Baseball is back and the Red Sox are off to a lightning quick start. Today was a day for the young talent on the roster to shine, and they did just that.
When I woke up this morning the sun was a little brighter, the air felt a little warmer and the birds were singing. That’s right folks, baseball is back! Today kicked off the first games of Spring Training and the Red Sox were on the docket. The game this afternoon was all about the young talent in camp and the squad didn’t waste their chance.
The Red Sox took on Northeastern University and with that matchup, the season has begun! Boston toppled Northeastern in comfortable fashion 6-0 through 7 innings of play.
With only a few of the main roster Red Sox involved in the game, today was all about Alex Cora seeing what his young stars could do. I’m sure he wasn’t disappointed. There will absolutely be some learning points and growing pains as there were two errors on the day, but still more positive than negative. The big story coming out of the matchup today was the bat of Bobby Dalbec.
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The touted power hitting prospect didn’t waste any time getting himself on the scoresheet. With his first at-bat of the game, he sent a pitch to centerfield and with one swing Dalbec has the first homer of Spring Training. Going into camp Bobby Dalbec was one of the young invitees that Red Sox Nation was told to keep an eye on. With that homer, he is already starting to back up the hype surrounding his play.
Dalbec wasn’t the only guy to make an impact in the game today as Sam Travis, Tate Matheny, Cole Sturgeon, Tyler Dearden, Jagger Rusconi, and Juan Centeno also put tallies into the hit column. Today was a great display of what the young talent that Alex Cora invited to camp can do. Obviously, there is a difference between a college team and the pros but this is still a strong start for the minor leaguers at Spring Training.
So we’ve talked about how well the bats did today, but we can’t forget about the pitching. The Boston pitching staff held NEU to just 3 hits on the day. A fantastic start to the season for the young Red Sox pitchers. The platoon was able to put 8 K’s on the board to just 1 BB, the pitching was simply lights out this afternoon. Darwinzon Hernandez was the king of the day with 3 K’s and was closely followed by Domingo Tapia and Mike Shawaryn who each had a pair.
With both the bats and arms shining in the first game of the year, this has to build some extra confidence in Cora. It’s no secret that Boston has been extremely quiet in the free agency market. So to have several of their minor league prospects coming in hot out of the gate, that’s a great sign. This not only will allow the Red Sox to save their money by not spending on a free agent but it will also allow them to promote and reward from within.
The season is still so young and it’s only been one short game, but I’m incredibly optimistic in this young and talented squad. If what we saw today on the field is a sign of things to come, then Boston will be set for success for a good while. With a mastermind like Alex Cora at the helm, I have a good feeling we’ll be seeing many of today’s players making some moves this year.