The rituals of Spring Training. Pitchers and catchers report. Batters and fielders report. Photos are taken that visually represent a player all year long, even if they shave their mustache (see Gonzalez, Romy).
Sometimes these pictures are serious. Sometimes they’re silly, like the picture at the top of this piece, with Brayan Bello doing his best Carnac the Magnificent (don’t say we never make pop culture references for you, boomers).
These are always entertaining to look at because not every player does a silly one. There are guys who come in and get it over with quickly, one-and-done, while others know this is their time to shine. Teams use these images on the Jumbotron. Media like Over the Monster use them in articles. Sometimes, the national sports media uses the same photo of a given player over and over again, reusing it for matchups, broadcasts, and related online content like social media and videos. For those guys, these pictures will have to stand in for an entire personality. So make it count!
Here are some of our favorites from this year’s edition of Red Sox photo day.
A Santa hat in February? Well this is probably not going to be the stock photo for Roman Anthony.
Ranger Suárez is ready to strike fear into opposing batters.
Jarren Duran is showing off his new swing that will really get to left-handed pitchers.
Your friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man setup man, Garrett Whitlock.
Unlike a player who became s story for what was written on the end of his bat, Trevor Story simply points his at the camera and stares.
There’s something about taking a picture in the seconds a ball is in the air, like the ace Garrett Crochet does here.
You know how there was always a kid who took their senior picture outside? Welcome aboard Willson Contreras!
(Art voice) Carlos Narváez is contrasting the light blue of the grip with the dark colored barrel of the bat in a way reminiscent of the Old Masters.
Aroldis Chapman tips his hat before striking you out.
Kristian Campbell is ready for a second chance to make a first impression.
There was a masked man claiming to be Triston Casas, but this is what Casas looked like when the camera crew found him. His alter ego Swing the Bat, Man was no where to be found.
We’re just over a month away from Opening Day in Cincinnati and we’ll be seeing all these guys a lot more very, very soon. If you were part of a Photo Day would you pose? Bring props? Smile? Intimidate?
