The Red Sox have a new relief weapon. Rookie flamethrower/mustache maven Payton Tolle made his first appearance out of the bullpen yesterday and it was a good one, as he stuck out the side in his first inning of work and nearly hit 100 MPH on the gun, before losing some heat in the second inning. With Tolle in the bullpen now for the remainder of the season, the challenge now will be for him to learn to maintain that velocity for more than one inning at a time. (Julian Benbow, Boston Globe)
So now
can they get a new/old weapon in the lineup? Wilyer Abreu and his 122 OPS+ have been sidelined since late August with an oblique strain that the Sox had initially hoped wouldn’t even require an IL stint. But while Abreu did not travel with the team to Tampa last night, he could potentially rejoin the team later this weekend. That will depend on how he does running the bases and working out at Fenway today. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
While we don’t yet know whether we’ll get Wilyer’s return this weekend in Tampa, we do know one thing we’ll get: sibling rivalry. Nathaniel Lowe’s little brother, Josh, is the Rays’ primary right fielder. They’ve played each other plenty of times before (including in the postseason) but they always enjoy it and this time there will be lots of family in attendance. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
A few short weeks ago, we would’ve lamented the fact that this series was on the road, as the Sox looked nigh unbeatable at Fenway. But the Sox have now gone just 5-10 in their last 15 home games and facing down a September swoon that threatens to derail the whole season. (Rob Bradford, WEEI)
But Trevor Story, at least, is still confident that the Sox can play good baseball on this road trip and pull themselves out of the tailspin. (Ian Browne, MLB.com)
And Alex Cora, meanwhile, is drawing comparisons to the 2021 team, which also slumped through September before coming back to secure a playoff spot in the final season series and then making plenty of noise in October. (Tyler Maher, NESN.com)
