8 observations in the 2021 Red Sox when spring training begins

Here’s a little bit of indoor baseball about something that’s … well, indoor baseball.

Do you know all the statistical data that your friendly beat writer (or experienced columnist) uses to fill your stories with facts and context on a daily basis?

Not all of them come from the writers’ own accounting and research. Some do, maybe even the majority for the more enterprising writers who have mastered baseball-reference.com’s Stathead search feature.

But even independent homework is often backed up by information provided by the daily note pack provided by Justin Long and the Red Sox public relations team. During the season, the package is a marvel, requiring daily updates of information like “Xander Bogaerts has made six home runs in his last 12 games against California-born right-handed pitchers at Camden Yards” or “The left-handed veteran allowed seven home runs to run on his past 17 innings and may want to consider apprenticeship in a profession during the winter. Plumbers make a lot of money, you know. “

OK, you know I’m kidding this last one. There are no snark, editorial or career change suggestions in the game notes. No sir. Just the facts, and many of them. They are extremely useful, not to mention that they are fun to read just to try to fix baseball before the games start.

So it was a pleasant surprise – and one of the best confirmations that, yes, the season and, hopefully, better days are finally coming – when an email from a long time ago appeared in my inbox on Tuesday, titled Red Sox Spring Training Game Notes.

The notes were full of interesting information about the composition of the 40-man Red Sox squad – and let me say, this is always necessary, with so much rotation from last year’s club.

Here are some of the notes’ revelations and factoids, followed by my usual and tangent digressions of what they mean …

Twelve of its 31 RHPs are new to the Red Sox organization in 2021. Quickly, how many of this dozen can you quote head on? There is Adam Ottavino, who you may have heard of Northeastern. (This is the baseball version of “Did you know Chris Hogan played lacrosse?”) There’s Garrett Richards, his intriguing turnover rate and his Carl Pavano-style injury history. There is Matt Andriese, Hirokazu Sawamura and the Rule 5 pickup Garrett Whitlock.

How many? Only five? Hmmm… is Alfredo Aceves back? John Wasdin? The original Pat Mahomes? Did Robinson Checo, the mysterious Dominican, finally make it to camp? (The correct answers are: non-list guests Matt Carasiti, Frank German, Daniel Gossett, Zac Grotz, Kevin McCarthy, Kaleb Ort and Josh Winckowski. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to identify them on a list of your shots to the head.)

The Sox led the AL with a batting average of 0.265 in 2020. They also came in third in percentage at the base (0.330), slugging (0.445) and OPS (0.776). Not that the batting average is still the glamor statistic it was during Wade Boggs’ heyday, but I have to admit, I had no idea that the Red Sox were first in the league in batting last season – or that they were third in these other important categories. The Rangers, on the other hand, reached 0.217 as a team. How did this happen? They were basically a modern day Stan Papis lineup (career average of 0.218).

Anyway, although the Red Sox were only fifth in races per game last season (4.87), this is yet another confirmation that the attack is not and will not be the problem for this team, especially if JD Martinez can start spinning the fast balls again.

The 2020 Red Sox used an MLB-high 16 starters, three of which started just one game as “openers”. And that, friends, is yet another confirmation that the pitching team was holding open auditions last season, while presenting the worst of the franchise. 5.58 ERA. Even considering the use of openers – something we will have to get used to as baseball fans – 16 games is a total absurdity, especially for a season of 60 games. In 2004, the Red Sox used eight players in 162 games, with Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Derek Lowe, Bronson Arroyo and Tim Wakefield making 157 of those matches. (Pedro Astacio, Abe Alvarez and Byung-Hyun Kim made the other five.) The 2007 champions used nine starters, while the 13 and 18 champions used 11 each.

The most important thing for the Red Sox 2021, by far, is that the starting rotation – be it via the return of Eduardo Rodriguez and, in the summer, Chris Sale, the emergence of Tanner Houck or Nick Pivetta, Richards’ good health and form and Nathan Eovaldi, or all of the above – provide reliability and quality. Last year, they had none.

The oldest Red Sox player at the camp is Adam Ottavino, 35. Maybe it’s because his college years with the Huskies were revisited long after the Red Sox acquired him from the Yankees earlier this month, but I had no idea that he was the oldest player. All other members of the list are 33 years old or younger. As Chaim Bloom increases the depth of quality in the 40-player roster, he is also making the Red Sox younger on the outskirts. The plan is taking shape. You see that, right?

Christian Vázquez (June 2008 draft), Xander Bogaerts (2009 international free agent) and Matt Barnes (June 2011 draft) are the oldest members of the Red Sox organization. Count this as another proof of the relative youth of the Red Sox squad or, with some justifiable cynicism, use it to observe in general that veteran players do not have the opportunity to extend their careers until the age of 30 as they used to. But it should also be noted that in terms of length of service MLB, Vazquez (six years, 31 days), Bogaerts (seven years, 42 days) and Barnes (five years, 110 days) have less cumulative time with the Red Sox than Carl Yastrzemski entered the 1980 season.

Matt Barnes made 323 appearances for the Red Sox, the fourth most in the franchise’s history, behind Bob Stanley (552), Mike Timlin (394) and Jonathan Papelbon (393): This fact about Barnes did not surprise me. He has been the substitute pitcher for the last entry who is effective enough to stay in an important role for five seasons. (He is such an important pillar that it is easy to forget that he started games for the Red Sox, a pair in 2015.) But I was impressed, if not surprised, that Timlin is second in the Red Sox relief appearances ranking , at least because he was almost 37 when Theo Epstein signed him in January 2003. If Koji Uehara was the best low-anxiety player, the one who always kept calm and left, then Timlin had that title for the prep guys. The Sox should have cloned it for future generations when they had it.

Only two pairs have already started up to four consecutive opening days on the SS and 3B for the Red Sox. Bogaerts and Rafael Devers, who have formed the left side of the infield for three opening days so far, are about to join the company that includes shortstop Freddy Parent / third baseman Jimmy Collins (1901-06) and Everett Scott / Larry Gardner ( 1914-17). As a child of the 70s, I admit that I was surprised and blindly bitter that Rick Burleson and Butch Hobson did not appear here. They started together in 1977-78 and ’80, but Jack Brohamer started on third base alongside The Rooster on ’79 Opening Day. Hobson was still recovering – you guessed it – from elbow surgery.

Between the MLB and the NFL, NBA and NHL, the only other franchises to win as many as the four Red Sox championships since early 2002 are the New England Patriots (6), San Antonio Spurs (4) and Los Angeles Lakers ( 4).

You would never know that from listening to us, would you? Imagine telling your devastated self in October 1978, or your crushed self in October 1986, or your bitter self in October 2003 that someday they would win four World Series championships over a period of 19 years, and yet be finding ways to get fed up with them.