3 Key Red Sox Takeaways from the Detroit Tigers Series
By Jeff Runnals
Top 3 takeaways from the Boston Red Sox series vs the Detroit Tigers
The Boston Red Sox took two out of three games from the Detroit Tigers to begin the week, bringing their season record to an even 3-3 heading into the home opener at Fenway Park on Friday. The bats came alive, and the pitching looked solid overall outside of a couple rough innings.
There were highlights and low lights throughout each game, and a few key takeaways from the series that we might be able to learn from. I’ve boiled it down to a Top 3, but here are a couple quick thoughts before diving into the details of those.
Quick Thought No. 1: The right field platoon remains unsettled.
- Christian Arroyo has been shaky thus far, taking a couple bad routes to balls and failing to make plays that are just slightly harder than routine. Throwing him into right field at Fenway could lead to some less than desirable results.
- Jackie Bradley Jr didn’t record his first hit of the season until the final game of the series, but his defense has been just about as expected outside of a missed diving attempt on a flare off Miguel Cabrera’s bat. He’s just 2-for-15 to this point of the season but has provided the top-notch defense we’ve come to expect.
- Arroyo is sure to improve his defense as he gets more experience, and the jury is still out on if Bradley Jr. can regain his offensive form from his first stint with the Red Sox. Michael Conforto is still available on the open market, and reports have surfaced about the Red Sox being interested in his services. Time will tell how this one plays out.
Quick Thought No. 2: Michael Wacha and Rich Hill should be just fine back-of-the-rotation starters until Chris Sale and James Paxton are healthy.
- Both Wacha and Hill turned in strong first starts of the season. Wacha went 4.1 innings giving up 2 H, 1 ER and 3 BB while striking out 4 in Game 1. Hill posted a line of 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB and 4 K in Game 2. The ability to piggyback Garrett Whitlock with either of these two depending on the game situation can be a major strength of his club in the early part of the season.
And now for the Top 3 takeaways from the recent series vs the Tigers.