It’s commonly said there are two guarantees in life: death and taxes. I’m going to throw in a third: a Trevor Story injury update. The Red Sox scratched Story from the lineup on Tuesday for precautionary reasons due to mild upper-back tightness.
Sigh.
Over the course of his first three seasons in Boston, Story has missed 298 games and has had four stints on the injured list. There’s nothing to suggest that the athletic infielder will be headed back to the IL; but the optics around another Story injury update are alarming.
The shortstop missed 133 games last year because of a left shoulder injury, which was caused after making a diving attempt to field a ground ball hit by Angels’ Mike Trout. Story worked hard in his rehab and returned to the Sox’ lineup before the season came to a close.
Story has been one of the Red Sox’ more productive hitters this spring, hitting .458 (11-for-24) with two homers, four doubles, six RBI, and six strikeouts, with a 1.355 OPS. His best game this spring came in the 20-5 schlacking of the Marlins on March 7, where he belted two homers and drove in three runs.
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Brayan Bello is IL-bound
Lucas Giolito made his Grapefruit League debut on Tuesday as the Red Sox welcomed the Phillies to JetBlue Park. The 30-year-old hurler hasn’t pitched since last spring after he underwent season-ending internal brace surgery on his pitching elbow.
He only tossed one inning where he walked two of the first three hitters he faced. In total he surrendered two earned runs off one hit (a double) with the two free passes while striking out one. He threw 24 pitches, 10 for strikes. His debut was cut short after just one inning due to left hamstring tightness.
"It feels very minor," Giolito said. "Just an annoying little setback, I guess."
Once again, sigh.
Brayan Bello will start the season on the injured list due to right shoulder soreness, Alex Cora told reporters on Tuesday morning. Bello has been dealing with the shoulder issue since the start of camp, resulting in the team shutting him down.
“We talked to Brayan. He’s behind,” Cora said. “He’s not going to be with us for Opening Day. It just doesn’t make sense, where he’s at, to push him and rush everything where something major happens. He’s throwing a live BP (Wednesday), and he’s going to be part of it, but he’s behind, so we’ll take care of him.”
The Sox’ skipper was expecting his young righty to be able to pitch before the team traveled to Mexico on March 23. He’s thrown bullpens but hasn’t progressed to the point where he’s thrown consecutive live batting practices.
“Just doesn’t make sense with where he’s at to push him, like rush everything, and then something major happens,” Cora said to reporters. “I believe he will, towards the end.”
Cora mentioned that the team will have Bello make a start for Triple-A Worcester and assess where he’s at in April.
Kutter Crawford is nowhere near ready to resume baseball activities, but he’s feeling better. Fans learned that Crawford was suffering from right patellar tendon soreness that dates back to last season.
Crawford told reporters he injured his knee following an out in April. Cora described the righty as “not doing much (physically). I had a conversation with him, but we’re not there progression-wise.”
Next man up?
With Bello and Crawford down, it opens the door for Richard Fitts or Quinn Priester to break camp as the fifth starter.
“That’s the good thing about where we’re at,” said Cora. “We’ve got guys who can come up and help us. They can do the job. We’re not worried about that. They’re all equal right now. At one point, we’ll make a decision based on their performance and stuff.”
Priester has had a good spring and is a legitimate candidate to win a spot in the rotation.
He’s 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA with five strikeouts in three starts spread over 6 2/3 innings. The right-hander has been impressive in camp, opening the eyes of the Sox’ pitching development staff, including WooSox pitching coach Dan DeLucia.
“He wants to be part of a winning culture,” said DeLucia on the “To the Show” Baseball Podcast. “He wants to be part of a winning team. And he himself wants to be the best version of himself. I'd say he's along the line sometimes as like a perfectionist, but not in a good way. And he's passionate, man. When he feels something, when he has something in his head, he just wants to get it out and talk through it.”
The ball has looked good coming out of Fitts’ hand where he even hit 100 mph two outings ago. The right-hander who made four starts at the end of last season has turned heads in camp because of his uptick velocity; his breaking ball has been playing well off his heater, including his new curveball that the club had him work on over the winter.
Fitts offering consistent swing-and-miss stuff will be crucial for him to stick at the big league level early on in his career.
“I used to just attack guys with fastballs, and I loved it, but it may not have been the best idea,” said Fitts. “I’m moving up in the ranks, and I’m at the point now where I feel like I can have multiple plus pitches instead of just one. It’s really encouraging.”
If Giolito misses any time with left hamstring tightness, Fitts and Priester are the obvious choices to be inserted into the starting rotation. Other arms in camp like Cooper Criswell, Michael Fulmer, and the recently optioned Hunter Dobbins could be additional depth options.
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Rafael Devers delayed, again
Over the weekend, Cora indicated that Rafael Devers would make his debut this spring either Tuesday or Wednesday. Instead, he's been pushed back to Saturday.
Devers has been dealing with sore shoulders dating back to last summer, and Boston has been slow-playing his return to game action. Before he makes his much-anticipated debut this weekend, Devers will face Red Sox starters Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler on the backfields at Fenway South.
“He’ll face those guys, and he’ll start Saturday,” Cora said. “He’s been on point as far as what he needs, as far as the swing. The whole path on the inside pitch is something that he lost last year because of the shoulders. He’s been working very hard on that path.
“It’s not a different swing; it’s just a different path, to be honest with you. It’s been trending in the right direction. He’s been off a little bit. Last week, he felt like he wasn’t getting to pitches and all that. I get that the whole thing (about playing on) the big field. But it’s two at-bats (per game) against big leaguers; he’s actually getting more at-bats in the back fields. He’s getting there; he’s getting there.
“The whole progress, from when he got here in January to where he’s at now, he feels a lot more comfortable with the inside pitch. We saw it last year—he got beat by fastballs after (getting hurt) in Colorado a lot. I think the work he’s put in there has been good. The way he’s driving the ball to left-center is something that he missed last year, and he wasn’t able to do it. Right now, he’s in that spot."
Devers didn’t do any swinging over the winter as the club wanted their slugger to focus on strengthening his shoulders.
“When he got here, that’s when he started the progression with his swing,” said Cora. “The intent of the offseason was to get his shoulders right. He did a good job with that, and now he’s getting there offensively. I’m not worried about that.”
Cora was asked by the media if Devers was holding out because there’s a chance he could be moved off third base. In which he said, "no." He did add that Devers will see game action at third base before the team leaves camp. It’s still not yet determined where Devers or Alex Bregman will play to begin the year.
