As the Red Sox start to enter the final stretch of spring training, the roster is coming into clearer focus and we're starting to see what they have -- and just as critically, what they may lack.
Scouting a team in spring training can be highly problematic. Many of the established players are gone by the last four innings and performance can be especially tough to gauge when hitters are facing inexperienced pitchers from the lower levels of the minor leagues -- and vice versa.
Undaunted, however, we connected with a longtime major league scout with a sterling reputation for evaluating talent. This scout recently spent more than a week watching the Red Sox and we asked for his thoughts on what he saw.
ON THE STARTING ROTATION
"The rotation impressed me more than I expected. And yet the reality is, every one of those guys, with the exception of (Nick) Pivetta, I guess, they've all had physical issues. Getting ERod back, really, I think helps take some heat off the other guys. He's their No. 1 for now. I like that. (Tanner) Houck will be the next guy up if they need someone, but in general, I have some concern about how deep they are. If they have injuries, where's that next wave and how deep is it? You have to ask those questions.
"I liked the fact that Garrett Richards finally looks healthy. He really was moving around well. His delivery, when it connected, was superb. Really good breaking ball. The velo -- I don't know what the numbers were exactly -- but the finish on his fastball was impressive at times. Mission accomplished with his mechanics. He got to where he needed to be after struggling for a few and falling out of synch. He's a warrior. I like him, have always been a fan. Martin Perez is where he should be now, as a No. 4, and mentally, that will allow him to focus better. Unlike last year, they're not asking too much from him.
"I was pleasantly surprised with the rotation -- just the look of all of those guys, including Houck. I saw him go three innings and he had really nasty (stuff).''
ON THE TEAM'S NEWFOUND EMPHASIS ON VERSATILITY
"You've got to be a special athlete with good instincts to move around to those many positions. But you can be overdoing it to the point where you're going to be sacrificing run production. It can become a quagmire where you're overdoing the lefty-righty splits. You zero on in, 'Well, this guy can hit this lefty' and 'This guy once hit a homer off this righty...' and you can overdo it. When the bell rings, a lot of that stuff goes away.
"You can do it, if you've got the right personalities. But some guys don't want to sit. And you've always got the chance of getting an in-between type result, defensively more than anything. And some guys, you can't overexpose at any one position. I would lock in Kiké Hernandez at one position and challenge him, instead of interspersing all these multi-position guys. People who suck it up and do that, that's not an easy job. You're getting a different angle off the bat at multiple positions and it's hard to get into a good game rhythm with any consistency if you're exposed to too many positions. Kiké is a master at it, but I still wish they'd make him the everyday second baseman.''
ON THE BULLPEN
"I like the fact that (Matt) Barnes is throwing a split-finger pitch. It might be what he needs mentally to be better than what he's been. But over three innings, I didn't see him throw one fastball on the inside edge of the plate yet. He can get you out up in the zone and that's what he relies on. So be it. But he doesn't deal with adversity well. He's saying all the right things, but he's got to go out and prove it. You're not going to be a closer and not pitch inside. Show them you're confident enough to challenge them! He's got to more things like that to really convince me (that he can close).
"Focusing on some of the good at-bats that (Hirokazu) Sawamura has executed, that split is nasty. Of all of them, he's the guy who could show up in the closer's role. But he's got a history of control issues. He's very deceptive and he hides the ball well. If he can set that split up, that's a pretty effective pitch.''
ON THE YOUNG GUYS
"Bobby Dalbec, he might hit 35-40 home runs, honestly. I'm buying into him. Not that I didn't in the minor leagues, but the ball really jumps off his bat. It's loud coming off his bat. He's hitting good fastballs and the biggest thing he needs is to stay focused on is hitting the fastball. He'll cripple the other stuff. But too many hitters look for breaking stuff and off-speed when they're young and have the bat speed and the vision to hit good fastballs. But they're fearing the pitch that they think is going to beat them, rather than going pitch-by-pitch.''
ON THE NEWCOMERS
"Hunter Renfroe has a pretty good sense of himself. He's a guy to figure out what his strike zone is. He's got good power and I think he still has a chance to be dangerous. I see him more as a dangerous (mistake) guy and he thrives vs. lefties. Defense is more a concern than his strikeouts and how he matches up (with righties). Maybe the change of scenery sometimes favors the hitters and he might have a hot first half as a result. If things click on all cylinders, he'll have a big first half, then second or third time around the league, they'll start to figure him out. But he's a professional. I like the way he goes about his business and runs everything out. Defensively, they've got to figure out where he's going to hurt them the least. He's got the arm that will play in right, although the best spot for him would be left field, but that's not going to happen.''
"Marwin Gonzalez is coming off a tough year and I'll be interested to see what they get out of him. I don't think you're ever going to see the kind of year he had in '17, and I think they have to be careful with his workload, because he can get mentally worn down at times.
ON THE OVERALL DEFENSE
"I'm more concerned than I thought I would be. Up the middle, they look good. I'm not worried about (Xander) Bogaerts. His reads off the bat are as good as you could as for. He's not the quickest cat in the world, but as he learns the league and the hitters, he compensates. (Christian) Vazquez is fine, and if I'm a pitcher, I want (Alex) Verdugo in center most of the time. But I don't know what they're going to do in left. (Franchy Cordero), we just don't know. I like the way Dalbec reacts to balls off the bat and the fact that he's committed to the position. But who's behind him? And I wouldn't let him get away from third too much -- if (Rafael) Devers goes down, you might want to flip (Dalbec) back over there, where his arm strength is superb. He doesn't have that great body control (at first) but his footwork is good. But I worry about the all the moving around they're going to be doing at second and in the outfield and whether that's going to be disruptive.''
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