Franchy Cordero’s walk-off grand slam seals series sweep for Red Sox

Franchy Cordero delivers in grand fashion for the Red Sox

What a day, Red Sox Nation! We had the game in hand, then we didn’t, then we definitely didn’t, then we won. I don’t know about you, but I sure wasn’t expecting the final game of the series to be the most stressful. This afternoon’s clash with the Mariners saw fireworks on both sides, great defense by both teams, and some strong pitching. When the dust finally settled, though, the day belonged to Franchy Cordero.

Franchy Cordero, the Franch Man, or Franch Toast as I’ve been known to call him, had himself one hell of a day. Some of you may be tilting your heads and wondering how a guy that went 1-5 had himself a day, well, let me tell ya. That one damn hit came in the shape of a walk-off grand slam that gave the Red Sox their first sweep of 2022. A sweep on its own is challenging enough, but a four-game sweep is even harder and Boston did just that.

This series saw full team efforts on a nightly basis and it’s something that Red Sox fans the world over have been waiting for since Opening Day. Starters did their thing, and if they didn’t then the bullpen carried the load. And then there was the offense, which for most of this season has been a massive disappointment. Well, the fellas woke up and scored 33 runs against Seattle and did what everyone knew they could do, hit.

That being said, this is all about Cordero, and rightfully so. When he first came to the organization via the Andrew Benintendi trade the scouting report was simple, he can hit Mars with a baseball but he’s going to whiff a whole lot. In his first season with the Red Sox, he did exactly that, with plenty of strikeouts and not much else to show beyond the 474 moon blast which was the longest homer of the AL East in 2021.

Knowing that the league was onto his style of play, Cordero worked to change his game and better himself heading into this season. His focus turned from power to production and his numbers in Triple-A proved that. The Wonder of Worcester posted a .296/.378/.913 line with 21 hits, eight of which were doubles and only three homers.

He also made it a point to be more patient at the plate and not swing so wildly at anything and everything that was tossed his way. This new approach has led to 16 walks between Worcester and Boston and has made him an asset to Alex Cora’s side. After today’s slam, Franchy owns a .231/.305/.709 line which is one of the better stat marks on the roster. Some would have you believe that he’s the same old guy we got from Kansas City, but that’s just bad faith rhetoric and downright lazy.

Since re-joining the big club he has been beyond helpful to the Red Sox and to say otherwise just isn’t true. No, he may not get a hit every single time at the plate but he is drawing walks and as we saw today, he’s getting hits when they matter. He also flashed his speed yesterday with a triple that would later see him cross home plate. Cordero has been a boost to this roster whether or not the naysayers want to believe it.

The Red Sox have been stellar lately, going 8-2 in their last 10, and sit just 10.5 back of the first-place Yankees. That may sound insurmountable, especially with the way New York has been playing, but every win helps. And as long as they continue to chip away at the deficit and the rest of the decision balances out, they’ll be in the fight. Currently, Boston is just three games back of Toronto and five and a half of Tampa Bay, those aren’t huge leads.

As long as we keep seeing contributions, as we have in these last three series, wins this race isn’t over, not by a long shot. Franchy may not hit a walk-off every night, or put up huge numbers on the stat sheet, but he is contributing and has been a factor in this latest run of Red Sox success. This afternoon was a glimpse of what he’s capable of when he’s patient and waits for his pitch, and this entire season has shown that.

Go ahead Red Sox Nation, pour some syrup on this win, enjoy the off-day, and let’s do it again on Tuesday!