TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Seven to 10 days has turned into three to four weeks for David Price, whose definition of a workout these days is flipping a ball into a net while surely wishing he was back in a city that loved him or at least understood him.
Skeptics think the Boston Red Sox left-hander might not be up to speed until May – a strength test on Tuesday showed that his elbow was weaker than in mid-February, which is full-scale no bueno – all of which makes even more notable the words of Red Sox general manager David Dombrowski during the news conference at the winter meetings in Nashville when he announced the acquisition of Chris Sale.
“It was going to be Chris Sale or nothing,” Dombrowski said, describing discussions with his Chicago White Sox counterpart, Rick Hahn. “Because, really, this wasn’t our biggest need. We need to replace David Ortiz.”
Famous last words. It was just a few weeks after Rick Porcello had been named AL Cy Young Award winner and Dombrowski was looking at a rotation of Porcello, Sale, Price, Drew Pomeranz and one of Steven Wright or Eduardo Rodriguez. Clay Buchholz was as good as a gone as it turned out, traded to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Some folks (Ed. Note: some?) suggested it was the day the Red Sox already clinched the division because Sale, well, his numbers against the division are scary: His career earned-run average against the New York Yankees is 1.17 in 53 2/3 innings over seven starts, the lowest ERA by any pitcher against the Yankees with a minimum of 50 starts since the statistic began being compiled in 1912. That’s pretty good. In 21 career appearances – 15 of them starts – in the four opposing AL East ballparks, Sale has a 1.85 ERA. Last season he was undefeated in five decisions in AL East parks, 7-0 (1.52) in seven starts overall.
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If that was the day the AL East went nuclear, then Tuesday night should have been – oh, I don’t know – the test firing of the division’s biggest weapon.
That would have been the case back in the day, at least.
There was a time when Yankees-Red Sox spring training games were eagerly anticipated affairs, when it was Derek against David or Pedro, and A-Rod against everybody. The teams ran out their stars for their home games – this one wasn’t even televised back to New York, for heaven’s sake – and every meeting was a national media event. Markers were laid down for the regular season.
This, by comparison, was a nice night out, with the Yankees running out their future (mega-prospects Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier) after Sale exited the game. Sale tried to sell the sizzle, “anybody who knows anything about sports knows Boston and New York,” he said, raving about energy and atmosphere as in: “Any time you can get as close to (a) regular season game with the atmosphere, energy … I’m happy to be here.”
Sale could have stayed in Fort Myers to pitch in minor-league camp, but instead elected to make the two-hour trip north to face the Yankees for the first time in a Red Sox uniform, but in truth this is a rivalry in transition. Want to know how the Red Sox picked the players to come north? They held an obstacle race on Sunday: losing team makes the bus trip to play the Yankees. What in the name of Pedro versus Zim is that all about?
Sale wasn’t worried about giving the Yankees some extra scouting info – “these guys are going to see me 100 times, anyhow, so making it 101 times … is it going to be that big a deal?” he asked, to shakes of the head from a smallish gathering of reporters.
Still, the outing was enough to make an AL East fan shiver: Sale recorded 10 strikeouts in six innings – nine to the first 14 batters faced – before giving up a two-run home run to Matt Holliday. He simply stopped trying to strike out batters after the fourth, pitching to contact in an eight-pitch fifth against the bottom of the order.
The outing was vintage Sale: he struck out Gary Sanchez in the first on a change-up after missing with a couple of backdoor sliders; fooled Aaron Hicks with a back-leg breaking ball that sent Hicks’ bat four rows into the stands; threw fastballs that clocked in at 93 miles per hour and 87 miles per hour. Holliday struck out twice before homering in what would turn into a 4-2 Red Sox win. Get used to this.
“I’ve been working on my change-up a little bit more over the last couple of outings,” Sale said. “The thing about the change-up is it doesn’t put a lot of stress on your arm, so you can fool around with it when you’re throwing on flat ground. Fiddle with grips. The speeds … that’s just kind of evolved. When I throw my fastball harder it’s flatter, taking a little bit off it gives it more depth. It’s almost like an in-between pitch.”
Less than two weeks to opening day and, for Sale at least, there was something to be said for facing a Yankees lineup with six regulars including Starlin Castro and Ronald Torreyes, both of whom are candidates to replace shortstop Didi Gregorius – who the Yankees said Tuesday could be out of action for eight weeks with a subscapular hemotoma: a shoulder injury incurred while playing for the Netherlands in an exhibition game at the World Baseball Classic. Gregorius, who hit 20 homers last season, was playing out of position at second base in the game and wrenched his shoulder making a throw as he came over the bag.
Torres, the Yankees’ top prospect acquired from the Chicago Cubs in last year’s Aroldis Chapman trade who is hitting .448 this spring, is a shortstop who has impressed but general manager Brian Cashman optioned the 20-year-old to Double-A Trenton Tuesday evening.
It’s more likely that Castro will move from second to shortstop – he made three National League All-Star teams at that position before the Cubs moved him to second to make room for Addison Russell – or that the tiny Torreyes’ defence wins him the spot. Both Yankees manager Joe Girardi and Cashman agreed that Tyler Wade, a 22-year-old left-handed hitter who is being purposely groomed as a Ben Zobrist-type of offensively capable utility player, has played himself into the picture, but it seems as if Torreyes or Castro are preferred.
The Toronto Blue Jays do not face the Yankees in the first month of the season, but they do play three games against the Red Sox in which Price won’t be available and have six against the Baltimore Orioles. GM Dan Duquette admitted that starter Chris Tillman could also be out for a month after an early-spring shoulder injury. He won’t even be long-tossing until Sunday at the earliest. Perhaps that’s why Girardi wasn’t buying in to the notion that Sale’s acquisition has left the rest of the division vying for a wild card.
“Any time you see a player of that calibre coming into the division, you probably wish he was in the other league … unless he’s coming to your team, of course,” Girardi said with a chuckle. “Yeah, he can make a pretty big difference. But there are so many things that happen during the course of the year.
“Sometimes it’s injuries, or simply guys having tough years for whatever reason. So, yeah. He’s a big addition. He’s one of the top left-handers in the game. But you still have to play the games.”
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