Results tagged ‘ Saltalamacchia ’
Red Sox shutout Astros in Houston, 10-0
The Boston Red Sox left City of Palms Park in Ft. Myers
behind and traveled to Houston.
On Wednesday, their last game of Spring Training was held at Minute Maid
Park with 25,755 fans on
hand in the regular-season home of the Houston Astros.
The Red Sox blanked the Astros, 10-0, behind the pitching of
Josh Beckett and the offense of his battery mate, Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Beckett held Houston
hitless until Brett Wallace reached on an infield single, just to the right of Adrian
Gonzalez’s reach. Beckett retired the next batter and Wallace was doubled
off to end the inning to complete Beckett’s outing. He finished the night with
five scoreless innings, striking out three, to pick up his only win of the
spring.
Saltalamacchia, who went 3-for-4, hit a two-run single up
the middle to highlight a five-run first inning and lined a single and scored
in the fourth. Jacoby Ellsbury continued to be Boston’s top performer of the
spring. Ellsbury collected three hits, two runs, an RBI and a stolen base.
Gonzalez and Carl Crawford each had a pair of hits and drove
in a run for the Red Sox, who finished the exhibition season with a 14-19
record.
The Red Sox will travel from Houston
to Arlington, TX to face the Texas Rangers on Opening Day,
April 1, 2011.
For more Red Sox and Boston
sports coverage, visit FaneuilSports.com
By Brian Rabuffetti
Published on Examiner.com
Red Sox fall to Braves, 4-3
David Ross bunted home a run as the Atlanta Braves edged the
Red Sox, 4-3. Ross had a pair of hits, including a bunt dragged down the first
base line to score Brandon Hicks with the go-ahead run in the seventh inning.
Atlanta starting pitcher Tommy Hanson allowed a run and two hits, striking out
five, over five innings and Eric O’Flaherty tossed a perfect ninth inning to earn
a save. Macro Scuaro homered to lead off the game and Jarrod Saltamachhia
belted a RBI double and scored a run to tie the game for the Red Sox in the
seventh inning. Jon Lester gave up three runs and eight hits in four and 2/3
innings and Dennys Reyes (0-1) gave up the seventh-inning run to suffer the
loss for Boston.
For more Red Sox and Boston
sports coverage, visit FaneuilSports.com
Sox catchers for the post Varitek era
The 2011 Red Sox have a catching duo of Jarrod Saltalamacchia and
Jason Varitek. Saltalamacchia hopes to establish himself as a legitimate
catcher defensively and transition his offensive success in the minor
leagues to the major league level. Varitek, the team captain and leader,
is returning for his second year as the backup catcher.
The
Red Sox have had an unusually high amount of injuries among their
catching group. Saltalamacchia and Varitek both spent significant time
on the disabled list last year. If one suffers an injury this year, the
Red Sox can make a call to their farm system. Mark Wagner, who is known
to call a good game, would be the choice as a short-term replacement or
for a platoon role during the season. Also coming off a season of
injuries, the 30-year old is a sold backup at best and not a long term
candidate to fill the catching needs in Boston.
The
end of Varitek’s career with the Red Sox will be here soon and the team
will need another catcher. The new catcher might back up Saltalamacchia
or take his place as the starting catcher. Either way, there is a good
chance the job will go to Luis Exposito.
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Luis Exposito Photo: Eric Kilby/Flickr |
Exposito, who was selected by Boston in the 31st
round of the 2005 draft, spent the entire 2010 season with Double-A
Portland. The 24-year-old prospect is still a year or two away from
being big-league ready, but could be a future star backstop. The 6’3″ -
210 lb catcher has put up solid batting numbers and is regarded as being
good defensively, but his ability to call the game needs improvement.
In
his first full season with Portland, Exposito saw a slight dip from his
Single-A batting average, but remained solid in most other areas and
had a large increase in doubles. Exposito hit .260 with 39 doubles, 11
home runs and drove in 94 runs in a career-high 125 games. He finished
among Eastern League leaders in RBI (3rd) and doubles (4th) and caught
30 of 80 attempted base stealers for a league-best 37.5 percent caught
stealing rate. His strikeout to walk ratio has been high throughout his
career, but he showed some signs of improvement with Portland (1.67 SO’s
per BB).
This
offseason Exposito was placed on the Red Sox 40-man roster. The move
allows for the possibility of Exposito playing for the Boston Red Sox
this year. I wouldn’t expect him to contribute too much to this season’s
Red Sox team. He will likely spend most of the season with Pawtucket,
but he might see some action with Boston as a September call-up.
Red Sox to roll the dice with Saltalamacchia
agent market and via trade this offseason to bolster their lineup. They
also have made significant strides in shoring up a bullpen that ranked
near the bottom of the American League with a 4.59 ERA and 23 blown
saves in 2010.
their way to Spring Training, however, it appears the Red Sox and
general manager Theo Epstein are willing to gamble on the extremely
important position of catcher.
via free agency this offseason, the Red Sox are left with unproven
Jarrod Saltalamacchia as the likely starter. Captain Jason Varitek
remains on the roster, but at age 39, his days of handling the majority
of the catching duties are over.
mentorship and even crack the starting lineup a couple times per week,
the Red Sox are trusting a guy with some red flags – in addition to the
inexperience – to carry the load.
organization, Saltalamacchia has hit just .248 with a .386 slugging
percentage in 250 major league games with three teams. His ability to
contribute at the plate, especially on a team with a loaded lineup, is
of relatively small concern compared to the issues that could surface
with him behind it.
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| Jarrod Saltalamacchia (Photo: Keith Allison/Flickr) |
After undergoing surgery to correct Thoracic Outlet
Syndrome (numbness and tingling of the arm, shoulder or hand resulting
from the abnormal compression of blood vessels between the first rib and
clavicle) towards the end of the 2009 season, Saltalamacchia developed a
mental block that prohibited him from effectively throwing the ball
back to the pitcher – never mind to second base – on a consistent basis.
Saltalamacchia since has consulted a sports psychologist, who
introduced a “tapping” system to alleviate the problem.
is behind him, only time will tell whether or not it resurfaces. Even
before the arm problems and subsequent surgery, however, Saltalamacchia
encountered his share of problems defensively.
Read more and watch the Varitek interview>>
By Joe Barbieri
Saltalamacchia’s time is now and Varitek will provide backup
On July 31, 2010, the Red Sox acquired Jarrod Saltalamacchia,
who Theo Epstein had been rumored to have interest in over previous
years. When the Texas Rangers were willing to deal him, it was no
surprise that Epstein made a move. The timing of the move was a surprise
for what it signified. It became clear that Epstein had already begun
planning for a 2011 season without Victor Martinez.
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Varitek (Photo: Jim Rogash/Getty) |
Kevin Cash was acquired on the
first of July 2010 to join with career-minor-leaguer Dustin Brown.
Together they had the monumental task of filling in for the injured Martinez and Jason Varitek. Martinez
was still three weeks away from returning and Varitek was beginning a
two-month stint on the disabled list. This is when the 2010 Red Sox
needed to make the trade for Saltalamacchia, but they didn’t until four
weeks later. Martinez had returned from injury five days before the deal. Martinez
admirably completed his last season with the Red Sox and entered free
agency for the first time. He has since signed with the Detroit Tigers.
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Jarrod Saltalamacchia (Photo: Keith Allison/Flickr) |
Varitek resigned for one more year to stay with Boston.
When healthy, Varitek was having a solid year as the backup catcher in
2010. The Red Sox captain batted .232 with an OPS of .766 and belted
seven homer runs in 39 games. Varitek has made known his desire to end
his career with the Red Sox. He has been with the team since he was
first called up from the minors and made his debut on Sep. 24, 1997. He
has developed knowledge of team’s pitching staff and opposing hitters
that can’t be matched. His leadership will continue to help the Red Sox
in 2011 and will be a great benefit to Saltalamacchia.
Saltalamacchia
has been a prospect, with good minor-league numbers since he was
drafted by the Atlanta Braves with the 36th overall pick in 2003. In his
rookie season of 2007, the Braves and Rangers alternated him between
first base and catcher. The platoon kept his bat in the lineup and gave
him time to develop as a catcher. With the Red Sox addition of Adrian
Gonzalez, I don’t expect Saltalamacchia to see much time at first base
this year. He will either catch or sit on bench.
