The Tuesday, June 4, 2019

* The Boston Globe

Red Sox add a pair of infielders on Day 1 of the draft

Alex Speier

With the No. 43 overall pick in the MLB Draft, the Red Sox selected shortstop Cameron Cannon from the University of Arizona on Monday night. Cannon was named a Collegiate second-team All- American after hitting .397/.478/.651 with eight homers and 29 doubles. He led Division 1 in doubles.

“We like a lot about him,” Red Sox VP of amateur scouting Mike Rikard said of Cannon. “He’s a very good hitter. We like his swing path. He does things as far as controlling the strike zone and limiting his that we value. He’s got good power now and we think there may be more evolving power he has a chance to grow into as he continues to mature as a hitter.”

The Red Sox have had plenty of looks over multiple years at Cannon, who established himself as a sophomore in 2018 as a clear candidate to follow as a junior, with area scout Vaughn Williams playing the lead role in the process. Cannon also played last summer for Falmouth in the Cape League.

The Red Sox defined the 21-year-old as a shortstop in announcing his selection, though there are questions about whether he will end up at another position. Indeed, suggested that he “may be best suited to play multiple positions in a superutility role.”

Rikard acknowledged that the Red Sox aren’t sure at which position Cannon ultimately will land, but the fact that he’s played short, second, and third creates potential pathways to the big leagues. Meanwhile, his consistent track record of success in one of the better baseball conferences in the country (the Pac-12) makes him a relatively high-probability bet to advance to the big leagues, with upside of an everyday player.

The top Red Sox pick was bumped down by 10 spots in this year’s draft as a result of the team exceeding the 2018 luxury tax threshold of $197 million by more than $40 million. As a result, what would have been the 33rd overall pick at the end of the first round instead became the 43rd, early in the second round. The pick marked the latest selection by the Red Sox to open a draft since 2007, when the team chose lefthander in the supplementary first round with the No. 55 overall pick.

This year’s draft marked the first time that the team didn’t pick before the second round since 2004, when the club took Dustin Pedroia in the second round at No. 65.

With their second selection, the Red Sox took high school shortstop Matthew Lugo of the Carlos Beltran Academy in . Lugo, a 6-foot-1-inch, 185-pound shortstop, is a player with intriguing — albeit raw — tools.

He was described by Baseball America as someone “who has a chance to provide long-term defensive impact at a premium position” – presumably either shortstop or second – while also showing above-average power potential.

The Red Sox likewise viewed him as a player with an impressive ceiling. As with most high school players, he’ll almost surely have a deliberate development path, but the Red Sox were pleased to get a player who could have an above-average ceiling with their second selection.

“He’s a very talented young player,” said Rikard. “He’s got really good tools. He, as well, has a chance to stay in the middle of the field, for sure. He’s got power potential. And he’s got speed to kind of push the game a little bit.”

Not only did Lugo attend the Beltran Academy, but he is the nephew of the longtime big league star. Rikard said that the newly drafted Red Sox prospect is close with Beltran and has the same agent as the team’s 2018 first-rounder, .

“You always like the players in the offseason who you know they’re in good hands,” said Rikard. “That’s always a good thing, to know that they have backgrounds and people in their lives who have a chance to be such a positive influence.”

Pitchers onto after his whiff of success

Peter Abraham

Years from now, when his baseball career is over and he’s sitting around talking about the old times, Michael Chavis will have a good story to tell about winning the Rookie of the Month when he was fighting to get out of a slump.

Chavis, a 23-year-old infielder, has .222 over his last 16 games with 24 strikeouts in 63 at-bats and only four walks. Many of the strikeouts have been swinging through fastballs up around his neck.

Not even a 2-for-4 game against the Yankees on Sunday night brought much solace. Chavis had a bloop single in the second inning then a gift in the eighth inning when he dropped a ball down the right field that was misplayed by Clint Frazier.

“I’ll take them,” Chavis said. “Right now, I’ll take anything.”

Chavis is the latest young hitter victimized by technology. Within a few days of his being called up from Triple A Pawtucket, opposing teams had compiled enough data to find the holes in his swing and develop a game plan for their to use.

“It’s a mental grind for him at this point,” Red Sox hitting coach said. “He’s swinging at pitches he can’t get to, getting in bad counts and that opens it up for the pitchers. It’s like a sore that spreads and gets infected.”

It used to take several weeks, if not a month, for pitchers to adjust to rookie hitters. Teams relied on reports filed by their scouts and feedback from their minor league coaches to attack hitters.

Now most teams have pitch-tracking systems at their Triple A ballparks and have info on hitters before they make their debut. Once a few major league games are played, even more sophisticated data is compiled and the analysts start to break it down.

“I don’t know how scouting reports work in the minors. But you could have a bad series and it didn’t affect the next series,” Chavis said. “Here, what you do the previous day affects the next day. You’re always making adjustments and that’s the current situation I’m in right now.

“It’s on me. I wish I could say, ‘Oh, he made a good pitch.’ But it’s not that. I’m getting myself out. I’m taking good pitches for strikes and swinging at the ones that aren’t.”

Houston’s struck out Chavis three times on May 26. He threw him 14 straight four-seam fastballs, 10 in the upper third of the strike zone or above.

“Certain teams have special fastballs,” manager said. “You can see where they’re going . . . But not everybody throws 97 with hop.”

Cleveland exploited the same spot in the series that followed. Kansas City will try in the series that starts Tuesday night.

“The capabilities teams have to find weaknesses is greater than ever before,” Hyers said.

Hitters get just as much information. But players such as Chavis, who have long trusted their eyes to pick up the spin on pitches and then their hands to get to the ball, have to decide how much of that information to use.

Chavis is still trying to determine how much is too much.

“Most of these guys, I haven’t seen before in real life,” he said. “I can get a bunch of opinions and scouting reports and try to correlate that to me. It’s information overload sometimes. I’m still trying to learn what works for me.”

Chavis took over at second base when he was called up April 19. But with Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce on the , and with Brock Holt available for second base, Chavis will be more of a first baseman now.

That the Sox need him in the lineup only adds to the frustration of his slump.

“[It’s terrible] because I have this opportunity and I need to make the most of it,” Chavis said. “These are all important games.”

Assistant hitting coach Andy Barkett recently showed Chavis a map of how pitchers are approaching him. The Sox want to him to be better disciplined and take those high fastballs.

Cora calls it controlling the strike zone.

“The same way that they learn about him, he can learn about the opposition and make adjustments,” Cora said. “This kid is going to hit.”

Chavis had seven home runs and 19 RBIs in 26 games last month, which led to his getting the award. That will take some of the sting out of his slump.

“The pitchers up here are better, that’s a fact,” he said. “I’m not saying they’re better than me or better than anybody else. They’re here for a reason. But so am I. I’m confident I’ll figure it out.”

Sean McDonough to call Red Sox games in London

Chad Finn

Red Sox have back-to-back days off June 27-28, the kind of rare break that happens during baseball season usually only when rain intervenes.

But there’s a good reason for the brief hiatus: The Red Sox are jetting off to London for their series with the Yankees.

They’re bringing perhaps their best radio broadcast team combination with them, too.

Sean McDonough will join Joe Castiglione and Dave O’Brien on WEEI’s broadcasts of the Red Sox’ two- game series with the Yankees in London on June 29-30.

Here is how the rest of the broadcaster groupings are shaping up for June.

June 4-6: After Monday’s off day, joins Castiglione for the three-game trip to Kansas City. They teamed up for the first two games in June in the Bronx.

June 7-9: NESN’s Tom Caron makes his debut in the radio booth this season alongside Castiglione for the four-game set with the wild-card-leading Rays. That includes a doubleheader Saturday.

June 10-13: McDonough returns for the four-game series at Fenway with the Rangers, who currently hold the lead for the second wild card. McDonough and Castiglione will be joined by Lou Merloni for the final three games.

June 14-19: Mario Impemba, who along with Lewin has taken the majority of the workload, is back for six games, three at Baltimore and three more at Minnesota.

June 21-26: The Sox have a day off following the Minnesota series, then Lewin returns for the next six at Fenway against the Blue Jays and White Sox. Castiglione and Merloni will call the finale of the Astros-Red Sox series.

June 29-30: Castiglione, McDonough and O’Brien will be on the call for the two-game set at Olympic Stadium in London.

* The Boston Herald

High honors for Red Sox’ , Michael Chavis

Michael Silverman

Besides an impressive array of barbecue options, more good news greeted two Red Sox players not long after arriving here from New York. Rafael Devers won American League Player of the Month honors for May, and Michael Chavis was named AL Rookie of the Month.

Devers not only exploded on offense last month — he batted .351 with eight home runs, seven doubles, six walks and 24 RBI — but he also settled down on defense. While errors do not come to close to capturing a player’s value on defense, Devers has not made an since May 2 after committing nine to that point. He has handled each of his 68 subsequent chances cleanly, not only becoming more reliable on his glovework and throwing on routine plays but also making the more difficult ones as well.

“He’s been great — you know what, I’m prouder with the way he’s played defensively,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Devers. “Defensively, I think he’s been outstanding. We’ve made some adjustments with positioning, where to catch the ball, routine-wise. We see it on a daily basis.”

Only three other Red Sox players have batted at least .350 with seven doubles and seven home runs in the month of May: Mookie Betts last year, Jackie Bradley Jr. in 2016 and in 1999.

In a three-game stretch May 20-22, Devers became the sixth player in franchise history to homer in three consecutive games at age of 22 or younger, joining Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Rico Petrocelli and Jim Tabor. Only three other players besides Devers in the major leagues — Cody Bellinger, Christian Yelich and Austin Meadows — entered June with a .300-plus batting average with 30 RBI and five stolen bases.

Among third basemen across the majors, Devers is hovering around top five territory. While not in the caliber of Alex Bregman of the Astros or of the A’s, Devers and Kansas City’s Hunter Dozier are having breakout seasons. Cora was not ready to have a discussion about anyone’s All-Star Game worthiness in early June, but Devers’ performance this month will dictate his consideration.

“As far as the All-Star Game, there’s some good third basemen out there, a lot of good ones, but he’s been playing an All-Star-caliber season so far,” Cora said.

Chavis, who did not play his first game until April 20, posted a slash line of .248/.331/.457 in May while scoring 14 runs, hitting seven home runs, knocking in 19 and drawing 11 walks.

When he hit his 10th of the season May 22 in career game No. 28, Chavis became the second- fastest player in franchise to reach the mark, trailing only George Scott in 1966.

From May 12-22, Chavis was a particularly tough out, batting .325 (13-for-40) with four runs, four homers and 11 RBI.

Chavis cooled off over his final eight games of the month, hitting just .194 with no extra bases. Cora took note of how more opposing pitching staffs are attacking Chavis in the upper half of the strike zone with fastballs.

“There are certain teams that have special fastballs and we faced the last three weekends two of those teams, and you can see where they’re going,” Cora said of the Yankees and Astros. “Not everybody throws 97 with hop so it’s just one of those that they’re going to a spot and sometimes you want to get on top of that pitch and you don’t. Sometimes it’s better off just being disciplined up in the zone and right now he’s not. He was getting walks, lately he hasn’t walked I think in a while if I’m not mistaken so that’s an iodination like I’ve always said. Walks tell you a lot about where the hitter is and we talk about Raffy early in the season and he was walking and controlling the strike zone. Right now, he’s not controlling the strike zone.”

Xander Bogaerts evolves into Red Sox leader

Jason Mastrodonato

CC Sabathia had been ’ Achilles heel.

Having faced Sabathia more times than anybody else in his career, Bogaerts entered Sunday night’s tilt with the Yankees just 5-for-34 (.147) with just one home run against him.

Sabathia beat him the first time up with a cutter, high and tight. Bogaerts got jammed and popped up to right field.

In his next at-bat in the fourth inning, Bogaerts again got a similarly-placed cutter on a 2-2 count. This time he fouled it off. The next pitch was a hanging slider and Bogaerts hammered it deep over the left field wall.

“I remember he led off that at-bat with a slider and I remember seeing it good,” Bogaerts said after the Sox’ 8-5 win. “I battled, battled, battled, fouled, and he threw it again. I think it had something to do with the first one I saw. I recognized it good, let my hands stay back. Obviously I wasn’t expecting it to go like that once it left his hand, but I’ll take it.”

Bogaerts already has 12 homers on the year and is on pace to shatter his record of 23 in a season, set in 2018.

“I think my mindset has changed,” he said. “I remember before, I used to see a big hole up the middle and just want to get a base hit up the middle, run hard, maybe get an infield hit. I don’t think like that no more. I think it’s the mindset I go up to the plate with. I still see that big hole, but it’s not something I want to do. I want to drive it.”

He’s excelled in the cleanup spot, hitting .305 with a .936 OPS. And he’s played in 56 of the team’s 59 games this year.

“I’ll take him over anybody,” said. “Bogey stays even-keeled. Doesn’t matter if he’s going good or going bad, Bogey always shows up to play. Whether or not he’s feeling good physically or he’s ailing, it doesn’t matter. He’s always in that lineup, never gets days off. I don’t think he’s ever had a DH day in his career. Bogey is special.”

Manager Alex Cora partially credited Bogaerts for Rafael Devers’ breakout season.

“He’s not only leading the team on the field but I think in the clubhouse,” Cora said. “He has to do a lot with what’s going on at third base too. Like I told you guys last year, he’s the only guy on this team that knows what it is to be on a championship-caliber team, a World Series team when you’re 20 or 21.”

After the team signed him to a six-year, $120-million extension before the season, Bogaerts said he felt like leadership was a priority.

“I would say so,” he said. “Obviously with the huge commitment that the team made me with me, you kind of feel that way.

“We have a lot of young guys here, and just trying to show them the right way to do things and keep yourself out of trouble. When I came up, we had a lot of veterans that were hard on us and I enjoyed it. It kind of taught you the right way. It’s the same thing we have to do now. Obviously we’re in a new generation, things are much looser, but there always have to be a few lines that you can’t cross and stuff you can’t do.”

Marcus Walden’s winding path to Red Sox pays off

Tom Keegan

Signs a contract to play . Is released. Hooks on with another organization. Is released again and again and again. All out of MLB-affiliated suitors, finds a club from an independent league that needs to fill out its roster.

Finally, a voice reaches the dreamer and convinces him to get on with his life. Maybe it’s a spouse or sibling, a parent or coach. Maybe it’s a particularly vicious heckler, or even the sound the toilet makes when it backs up and leaves the concrete-and-metal clubhouse miles from nowhere reeking of a mixture of sweat and rust, sewage and neglect.

So he gets on with life, trying to make up for lost time that could have been spent as an apprentice learning a trade or a student gaining credits toward a degree.

If that voice of doom ever made its way to the vicinity of Red Sox reliever Marcus Walden’s ears he must have turned his head at just the right instant to miss it.

“My wife deserves all the credit for keeping me going,” Walden said of Nichole, who helped to pay the bills as a hair stylist. “She was always the one who said to keep going with it.”

Major League Baseball often is described as a bunch of men playing a kids’ game, which never rings true. It’s so difficult that it eliminates the vast majority of boys by the time they reach high school. Finding someone willing to pay you to play requires rare skill, so Walden wasn’t playing a kids’ game in pursuit of his dream, but he was eating meals craved by children, thanks to the limitations set by small paychecks.

“Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day,” Walden said during a recent interview at his Fenway Park locker.

Having made it to the big leagues, Walden sticks with what landed him here.

“I still eat them today,” Walden said. “Most days I’ll make a peanut butter and honey sandwich.”

Walden, 30, has eaten them all over the world. He was worked for ballclubs based in 18 different cities in four countries and 10 states, competing in 13 different leagues. The Blue Jays, A’s, Reds and Twins all released him before he made his major league debut with the Red Sox on April Fool’s Day, 2018.

You think he might appreciates putting on a Red Sox uniform every day? Here’s the thing about Walden, though: He found a way to appreciate all 18 uniforms.

“When you’re grinding in the minor leagues, you’re away from your family, your wife’s working because you’re not making a lot of money, you have to find a way to enjoy all the stuff that a lot of people hate: the bus rides, working out, all of it,” he said.

I asked him about each of the 18 cities he has called home professionally and for just about every one he started his answer with, “Loved it,” or mentioned a manager or teammate and said, “Awesome dude. Loved him.”

This is a relief who makes Tony Robbins seem like Debbie Downer.

If only Walden had read the cue cards life was putting in front of his face he would have ended the dream years ago. Consider how 2015, what Walden calls “one of the funnest years of my life,” started for him.

“I thought I was going to make pretty good money in (Double A) Pensacola with the Reds,” Walden said. “I got released five days later, ended up losing about five grand. We didn’t get paid in spring training and I paid my rent in Pensacola, had my car shipped to Pensacola, and then I got released before I even got my car.”

Back home he went to Fresno, Calif.

“About two weeks later, I got a job in Lancaster, Pennsylvania,” Walden said. “Had Butch Hobson as my manager, probably one of the funnest years of my life.”

(Now managing the Chicago Dogs of the independent American Association, Hobson did not respond to an email request for an interview about Walden).

Drafted by the Blue Jays out of hometown Fresno City College in the ninth round in 2009, Walden bounced between starting and relieving before finding a permanent home in the Red Sox bullpen.

To hear Walden tell it, his long, dusty road to the big leagues was an educational pleasure ride, not a lonesome life on a treadmill to nowhere.

Auburn, N.Y.?

“I absolutely loved it there,” Walden said of the second-smallest (to Batavia, N.Y.) town in the NY-Penn League.

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Walden throws during the fifth inning of a spring exhibition baseball game against the Tigers in Lakeland, Fla., Tuesday, March 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) In 2012 in Lansing, Mich., and for the first half of 2014, in Midland, Texas, Walden joined teammates in living with host families.

“I wasn’t a really big fan of walking into host families, but I had two of them and both were really good,” Walden said.

Buffalo?

“, 56 degrees, sellout,” he said. “I was like, ‘This city’s great.’ Day 2, snowed out: ‘This city sucks.’ Day 3, one of the worst pitching experiences of my life. Day 6, I got called up to the big leagues.”

Five days later, Walden was demoted without ever having appeared in a regular season game for the Blue Jays.

Sacramento?

“My wife and I had just gotten married and my parents had just moved up there a couple of years previous to that,” he said. “That was my first time living back home since high school. My wife would come up (from Fresno) the day or two before my start, stay the rest of the homestand and then head home. I never really saw my parents. We’d have dinner Sunday nights when we weren’t traveling. My dad wakes up at 6, goes to bed at 9. He’d come to my games and watch me start. Once I’d come out of games he’d go back home and go to sleep. I’d come home at 11:30 and he was already asleep. Never saw him.”

Chattanooga was a particularly short stay for the Waldens.

“I think I was there for about 10 days,” Walden said. “Signed my lease. My wife and our daughter (Sutton), who was probably four months old, flew in, and within 12 hours we were flying to Rochester. My wife had just finished unpacking at about 3:30 (p.m.) and I got called in the office at 4. He says, ‘Hey, are you ready to go up to Triple A?’ I had this blank face: ‘My wife just got here.’ We ended up flying to Rochester and buying winter clothes.”

Pitching for Aragua in the Venezuela Winter League, Walden said he saw Sandy Leon “catch I think it was 56 straight games. Unbelievable catcher. He walked me through the whole league.”

Walden returned to Venezuela the following winter just long enough for Venezuela-based Red Sox scouts to stamp him as healthy, the final hurdle to the organization becoming the fifth to sign him.

Gus Quattlebaum, who heads professional scouting for the Red Sox, said that Greg Rybarczyk, senior analyst/baseball analytics, “rang the bell,” on Walden based on his performance history.

“Referring to a pitching model that Greg had created that’s over my head he identified him as a guy who could help us,” Quattlebaum said.

Walden spent 2017 with Pawtucket, moving from the rotation to the bullpen in midseason. His recollection is that each of his first eight appearances were starts on the back end of doubleheaders: “Lots of rainouts in Pawtucket that year.”

After the season, he pitched in La Romana, Dominican Republic. “Loved it,” he said. Of course he did. “I think I golfed 33 times in the 40 days I was there. The seven days I didn’t golf were my starts.”

He was on the Opening Day roster for the Red Sox in 2018, spent most of the season with Pawtucket and two games with Lowell on an injury-rehabilitation assignment.

Recalled from Triple A a week into this season, Walden has found a home in the Red Sox bullpen. An altered grip designed at taking velocity off of his slider has helped to make him baseball’s most unlikely 6- 0 pitcher with a 1.97 ERA, but the pitch ranks a distant second to his chief attribute: indefatigable optimism.

Red Sox select two infielders, Cameron Cannon and Matthew Lugo, in MLB draft

Michael Silverman

The Red Sox went with a pair of infielders, Cameron Cannon out of the University of Arizona and Matthew Lugo out of the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico, for their first two picks in the 2019 MLB draft.

Cannon, 5-foot-10 and 196 pounds, went first, the third pick of the second round, and 43rd overall. Cannon is a 21-year-old right-handed hitter who’s “a very good hitter,” said Mike Rikard, the Red Sox’ scouting director.

“We like his swing path, he does things as far as controlling the strike zone and limiting his strikeouts that we value,” said Rikard. “He’s got good power now and we think there may be more evolving power that he’s got a chance to grow into as he continues to mature as a hitter.”

Defensively, the Red Sox have a lot to learn about where Cannon, who primarily played shortstop at Arizona, will fit best but that versatility is what they value.

“One of the real plusses for him in that regard is that he’s very versatile, he’s played quite a bit of shortstop at the University of Arizona but he’s also played some second base as well as playing some third base last summer at the Cape,” said Rikard. “Not exactly sure what’s going to be the best fit but we do like the fact he’s been able to move around during his career and we’ll give him an opportunity to prove himself at shortstop but we do know that he has a chance to fit in some other spots as well.”

Cannon had been drafted by the Diamondbacks three years ago but opted to play for Arizona, where he hit .347 with 16 home runs, 113 RBI and a 1.004 OPS over his three seasons. This past year he had a .478 on- base percentage and led the team and was second in the Pac-12 with a .397 batting average. His 29 doubles led all of Division I. In his last two seasons, he had more walks than strikeouts.

Cannon is a native of Glendale, Arizona.

Lugo, picked 69th overall, is a nephew of Beltran.

“We’re very excited,” about Lugo, said Rikard. “He’s a very talented young player, he’s got really good tools, he as well has a chance to stay in the middle of the field for sure, we like his power potential. He’s got speed to kind of push the game a little bit. The other part of it, we’ve gotten to know both players very well throughout the process and we’ve been very impressed and comfortable with their makeup and character and all those things as well.”

Lugo had committed to play for the University of Miami.

The Red Sox were originally slated to pick 33rd but they had to drop 10 spots as part of their penalty for being more than $40 million over the tax threshold.

* The Providence Journal

Red Sox select infielders Cameron Cannon, Matthew Lugo in MLB Draft

Bill Koch

The Red Sox bolstered their infield depth with their first two Draft selections in 2019.

Boston picked the University of Arizona’s Cameron Cannon at No. 43 overall and Puerto Rico schoolboy Matthew Lugo at No. 69 overall late Monday night.

Cannon played mostly shortstop during his junior season with the Wildcats and was the No. 79 overall prospect according to MLB.com. Lugo is a shortstop out of the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy and was rated at No. 38 overall per MLB.com.

Cannon’s slash line in his third college campaign was an impressive .397/.478/.651. The 5-foot-10, 196- pounder totaled 29 doubles and 92 hits through 56 games. Cannon’s 22 errors in the field suggest a potential move in the future to second base or third base.

“He’s a very good hitter,” said Mike Rikard, who serves as Boston’s vice president of amateur scouting. “We like his swing path. He does things as far as controlling the strike zone and limiting his strikeouts that we value.”

Cannon was a Cape Cod Baseball League all-star in 2018. He hit .263 in 42 games with Falmouth and led the club in runs batted in. Cannon was a 21st-round pick by his hometown Diamondbacks in 2016, but the Glendale native opted to honor his college commitment instead.

Cannon is one of three Arizona players selected by the Red Sox since 2016, joining left-handed pitcher Rio Gomez and third baseman . He’s the fifth straight college player to come off the board at No. 43 and the 11th in the last 13 years. His scouting report at MLB.com described Cannon as “a classic grinder who gets the most out of his tools.”

Lugo is the top-ranked Puerto Rican player in this draft class. He continues the island’s remarkable run of at least one shortstop selected inside the top 10 rounds since 2006. That impressive group includes No. 1 overall pick in 2012 and first-round selection Delvin Perez in 2016.

“He’s a very talented young player,” Rikard said. “He’s got really good tools. We think he has a chance to stay in the middle of the field for sure and we like his power potential. He’s got speed to kind of push the game a little bit.”

Lugo already has significant ties to Boston. Beltran, the long-time major league outfielder, is close friends with Red Sox manager and Puerto Rico native Alex Cora. Lugo is also committed to play college baseball at Cora’s alma mater, the University of Miami.

Lugo is a 6-foot-1, 185-pounder who is described as having “an advanced approach at the plate” by MLB.com. His home town of Manati is less than an hour from Cora’s native Caguas, situated in the northern central part of the island. Lugo’s selection comes in the 30th year where players from the island are draft eligible.

“We do have a preference for guys who stay in the middle of the field and who have some versatility defensively,” Rikard said. “In the long run of things it hopefully allows these guys to get their bats in the lineup with the different possibilities that they have to play different positions.”

Boston didn’t make its first selection until more than four hours after Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman went No. 1 overall to the Orioles. The Braves, Diamondbacks and Dodgers were each awarded a second first-round pick after failing to agree to terms with their 2018 selections. The Red Sox were also docked 10 spots from what would have been the No. 33 pick for exceeding $237 million in payroll in 2018, the third and final threshold of the Competitive Balance Tax.

Boston is working with a bonus pool of $4,788,100, the smallest among the league’s 30 clubs. Signing its top two picks to full slot value would eat up more than half of the cash available to the Red Sox -- $1,729,800 for the No. 43 pick and $929,800 for the No. 69 pick. Boston would have a shade over $2.1 million on hand to sign the rest of its selections through the 40th round.

Craig Kimbrel’s continuing free agency also cost the Red Sox a chance to add some cash to their bonus pool. Boston would have been awarded a compensatory selection after the fourth round and the corresponding slot value had Kimbrel signed with any team prior to June 3. That additional pick would have been valued at roughly $400,000, and that money could have been used as the Red Sox saw fit.

Four of Boston’s last five top picks have signed for full slot value. Michael Chavis (2014), (2015), right-handed pitcher (2017) and infielder Triston Casas (2018) each agreed to the suggested dollar figures assigned by Major League Baseball. Left-handed pitcher signed for $3.65 million out of a New Jersey high school in 2016, more than $450,000 over his suggested slot value as the No. 12 overall pick.

Scott Hatteberg is among the notable recent names selected with the No. 43 pick. Hatteberg came to Boston from Washington State in 1991 and made his Red Sox debut four years later. The catcher played parts of seven seasons with Boston, famously transitioned to first base with the Money Ball edition of the Athletics and spent a total of 14 years in the big leagues.

Pitchers Taijuan Walker (2010), Brad Boxberger (2009), Wade Miley (2008), Jo-Jo Reyes (2003) and Mark Prior (1998) have also been selected at No. 43. Prior was a senior at San Diego University High and opted to pass up an offer from the Yankees, honoring a college commitment to Vanderbilt instead. He transferred to USC and was the No. 2 overall pick by the Cubs in 2001, making his debut the following season.

Boston has signed all of its picks prior to the 11th round since the 2011 draft. Senquez Golson was selected in the eighth round out of Pascagoula High School (Miss.) and honored a college football commitment to Ole Miss. The defensive back was a first-team all-SEC selection in 2014 and played parts of four seasons in the NFL with the Steelers, Buccaneers and Raiders.

Red Sox’s Bogaerts growing into leader, mentor

Bill Koch

In the same week Dustin Pedroia began his indefinite leave from the Red Sox, the club’s new infield cornerstone continued to assert himself as one of the best young players in baseball.

Xander Bogaerts held court with the media in the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium until Sunday night vanished into Monday morning. Boston had just avoided a sweep at the hands of its oldest rival, a result that could have been a crippling early blow in the race for a fourth straight American League East title.

The shortstop was asked about the role he plays as a mentor to players like third baseman Rafael Devers and Michael Chavis, the first-year player learning on the job at both second base and first base and who garnered Rookie of the Month honors on Monday after hitting seven home runs and driving in 19. Bogaerts, 26, spoke like a man at least a decade older, and he smiled sheepishly when reminded that he’s just scratching the surface of what should be his own physical prime.

“My bad, guys,” Bogaerts said as he walked toward the shower. “Sorry to make you feel old.”

Last year represented an evolution from potentially elite hitter to slugger, and 2019 has seen Bogaerts cement himself as the type of player the Red Sox expect him to be going forward. He’s riding a six-game hitting streak after the 8-5 victory over New York and pounding opponents with a career-best .550 . The solo home run he hit to left field against CC Sabathia was a 414-foot blast to the bleachers, a towering drive on a slider left out over the plate.

“I think my mindset has changed,” Bogaerts said. “Before I used to see a big hole up the middle and just wanted to get a base hit up the middle. Run hard, maybe an infield hit — I don’t think like that anymore.

“I think it’s just the mindset I go up to the plate with. I still see that big hole, but it’s not something that I want to do. I want to drive it.”

It was the 12th home run this season for Bogaerts, more than halfway to his career-high of 23 he set in 2018. It’s the player manager Alex Cora saw when he served as the bench coach for the Astros in 2017, a powerful, athletic lineup presence who could do more than knock out 151 singles while batting .320 in 2015.

“I’m very proud of him,” Cora said. “He changed his game a little bit. We asked him to do something else offensively and he’s adapted. Now he’s hitting .300 with power. We’ll see where it takes us.”

Boston fans will have plenty of time to get a closer look. Bogaerts signed a six-year, $120-million contract extension during the first week of the regular season. He opted for a different path than the one usually taken by clients of agent Scott Boras, declining to enter free agency at the close of the season.

“It’s cool to see,” Cora said. “We made a big commitment to this player, and he’s not only leading the team on the field. I think in the clubhouse he has to do a lot with what’s going on at third base, too.”

Devers, who was named the Player of the Month for May in the American League, smashed his way through his best month as a professional, racking up a 1.021 OPS and playing error-free defense over his last 24 games. He hit .351/.380/.640 with eight home runs, 25 runs scored and 24 RBI in May. Bogaerts was barely of legal drinking age when the Red Sox captured a championship in 2013, and Devers was just four days past his 22nd birthday when Boston won the World Series last year. Chavis is the oldest player among the trio to debut in the big leagues, doing so at 23.

“They’re hungry,” Bogaerts said. “I don’t see them getting overanxious. It’s just a matter of understanding, ‘Hey, this is baseball. This is going to happen. It’s the toughest league that there is. Don’t take that 0-for-4 as if it’s the end of the world. Tomorrow comes and you could get four hits.’ ”

Bogaerts has been held hitless in consecutive games on only one occasion this season, going a combined 0- for-6 with three walks against the Athletics and White Sox on April 30 and May 2. Per FanGraphs, he leads the Red Sox and all shortstops in wins above replacement, or WAR. Should this upward trend continue, Bogaerts certainly looks the part of a player Boston can rely upon for years to come.

“He’s very special,” said David Price, Sunday’s winning pitcher thanks to 6 1/3 strong innings. “Offensively, defensively — he’s one of the elite shortstops in all of baseball. I’ll take him over anybody.”

* MassLive.com

Rafael Devers wins AL Player of the Month; Boston Red Sox 3B hit .351 with 8 home runs in May

Chris Cotillo

Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers was named the American League Player of the Month for May on Monday afternoon.

Devers hit .351 (40-for-114) with 25 runs scored, seven doubles, a triple, eight home runs, 24 RBI and six walks over 26 games in May. He had an 11-game hit streak from May 19-31 and was 13-for-28 (.464) with four homers, eight RBIs and eight runs in six games in a recent road trip to Toronto and Houston.

Devers was 13-for-28 with four homers on Boston's seven-game road trip.

Devers is the first Red Sox player be named Player of the Month since J.D. Martinez last August. The 22- year-old is hitting .316/.372/.498 with eight homers and 33 RBI this season.

Pirates first baseman Josh Bell won the award in the National League. Devers’ teammate Michael Chavis was named American League Rookie of the Month while Braves third baseman Austin Riley won it in the N.L.

Michael Brantley, Alex Bregman and George Springer (Astros), Mike Trout (Angels), Austin Meadows (Rays), Jorge Polanco and Eddie Rosario (Twins) and Hunter Pence (Rangers) also received votes.

Michael Chavis wins AL Rookie of the Month; Boston Red Sox 2B hit .248 with 7 home runs in May

Chris Cotillo

Red Sox second baseman Michael Chavis was named the American League Rookie of the Month for May on Monday afternoon.

Chavis hit .248 (26-for-118) in his first month in the majors, hitting seven homers and 19 RBIs in 26 games. He posted a .331 on-base percentage and .788 OPS for the month.

Chavis is the first Red Sox player to win the Rookie of the Month award since Andrew Benintendi in Aug. 2017. Other past Boston winners include Kevin Youkilis (May 2004), Jonathan Papelbon (April 2006), Hideki Okajima (April 2007), Dustin Pedroia (May 2007), (Sept. 2007) and Jose Iglesias (June 2013).

Braves third baseman Austin Riley won the award in the National League. Chavis’ teammate Rafael Devers was named American League Player of the Month while Pirates first baseman Josh Bell won it in the N.L.

Jarren Duran, Boston Red Sox hot-hitting prospect, promoted to AA Portland

Chris Cotillo

Red Sox outfield prospect Jarren Duran was promoted to Double-A Portland on Monday.

Duran, 22, was Boston’s seventh-round pick in last year’s draft and hit .387/.456/.543 with four homers and 13 doubles for High-A Salem in 50 games to start the year. The former Long Beach State player has risen up prospect boards due to his torrid start and is now ranked as Boston’s No. 3 prospect by SoxProspects.com after starting the season at No. 13.

Duran leads the minor leagues in hitting with his .387 average and was named Player of the Week in mid-May. Though he played second base and right field at Greenville and Lowell last season, Duran has only played center field in 2019 and has not made an error on 107 chances.

The Boston Red Sox drafted Jarren Duran out of Long Beach State in the seventh round of the 2018 Draft. He's batting .397 with a .440 on-base percentage, .538 slugging percentage and .979 OPS.

Duran will join fellow top Sox prospects Bobby Dalbec, Darwinzon Hernandez, C.J. Chatman, Tanner Houck and Durbin Feltman in Portland. Only 2018 first-rounder Triston Casas and Hernandez rank ahead of Duran on SoxProspects.com’s latest ranking after Michael Chavis graduated from prospect status.

Boston Red Sox draft Cameron Cannon, U of Arizona SS, with No. 43 pick

Chris Cotillo

The Red Sox selected Arizona shortstop Cameron Cannon with the their first selection in the 2019 MLB Draft on Monday night, taking him with the No. 43 overall pick.

Cannon, a 21-year-old junior, hit .397 with seven homers for Arizona in 2019, ranking second in the Pac-12 in average while his 29 doubles led all of Division I. He was an All-Pac 12 selection in 2019.

The Red Sox scouted Cannon dating back to his sophomore year at Arizona and watched him become a Cape Cod League All-Star for Falmouth last summer.

“We like a lot about him,” vice president of amateur scouting Mike Rikard said. “He’s a very good hitter. We like his swing path. He does things as far as controlling the strike zone and limiting his strikeouts that we value. He’s got good power now and we think there may be more evolving power that he’s got a chance to grow into as he continues to mature as a hitter.”

Cannon is an Arizona native who went to high school in Glendale and was drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 21st round in 2016. He arrived on campus in Tucson one year after the Sox selected third baseman Bobby Dalbec in the fourth round of the 2016 draft.

Cannon was ranked as the No. 79 overall player in the draft by MLB.com. He’s a 5-foot-10, 196-lb. right- handed hitter who has the ability to play all over the infield but will get a chance to stick at shortstop early in his professional career.

“He’s very versatile,” Rikard said. “He has played quite a bit of shortstop at the University of Arizona, but he has also played some second base as well as playing some third base last summer in the Cape. Not exactly sure what exactly is going to be the best fit for him but we do like the fact he’s been able to move around through his career. We’ll give him an opportunity to prove himself at shortstop but we do know he’s got a chance to fit in some other spots.”

Arizona did not make the NCAA Tournament this year, so Cannon could sign with the Sox quickly. The recommended slot value for the No. 43 pick is $1,729,800.

Boston did not have a first-round pick this year after being penalized for exceeding the luxury tax threshold in 2018. As a result, they have the lowest first pick (and bonus pool) of any team.

The Red Sox also selected shortstop Matthew Lugo in the second round, with pick No. 69. Lugo is the nephew of Carlos Beltran.

Boston Red Sox draft SS Matthew Lugo, nephew of Carlos Beltran, with No. 69 pick

Chris Cotillo

The Red Sox selected shortstop Matthew Lugo out of the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico with the 69th overall pick in the MLB Draft on Monday night. Lugo is Beltran’s nephew and was the highest-rated prospect out of Puerto Rico in this year’s draft class.

Lugo was Boston’s second pick of the second round, following Arizona infielder Cameron Cannon at No. 43. Lugo, 18, is committed to the University of Miami but is expected to forego his commitment to join the Red Sox organization.

“We’re very excited,” vice president of amateur scouting Mike Rikard said. “The predictability on the high school kids is always tough. It’s never easy to know who’s going to be there at your pick but we’re certainly excited to get him. He’s a very talented young player. He’s got very good tools. We think he has a chance to stay in the middle of the field for sure. We like his power potential. He has got speed to push the game a little bit."

Lugo, a 6-foot-1, 185-lb. right-handed hitter, was ranked by MLB.com as the No. 38 overall prospect entering the draft. MLB.com’s scouting report praised him for his advanced approach at the plate while cautioning he has some work to do defensively.

Sox manager Alex Cora, who is also a Puerto Rico native, is close friends with Beltran and likely has some familiarity with Lugo.

* The Portland Press Herald

Red Sox fans may need to focus on wild card race

Tom Caron

The Boston Red Sox spent a day off in Kansas City on Monday, trying to catch their breath from another high-profile weekend in New York. Manager Alex Cora and his team were hoping the day would give them a chance to regroup and reset their sights as they roll through June.

They were hoping that would be the case last Thursday when their game was rained out with the Yankees. It wasn’t.

For the third straight weekend, the Sox won a crucial Sunday game to avoid being swept by a division leader. This time it was the Yankees, who won the series and built an 8 1/2 game cushion between themselves and Boston. The two previous weeks it was the Astros taking two of three.

This season, the Red Sox are 3-8 against New York and Houston. It’s a clear sign that at this point they are not at the same level as the two teams they beat in the American League playoffs last season.

While the Red Sox stumbled through April we kept reminding ourselves it was early. Surely this team had enough talent to bounce back from their 6-13 start. It looked like they had turned things around when they swept a three-game series at Tampa Bay and ran off an 11-5 run after that.

Then they ran into Houston and lost two series in 10 days. Then ’s underachieving exploited Boston’s bullpen and took two of three at Fenway. Then it was into the Bronx, a place that has again become a house of horrors for Boston.

The Sox will play their 60th game of the season Tuesday night. Suddenly it’s not early anymore. In fact, it’s not too early to start thinking about the wild-card race. Boston began the week one game out in that race, with two teams ahead of them and four others just one game back.

Earlier this season Red Sox assistant hitting coach Andy Barkett said, “Last year was Disney World. This is baseball.” His point was clear: there would be no running away with anything in 2019. This summer is going to be a grind. Every game, every inning will be critical to the team’s hopes of returning to the postseason for the fourth straight year.

We’ve seen glimpses of what this team is capable of. On Sunday night David Price shook off the demons of New York and pitched a gem. He retired the first 10 Yankees he faced, holding the Bronx Bombers in check while J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts homered, and the Sox built a lead.

Brandon Workman picked up a save as he closed out the game with the drama-free ninth inning. It was another happy flight as the Sox ended the weekend with a win.

Yet fans have grown increasingly frustrated with the team’s inability to play well with any consistency. has pitched OK, but he hasn’t been the dominant ace the team needs and expects. Eduardo Rodriguez has become a Jekyll-and-Hyde starter. Is he tipping pitches? Can he get lefties out? We never know from start to start.

And the bullpen has gone from surprisingly effective to a source of concern. has been the best of the lot, but he struggled mightily in the eighth inning Sunday night, just one week after a 10th-inning implosion in Houston.

In the coming days the Boston Bruins magical run will come to an end, and casual fans will turn their attention to the Red Sox. While the Sox are very much alive for a spot in the postseason, it’s hard to imagine this team overcoming the Yankees.

The Red Sox have teased us with glimpses of what they can be. The come to town this weekend for four games. It’ll be the fourth straight weekend the Sox play a team holding a playoff spot. The last three weekends have led to a bigger deficit for Boston. As the old baseball saying goes, it’s starting to feel like it’s getting late early at Fenway.

* The Lawrence Eagle Tribune

Rafael Devers recognized for monster month of May

Chris Mason

Around the Horn is a weekly column from Chris Mason, where the Eagle-Tribune beat writer offers nine thoughts from the Red Sox clubhouse.

This week’s installment focuses on a team that's still stuck idling in the mud, sitting 30-29 two months into the season.

1. Devers hitting ceiling — and everything else

Nobody was better than Rafael Devers in the month of May and the 22-year-old has the hardware to prove it.

Devers was named the American League's Player of the Month, hitting .351 (40-for-114) with seven doubles, a triple, eight homers and 24 RBIs; he got so hot that Alex Cora moved him into the cleanup spot.

The third baseman's average sits at .316 during a breakout season, and his .870 OPS trails only Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez. He's becoming an increasingly dangerous bat in the middle of the Red Sox lineup.

"I remember I was telling Devers, 2015, I hit .320, but that was like a soft .320," Bogaerts told reporters in New York. "I told him it’s pretty impressive the way he was hitting .320, because he’s been doing it driving the ball, also getting his knocks here and there, but most have been him driving the ball. Definitely proud to see how he’s doing it compared to my weak one."

2. Rook gets a nod, too

Devers wasn't the only infielder to pick up an award, as Michael Chavis was also named the AL's Rookie of the Month, first Red Sox player to win it since Andrew Benintendi in August of 2017.

The infielder homered seven times and drove in 19 last month, but things are getting more complicated for Chavis.

3. Chess match intensifies

Ever since A.J. Hinch revealed the Astros plan to attack Chavis with fastballs two weeks ago, other teams have started to emulate that, too.

A terrific low-ball hitter, opponents have begun pounding Chavis with four-seamers up in the zone. Though the power numbers are there, he's struck out 24 times in his last 69 plate appearances, and it's on him to adapt.

"There’s more information, yeah," Cora said. "It doesn’t take long for teams to adjust. You get information from the minor leagues. You get the data right away."

4. Price bails Sox out

Though he'd struggled at Yankee Stadium in the past, it made sense that David Price was the one to made sure the Red Sox wouldn't be swept in the Bronx. Price has been far and away Boston's most consistent starter this season.

"We needed to come out and beat those guys the way that we did. That was big for us.... It feels good," Price said. "To pitch well in a place I haven’t pitched well in a while, against a team that’s given me problems, it feels good."

5. All-Star form again

Might Price be joining Cora at the All-Star Game this July?

"When he’s healthy, he’s one of the best pitchers in the big leagues," Cora said. "You start looking at the scoreboard and the numbers it’s like, whoa, the ERA is there and the WHIP is there and the strikeouts are there. He’s been great."

The lefty's 2.83 ERA ranks eighth among AL pitchers that have logged at least 50 innings. A fivetime All- Star, Price hasn't been to the Midsummer Classic since 2015.

6. Sale somehow 1-7

On the other hand, Chris Sale won't be starting the All-Star Game for the first time since joining the Red Sox.

He's deserved better than his 1-7 record would indicate, but still isn't close to the level he can pitch at. Sale's 4.35 ERA would easily be a career high.

"It's not where I want to be. It’s not where I want to be," Sale repeated. "It’s not who I am. It’s not who I’ve ever been. I have to find a way to be better whether it’s going out there and throwing up more zeroes, being able to pick up my guys when we’re scuffling a little bit."

7. New approach, new result

Bogaerts is well on his way to another career year — his on-base and slugging percentages have never been higher — and the shortstop credits a different outlook for the improvement.

"I think my mindset has changed," Bogaerts said. "I remember before, I used to see a big hole up the middle and just wanted to get a base hit up the middle, run hard, maybe get an infield hit. I don’t think like that anymore. I think it’s the mindset I go up to the plate with. I still see that big hole, but it’s not something I want to do. I want to drive it.

"It’s being in a good position to drive the ball," he concluded. "That’s something different."

As Cora is fond of saying, Bogaerts is doing damage.

8. What could have been

Red Sox fans got a look at over the weekend, as the nasty Yankees reliever nailed down a couple of holds in their two wins.

A free agent last winter, Ottavino reportedly had interest in coming to Boston, but Dave Dombrowski never reciprocated. He wound up singing a three-year, $27 million deal in New York; meanwhile, the Red Sox bullpen looks a high-octane arm or two short.

9. Nunez...walks?

It sure doesn't happen often, but Eduardo Nunez worked a walk over the weekend, his third free pass of the season.

Of batters with at least 100 plate appearances, Nunez's 3.0% walk rate is the third lowest in all of baseball. The utility infielder swings early and often.

* RedSox.com

Red Sox nab pair of intriguing infielders

Ian Browne

When the Red Sox finally made their first pick in the 2019 MLB Draft on Monday night, they snagged Arizona shortstop Cameron Cannon, who is known for his ability to smash line drives on a consistent basis.

The right-handed hitter is also known for controlling the strike zone and finding the gaps. At 21 years old, Cannon could grow into more power as he matures.

The Sox got Cannon with the 43rd overall selection. Boston was moved 10 spots down in the Draft this year, after going $40 million over the luxury tax threshold in the World Series championship season of 2018.

“We like a lot about him,” Red Sox vice president of amateur scouting Mike Rikard said of Cannon. “He’s a very good hitter. We like his swing path. He does things as far as controlling the strike zone and limiting his strikeouts that we value. He’s got good power now and we think there may be more evolving power he has a chance to grow into as he continues to mature as a hitter.”

The last two times the Red Sox didn’t have a first-rounder, it worked out rather well. In 2004, Dustin Pedroia was taken by the Sox with the 65th pick. And two years before that, lefty Jon Lester was the pick at No. 57.

At the end of the second round, and at pick No. 69 overall, Boston selected another shortstop in Matthew Lugo, a high school senior from Puerto Rico who went to the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy. Lugo is the nephew of Beltran, who recently retired following a tremendous career in the Major Leagues.

The hope is that Lugo turns into the latest stud shortstop from Puerto Rico. Carlos Correa, and Javy Baez have set the bar high.

“The predictability on the high school kids in the Draft is always tough,” said Rikard. “It’s never easy to know who’s going to be there at your pick. He’s a very talented young player. He’s got really good tools. He as well has a chance to stay in the middle of the field, for sure. He’s got power potential. And he’s got speed to kind of push the game a little bit.”

Many scouts look at Cannon as a classic grinder, which is always an endearing trait for Red Sox fans. He was an All-Star in the Cape Cod League last summer, where he played third base. In college, the 5-foot-10, 196-pound Cannon had experience at short and second base.

“One of the real pluses for him in that regard is he’s very versatile,” Rikard said. “He’s played quite a bit of shortstop at the University of Arizona but he’s also played some second base as well as playing some third base last summer at the Cape. Not exactly sure what’s going to be the best fit for him, but we do like the fact that he’s been able to move around throughout his career. We’ll give him an opportunity to kind of prove himself at shortstop. But we do know that he’s got a chance to fit at some other spots as well.”

Cannon had a big junior season for Arizona, hitting .397 with 29 doubles, three triples, eight homers, 56 RBIs and a 1.129 OPS in 56 games.

“He had a very good year at Arizona last year so we were certainly had him on the radar as far as recognizing his performance,” Rikard said. “We were able to see him play on the Cape last summer and then we had some scouts that saw him earlier in the spring. Vaughn Williams was our area scout who really did a good job with him and really for the most part, all of our staff was just very impressed with him throughout the whole process.”

The selection of Cannon comes three years after the Sox took Arizona slugger Bobby Dalbec in the third round. Dalbec is currently ranked No. 2 in the Red Sox’s farm system by MLB Pipeline.

Lugo is probably more of a pure shortstop than Cannon. With Xander Bogaerts under contract through 2025, the Sox can be patient with the 18-year-old Lugo.

“Edgar Perez is the scout and he’s been someone that Edgar’s been very close to for quite a while now,” Rikard said. “I don’t know exactly how far they go back but Edgar’s been commenting and talking about him really for the last few years and when you go and scout Puerto Rico, you typically kind of go down early, middle and late and we had a good evaluation of him each time that we went down there to see him.”

And the fact that Lugo has an uncle he idolizes in Beltran certainly can’t hurt.

“That’s always a good thing, to know that they have backgrounds and people in their lives who have a chance to be such a positive influence,” Rikard said.

The Draft continues on Tuesday with Rounds 3-10. The MLB.com preview show begins at 12:30 p.m. ET, with exclusive coverage beginning at 1 p.m. ET. Go to MLB.com/Draft for complete coverage, including every pick on Draft Tracker, coverage and analysis from MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo, the complete order of selection and more. And follow @MLBDraft and @MLBDraftTracker on Twitter.

* WEEI.com

CC Sabathia did something Sunday only six pitchers accomplished against Red Sox in 2018

Nick Friar

The Red Sox got the better of the Yankees in the third game of this weekend’s series, saddling CC Sabathia in the loss on Sunday. But the aging Yankees starter still produced a quality start, only giving up three runs in his six innings of work.

In the course of his outing, Sabathia struck out eight Red Sox batters, all swinging. On the surface, this might seem like a throwaway number, especially with Boston coming away with the win. But, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, this is the fourth time the Red Sox have K’d swinging eight times in a game in 2019. Why’s that significant? Well, the Red Sox only did that six times in all of 2018.

Over the first 59 games of the season, the Red Sox have struck out 487 times in 2050 team at-bats. Through the same number of games in 2018, pitchers punched out Boston hitters 457 in 2064 at-bats.

In terms of percentage, it’s only a slight increase from 22.1 in 2018 to 23.8 this year. This is certainly a sign of the times, but also a trend the Red Sox may want to keep an eye on moving forward.

* NBC Sports Boston

Rafael Devers, Michael Chavis help Red Sox clean up AL awards for May

Darren Hartwell

The Boston Red Sox turned things around in a big way last month, and they have their two youngest players to thank.

The Red Sox doubled dipped in the American League awards for May, as third baseman Rafael Devers won AL Player of the Month while second baseman Michael Chavis took home AL Rookie of the Month.

Devers has been scorching hot over the past few weeks, posting a .351 batting average with eight home runs, 24 RBIs and a 1.021 OPS over 26 games in May.

The 22-year-old is the youngest Red Sox player to win A.L. Player of the Month since the award was introduced in 1974.

Chavis, who turns 24 in August and is older than Devers, has been a revelation since being called up in late April and already has 10 home runs, seven of which came in May. He's the eighth Red Sox player ever to win Rookie of the Year and the last to do so since Andrew Benintendi in August 2017.

Two players on the same team winning these awards in the same year is impressive, but it's not unprecedented: The Sox captured both awards in the same month once before in September 2007, when Jacoby Ellsbury won Rookie of the Month and won Player of the Month.

* Bostonsportsjournal.com

Fault for Red Sox’ mediocre stretch lies in the stars

Sean McAdam

For much of the weekend, the Red Sox and Yankee stood in stark contrast to one another.

While the Yankees came in a roll, the Red Sox came staggering in, having lost three of their four previous series.

As the rain-shortened three-game series progressed, the difference between the clubs seem to get magnified. In the first two games, the Yankees parlayed clean defensive play, timely hitting and stout bullpen work into two rather easy wins.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, offered sub-standard starting pitching and a seeming inability to produce a big hit when it could have benefitted them most.

On Sunday in the series finale, the Red Sox snapped to life and worked an 8-5 win to avoid being swept while salvaging something as they prepared for Monday’s off-day.

But the win — and the strong effort turned in by David Price — couldn’t obscure an even larger distinction between the teams. While the Yankees have survived — thrived, even — in the wake of an unremitting list of injuries to key players, the Red Sox have collectively and individually underachieved.

While the Yankees utilize a collection of shrewd off-season additions and get surprise contributions from previously unheralded players, the Sox have seen their first 59 games marked by disappointment.

Much was made of the Red Sox’ decision to return almost the entire 2018 postseason roster — save for Ian Kinsler, Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel. But if the unstated logic behind that move included expecting all or most of their returning players to match or exceed last year’s performance, that hope has been severely misplaced.

Indeed, of the returning regulars, only Rafael Devers, Christian Vazquez and Xander Bogaerts have surpassed their level of play from a year ago. Mitch Moreland has offered an uptick in power, though he’s getting 0n-base at a diminished rate.

The rest? Outfielders Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi have regressed, as has DH J.D. Martinez. Jackie Bradley Jr, as was the case a year ago this time, is only now showing signs of an offensive awakening.

The rest? Role players Steve Pearce and Eduardo Nunez have provided next to nothing, and Sandy Leon, with the exception of a few at-bats, has been as inept as a year ago at the plate.

(Michael Chavis qualifies as a truly welcome surprise, but as a rookie, can’t be compared to his performance from a year ago).

But ironically, it’s been the starting rotation, the supposed strength of the Sox, which has let the team down the most.

Cast aside the won-loss records of the starters and find that only one (Price) has an ERA below 3.00. The other four regulars range from Chris Sale’s 4.35 to ’s 4.76 to Eduardo Rodriguez’s 5.04 to ’s 6.00. Eovaldi has missed the last five weeks and Price had an earlier IL stint.

And even though the bullpen has not been the disaster some feared — the ERA is 4.46 compared to the A.L. average of 4.45 – it remains a work in progress. What’s more, , a stalwart in the second half a year ago and a revelation in the postseason, has taken a significant step backward. Add in the failure to find another proven high-leverage reliever to take Kimbrel’s innings if not job title and the Red Sox bullpen remains very much under construction with obvious upgrades necessary.

The wonder, then, is why some have chosen to affix much of the blame for the mediocre start to manager Alex Cora.

Cora (and pitching coach Dana LeVangie) may have erred in their plan to ease the starters into the season, therefore contributing to the 2-8 start out of the game.

But the rotation has been much improved since mid-April, and yet the Sox sit a game over .500 with just over one-third of the schedule complete.

Surely, Cora has not been perfect, but the underperformance of so many regulars is surely a much bigger factor.

The Red Sox gambled that they could, in returning better than 80 percent of the roster, come close to duplicating their record-setting 2018 season.

So far, that’s been a gross miscalculation. But if the decision-makers like Dave Dombrowski are going to be faulted for such thinking, then surely many of the team’s established players deserve their share of criticism.

Not only have most failed to replicate their level of play from last year, but most have not come close.

* The Athletic

Like all rookies, Boston’s Michael Chavis facing a swifter adjustment

Marc Carig

Michael Chavis, the Red Sox’s top hitting prospect, has been mired in the first slump of his career. Naturally, this prompted questions to manager Alex Cora, who shared a telling observation before Sunday night’s 8-5 win over the Yankees. The memory came from a few years back, as he watched the big-league debut of the Cubs’ Javier Báez, who stepped to the plate for the very first time facing a defensive shift.

To Cora, it underscored how the game has never been more awash in information, and how that information has never flowed more quickly throughout the league. That’s the challenge facing Chavis, 23, and the rest of the more intriguing prospects to have already debuted this season, an impressive group that includes Nick Senzel (Reds), Keston Hiura (Brewers), Nicky Lopez (Royals), Austin Riley (Braves), Eloy Jiménez (White Sox), Bryan Reynolds (Pirates), Pete Alonso (Mets), Fernando Tatis Jr. (Padres) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays). All have tasted a measure of success. All will inevitably be forced to make major adjustments. It will come sooner rather than later.

Said Cora: “There’s more information and it doesn’t take long for teams to adjust.”

Before the game, a longtime scout mused about his playing days in the ’90s, when it might take half a season for a rookie’s scouting reports to get around. Now, that world sounds quaint compared to a new reality shaped by the sport’s information boom, which has led to sophisticated scouting reports and precise measurements of launch angles.

“It’s just part of adjusting and learning myself,” Chavis said on Sunday, after going 2-for-4 including a gift triple, courtesy of a misplay by Clint Frazier. “The way everything goes here is a little different than it was in the minors. It’s just part of the learning process. There will be an adjustment at some point. With the scouting reports, (pitchers) have more information than I was aware of. But that’s just part of it.”

The roadmap against Chavis has become increasingly clear: a steady dose of high-spin four-seamers located up in the zone. At least, that’s been Cora’s view of Chavis’ slump, a 12-game stretch beginning on May 21 in which he’s hitting .196/.288/.304 with 19 strikeouts compared to just four walks. It’s that last number that has stood out to Cora, who views walks as a good snapshot of a hitter’s present state.“Sometimes, you want to get on top of that pitch and you don’t,” Cora said. “Sometimes, you’re better off just being disciplined up in the zone, and right now he’s not.”

Timing has played a factor. In two of their last three series, the Red Sox have faced the Astros and Yankees, two of the earliest adaptors when it came to throwing high-spin four-seam fastballs up in the zone. It’s a tactic that helps to counter hitters’ attempts to hit more fly balls. According to Statcast, the Astros and Yankees rank in the top five in both four-seam fastball velocity and spin rate. So, it’s hardly a surprise that Chavis has seen an uptick in that particular offering.

“Probably, some other teams are going to try to do that,” Cora said. “Not everybody throws 97 with hop. It’s one of those where they’re going to a spot.”

The league-average spin rate for four-seamers is 2,286 rpm. Since May 21, that number against Chavis has been 2,403. It’s an indication of the quality of pitchers he’s been matched up against, a roll call of spin-rate all-stars such as Domingo Germán and Justin Verlander. While it’s true that most teams don’t boast the same firepower as the Yankees and Astros, there are still plenty of pitchers around the league who have gotten more comfortable pitching up in the zone with fastballs. Thus far, Chavis has given them little reason to deviate.

All of it has raised another challenge familiar to rookies adjusting to life in the big leagues. For all the information that is available to pitchers, there’s just as much presented to hitters, who must learn how to filter out what’s useful and what isn’t. It’s an individual matter, and Chavis knows the process can take time.

“There have been times when I’ve had information overload, you know?” he said. “There’s just so much. You don’t know what to use, what not to use, and all that kind of stuff. It’s something that I’m still learning, trying to work on. It’s learning what works for me, what clicks for me, what I should use, what I should disregard and stuff like that. It’s a learning process for sure, which I’m huge on.”

And so the process continues for Chavis, whose on-the-job training comes with another complication. Like Hiura with the Brewers and Riley with the Braves, Chavis’ ongoing education is coming in the midst of a tight race. His team has fought a season-long battle with consistency. To climb out of the hole they have dug for themselves, the Red Sox need Chavis to figure it out, especially now that he’ll be filling in as the regular first baseman.

“The same way that they learn about him, he can learn about the opposition and make adjustments,” Cora said. “This kid is going to hit.”