The Boston Red Sox will be giving Ryan Weber the start against Toronto today in hopes that he can deliver a series win for Boston.
The Red Sox have one final game against the Blue Jays today before hopping on a plane and heading down to Houston. With the rotation still not at full health, it will be recent call-up Ryan Weber taking the hill this afternoon. This will be Weber’s first start for the Red Sox since signing back in the winter. With some strong relief appearances under his belt, he will look to continue that momentum in today’s clash.
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Weber got the call up from Pawtucket at the beginning of May and has been a reliable arm when needed by manager Alex Cora. Though he’s only thrown 8IP over the 3 games he’s been involved in he has an impressive 7-1 K/BB ratio with an ice cold 1.13 ERA. This won’t be Weber’s first start as he does as 8 under his belt from his time with Seattle and Atlanta.
The Red Sox aren’t looking for a Cy Young performance from Weber in today’s lunch-time clash, but more so an effort to give the team a chance to stay in it. After Hector Velazquez‘s horrendous start against Houston, he was pulled from the spot start position to make way for Weber.
Weber has been a solid addition to the bullpen since his early May promotion as he along with Marcus Walden have been Cora’s go-to guys when they need to eat up some innings. In his 3 appearances with the Red Sox Weber has a game of 3IP and one of 4IP. That will most likely be the gameplan going into today, try to get 3-5 good innings and dive into the pen.
Boston absolutely crushed Toronto in the series opener 12-2 but then felt that same offense onslaught when they dropped game 2 10-3. Last night’s affair went into free baseball as the Red Sox needed 13 innings to finally put away Toronto. A Michael Chavis homer is what made the difference and tipped the scales for Boston.
The Sox are 5.5 games back and will be looking to head down to Houston with some momentum. Getting not only the second win in a row but a series win could be exactly what they need as we come to the end of May. Boston was hot before running into the buzzsaw that is the 2019 Astros last weekend at Fenway.
If Weber can show the composure that he has so far out of the pen in the long relief scenarios that he’s seen so far, the Sox will have a good chance to get out of Toronto with a win. As we saw with Velazquez though having to start and coming in relief can be two completely different mental challenges. But with a history of starts in his career, I feel Weber will be able to get the job done.
The Red Sox need a good outing from Ryan Weber to keep the train on the tracks and have a shot at getting to the top of the division. With the Yankees and Rays both playing good baseball it’s not going to be an easy climb up the standings. With another series with Houston looming this weekend, it all starts with a victory today.