Red Sox split first home series of 2022 with the Twins

Game One Thoughts: Twins 8, Red Sox 4

• Nick Pivetta had absolutely nothing on this day. He allowed five hits, two walks, and four runs in just two mediocre innings. He had no feel for his curveball whatsoever, and his fastball velocity was down two miles per hour from 2021. Alex Cora said after the game that a mechanical issue prevented him from getting the necessary extension, so we’ll see if Pivetta turns things around in his next outing.
• With Josh Taylor returning and rosters being cut down from 28 players to 26, the Red Sox are going to need to option three pitchers at the beginning of May. Philips Valdez seems like an obvious choice to be one of those three, but it’s hard to see the team jettisoning him off the roster if he keeps pitching like this. Valdez relieved Pivetta with two more scoreless innings on Friday. In three spotless appearances on the young season, Valdez has struck out seven batters and walked just one. He attacks the strike zone like few others in the Red Sox bullpen and is beginning to carve out an important role for himself
• After two scoreless outings against the Tigers, Matt Barnes looked like a shell of his former All-Star self on this day. Two walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a seeing-eye single combined to push two runs across for the Twins, effectively ending Boston’s comeback hopes. On the bright side, Barnes’ velocity was up a tick from his first two appearances in Detroit, but still not to the levels of his 2021 peak. All in all, there are many reasons to be concerned about the former Red Sox closer.
• In brighter news, Alex Verdugo continued his hot start with a second-inning solo shot off Twins starter Joe Ryan. The key to Verdugo’s early success has been elevating the ball more: He’s nearly doubled his average launch angle from 2021 and has raised his fly ball percentage from 21% to 45.5%. That, along with a 3.5 mph increase in exit velocity, has allowed Verdugo to hit for more power.
• One thing I worried about heading into the season was how the Red Sox would do against hard-throwing righties. This came to fruition on Friday, as Joe Ryan, Joan Duran, and Emilio Pagan overwhelmed the Red Sox’s right-handed power hitters. Combined, Xander Bogaerts, J.D Martinez, Trevor Story, and Bobby Dalbec went 2-for-16 with 10 strikeouts.
• Finally, in our daily installment of “Insane Things that Rafael Devers Does”, the Red Sox third baseman took a 98-mile-per-hour pitch in off the plate and sent it over the right-field wall. He never ceases to amaze.

Game Two Thoughts: Red Sox 4, Twins 0

• Both the Red Sox and Tanner Houck needed a start like that. After a shaky performance in New York, Houck dominated the Twins over 5 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out four and allowing just two hits. Walks are always going to be a part of Houck’s game, but when he keeps the ball on the ground as he did in this one (six ground ball outs, two ground ball double plays), it’s very hard for the opponent to string a rally together.
• A key difference in this start from Houck’s first outing was his usage of the splitter. After throwing his third pitch just once against the Yankees, Houck threw it thirteen times on Wednesday. The results were mixed, as only 6 of those pitches were thrown for strikes, but he froze Trevor Larnach on one for strike three in the second inning. Houck doesn’t need to throw his splitter as much as his fastball or slider, but if he can mix it in to give lefties another look, he can be very effective
• The early returns on the Trevor Story, at least defensively, are promising. Bogaerts and Story turned a beautiful double play in the fifth in which Bogaerts made a diving stop on a ground ball up the middle and glove-flipped it to Story, who bare-handed it and made a strong throw to first to get Gio Urshela. Obviously one great play doesn’t make a season, but the infield defense looks to be much improved so far in 2022
• Speaking of Bogaerts, he finally got on the board with his first home run of the season, and it was an impressive one. The pitch was a couple of inches off the plate, but he pulled his hands in and sent a no-doubter over the Green Monster. Hopefully that is the first step to him breaking out of his slump
• What else is there to say about Garrett Whitlock? The machine threw 2 1/3 more scoreless innings, allowing just three baserunners and striking out five. His slider has been even more unhittable this year despite it losing two miles per hour in velocity, inducing whiffs at an incredible 72.2% rate.

 Game Three thoughts: Red Sox 8, Twins 1

• Michael Wacha didn’t get much fanfare upon his arrival in Boston, but he has been excellent in his first two starts. He mixed his pitches beautifully in his five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit in the process. He makes up for relatively bland velocity with a plus changeup and a cutter/sinker combination that keeps the ball off the barrel of the bat. A 15-pitch battle to Carlos Correa probably cost him an inning, but the Red Sox could not have asked for anything more.
• This was the best Trevor Story’s swing has looked all season. He got unlucky with lineouts in two of his first three at-bats, but he ripped a ball up the ball in the 8th for a two-run single. After a hectic spring training and a bout of food poisoning, Story finally appears to be getting right at the plate.
• I criticize J.D Martinez’s performance at the plate a lot, but I want to give credit to an at-bat he had in the sixth inning. With the score knotted at 0 and runners on second and third and nobody out, Martinez spits on a slider an inch off the plate before getting a pitch he could handle and driving it to deep center field. The ball was hauled in by Gordon, but it scored Devers and moved Bogaerts to third, where he would score on another fly ball by Verdugo. It was a terrific job of hitting by Martinez, who got exposed on down-and-away sliders all day on Friday.
• Bogaerts has officially found his stroke. He put three terrific swings on the ball, including a 111 missile high off the monster that would have been a home run in nearly any other ballpark. Few hitters can carry a team like Bogaerts when he’s right, and the shortstop is showing signs of catching fire.
• I’m just about done with Ryan Braiser. He’s had some nice moments over the years, particularly in the 2018 postseason, but his low 90’s fastball/slider combination isn’t fooling anyone anymore. With Taylor on the way back and rosters set to be trimmed at the beginning of May, Braiser’s time in Boston might be over soon.
• While Braiser’s stock is plummeting, Jake Diekman is establishing himself as a viable late-inning option. The lefty again retired the side in order, including schooling Correa on a nasty slider. Diekman has now struck out seven and walked just one in his first four appearances on the season. With Barnes still finding his footing (to put it mildly), Diekman might soon find himself in the closer’s role.

 Game Four Thoughts: Twins 8, Red Sox 3

• You could be mad that the Red Sox played a fairly lifeless game on Patriots Day. However, all eight runs the Twins scored were against pitchers who won’t be on the roster come July. These are just the games you have in April when you’re still trying to work out the kinks.
• I’m really more disappointed in the offense. There’s just no reason a pitcher like Dylan Bundy should carve a up this lineup. They might have been put in a early hole by their starter, but the bats need to be better
• Rich Hill just cannot be starting games anymore. This isn’t an overreaction based on two appearances but rather an assessment on his overall stuff. With only two pitches in his arsenal, Hill is in deep trouble if batters can spit on his curveball. The margin for error is just so small, and on this day, it was zero.
• I haven’t criticized Cora all season, but I’m going to do it here. The Red Sox had a real chance to come back after Christian Vazquez’s seventh inning home run cut a lead to two. Why give Kutter Crawford a second inning of relief? Crawford predictably allowed four runs in the top of the eighth that put the game out of reach. I would have much rather seen Hirokazu Sawamura or Hansel Robles in that situation.
• Jackie Bradley Jr’s at-bats are starting to look really good. He saw 27 pitches in his four plate appearances, which included a walk and a double. If he can be a nuisance at the bottom of the order, it would make a dangerous Red Sox lineup even more difficult to navigate
• One player who is not a nuisance, at least for his opponents, is Travis Shaw. An 0-4 day with three punchouts showed again just how much his bat speed has slowed. You wonder how long the Red Sox can keep giving him at-bats
• We’re not going to remember this game for any of the above reasons. We’re only going to remember this game for Devers’ absurd slide in the bottom of the sixth. How could Urshela possibly have missed that tag?

Red Sox vs Twins final thoughts

This series was about as up-and-down as the split suggests. There were some great individual performances, namely Verdugo, Bogaerts, Houck and Wacha, and the games on Saturday and Sunday were as crisp as they’ve played all season. Yet the games on Friday and Monday were lifeless and uncompetitive, and the starting pitching in those contests were terrible.

Before the series, I said that the Red Sox should take three out of four. With the amount of road games on the April schedule and series against the Blue Jays and Rays looming, the Sox really needed a big series at home against the Twins. Both the series and the season so far have been mediocre, and the Red Sox should be better than that.

The Red Sox now welcome the powerhouse Blue Jays to town for a three-game set on Tuesday. The Blue Jays, however, have also not been playing their best baseball, as their starting rotation has had a number blow-ups and star outfielder Teoscar Hernandez landing on the IL. This is a prime opportunity for the Red Sox to establish their place in the stacked AL East.

Series MVP: Xander Bogaerts (7-17, 1 HR, 4 RBI)