Garett Crochet wants to pitch in the postseason without making a single rehab appearance. That’s audacious enough, but how about playing in the postseason, without having ever played in the big leagues at all? That could be the situation Braiden Ward finds himself in. If you need to refresh your memory, Ward was the little speedster who was running wild all over Grapefruit League diamonds this spring. He hasn’t gotten a chance to show whether he can do that in the Majors yet, but Chad Tracy isn’t
ruling it out. “Every time he gets on, he’s not afraid,” Tracy said. “That’s the thing. If he gets on base, he’s looking to go. That’s a unique trait. There’s a lot of guys who can run and steal bases and then there’s other guys who are, every single time they get on, almost regardless of the timing.” (Conor Ryan, Boston.com)
But a lack of speed on the base paths isn’t really the Red Sox problem right now as they muddle through a middling September. Strikeouts are. “The Red Sox are swinging and missing too much and not walking enough. This month, they have the eighth-most strikeouts and seventh-fewest walks. That doesn’t play in the postseason. Making contact does.” (Rob Bradford, WEEI)
After he initially returned to the big leagues with a bang, Roman Anthony is one of the Sox hitters who’s struggling to make contact right now. But he doesn’t sound worried. “I’m right where I want to be,” said Anthony. “I came back with enough time to get a good number of plate appearances, and to fail like I am right now and to succeed like I did in the beginning, and then kind of meet in the middle and continue to grind out every single day and get ready for what we want to be a long postseason run. [The playoffs are] what you play for after such a long year … At the end of the day, those few weeks are the only thing that really matters.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
Unfortunately, the other big power threat in the Sox lineup is also struggling to get back up to speed. Willson Contreras homered last night, but he’s still dealing with a nagging hamstring injury. “I ran pretty good there on the ground ball to shortstop, but I need to manage my leg better,” he said. “I know it’s feeling good and it’s feeling alright, but on a hard-hit ball like that, I know I’m going to be out. I was just trying to put pressure on him, see if he made a bad throw or whatever. Next time, I’ll manage better.” (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
With Anthony and Contreras struggling in different ways, it’s important to remember that this team’s success has been built on depth, not individual star power. “Whether it was an expanded version of the trade that brought Caleb Durbin from Milwaukee to include Monasterio and Seigler, or waiver claims of Cheng and Gasper, or a minor league deal for Guerrero, the season has been a case study in the notion that perceived little moves can have a huge impact.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
Fortunately, the Sox have some depth in the good guy department, too. After the departure of Liam Hendriks, who had been nominated for the Clemente Award seven times throughout his career for his charitable efforts, Garrett Whitlock has stepped in and picked up the baton. (Ian Browne, MLB.com)
