Last week, I sat here when the Red Sox lost to the Pirates and said I didn’t really care. I’m still (fairly) confident they’ll make the playoffs, but tonight’s game was cause for concern. The team only has three starting pitchers. Payton Tolle won’t pitch on more than extra rest, so they’re essentially using a six-man rotation. Off days will help, but there still might not be enough. Payton Tolle’s short start on Friday exposed the bullpen at the beginning of a six-game road trip. If Lucas Giolito
or Brayan Bello turns in a short start, the road trip could quickly become a disaster. The good news is that once you get to the playoffs, that doesn’t really matter. You can get by with a three-man rotation and use everyone else to fill in the gaps. Survive till October, and then we go.
In terms of the actual game on Friday, the D-backs jumped out to an early lead. In the third inning, they grabbed three more runs, extending the lead to four. The Red Sox used low-leverage relievers to keep the score close and rallied in the eighth inning, but the D-backs punched back and blew the game wide open.
Three Studs
Greg Weissert
The only pitcher tonight who didn’t allow a run. Good job, Greg.
Alex Bregman
Bregman was 2-4 after a lengthy cold streak. He needs to get going with Roman Anthony out.
Romy Gonzalez
Romy is red hot. He had two more hits on Friday and drove in a run. It was his sixth multi-hit game in his last seven games.
Three Duds
Payton Tolle
Alright, I guess we have to hit the brakes on the Tolle hype train. Despite throwing just three innings, I think there’s a lot to take away from the outing. First, it’s important to note that the Dbacks hit lefties incredibly well. They entered the game with a game plan to hunt Tolle’s fastball, and they had the hitters to execute that plan. To Tolle’s credit, he responded by throwing more cutters and curveballs. As I wrote on Tuesday, though, those pitches aren’t particularly polished. He didn’t locate them well enough and got into bad counts, killing any chance he had of a productive outing. The guy was in High-A earlier this year. He’s not a finished product. These things happen. Bounce back in the next outing.
P.S. The fastball averaged 18 inches of induced vertical break. That’s two more inches than in his previous outing. I’m salivating at how far that pitch can take him.
Justin Slaten
The Red Sox made a comeback in the top of the eighth, but Justin Slaten gave it right back in the bottom. He was snakebitten by some weak contact that went for base hits, but he couldn’t limit the damage. Corbin Carroll took a first-pitch hanging curveball over the fence, and it killed any chance of a comeback.
Nate Eaton
It was going to be Rafaela, but I remembered he threw a runner out at second base. Eaton was 0-4 with two strikeouts. Not his night.
