BOSTON --- J.D. Martinez and Christian Vazquez have made their arguments.
Martinez, much as he disliked forming this particular opinion, believes pitchers will be ahead of hitters to begin this curtailed 2020 season. Vazquez, with his unique vantage point as both catcher and batter, thinks hitters will be in control against pitchers.
Where does Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom stand on the subject?
"The game is humbling enough," Bloom said in late June. [...]
BOSTON --- J.D. Martinez and Christian Vazquez have made their arguments.
Martinez, much as he disliked forming this particular opinion, believes pitchers will be ahead of hitters to begin this curtailed 2020 season. Vazquez, with his unique vantage point as both catcher and batter, thinks hitters will be in control against pitchers.
Where does Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom stand on the subject?
"The game is humbling enough," Bloom said in late June. "We should be careful to think we can know too much about how this different schedule will be an advantage or a disadvantage for teams."
So much for serving as a tiebreaker. To be fair, it feels like Bloom is in the majority after a weekend unlike any other in the 108-year history of Fenway Park. Boston opened its brief Summer Camp on Friday, and two days of live batting practice offered support for the cases made by both Martinez and Vazquez.
Nathan Eovaldi blew away the rotating cast of teammates who stepped into the box against him on Saturday. The right-hander’s fastball approached triple digits as he toyed with the likes of Jonathan Lucroy and Alex Verdugo. Eovaldi blitzed his way through three innings and looked ready to assume the role of Opening Day starter.
"I hate to say it – I don’t want it to come off as an excuse," Martinez said. "But I definitely feel like pitching will be ahead. I think it kind of always is during spring.
"We’ll see. It’s definitely a challenge."
Martinez is typically a slow starter, a factor attributable to both volume of at-bats and his discomfort in cold weather. His best career OPS by month comes in August, a sizzling .961 that matches the typical summer heat. Major League Baseball’s collective OPS climbed every month from April to August in 2019, rising from .742 to .780, and only dipped when the calendar turned to September.
"I’m a guy who needs a lot of at-bats to get going," Martinez said. "That’s kind of always been my M.O. I’ve always grinded early and just get the rhythm right in the middle of the season."
Sunday brought something of a different story. Martin Perez, Austin Brice and Chris Mazza were tormented by Mitch Moreland, who cracked four doubles and a long home run into the right field grandstand. Kevin Pillar and Vazquez each lined multiple singles into the outfield as the Red Sox bats came to life.
"For me, my opinion, I think the hitters are going to be ahead," Vazquez said. "It’s not the same throwing a bullpen in your house and facing a hitter in a game. The breaking balls are going to be a different shape."
Vazquez was behind the plate to catch Eovaldi and hit live on both days. His scraped the Green Monster with a towering fly off left-hander Josh Osich and recorded base hits against both Perez and Brice the following afternoon. Vazquez is looking to follow up a breakout 2019 season that saw him set new career highs with 26 doubles, 23 home runs and a .798 OPS.
"It’s going to be tough for the pitcher, I think," Vazquez said. "For me, I get ready and in shape quicker than pitchers do."
Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke is more focused on process at this point. Preparing players for games over three weeks as opposed to the better part of two months changes the timetable for the coaching staff. Boston and other clubs will be forced to hit the ground running if they hope to play deep into October.
"You’re not so much concerned about the results," Roenicke said. "For them, if they’re worried about results this early, they’re probably not going to work on the things they need to work on."
bkoch@providencejournal.com
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