Every pitcher, even an ace, is allowed a stinker every now and again. Garrett Crochet had his first truly bad start for the Red Sox against the Astros last night, and there was some speculation (hope?) on social media that he was tipping his pitches. The Astros certainly were attacking him aggressively, and pitch-tipping is easier to fix than something mechanical. But Crochet spoke after the game and thinks the problem was neither tipping, nor mechanics. He thinks, rather, that his approach was off, and he threw too many offspeed pitches the first time through the order. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
That game sure was fun before Crochet fell apart, though, huh? That was thanks in no small part to Alex Bregman, who homered in his first at-bat back in Houston, then was promptly booed. But he didn’t mind that. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
And what last night’s game showed more than ever was just how important crochet and Bregman are to this team. (Rob Bradford, WEEI)
While Bregman was always expected to have a strong season, the guy playing next to him, Trevor Story, was not. But since his terrible start to the season, Story has turned things around. How did he do it? After missing so much time over the past few seasons, it seems to have been a combination of just getting his head right and rediscovering the rhythm of the game. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
Another struggling middle infielder, David Hamilton, was not able to turn things around like Trevor Story. He’s since been demoted in favor of Ali Sanchez, a third catcher. It is highly unusual for a team to carry three backstops, but the Red Sox made the move in hopes of giving Carlos Narvaez more rest and allowing Connor Wong to move around the infield more. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
If Wong spends a bit more time at second base, as is expected, it means Ceddanne Rafaela can go back to center field, where he’s arguably the single best defender in the world. But even so, Rafaela is continuing to get more comfortable back in the infield in the wake of Marcelo Mayer’s injury and showing the league just how valuable he is. (Jen McCaffrey, The Athletic)
