Red Sox: 3 players to watch this weekend against the Miami Marlins
The Red Sox welcome the Marlins to Fenway Park
Here we are, friends. Ready to kick off another weekend series as the Red Sox are hosting the Miami Marlins. While this weekend is shrouded in a bit of doubt as the weather looks absolutely atrocious, we may still see some baseball. As it stands right now, Boston is just a 1.0 game back of the AL East leading Tampa Bay Rays while Miami is 3.0 games back of the NL East kingpins, New York.
This three-game set could be big for both sides as it could put the Red Sox back on top of the AL East, where they have been for most of this season. And a sweep in the other direction could put Miami in contention for the NL East crown. While I don’t think we’ll see a sweep one way or the other as Boston has been good about not getting swept while they tend to blow it when the sweep may be in their favor.
With all of that said I think there are three players that we should keep an eye on this weekend for as many games as we may actually see in the next few days. One is a new face to the team that has already shown he can hang with the big boys. The second is a young superstar on the rise who is ready to stake his claim as one of the best. And the final is a pitcher who has shown great dominance but has lost his way a bit in 2021.
Let’s get to the fun!
Player #1: Red Sox INF/OF Danny Santana
Danny Santana has been with the Red Sox for only a week now and he’s already becoming one of my favorite players to watch on this team. Whether he’s in the field or in the batter’s box my eyes are glued to the screen. Since overcoming a nasty foot infection he has proven to already be a solid signing for Chaim Bloom. A quick stint in the minors saw him absolutely dominate and he’s since carried that over to MLB.
In 5 games with the Red Sox Santana has had 17 plate appearances and is hitting .214/.353/.786/1.139 with two homers and two RBI. The first part of that stat line may not be eye-opening but the SLG and OPS are off the damn charts and those are the numbers that have my attention. While his three hits this year have all been for extra bases he does have seven strikeouts to just two walks which isn’t a ratio I’m looking for.
Still one of those walks came in the rally against the Braves the other night that delivered another win for Boston. If he can get a little more patient at the plate as he was during his rehab stint where he had seven whiffs in 35 plate appearances. That’s more of what I’m looking for from the versatile player this weekend.
Tonight he’ll be playing first base instead of Bobby Dalbec but as we’ve so far during his short tenure he’ll likely be moved around the diamond this weekend. Santana has crazy power and some good speed on the bases as he showed back in 2019 during his best career year. I have a good feeling that Danny Bombtana (nickname courtesy of Girl at the Game founder Gabrielle) will be making some noise at Fenway Park this weekend.
Player #2: Red Sox 3B Rafael Devers
This is the guy that everyone should be watching this weekend as my guy Rafael Devers is HEATING UP! Big Scoops has been doing the damn thing as of late and is tearing the cover off of baseballs left and right. Seriously if he’s getting a hit nowadays you can guarantee he’s getting it with a side of extra bases. While there have been some nights where J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts have been a bit quiet, Raffy continues to make noise.
Through the first two months of the season, he owns a .278/.352/.602/.954 with 14 dingers and an MLB leading 43 RBI. Let me just say that again, AN MLB LEADING 43 RBI. I wrote about Devers yesterday after his heroics in the Braves come back and it’s hard to ignore what he’s doing. With the numbers as clear as day he’s one of the best offensive third basemen in the game today and it’s a sight to see.
We’re seeing him continue to mature there are still some gaps in his game. At the dish, I rarely worry about him beyond the penchant for a whiff, which is at 26.6% so far in 2021. We’re ten games behind where he finished in 2020 and he’s under 0.5% from his rate last year. If the Red Sox are to climb back atop the AL East and fight into October they’ll need him to not just continue raking but show more patience and get that number down.
He’s one of Alex Cora’s biggest weapons and is proving to be a game-changer for Boston.
Player #3: Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodriguez
This is probably the one I’m the most interested in keeping my eye on this weekend. Eduardo Rodriguez emerged as Boston’s best pitcher in 2019 and was taken out by a combination of COVID and myocarditis in 2020. After a long arduous road back to the mound he was electric in spring training until a case of dead arm forced him out of Opening Day.
Since his return though he has been strong for the Red Sox and got off to a hot 5-0 start. The thing is, it looks as if the carriage has turned back into a pumpkin for E-Rod as he’s dropped his last three starts and hasn’t looked sharp at all. It’s hard to tell if it’s the dead arm kicking in again or if he’s still dealing with fatigue from his illness, but it’s been a tale of two Eddies.
Look at his stats split between his wins and losses:
- Wins: 25H/10ER/5BB/28K
- Losses: 23H/13ER/5BB/21K
His innings haven’t dipped and his pitch counts still flirt with 100 per game but he hasn’t been hitting his mark and it’s hurt badly. I think this series could be big for him to get back on track and get back to how the first month of the season went for him. He finished April with a 3.52 ERA while it skyrocketed to 5.03 in May. Going against the Marlins may give him the opportunity to tighten his mechanics and get back to what saw him succeed early in 2021.
Previewing Red Sox v. Marlins
This weekend is going to be tricky since the weather is supposed to be pretty nasty in Boston. The Red Sox are going into the final chapter of this homestand ready to take three games and get back on top of the division. There haven’t been many hiccups this season for this club and I think we’d all like to keep it that way. They don’t have to sweep every series, hell they don’t have to win every series, but as long as they take more than they give, October will be back at Fenway.
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Boston will trot out Martín Pérez, Nathan Eovaldi, and Eduardo Rodriguez to battle Cody Poteet, Trevor Rogers, and Sandy Alcantara. The key for the Red Sox will be getting runners on base and doing it early. They also need to take advantage of every chance they get to beat up on the opposing pitchers. They haven’t been the best at getting runners across home when they have the opportunity and that has to change.
The Marlins are a sneaky dangerous team and can make things hurt quickly for Boston if the pitching is off the mark even in the slightest. They may be in third place in their division but the NL East can flip on a moment’s notice. They aren’t the Marlins of years past that was a pushover on a way to a win. They’ll be coming into Fenway ready to put up a fight and will want to take as many games from the Sox as they can.
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I know it’s still May but this will be a big series for the Red Sox and they need to take the series if they want to keep pace with the Rays and Yankees. Both clubs are getting white-hot and will jump at every chance the Red Sox give them to take over the division. Slipping up this weekend against Miami could open the door enough for their rivals to take control and Boston can’t let that happen. If the three players I spotlighted here show up and do their jobs that won’t be the case and we could see the Sox back on top.