Fansided

Red Sox Series Preview: At Rays

By Brandon Nickel |
3 of 5
Next

Apr 6, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays manager

Kevin Cash

(16) comes out to take out starting pitcher

Chris Archer

(22) during the sixth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Red Sox head to Tampa to play the Rays in a divisional matchup. The Red Sox will look to try to take advantage of a team that is suffering a number of key injuries.

The key word is ‘try’.

Even though the Rays have 8 players on the 15-day disabled list, and one of their top pitchers Matt Moore on the 60-day DL, the team has still won 6 out of 13 games, 2 games behind the first place Red Sox (8-5). The Rays will want to end their 3-game losing streak by putting the hurt on a Red Sox club that hasn’t been pitching like they hoped or hitting like they expected.

Let’s look at the series preview:

Apr 17, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher

Joe Kelly

(56) pitches during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Pitching Matchups @ Rays (Tropicana Field):

April 21 @ 7:10 PM ET

  • Wade Miley (0-1, 10.57 ERA) vs. Chris Archer (2-1, 1.37 ERA)

April 22 @ 7:10 PM ET

  • Joe Kelly (1-0, 2.13 ERA) vs. Nathan Karns (1-1, 4.58 ERA)

April 23 @ 7:10 PM ET

The Rays’ starting pitching has done much better than was previously expected, at least so far this season. Righty Chris Archer may be the real deal. MLB.com‘s Michael Kolligian reported that “Archer has dominated opposing hitters in his last two trips to the hill, allowing three hits and striking out 16 over 14 innings of work in road victories over the Marlins and Blue Jays. On the season, opponents are batting .136 against the 26-year-old right-hander, and his 21 strikeouts rank third in the American League.”

More from Red Sox History

Odorizzi has had some recent success of his own. Having only given up 4 runs in 3 games, Odorizzi has struck out 19 opposing bats to 5 walks given up. All three games were against the other division rivals: the Orioles, Blue Jays, and Yankees. His seven-pitch arsenal includes a four-seamer (90.5 mph), a two-seamer (90.3 mph), a cutter (86.1 mph), a slider (83.6 mph), a curve (69.5 mph), and a changeup. However, he has foregone the changeup so far this season. Nothing too noticeable in terms of speed, but the variety could give Red Sox bats some trouble. Considering Odorizzi is taking on Buchholz on the mound, Boston may want to get to him early before the Rays can get to their ace.

And, while not to say that Karns is a slouch, but the Red Sox’ Kelly has been looking more like ‘The King’ than ‘the Average Joe’, as of late. Excuse the term, as nobody is comparing Joe to King Kelly of Red Sox lore. However, Kelly’s fastball has been clocked at averaging 96.5 mph, almost two clicks more than last season. In fact, this velocity change has been the most since he debuted in 2012, at 92.7 mph. With only giving up 3 earned runs on 5 hits in the combined 2 starts, Kelly will look to assert himself, once again, as one of the best pitchers to start this year’s campaign.

No matter who you are routing for, this series looks to be very interesting in the pitching duels set to commence.

Apr 11, 2015; Bronx, NY, USA; Boston Red Sox right fielder

Daniel Nava

(29) doubles to deep left allowing a runner to score during the second inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Red Sox Key Players To Watch:

  • It will be interesting how designated hitter David Ortiz will respond, after being told of his one-game suspension for touching an umpire, during a game. He will likely not miss this particular series, with the case being subject to appeal. If his .220 batting average so far this season has not angered him, Big Papi will likely be ‘Hulking out’ against the Rays pitchers, if he can. When, and if, he does serve his suspension, Ortiz will be one of only a few lefty bats removed from the lineup for a game.
  • Tampa’s Archer, Odorizzi and Karns are all right-handed, which begs the question of when we are going to see lefty bats like outfielder Daniel Nava come to the plate for the Red Sox. He has started a few games and earned 5 RBIs for the campaign, before being a pinch hitter in recent outings, with little results. However, Nava’s luck may change if he gets to start again.
  • The recent Orioles series really dampened the spark of the first week of the season. No more so than players like leadoff hitter Mookie Betts. The starting center fielder is hitting just .171 against righty pitchers. That trend will need to change if the Red Sox want to win the series and keep Betts in the starting lineup.

Apr 18, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays right fielder

Steven Souza

Jr. (20) reacts to striking out during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Rays Key Players To Watch:

  • Right fielder Steven Souza Jr. has hit .306, with 3 home runs and 9 RBIs in his last 10 games. He even has 4 stolen bases on top of his .906 OPS, doing everything that he can to make an impact for the Rays. Look for Souza to make a big splash against the Red Sox if they are not careful around him.
  • David DeJesus, in a shorter amount of time than Souza, has also put his mark on the 2015 campaign. He has hit 10 times for a home run and 8 RBIs. The left fielder continues to get more playing time, two games in each of the last 4 series, and should likely get the same opportunity against Boston.

Apr 20, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Members of the Boston Red Sox grounds crew prepare the infield during a rain delay between the Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Predictions:

With all of the pitchers recovering from Tommy John surgery for the Rays, with all of the injuries to their position players, you would think that, on paper, the Red Sox should take at least 2 of 3 games, if not a sweep, even though they are the away team.

On paper, the Red Sox were also supposed to be one of the most explosive offenses in the majors.

With a few of their veterans, not named Hanley Ramirez, struggling at the plate, early in the season, Boston will look to regroup against an upstart pitching staff that is playing better than the Rays could have wished. The Red Sox are hitting .239 as a team, for 17th place among all MLB teams, while the Rays stand 20th at .226. If Boston can take advantage of runners in scoring position, they can add to their 65 RBIs and likely win the games, compared to a weakened Rays lineup that depends much on two men for their offense (51 team RBIs).

Matchup One Prediction: Boston Red Sox win a high-scoring affair.

Matchup Two Prediction: Boston Red Sox win, Kelly keeps the Rays under a run.

Matchup Three Winner: Tampa Bay Rays win, Buchholz searches for answers while Red Sox bats search for clues against Odorizzi.

More from BoSox Injection

Next
Home / Red Sox History

Schedule