The most noteworthy deadline addition for the Red Sox is set to begin a new chapter in his career tonight as Adley Rutschman debuts for Boston north of the border.
The goods news for the Red Sox is Rutschman’s hit exceptionally well against the Blue Jays in his career, both at Rogers Centre and in general. In this building, Rutschman’s got a career .311 average and a .966 OPS in 137 plate appearances (best numbers in any ballpark with at least 50 career plate appearances); and against the Blue Jays all time,
he’s got a very similar .311 average and .961 OPS in 258 plate appearances (third best against any team with at least 40 plate appearances).
Oddly enough, the only two teams Rutschman’s hit better against in his career than the Jays are the A’s and the Pirates, who the Red Sox just played, and are about to play later this week. Classic baseball!
The bad news for the Red Sox though is they’re on a three game losing streak and facing Dylan Cease, so all the success Rutschman’s had against Toronto might not apply here. Then again, Rutschman’s gone 2-6 with four walks against Cease in his career, so many he’s arriving just in time to a lineup that was on the wrong side of a one-hit shutout against Cease the last time they faced him back on July 25th at Fenway.
Also of note going into tonight’s game, Toronto’s bullpen is gassed. Here’s their usage in terms of innings pitched by day over the last week:
- Tuesday: 6
- Wednesday: 6
- Thursday: 3.1
- Friday: 4.1
- Saturday: 5.2
- Sunday: 5.2
- Monday: 5.0
In other words, the key to this game tonight might be about how quickly the Sox can get Cease off the mound. Well, that and how much success Rutschman and Patrick Sandoval can have working together for the first time. It’s a tough matchup, but if the Sox can pull it out, it will make up for last night where they squandered a huge pitching advantage on paper.
We’re still waiting for the complete lineup as the Red Sox haven’t posted it yet as they clean up the Rutschman roster move (Jake Rogers is likely getting DFA’d), but we’ll update this later once it’s out.
⚾️ First Pitch: 7:07pm — Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
📺 TV: NESN
📻 Radio: WEEI
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