RED SOX JOURNAL: It hasn’t been a walk in the park for Hart

Kyle Hart has pitched in two games for the Boston Red Sox. He has thrown five innings and has walked seven. That’s a number that needs to change on Tuesday.

The rookie left-hander will take the mount for Game 1 of a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo, N.Y., and manager Ron Roenicke knows that the walks have to stop if the Sox expect to pick up a win.

That means calming down Hart and getting him to better [...]

Kyle Hart has pitched in two games for the Boston Red Sox. He has thrown five innings and has walked seven. That’s a number that needs to change on Tuesday.

The rookie left-hander will take the mount for Game 1 of a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo, N.Y., and manager Ron Roenicke knows that the walks have to stop if the Sox expect to pick up a win.

That means calming down Hart and getting him to better understand what he’s doing well, what he isn’t and not overextending himself as he continues to adjust to life as a major-leaguer.

"It’s really important for him to throw strikes to get ahead in the counts so then he can start expanding," Roenicke said. "When you try to expand from the beginning and you walk people, you’re going to get in trouble."

Hart’s been processing a lot as he adjusts from life as a minor-league player. One of those things has been realizing there’s a difference between pitching and throwing. Pitching has become not only about his arm, but also about his studies.

"The analytics is probably the biggest adjustment but also the biggest improvement. You have access to everybody’s everything," Hart said. "That is something I didn’t grapple with too much in the minor leagues both out of my own personal desire and a lack of resource itself. Up here it’s readily available and something we use and the coaches want us to use. I’m adjusting to that; I’m trying to learn from it."

On Wednesday Nathan Eovaldi will get the start for the Sox but Thursday’s starter is still TBD. It’s slotted for Martin Perez, but Roenicke said the Sox want to get him more rest after he threw seven innings on Saturday as well as keep Eovaldi and Perez apart in the rotation to help the bullpen.

This means Thursday will likely be a spot start for somebody else.

"That’s what we’re looking at, whether it’s a call-up for somebody or just kind of rearrange, which we’ve talked about rearranging a little bit," Roenicke said. "We’re not sure on that yet."

A pleasant problem

The Red Sox have a problem at catcher.

It’s not a bad one. It just happens that right now, two of the team’s better hitters both play the position.

On Sunday, Roenicke found a solution to the problem, letting Christian Vazquez DH out of the five hole while Kevin Plawecki handled the duties behind the plate and hit seventh.

There’s no question Vazquez is the starting catcher for Boston going forward, but with the way Plawecki’s been mashing, Roenicke wants to get him more chances to hit.

Heading into Sunday’s game, Plawecki led the team with a .357 batting average, was second in on-base percentage at .400 and was fourth in OPS at .829. While his sample size is small — nine games, 30 plate appearances, 28 at-bats — the point remains.

"I know it’s difficult when you’re not playing as much, whether it’s every third, fourth or sometimes fifth day, if you have an off day. I think if he played more he’d hit better," Roenicke said. "I’m not saying just what his average is but what he does with his swing. It’s simple — he uses the field well. I think this guy should be a good offensive player. In the past, if you look at some of the years in the minor leagues he has really hit so hopefully that continues."

Earning his playing time

Jonathan Arauz has been busy the last two weeks, playing every game but one since Aug. 10 before Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles, where he was once again starting.

The Red Sox never intended to give their Rule 5 pick this much time on the field, but the 22-year-old has done everything to ensure Roenicke has to think twice about sitting him down.

"He deserves it from what he’s done so far. He’s played good defense — had the one game that was a little bit off but I like what he’s done defensively," Roenicke said. "Being a switch-hitter — it really helps. I thought he’s had some really nice at-bats."

Over the last two weeks Arauz was hitting .385 (10-for-26), upping his average to .286. While he lacks some power — no home runs and only two extra base hits over that same time — he has scored three of his four runs this season over that same stretch, including one in Saturday’s extra-inning loss.

Now Roenicke and the Red Sox staff have to plan for something they didn’t think they’d need to when they added Arauz to the roster — finding him days to rest.

"I hate to just sit him the whole time and just get him in there and then, when you need him, he’s not sharp," Roenicke said. "I think this is a way of helping him but also helping us and what we can do trying to rest some guys. Arauz has been going pretty good. We’ll give him the day off and again having tomorrow off so hopefully the two days will help him recuperate better than just keep grinding it out."

While there’s usually a worry with overuse in dealing with young pitchers, it’s not really the case with an infielder like Arauz. Right now the plan with him — and others, for that matter — comes to playing people who are getting the job done.

"I know we have some other guys that we’re trying to give that time to," Roenicke said. "With the quality of at-bats, the quality of defense that they show us, it’s deserving on some guys whether to play more or not."

erueb@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @EricRueb