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Chris Young will take over in left field for the injured Blake Swihart, and Travis Shaw leapfrogs Hanley Ramirez as the Red Sox try to take a series win from the Blue Jays.
Marco Estrada is...a bit of an odd one. He's sporting the most impressive ERA of his career, a minuscule 2.43 despite a spike in walk rate, and a K-rate that's still not what it was a few years back, even if it's up off his career-low 6.5/9 from 2015.
Yes, 2015, his most successful season in the majors. Which also featured his highest BB/9 since 2011 and lowest GB% period. Like I said, a weird one.
Has Estrada actually found the secret to keeping fly balls in the park, stranding 80% of his baserunners, and allowing a .200 average on balls in play? Probably not. The Red Sox very much hope they can provide evidence of that today.
As important as anything, though, is Eduardo Rodriguez' performance on the mound. His return game against the Orioles went reasonably well, particularly in terms of results. But the fact of the matter is that he was not all that far away from a very different game thanks to a couple long fly balls staying in the park. The Orioles are the best team in the game when it comes to the long ball, granted, but the Blue Jays are no slouches. It would certainly be nice to see a few more balls on the ground, or not put in play at all.
First pitch is at 1:35 p.m. ET with broadcasts on NESN and WEEI.