This morning, Bob wrote about the coming middle infield roster crunch, which is the most difficult roster issue the Sox will have to navigate down the stretch of the season. By comparison, the outfield issue seems relatively straightforward. Jarren Duran has been one of the worst hitters in baseball all season. Roman Anthony is not one of the worst hitters in baseball and has flashed the potential to be one of the best. Seems like the logical move is to bench Duran and put Anthony out in left, no? Not exactly. “Reading between the lines, it seems like Boston plans on Jarren Duran still being the regular left-fielder against right-handed pitchers with Anthony serving as the designated hitter.” So that means we’ll still be seeing Duran’s bat in the lineup for most of the Sox remaining games. Obviously there is a hole at DH with Masataka Yoshida hitting the injured list (though it’s only a hole if you think having a regular DH is better than cycling people like Jahmai Jones through that spot), but I continue to be amazed at the way this team keeps finding ways to put Duran in the lineup. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
Of course it’s worth nothing that, even with Duran’s limb bat in the lineup, the Sox offense has been fine for the past few months after struggling to score runs to start the season. What’s caused the turn around? One answer is plate discipline: “Daily hitters meetings started including increasingly detailed breakdowns about swing decisions in the various hitting regions — the heart of the zone, where damage is most likely and thus an area of focus before two strikes; the shadow zone, on the edges of the plate, which hitters defend with two strikes; the chase zone on pitches clearly off the plate; and waste pitches that are off the plate by at least one foot.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
Willson Contreras was the only thing keeping the lineup afloat at times during the first two months of the season. But he didn’t hit a ball back then like he did the other night, when he blasted a 450-foot homer at Fenway. “That was a crazy homer,” said Contreras. “I mean, that’s one of the best swings I ever had in my career, and I’m happy it happened here.” (Ian Browne, MLB.com)
As a result of his heroics, Contreras just finished fourth in an early American League MVP poll. (Max Ralph, MLB.com)
Unlike the Jekyll and Hyde lineup, the bullpen has been relatively strong all season long, with the exception of a little bit of fatigue-induced wobbling lately. Thankfully, Erik Miller has been just the addition the Sox need.“He’s been everything as advertised,” Chad Tracy said. “He’s been so good for us since we got him.” (Hayden Bird, Boston.com)
And Miller and his arm barn mates will get some more help soon. Garrett Whitlock is expected to rejoin the team this weekend against the Yankees. After being shut down with elbow inflammation earlier this month, he’ll face live hitters down in Miami this week and may not need a rehab assignment. (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)
