeing [from the 2017 Astros] was tough. But he's a complete player.

"You know what really got my attention about Judge? The way he plays defense. He won one of the [ALCS] games defensively -- he robbed a home run, he got a ball in the gap. He's a great athlete. He can do a lot of stuff. He picks his spots running the bases. He's more of a complete player than what people think. He reminds me of [Green Bay Packers tight end] Jimmy Graham. He's that type of athlete. If he wanted to, he could be a tight end in the NFL."

About that new guy in the Red Sox's lineup ... June 21, 2015, was an especially rewarding day in J.D. Martinez's career.

Not only did his Tigers win in convincing fashion that afternoon at Yankee Stadium -- a 12-4 rout -- but Martinez torched Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka for two home runs, and then hit another off reliever Danny Burawa.

No 'bandwagon fan'

How newest Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez celebrated his 19th birthday at Fenway Park. Lauber »

Tanaka and Martinez will see each other again this week when the righty Tanaka pitches Wednesday. In barely two weeks with his new team, Martinez has already doubled, tripled and homered for the Red Sox.

Boone and Yankees pitching coach are well aware of the big-fly potential Martinez possesses. They know 34-year-old vet Hanley Ramirez has that same capability, too -- "He's already got a couple big hits for them," Boone says of Ramirez.

But Boone's biggest concern is how dangerous Boston is once it gets runners on base ahead of Ramirez and Martinez in the heart of the order.

"It's a very athletic team," Boone says. "Kind of different than the old-school Red Sox that will kind of bash you to death. This is a team that's really athletic on defense and on the bases.

"They're going to be a tough matchup all year for us."

Cora on Sanchez: 'His at-bats scared me' In their scouting meetings before the ALCS, the Astros spent considerable time talking about how they'd approach Judge. But another hitter drew almost as much attention.

To Cora, at least, Gary Sanchez was the hitter he feared the most.

And although Sanchez is off to a dreadful start -- 2-for-32 with no walks and five strikeouts, in addition to a cramp in his right calf that caused him to miss the past two games -- he still figures to get plenty of special attention from Red Sox pitchers this week.

"He's a complete hitter," Cora says. "He's the one, out of all the guys last year, his at-bats scared me. He stays on the ball. He hits for average. He controls the strike zone. He can hit for power. This guy, he can do it all."

And in a loaded Yankees lineup, Sanchez usually bats fifth. Imagine that.

"It's kind of like the idea of Xander Bogaerts hitting fifth for us," says Cora, his own lineup bringing a smile to his face.

Good luck -- you'll need it

The Red Sox seemed to solve Aaron Judge (pictured with Boone) last season, but Cora is taking nothing for granted. Rick Madonik/Toronto Star via Getty Images On the morning of Opening Day, a group text message from Connecticut traveled to Toronto and Tampa Bay.

Longtime "" anchor wished both Boone and Cora good luck in their debuts as big league managers.

Boone replied with his thanks to Ravech and best wishes to Cora, and the Red Sox skipper did the same. It's the last time they've had a chance to talk before this week. But at times throughout spring training, they picked each other's brains about how best to schedule workouts, deal with the media, and meet a host of other obligations that come with the manager's job.

This week, with Fenway Park abuzz, each will be in his own corner.

When Cora played for the Red Sox between 2005 and '08, the rivalry with the Yankees still had sizzle, but by then, it was a far cry from its frenzied zenith of 2003-04.

"I've been lucky that I played throughout my baseball career in some great rivalries: Miami-FSU, Miami- Florida, Dodgers-Giants and this one," Cora says. "It's always fun to play or be a part of it. I think J.D. [Martinez] put it this way talking about playing at Fenway, but for me, it relates more with Yankees-Red Sox: It's like Sunday Night Football. Everybody's watching it. So, it'll be fun to be part of it as a manager."

Both Cora and Boone agree that the rivalry has lost some of its luster in recent years, but they think the talent on both sides will make this new era of Yankees-Red Sox as competitive as it's ever been.

"Hopefully [he and I] bring stability in these positions," Boone said. "And not speaking for Alex, but I feel like my job is to help get these guys to perform at their best and put these guys in the best situations possible, create an environment to thrive and then hopefully allow them to go out there and be as good as players as we think they are."

Added Cora: "We're just two guys that, we're here, we're lucky to have these jobs and we're going to do our best to put our teams in position to win and we're going to have fun with it."

* WEEI.com

Xander Bogaerts placed on 10-day disabled list, expected to miss roughly 2 weeks

Rob Bradford

The Red Sox made multiple roster announcements on Monday, including one involving shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who was injured in Sunday's win over the Rays.

Bogaerts underwent an X-ray Sunday and an MRI Monday at Massachusetts General Hospital, which revealed a small crack in the talus bone in his left ankle. The injury is non-displaced and will not require surgery. He was placed on the 10-day DL and is expected to miss approximately 10-14 days.

To fill his spot on the roster, the Red Sox have recalled infielder Tzu-Wei Lin from Triple-A Pawtucket.

In addition, Drew Pomeranz, who made his first rehab start with Triple-A Pawtucket on Sunday, will make another one with Double-A Portland on Friday.

The Red Sox are off Monday and will host the Yankees for three games beginning Tuesday night.

* NBC Sports Boston

Jared Banner and the making of a front-office prospect

Evan Drellich

BOSTON — On a bright Sunday morning in the fall of 2010, Ray Fagnant told Jared Banner to meet him at the McDonald’s off I-290 in Auburn. Only one of them placed an order.

“We’re scouts, man,” Fagnant told Banner. “This is how we eat breakfast. If you want to scout, get used to a lot of meals at McDonald’s.”

Fagnant has combed the Northeast for the Red Sox for more than a quarter century. He watched former Sox GM pitch for Amherst in 1993. A dozen or so years later, he saw Banner as an outfielder for the same school.

“Live-body kid,” Fagnant noted at the time.

A state-champion wrestler in high school, Banner wanted to keep it that way. He may not be a full-fledged health nut but fast food had never been his thing. Neither, to that point, had scouting.

When they met at Mickey D’s, Banner was just a low-level front office staffer, hired full-time after a 2007 internship. He had been exposed only to the farm system, to player development, and needed to see more.

Today, the 32-year-old is an ascending executive who's moved through an array of front-office roles. As vice president for player personnel, Banner oversees the scouting of professional players in international leagues: Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, others. He helped procure Hector Velazquez from Mexico, for example.

But long before Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski asked Banner to interview Alex Cora alongside the rest of the braintrust in the fall, long before trips abroad to watch Shohei Ohtani, and co. needed to know whether Banner could effectively evaluate, well, anyone at all.

This is baseball’s other farm system at work, the front-office feeder.

There were a lot of local prospects to watch ahead of the 2011 draft, so Banner was assigned to help in Fagnant’s usual territory. The two met that morning to go see Tyler Beede, the Lawrence Academy product who was twice drafted in the first round and is now on the cusp of the big leagues with the Giants.

“Everyone knew about him,” Banner said. “It was more a matter of getting to know him, getting to know his family, watching him compete, trying to decide how I felt about him. Managing both my workload in the office vs. what I needed to do as an area scout. And then managing my role in the draft room, and not overly pushing players that I wanted to sign just because they were in my area. That was a bit of a balancing act. And trying to stay neutral and doing whatever’s best for the organization.”

An in-house visit with a player is standard scouting practice. The Beede residence was Banner’s first.

“A big turning point for him is when he first really went out on his own scouting, when he got out of the office,” Epstein said. “There was a question of whether he’d be self motivated enough to really do a thorough, thorough job and go the extra mile — and he quickly showed that he would be.”

Beede was a big arm and a known pitcher. He was, as scouts say, “famous.” But that didn’t mean all pertinent information was universally known.

“There were some nuances with his background, some complexities involved, and [Banner] didn’t blow those off,” Epstein said. “He dug in deep, and got to know the kid extremely well, presented a balanced picture. I remember being impressed by it.”

That Epstein recalls such detail from nearly a decade ago is representative of the culture he and his group helped implement in Boston, a dynamic that has seen some carryover today under Dombrowski. The Sox president of baseball operations retained most of the people he inherited from Cherington in 2015.

Just as front offices identify up-and-coming players, they have to do the same with their own decision- makers.

“You just have to crank it out and have a major-league work ethic,” Epstein said of what he seeks in prospects. “And then I think an important one, too, is investment in the group instead of personal ambition. I think a lot of first-, second-year employees in baseball ops, if they too much focus on themselves and their careers and where they’re going, and not enough on the people around them and the success of the group, they tend to get weeded out.

“Jared was certainly qualified in all those areas. Great passion for the game. He worked his ass off. He proved himself on a couple of occasions, that he wanted what was best for the team on the field, the organization, winning.”

The Red Sox have produced a lot of prominent executives this century, some well known, others further behind the scenes. There is a next generation coming, led by Banner, molded from the same blueprint.

***

Banner is from Brooklyn, but that didn’t make a transition to Boston difficult. He grew up a Mets fan, so he always hated the Yankees.

A psychology major, Banner did not arrive at college knowing what he wanted to do. He played baseball at Amherst, but knew he wouldn’t go much further on the field. He was always pushing himself, though, even before he knew exactly what road he was pushing himself along.

“The way this really got started was I worked for a law firm on Wall Street after my junior year in college, and I hated it,” Banner said. “I still wanted to compete. I wanted to win.”

The connection to Amherst grads such as , the GM of the Pirates, and Cherington helped Banner get a foot in the door with the Sox. But from there, as is the case for players, his growth was not linear.

“There have been ups and downs to my career in my own head, at least,” Banner said. “I was offered a full- time job when I was 21 years old. There were a lot of things I needed to learn on the job in terms of professionalism, in terms of emotional intelligence. And obviously, I’m still learning as time goes.”

Dombrowski believes Banner can become a someday. So do many others. He has a remarkable sense of self-reliance, a skill honed in dire moments during high-school wrestling matches, and further sharpened on voyages across the Pacific to meet a baseball executive who might not speak English.

Marcus Cuellar, the Sox’ assistant vice president for player personnel, is less than a year younger than Banner. Technically, Banner is Cuellar’s boss, and they have different backgrounds. Cuellar grew up in California and left a job in the Santa Barbara courts system to get his master’s. He came to baseball as a second career

Such differences melt away in the best front offices, and the two became fast friends. Banner has been teaching himself Spanish with Rosetta Stone. Cuellar, bilingual, occasionally provides clarity.

They roomed together during spring training. Sometimes, Cuellar would return to their Fort Myers apartment and the lights would be out. Banner would be meditating. Cuellar would tiptoe.

Banner practices yoga and reads often. Seemingly, he is always doing something with an eye on doing better, on improving himself and those around him.

“He’s hustling everyday, man,” Cuellar said. “And there’s an urgency to it every day. This isn’t like, ‘I need to get better next week.’ It’s right now: ‘Why aren’t we getting better?’ He’ll call me into his office every once in a while, and really the only question, or the only topic on the docket is … ‘What are we doing today to get better as a department?’

“And we’ll just sit there, and sit there for the next 15 minutes until we got something. There have been times we sat there just thinking, not really any words being said.”

The person Banner most often turns to for guidance is , the former Royals general manager who is the Sox’ senior vice president for player personnel. They talk virtually every day, a mentor-mentee relationship that is also a strong friendship.

“During the offseason especially,” Baird said, “when the sun goes down, he may be one of the best dressers I know.”

Banner seeks growth. And has to navigate frustration when he does not always see it.

"I do think he’s deep,” Baird said. “I think there’s a lot of reflection there. Maybe too much reflection at times. But he is a driven person, and I remember when I was that age too, it was all about results. Everything else was, a reason and unacceptable, I think that’s a great approach. But I also think as we get older, we understand, things factor in.”

Cuellar and Baird went to Mexico a couple years ago. They were nearing the U.S. border, and Cuellar asked Baird: what has made Banner so successful? The first thing Baird pointed to was competitiveness.

International scouting is its own beast inside of baseball operations. Not only is there a responsibility to assess talent amidst different styles of ball, one has to find and make connections with people in different leagues and lands — the movers and shakers. A dinner with the right person can be just as vital as watching a bullpen session.

The player markets are varied. The supermarkets are unfamiliar.

“You have to really embrace being with people that are different than you, embracing different cultures,” Baird said. “Embracing different ways that they live their daily lives. … When you go to Asia, that is a totally different lifestyle, a totally different way of doing business; much more structured. There are customs that you need to know.

“Yes, you have to be connected, but you really have to embrace it. There has to be some sort of enjoyment out of it.”

Among the more amusing things to happen? Banner, who is black, has been randomly asked for his autograph just while walking around during a few trips to Asia.

***

Baird came to the Sox in 2006. Jared Porter, now an assistant general manager with the Diamondbacks, was a baseball ops intern under Epstein in Boston in 2004. He stayed with the Sox for another 11 years.

During that ’04 internship, Porter formed a bond with a renowned baseball lifer, the late . Lajoie worked for the Sox for a time before going to the Pirates.

“He called me one time, he’s like, ‘You’re working for Allard, right?’” Porter remembered. “I don’t think you know how lucky you are. There aren’t many people in this game that really care and like to develop younger people.”

Some people will try to slow up-and-comers who can threaten their own status, Lajoie told Porter. But Baird is the opposite.

“I see it being more true: some people are people developers,” Porter said. “It’s a great quality.”

Good thing Baird is still on hand.

There has been good sense exhibited by Dombrowski and ownership to keep Baird, Banner and almost everyone else in the front office in place. Many people have been promoted. Dombrowski could have cleaned house when he replaced Cherington in 2015. Instead, Dombrowski saw positive processes underway and allowed them to continue, and has since contributed to some individuals’ growth himself.

Banner not only was part of the managerial interviews in the fall, when Dombrowski wanted a younger, different perspective. Banner also participated in the arbitration process the last two offseasons.

“I didn’t know many individuals in the front office, and the people that I knew, I knew only in a limited fashion,” Dombrowski said of his arrival in Boston. “Rolan [Hemond] always told me a long time ago that if you go into a new organization … there are normally some really good people in the organization. And a lot of times, people make a mistake, and they let a bunch of people go for the sake of change. And all of a sudden, they let go some really good people that could have helped.

“I think they’re very good baseball people. … Why change?”

Behind the scenes, the team identifies some young employees as “rising stars." That effort is not a formal program, CEO Sam Kennedy said, and is not restricted only to baseball ops. People identified as such are never told, but, Banner indeed made the cut.

The Sox have office conversations about hiring interns: if you can’t see a person rising, if you can’t envision them becoming a GM, why would you hire them?

***

Everyone who was around at the time, roughly a decade ago, remembers the story. How Banner was in Epstein’s suite at Fenway Park and when Hrbek came up, and Banner clearly didn’t know who he was.

“He fessed up,” Epstein said. “He said, ‘No idea.’ Then he started getting ripped for that. Then we started asking about some prominent players and figures of the 1980s. Like ‘God, do you know who Ronald Reagan was?’

“So we determined that the only appropriate punishment would be for him to present an oral report on the 1980s, heavy emphasis on baseball. It would be not only discipline, but a good growth experience. The entire suite. We gave him a day to prepare.”

There were actually two presentations: first, Banner had to explain who Hrbek was. On another day, he had to give a broader explanation of the decade he was born in.

Kennedy remembers Banner walking in with an easel. It’s not easy, in your mid-20s, being called out by the most successful general manager, but Banner had the room in stitches.

Banner’s grown plenty since then, moving from the amateur side to a management role in player personnel. The basics of scouting have given way to rumination about the nature of leadership.

“This part of my career since has more been about leadership,” Banner said. “That’s the thing I’ve taken from Allard the most.”

Cuellar feels Banner has taken him under his wing, a product of a culture where growth of peers is prioritized, regardless of rank.

A few blocks from Fenway Park is a smaller park, one much less recognized, called Clemente Field.

Porter, Epstein, Cherington, Amiel Sawdaye, and any of the old band of executives used to go to there. Touch football would become tackle football. They would sprint, they would pull hamstrings.

“We had a lot of really smart and competitive people who were obsessed with baseball,” Porter said. “When you have a bunch of people like that, I think basketball games and football games and running races, competitive little things like that pop up.”

Last summer, Banner and Cuellar started wandering down Jersey Street to the same spot. They would sprint. Sometimes they’d outright race, other times they’d keep each other’s times. (Banner’s still trying to keep that live body.)

Three times a week, roughly, Banner and Cuellar retraced Epstein’s and Hazen’s paths from years past. Except in this instance, Banner had no idea how closely he was following in his predecessors’ footsteps.

"Is that what Theo just told you?" Banner said when informed of the old regime’s visits to Clemente Field. "I don’t know anything about that. The Fens, that’s where me and Marcus go."

They've got next.

Small crack in ankle bone to sideline Bogaerts 10-14 days

Evan Drellich

BOSTON -- The Red Sox announced Monday that Xander Bogaerts suffered a small crack in the talus bone in his left ankle when he slid into the Tampa Bay dugout while chasing a ball Sunday.

However, the Sox also said the injury will not require surgery and that he should only be sidelined 10-14 days.

He will be replaced on the roster by infielder Tzu-Wei Lin, currently at Triple-A Pawtucket.

* The Athletic

Jennings: Red Sox aiming to make analytics-based positioning simple for infielders

Chad Jennings

In the fall of 1995, off the coast of war-ravaged former Yugoslavia, the deck of the USS South Carolina was no place for confusion. NATO operations in Serbia were ongoing, and Lieutenant Greg Rybarczyk was deployed in the Adriatic Sea as navigator of the U.S. Navy’s second California-class, nuclear-powered, guided missile cruiser.

He had with him a 584-person crew and a perfect safety record for overseas deployment.

Some of the greatest scientific minds in the country had designed the USS South Carolina’s two D2G General Electric nuclear reactors, and it was Rybarczyk’s job to put that complex information into action in a real-world, high-stress environment.

So, yes, he can appreciate the simplicity of a piece of paper Xander Bogaerts keeps under his hat.

“I wouldn’t want to build a system that requires players to analyze things just before or during a crucial play,” Rybarczyk said. “because my experience tells me that the stress they will be under can make it hard to think clearly.”

After eight years in the Navy, and more than a decade in the private sector, Rybarczyk is now the Red Sox’ senior analyst for baseball research and development. He helped spearhead the team’s analytic effort to implement more defensive shift data this season, and the most tangible evidence of that work is the defensive alignment card each Red Sox infielder has carried onto the field since spring training.

Rybarczyk worked on the underlying data and designed the cards themselves. They’re intentionally basic.

“Greg has a lot of strengths,” Red Sox vice president of baseball research and development said. “And that’s one of his biggest strengths is being able to present something that’s very easily interpreted or very easily communicated.”

Infielders are given one card for that day’s starting pitcher and another card for the Red Sox relievers. On the bullpen card, left-handed and right-handed pitchers are grouped together so that the suggested alignment for Matt Barnes and Heath Hembree is the same as the suggested alignment for Joe Kelly and Carson Smith.

Opposing hitters are listed in lineup order. Alongside each hitter is a small image of an with four dots, and each dot is color coded to represent a different Red Sox infielder (Bogaerts is red, Eduardo Nunez is blue, Rafael Devers is green, and so on). The dots also show the infielders’ names for further clarity, with additional markings providing reference points for greater accuracy.

There’s no demand for absolute precision, and there’s no additional information for contingency plans. A fielder checks the card, finds his dot, and goes roughly to the spot it describes.

“How do you communicate (data) to everybody so that they can do it in a situation where they’re out in the field and 35,000 fans are yelling and screaming and there’s all that pressure?” Rybarczyk said. “You want to make it so people don’t have to do a whole lot of analytical thinking on their own (in the moment). … I’m fine with players who want to think deeply about their craft, but they should be doing so before the game starts, or maybe in the dugout.”

In the moment, it’s all about baseball.

Rybarczyk got his start in the game by designing the Hit Tracker tool ESPN eventually licensed to measure home run distance. He joined the Red Sox in 2014 and doesn’t fancy himself a shortstop or a second baseman. Rybarczyk was on the operational side in the Navy, but not anymore.

If players or coaches notice something that might not be captured by the data – a pull hitter trying to go the other way; a fast runner slowed by injury – they’re free to adjust on the fly. In fact, they’re encouraged to adjust on the fly.

A computer is good at crunching the numbers. It’s not good at feeling the moment and interpreting its subtleties.

“You can think of that card as the dividing line between the computer’s work ahead of time, and then the work of the coach and the player to adapt that information,” Rybarczyk said. “That’s what a human being is really good at it.”

***

On March 25, the Red Sox intentionally cut short David Price’s final spring training start. They went to the bullpen in the fourth inning, and there was quickly some confusion.

Three infielders shifted one way, Hanley Ramirez shifted another, and the Red Sox’ bench assumed their first baseman was out of position. The coaches told him to move, but Ramirez was defiant.

He was the only one who’d properly switched to the bullpen card.

“I mean, if Hanley is buying into the defensive alignments, we’re fine,” manager Alex Cora said.

It was Cora this winter who asked the analytics department to improve the Red Sox’ defensive shifts. Analytics had been involved in the past, but not like this. Scott said, in recent years, the analytics department provided extensive spray chart data, but it was still up to the coaches to interpret the data and determine positioning. The new system takes data analysis out of the coaches’ hands, which frees them to focus on their own expertise.

“Alex came in and said, I don’t want my coaches spending time processing information,” Scott explained. “I want them spending time coaching. You guys (handle the information). It has to be good information that you’re providing — I want them understanding what’s behind it — but I don’t want them poring over hours and hours of video when we can just have a computer process that for us. So, that’s really all we’re doing is providing a tool that optimizes based on the data alone.”

Scott and Rybarczyk won’t say exactly what information goes into their algorithm, only that it takes into account the pitcher, the hitter and the fielders, and each element is weighted differently.

The algorithm is so specific that on Opening Day, with Chris Sale on the mound, the Red Sox used an over- shift – three infielders on the right side — against Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier. The next day, with David Price on the mound, the Red Sox again shifted against Kiermaier, but this time Bogaerts stayed on the shortstop side of second base.

Same hitter against two different left-handed pitchers, but the data showed different tendencies for each matchup. Sale’s and high-velocity would not yield the same expected result as Price’s sinker and cutter.

During spring training, Scott said, the Red Sox infielders asked the analytics department for an explanation when their cards showed only a slight shift against a hitter they were used to over-shifting against. Scott explained that the data showed an over-shift was the second-best option, just slightly worse than the optimal alignment.

Scott took that conversation as a good sign. The players were asking the right questions and noticing the right things. They were looking for information, not arguments.

“I think when you just look at a spray chart, you tend to interpret it as, I want to put the guys in the position where the most balls are going to be,” Scott said. “What we’re really trying to do is (position the players) where the most outs can be had, which isn’t always the same.”

For example, if a speedy player tends to hit a lot of ground balls into the hole at shortstop, there’s little sense putting Bogaerts in that position, because even a perfect play might not result in an out.

Every day, the analytic department runs a computer script that that generates optimal positioning recommendations. The system’s batted ball data is updated daily, and recent outcomes are given heavier emphasis, so the information is always evolving.

An intern named Luke Geoghegan enters the Red Sox’ lineup and the opposing lineup into a program, clicks a button and generates a PDF which is emailed to advance scouting assistant J.T. Watkins, who travels with the team, sizes the cards, prints them, laminates them and delivers them.

Other teams have used a similar system – the cards are not against the rules – but it’s new to the Red Sox, and Ramirez, Nunez and Mitch Moreland said they never used alignment cards anywhere else they’ve played, either. The cards are so simple, though, the infielders take one peek – Bogaerts literally just looks into his hat – and they have a fresh, sophisticated starting point for each batter.

“Honestly, I think it’s a little more helpful for me, maybe, opposed to some other guys,” Bogaerts said. “Some balls that you normally reach in the hole, you might not be reaching now because they have you playing a little different. But I think I’m getting to a lot more balls up the middle.”

***

Not so long ago, baseball seemed divided between old-school scouts and new-age analytics, with each side believing it held the key to the sport’s future. That’s not really the case any more

While Cora brought greater analytic emphasis to the Red Sox’ manager’s office, the franchise had been trending that way for years. Players and coaches go out of their way to praise the number crunchers, while the analysts make a regular point of saying they don’t want to turn the players into robots.

“If we can provide tools that help these guys perform better, that’s awesome,” Scott said. “But ultimately, we’re realists. As boring analysts, we’re very realistic, pragmatic about the way we view the world. We know what really matters is the players on the field and the way they perform. We want to help them as much as we can. We have good players, and when we win games, it’s because of those guys.”

The cards are just tools. Nothing more. Nothing less.

The alignments they suggest are based on bases-empty situations, so it’s up to the players and coaches to adjust based on double play opportunities, threats, or attempts to minimize damage with runners in scoring position.

The analytics department could account for everything – they could print a different card for every possibility – but that might create more confusion than optimization, and that’s exactly what they’re trying to avoid.

That was the thinking behind lumping all the right-handed relievers into one group. If the Red Sox individualized their right-handed relievers, they would find slight variations in optimal positioning, but the analytics team studied those differences – of course it did – and found them too insignificant to be worthwhile.

“(Grouping relievers is) so close to optimal that it would take 10 years to know the difference,” Rybarczyk said. “There’s certainly a lot to be said for simplifying everything for the fielders so that they don’t have a stack of cards in their pockets to shuffle though”

Craig Kimbrel is a bit of a positioning outlier, but the Red Sox coaching staff knows that and adjusts from the bench.

When infield coach lifts both arms over his head, that’s his signal to the infielders that they’re going away from the data. He can give numbered instructions – two steps to the right of straight-up positioning, for example – or he can give hand signals for specific patterns.

A flexed bicep is the signal for “strong up the middle,” meaning the shortstop or second baseman positions himself almost directly behind second base without going into an over-shift.

“It was kind of weird at first,” said Febles, himself a former Major League middle infielder. “Everybody was looking over his shoulder like, what are we doing? But it’s working, and the guys are buying in. The thing is, it’s easy to buy into it when things are working. They hit the ball where we’re at. We’re giving holes, but we’re not getting burned on those holes. Sometimes we pinch the middle where the guys on the corners are (saying), ‘What are we looking at?’ (But) the ball’s hit up the middle.

“It’s crazy, but it’s working.”

It’s complex, but simple. It’s defined, but flexible. It’s crazy, but working.

Just the way they drew it up.

Gammons: On Christian Vázquez, and the five elements needed to be a successful catcher

Peter Gammons

Christian Vázquez is guaranteed to make less than $15 million over the next four years, modest when one considers that five members of the pitching staff he now catches will make a combined $85 million in 2018. When he climbs above $6 million for the first time, in 2020, there is a chance that the only current Red Sox starter who is may around is Eduardo Rodriguez.

All of which means that Vázquez, as the first Red Sox catcher with a multi-year deal since , will fill a significant role behind the plate, along with Sandy León, for a team with high aspirations. In 2018 and 2019, they will be guiding a starting staff with two winners and Chris Sale, who has been in the top five in that award for the last five years. Then, if David Price, Craig Kimbrel and Drew Pomeranz are gone after this season, and Sale and Rick Porcello after 2019, he will be handling the Red Sox's first attempt to build a homegrown staff since the / generation of the 1980s.

“My job is to help the pitchers,” says the 27-year old Vázquez.

“I’m here to catch and work with the pitchers,” says the 29-year-old León.

Price says Vázquez “is about the best I’ve ever seen,” while Porcello and pitching guru say León has an uncanny knack for being on the same wavelength with pitchers, and Bannister contends León is the “the most creative catcher in the league in pitch selection.” As Bobby Cox once said, “the most important personal characteristic for a catcher who wants to handle pitchers is being unselfish.” Which, incidentally, is the perfect word to describe the greatest catcher who ever lived, .

Unselfish also applies to Brad Ausmus, a special assistant to the GM of the Angels who caught in the majors for 18 years and is sixth all-time in games caught. He lists, in order, the five priorities for the position:

1. Pitch selection. In today’s game, it entails understanding and digesting all the information that the analytics and video staff, including Dana LeVangie and Bannister, present them.

2. The catcher-pitching relationship, to create conviction in the pitcher. Understanding that will help explain why no position creates more managers than . Having spent numerous Induction Weekend Saturdays in the lobby of the Otesaga Hotel listening to Bench and recall their catcher-pitcher relationships have taught me that it’s we, not I, and that ego is, in fact, the enemy of creating conviction.

3. Receiving. Statistical scholars like to refer to framing, but great catchers like Bench, and believe that it is more about maintaining strikes, especially since so many umpires say strikes are decided four feet before home plate.

Early one afternoon two years ago, Price got a left-handed catcher’s glove to give this reporter a private lesson on how Vázquez presents to the pitcher. “It’s like the target looks twice as big as it normally goes the way he turns his body and glove,” said Price. Boone and Bench were also masters of the presentation. Jonathan Lucroy has been, as well, until he admits that he got mechanically “out of whack last season.” As one umpiring supervisor says, “umpires like to see a steady, firm presentation, and rather than stealing strikes,” the key is having great strength from the fingers to the elbows to catch pitches and hold them without moving. Lucroy was a great example, earning the nickname Still Life Lucroy. Vázquez has that similar hand and forearm strength and maintains pitches. “You don’t steal strikes,” Bench says, “you maintain them.”

4. Blocking balls. It creates the confidence that a pitcher can throw his best , split or slider with a runner at third and not worry about seeing the catcher’s back as he heads to the screen. Red Sox coaches rave about León’s ability to catch the low strike, and Vázquez has improved in this area every season. “Catching the ball cleanly down low is really important,” says Vázquez. Says Chad Epperson, the team’s catching instructor: “The eye-to-glove coordination down low is really difficult.”

Dan O’Dowd did a detailed study on catching which showed how few great defensive catchers have been taller than 6’1”, with the Pudge Rodríguez//Roy Campanella/ (and Vázquez) 5’8”-5’10” models best for durability and balance, and noting how difficult it was for 6’2” , 6’3” Mike Piazza, 6’2” and 6’3” Ernie to become Hall of Fame receivers. Epperson, who also helps run a catching school, says, “when you see a catcher who is tall and his knees are out over his feet, you know he’s going to have a lot of trouble catching low pitches.”

And by the way, umpires prefer the shorter Pudge/Vázquez receivers because it is easier to track pitches.

5. Throwing. Ausmus says a catcher’s arm “is overrated. Getting the batter out is the priority.”

“I have never been around an organization that is more thorough and prepared in terms of the information they supply to catchers and pitchers, it’s unbelievable,” Porcello says of the Red Sox. “Pitchers can study what they want, what video they want. But the catchers bear the burden and prepare the game plan and selection.” To make certain that Astros, Dodgers and Tigers pitchers appreciated how much work went into their preparation, Ausmus used to tell catchers to let the pitchers see them at work, be it in the lunch room or on planes.

“There is so much to learn,” says Vázquez, who had surgery in 2015, an injury that Nationals catcher Matt Wieters said involves a two-year process of recovery. There’s the preparation and the game plan. There’s the time spent understanding the personalities of every pitcher. “I managed Christian in A ball, and it’s hard to believe how far he’s come,” says Epperson. “He’s learned to hit (.314/.359/.453, .812 the second half last season). He learned how hard he has to work, in terms of stretching, conditioning, the weight room, diet, which has been a big part of his development. He could always throw (his 42% rate throwing out runners is the best in the American League from mid-2016 on). But he’s so energetic, so emotional, and he’s learning he doesn’t have to worry when there’s a runner on base. He doesn’t have to call fastballs and throw everyone out. The most important thing is to stick with what he and the pitcher need to do to get the hitter out. And he’s learning that, and he’s learning it quickly.”

Not to be overlooked is that LeVangie is the pitching and catching coach, and used to be the club’s longtime advance scout, preparing scouting reports. He is so respected that Varitek recommended him as pitching coach five years before LeVangie earned the job.

“There isn’t a lot that goes into catching the three big guys,” Vázquez says of Sale, Price and Porcello. “Chris Sale never shakes off a sign and has great stuff, so the job is to prepare a game plan, call the pitches and he’ll execute them. David Price is going to throw his game, so we work out what he wants to do,” which Price is insistent that Vázquez does to perfection. “Rick Porcello,” says Vázquez, although León has been regularly catching him, “is very prepared and meticulous.” Porcello will shake off the catcher, but always with reason.

“The work comes with younger guys,” says Vázquez. “Like Eduardo Rodríguez. But he’s great to work with, and has great stuff, especially now that his knee is healthy.”

Alex Cora, who managed against Vázquez in Puerto Rico and has arranged for him to work with Yadier Molina in winters when they were both home (prompting Jose Molina to nickname Vázquez “the fourth Molina brother”), has long believed that as Vázquez gets stronger, his balance and athleticism will make him a useful hitter.

Indeed, his OPS has risen from .617 in 2014 to .585 in his 2016 rehab season to .735 with the big second half in 2017. “He can handle the bat for a hit-and-run, he can run,” says Cora, “and he can handle the bat if we need a bunt.” Which happened in the 12th inning of last Thursday’s home opener, leading to the winning run. Then, on Sunday, Vázquez had a two-out RBI single and scored the eventual winning run from second on a single to shallow left in a six-run eighth-inning rally against the Rays.

The unfortunate thing for Boston is that because they have two established, important catchers for this pitching staff, , an extremely talented switch-hitter, is not getting at-bats. He essentially missed two seasons with a bizarre ankle injury. He cannot get time at first base because Mitch Moreland plays there, and ownership is not likely to eat Moreland’s $13 million, particularly when there’s a good chance they’ll be going into reconstruction mode beginning in 2020.

While Swihart may move on to other positions, Vázquez and León will try to guide this talented veteran staff with Sale, Price, Porcello and Kimbrel through October, then in two years guide the young pitching rebuild. And as it happens, do not forget his comeback from Tommy John Surgery. “When you’re coming off that surgery,” Wieters once said, “you have to understand that it’s coming back hitting and throwing, and for a catcher that’s throwing from every imaginable angle.”

Looking at a list of the catchers who had the operation, none of them — from Todd Hundley to Taylor Teagarden — were ever the same. Wieters has not been the same player since his surgery, either, but not for a lack of effort. And such understanding that, in the spring of 2016, when Vázquez was coming off his operation, Wieters called him aside and gave him advice.

In Sunday's game, Vázquez ran from third base on a shallow single to left field, then athletically slid around Rays catcher Jesus Sucre and slapped home plate.

If it had been Mookie Betts or Jackie Bradley, Jr., it would have been called a great slide. But it was Christian Vázquez, catcher. “I had Christian in Greenville in 2010 when he was 19,” says Epperson. “Now, we’re watching the emergence of one of the best young catchers in the game.”

And one of the most important players in the four years he is guaranteed to be catching with the Red Sox.

Kory: David Price is what can separate Red Sox from AL contenders

Matthew Kory

My favorite David Price moment with the Red Sox came during his introductory press conference in 2015. He joked about sharing bunk beds with Red Sox fans. It was funny at the time, I swear. He was smiling. He was in control. He was healthy and happy. That may be the last time that Price was all those things at once.

Last year Price feuded with reporters, screamed at announcers, and missed the first two months of the season with an elbow injury that, he said, would have required Tommy John surgery if he were younger. All in all, Price ended up throwing 74-? innings for the Red Sox, 8-? of which came from the bullpen. For a guy used to smiling, goofing off, and throwing tons of good innings, it was a very un-Price-like season.

We are nine games into the Red Sox season and two starts into the David Price Redemption Tour. You may be monitoring the first more than the second but let me assure you, the second is vital to the first. Price is one of the wild cards a season can turn on.

Chris Sale is likely to start Game One of the Division Series if the Red Sox get there. But after him, there’s a drop-off in starting pitcher quality. Rick Porcello, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Drew Pomeranz are all fine pitchers, average to slightly-above, but none of them rise to Sale's level as an ace, Porcello and his Cy Young award included. David Price is more than that. He’s an ace.

Things never go completely according to plan but, as of now, there are four premier teams in the American League and then there is everyone else. Those four are the Red Sox, the New York Yankees, the , and the Houston Astros. The Indians rotation features , the reigning AL Cy Young winner, but after that has Carlos Carrasco and Josh Tomlin. The Yankees have Luis Severino, followed by Sonny Gray and Masahiro Tanaka. The Astros have , , and Dallas Keuchel.

Sale is going to match up with the top guy on each team, so look at the second guy. Carrasco, Gray, Keuchel. None of those guys is the equal of a healthy, happy, hungry Price. None of them. So Price on the mound for Game Two means advantage: Boston. The Red Sox won’t win a game simply because their starting pitcher is better than the opponent’s, but it sure helps.

This would normally be the time I’d pull out the projections and make some comparisons, but last season Price wasn’t healthy. That means the projections are going to foresee him not being healthy this season. That’s a reasonable assumption. The biggest indicator of future injury is past injury. Price, 32, says he feels fine. That doesn’t mean he won’t get hurt again. But he’s healthy now, and as far as pitchers go, it’s hard to do better than that.

For proof of Price’s health, let’s examine some numbers. Price’s ERA, for example: 0.00 after 14 innings. Yes, those innings came against the Rays, who are as good at hitting as my cat is at using the litter box — which is to say, I have a few things to clean up after I finish this article.

There are more analytical numbers than ERA, but with just 14 innings in the books, it’s hard to learn anything from them. Price won’t maintain a 0.00 ERA all season because at some point he’s going to give up a home run, or allow a runner to score, or give up more than half a hit per inning. I guess you could say Price needs to bump his strikeout rate too, but for now, in this small sample, Price has been as good as you could ask for, as good as any $30 million pitcher should be. That doesn’t prove future health, but it shows he’s healthy enough, at least right now.

It’s worth noting that in both of the games Price pitched, the Red Sox won by one run. That means, if Price gives up even one run in either game, as opposed to, you know, being nearly perfect, the Red Sox could lose one or both games. But he gave up nothing.

More germane to the discussion though is Price’s pitches. His velocity is slightly down compared to last season, which sounds bad. And maybe it is. Who knows? But extend the open window one more season, and Price’s velocity now compares well to his velocity at this time in 2016. And, if you demand further proof, his velocity in April 2015 is in line with his velocity this season to date.

The point is Price’s velocity is normal for him at this time of the season. Velocity isn’t an indicator of health, but a lack of velocity is an indicator of a lack of health. So where Price is now is a good thing for the Red Sox.

There is much about Price that reminds me of . Lackey came to Boston with a big contract and big expectations. He performed below his standards, got hurt, and missed an entire season with an arm injury. At that point he was hated more in Boston than when he had pitched for the Angels. Then Lackey got healthy. When he returned in 2013, not much was expected of him. He responded by playing co-ace with on the champion Red Sox. That was redemption. He received quite an ovation after pitching Game Six of the 2013 World Series. It was beautiful.

Price may never love Boston. The never-ending spotlight is too much for some players and it’s not hard to see why. Sometimes you just want a moment away from a bad start. Sometimes you don’t need your salary mentioned to you 25 times an hour. From a human point of view that’s not hard to grasp. But that’s not where Price is now. He’s in Boston playing for the Red Sox. If he stays healthy, keeps smiling, and keeps getting outs, he’s going to reap the benefits of his home city, just as Lackey did.

The Red Sox wouldn’t have won in 2013 without Lackey. And the Red Sox are unlikely to win this year without Price.

Price can opt-out of his contract after this season. He can leave the city, the fans, the media, and the $31 million per season all behind if he wants to. And he may, but for now he’s the difference, the slight head above the water line, between the Red Sox and the other contenders in the American League.

Price can put the Red Sox over the top, and I’m not talking about bunk beds.

McCaffrey: J.D. Martinez staying calm as he searches for 'this year’s swing'

Jen McCaffrey

The first eight games of J.D. Martinez’s Red Sox career have been lackluster, and he’ll be the first to admit it. But since the Red Sox are off to the best start in franchise history at 8-1, Martinez’s quiet bat is a footnote in the early chapters of the season.

To be fair, he’s only played in eight games. Yet the fanfare and drama that led up to his signing in February after months of negotiations warrants a deeper look into his early numbers.

Though the Red Sox signed Martinez to bolster their power-starved lineup, the 30-year-old slugger, who hit 45 homers last season, historically struggles in the first month of the season.

He’s far from the only hitter who fights to find consistency amid adverse April weather and a schedule that contradicts spring training.

Martinez prides himself on exhaustive preparation in the cage, in batting practice and with his meticulous notes on opposing pitchers.

That’s what makes slow starts so frustrating to him.

Martinez, who didn’t play at all last year until May 12 as he dealt with a sprained Lisfranc ligament in his right foot, has a career .793 OPS in games played during March and April.

What does he think causes the early sluggishness?

“It’s definitely finding my routine for that season and finding my swings for that season. It’s tough,” Martinez said. “You’re up there and trying to find last year’s swing. I heard this thing, Dwight Evans said, and he heard [Carl] Yastrzemski say it to him, and it makes perfect sense. He pretty much said, ‘If you’re trying to find last year’s swing, good luck because you’re going to be in the cage all day. That was last year, you’ve got to find this year’s swing.' That’s kind of what it is, it seems like. I feel like I really don’t feel comfortable in the box until I get those good amount of at-bats underneath me and then it’s like ‘Oh OK, I kind of have an idea of what I’m doing out there now.'”

Last year, Martinez led the majors in at-bats per home run, homering every 9.7 at-bats. (Giancarlo Staton ranked second, homering every 10.1 at-bats.)

Not unlike most hitters, Martinez’s best power numbers come in the heat of the summer. Unlike most, however, he homers almost twice as often in August vs. April. Over 96 career games in April, Martinez has homered every 23 at-bats. By August, he’s homering every 12 at-bats.

The slow start means Martinez has a lot of ground to make up throughout the course of the year if he intends to finish with an average over .300 and an OPS upwards of .900 like he has the last two years. After hitting .263 with a .793 OPS over his career in March/April, Martinez has averaged .286 at the plate with an .864 OPS over the remaining months through his career.

“I’ve always started off slow. It’s part of the reason why I never make All-Star teams almost, I may make one, but it’s just depending on how I start. I don’t know,” said Martinez, whose lone All-Star appearance came in 2015.

“You haven’t really faced live pitching on a consistent basis, on an everyday basis for four or five months really and then you come back and you’re back in it. Spring training is kind of that thing where you play one day and get the next day off and play another day and it’s hard to get in that rhythm.”

Despite the career trend of slow starts, Martinez doesn't sit back waiting for everything to click. He’s always looking for fixes.

Just in the first few games, he noticed his swing had gotten rotational instead of linear and approached hitting coach Tim Hyers for help on fixing it.

“I think a lot of it is, he’s such a good communicator, it’s like 'Hey watch this. I feel like I’m not getting the ball in the air like I wanted to. I want my swing path clean to get it to drive in the air,’” Hyers said. “I think he felt like he was poking a few too many so he’s really good about telling you exactly what he wants to do and our job is watching him and and kind of being his eyes and just talk about different things in batting practice and in the cage.”

It’s a work in progress. In a key situation in the home opener with two on in the bottom of the ninth and the Red Sox trailing by one, Martinez grounded into a double play. Two days later, he hit his first home run of the season — a solo shot that came after he notched a sacrifice fly early in a 10-3 win over Tampa.

So while there may be some early anxiety about how Martinez will handle the pressures of playing in Boston like some of his big-money acquisition predecessors, his slow start is actually comparable to other seasons over his eight-year career.

“This game, you never have it figured out,” Martinez said. “You find a key and it’s going to work for a couple games and then it goes away.

“That’s why they say good players make their year in a month or two months,” he added. “The other [months] are just grinding it out.”

* The Boston Sports Journal

Arrival of Yankees to Fenway marks the real start of the season

Sean McAdam

Now comes the hard part.

After beating up on Florida’s two “major league’’ franchises (combined record to date: 5-14), the soft opening of the 2018 Red Sox season is behind them.

Beginning Tuesday night, the Red Sox will play their first games of the schedule against an honest-to- goodness playoff contender in the form of the New York Yankees (5-5).

Give credit to the Red Sox for handling their business against the failing Fish teams. It’s not their fault the schedule-maker presented them with such an easy path through the first week and a half of the season. And while some of the games were closer than they would have liked – five one-run games, and two in extra innings – the Red Sox ultimately did what they were supposed to do, winning eight of nine.

Regardless of the opposition, the first nine games have imbued the Red Sox with a level of early-season confidence.

“I don’t know if that group needs confidence,’’ countered manager Alex Cora after the Sox erased a five- run deficit Sunday with a six-run rally in the eighth to post their eighth win in a row. “They’re playing; they don’t really know what’s going on. They’re just playing baseball and having fun with it. They prepare themselves and they just go out (and have fun).

“I don’t think they need confidence. Coming out of spring training, we felt great about that group and they felt great as a group.’’

Some of that may have stemmed from the way the Sox finished up spring training. While making sure to emphasize that spring training records aren’t terribly consequential, Cora felt how the Sox played in the final two weeks of the Grapefruit League schedule was noteworthy.

“We’ve been playing good baseball for a month now,’’ he said. “I know the (spring training) record doesn’t count, but we were playing good baseball. We were playing fast, we were catching the ball and we were pitching. And regardless of whether it was Fort Myers, Tampa or (Boston), it doesn’t matter: when you play good baseball, you have good results.’’

They’ve received quality starting pitching in every game but one, haven’t made an error in the field, and have demonstrated an ability to win low-scoring games – a talent which steadfastly eluded them in 2017.

There are, of course, imperfections. The lineup, bolstered by the addition of J.D. Martinez, has yet to reach its potential and the Sox have managed just seven homers in the first nine games, ranking them 11th in the American League.

In addition, the bullpen has been spotty. Carson Smith, tabbed as an important part of the team’s set-up committee, has a 2.455 WHIP after five appearances, with nearly as many walks (four) as strikeouts (five). For the Red Sox to succeed, Smith – or someone else – will have to emerge as a dependable bridge to closer Craig Kimbrel.

For all that, the Red Sox may be catching the Yankees at the right time, since they are not without their own issues.

Twice in the first 10 games, Giancarlo Stanton has registered five-strikeout games, making for a rough start to his Yankee career. In 42 at-bats so far, Stanton has struck out almost half (20) the time. Few doubt Stanton will recover, but for now, he appears to be yet another classic case of a new player trying too hard to please teammates and fans.

Injuries have already hit the Yankees hard: in one stretch in their opening series, they lost starting center fielder Aaron Hicks (intercostal strain) to the DL, and soon after, his replacement from Triple-A, Billy McKinney (left shoulder strain) joined him on the sidelines. Hicks could be activated in time for Tuesday’s series opener.

First baseman Greg Bird will miss at least the first two months of the season with a recurrence of the foot injury which sidelined him for a chunk of last season.

In a marathon 14-inning loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night, four players left the game due to injury, with two – infielder Brandon Drury and starter CC Sabathia – landing on the disabled list.

And while the Red Sox have lined up their top three starters for the upcoming series (Chris Sale Tuesday, David Price Wednesday and Rick Porcello Thursday), the Yankees are undecided on a starter for the third game.

No one expects much to be settled over the next three days, not two weeks into the season. There will be 16 more games head-to-head between the rivals to follow, including the final three games of the season at Fenway. In all likelihood, the division will be decided between this one and that one.

But for now, consider it the ‘’hard opening’’ to the 2018 season – and a truer test of the Red Sox’ mettle.

Xander Bogaerts (ankle) headed to 10-day disabled list; Dr. Flynn reacts

Greg A. Bedard

The Red Sox announced that shortstop Xander Bogaerts will be placed on the 10-day disabled list after tests revealed a small crack in the talus bone in his left ankle. The injury is nondisplaced and will not require surgery. Bogaerts is expected to miss 10-to-14 days.

The Red Sox recalled infield Tzu-Wei Lin from Triple-A Pawtucket on Tuesday.

Obviously, this is a tough blow for the Red Sox heading into the series with the Yankees.

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Dr. Jessica Flynn’s BSJ analysis

Bogaerts will probably miss more than the timeframe offered by the Red Sox.

The most common cause of an injury to the talus is when the ankle rolls ligaments or the joint capsule avulse a sliver of bone off of the talus. Treatment is immobilization in a boot and rest. The return is dependent on how quickly sprain heals and can be two to six weeks.

The other possibility is that it is a stress fracture of the talus. I would be more suspicious of that if the fracture was not the result of twisting the ankle. A stress fracture of the talus can also take four-to-six weeks to heal.

To recap, the two most likely possibilities: He rolled his ankle on the slide/dugout and had an ankle sprain that pulled a sliver of bone off of the talus. Return-to-play could be two weeks at the earliest and up to four depending on how quickly the sprain heals It’s a stress fracture of the talus and it cracked through on that play. He would likely be in non-weight bearing in a boot and return could be much longer, closer to four-to-six weeks. Sean McAdam just chimed in to say that Tzu-Wei will split time at shortstop with Brock Holt.

* The USA Today

Red Sox-Yankees: Why MLB players say Boston is 'the roughest'

Bob Nightengale

BOSTON - It’s a charming town, filled with rich colonial history, the intellectual might of Harvard, MIT and Tufts, and the home of a famed symphony orchestra, all packed within just 48 square miles of land.

And this is the time of the year where Boston loses its collective mind.

The New York Yankees are coming to town, and Tuesday at Fenway Park - the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball - they’ll play the first of 19 games against the Red Sox.

They’ve been playing against one another for more than 100 years, but this town can’t stand the idea of losing to its bitter rivals, and when they don’t live up to expectations, the Red Sox has a way of making life miserable for you.

It’s easy to group the Red Sox and Yankee together, even throwing in the ' and ’ fan bases, but no place in baseball is tougher on their own than in Boston.

“I played in , New York and Boston,’’ said 17-year former outfielder Mike Cameron, “and whoa, Beantown was the roughest. I saw Big Papi [] almost get run out of town. I saw them boo Pedro [Martinez], too. You’ve got to have some pretty thick skin because you’re going to get booed no matter who you are.

“It’s just a whole different experience playing in Boston. It’s almost like a family thing in Boston, they take it so personal. The big thing is how you respond to things. You’ve got to be a stand-up guy to play there. If you’re going to take the money, you better not be hiding, boy.’’

Boston chewed up and spat out Carl Crawford. Same with Pablo Sandoval. Carl Everett. And Adrian Gonzalez. And nearly David Price last year, too.

If you struggle in Boston, you better be accountable. If you lash back, or avoid the confrontation, good luck earning a spot back in their hearts.

“The thing I love about growing up in Boston,’’ said starter Rich Hill, who pitched parts of four seasons with the Red Sox, “is that it’s ingrained in you as a Little Leaguer the importance of the Red Sox. And no matter who you are, or how talented you are, they expect 100% effort and honesty.

“If you have a bad game, don’t put it on the weather, the umpires, or other players. And don’t run and hide after a bad game. If you stand up, people appreciate it. If you’re not, you’re going to be whipped by the pen.

“Everything in Boston is magnified, and that’s OK. It’s what makes Boston great.’’

In New York, the media capital of the world, life as a ballplayer is different. Sure, the fans can turn on you, too. Just ask new Yankees DH Giancarlo Stanton, who was lustily booed Sunday after striking out five times for the second time this season. Still, the players will tell you, it’s a completely different feeling in the two markets.

There's no sense of communal ruin in New York when the Yankees don’t win a World Series. They’re not chanting, “Red Sox suck,’’ in Manhattan during championship parades. You can blend into crowds, unless you happen to be Derek Jeter, catching a show on Broadway without even being noticed.

“Both of those cities could be rough, but I would not go out if I was struggling in Boston, no way,’’ said Johnny Damon, who played four years with the Red Sox and four years with the Yankees, winning a World Series with each one. “In Boston, you feel like you’re in everybody’s living room each night while they’re having dinner. You don’t feel that way in New York.

“I’m just grateful I was able to play in Boston before New York. It made it a smooth transition.’’

Los Angeles Angels outfielder , who spent the last two years in Boston, was one of the few who did it in reverse, playing two years in New York, before going straight to Boston.

“It just felt so different,’’ Young says. “When things are going bad, and you walk around town, you’re going to feel it. In New York, when you lost, it hurt in the clubhouse, but you didn’t hear it from the outside as much. In Boston, when things went bad, I felt like the thunderstorms came.

“We won the division two years in a row when I was there, and there were times it felt like we were in last place.’’

The expectations in Boston, even after ending their 86-year drought in 2004 and winning three World Series titles in 10 years, are surreal. The Red Sox won back-to-back AL East titles, but consecutive Division Series exits cost manager his job.

Then again, had the Yankees within one game of the World Series last year, and he was gone, too, with each team hiring rookie managers, Aaron Boone in New York and Alex Cora in Boston, as their replacements.

“It didn’t seem weird or different when I was there,’’ said third baseman Travis Shaw, who spent the first eight years of his career in the Red Sox organization, “but now that I’m on the other side of it, there’s a huge difference. I can see how guys that come there are shocked.

“Boston is just a very reactionary media market. Extremely reactionary. You got to be really careful there, and if you’re on social media, you better be careful what you search for.’’

It’s why Price, who along with his dog, Astro, used to be one of baseball’s most active players on social media, has almost abandoned it. He has been sensational in his first two starts, pitching 14 scoreless innings, but has yet to tweet since the season started.

“It’s tough, but that’s OK,’’ says Price. “In Boston, they expect to win. It’s the only place where the fans’ expectations to perform are almost higher than the players’.’’

And when they don’t, they’ll certainly hear or read about it.

“We call it the Boston baseball experience,’’ Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy says. “It’s not for everybody. We’re into extremes here. There’s more drama. If you’re going to be thin-skinned, or pay attention to social media, it can devour you.

“In New York, they’re knowledgeable, they’re steep in tradition, and they’re bigger. It’s just not as personal there.’’

Now with the Red Sox (8-1) jumping out to their finest start in franchise history, already leading the Yankees by 3 ½ games, the folks in Boston can’t help but feel giddy.

Who knows, maybe Red Sox fans will find that there’s no real reason to boo Stanton themselves this week considering the Yankee fans already took care of it in his first homestand, booing louder and louder in each of his seven hitless at-bats Sunday, dropping his batting average to .167.

“People get freaked out when they first get here,’’ Yankees veteran starter CC Sabathia says, “but once you’re here, you find out New York is an easy place to play. ’’

Perhaps Stanton will be able to echo the same sentiments one day playing for the Yankees, but for now, Boston may be the refuge he needs just being away from the catcalls and back-page headlines in New York.

“I remember being terrified when I was with the Yankees going to Boston for the first time,’’ Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Curtis Granderson said. “I was thinking, “Oh, God, here we go.’ But I didn’t feel like there was a lot of hate. The fans didn’t do anything crazy.

“It’s like Jeter used to tell us, once the Red Sox won in ’04, things calmed down a little bit, at least from the visiting side. So I think it should be OK for (Stanton) too. It should be neutral for him.’’

And if Stanton happened to be getting off to this kind of start playing for the Red Sox, and the Red Sox were the ones looking up at the Yankees in the standings?

“Let’s just say it would be interesting,’’ Granderson says, “and probably not in such a good way.’’