The Red Sox head down to Queens for a three-game series against the Mets that kicks off tonight (7:10 p.m., NESN, ESPN out-of-market) as Garrett Richards looks anew to right the ship.
Richards has not been good this season, and it’s still April, sure, but barely. At some point Chris Sale is going to return or Tanner Houck is gonna push the issue and Richards will need to snap out of it if he’s gonna stay a starter. Alternatively, he could start getting better tonight and surge ahead of the problem and thus, by opposing, end it.
Richards, per the Boston Herald’s Steve Hewitt, is focusing on regaining his command via refining his delivery, per pitching coach Dave Bush:
He’s trying to take command of his delivery a little bit, just to find some more consistency,” Bush said. “The other day, he just felt off a little bit. His timing wasn’t quite right. He always throws across his body. He always has, it’s big stuff. The command comes and goes. When he gets his command dialed in, he’s really consistent with his left lift, I think it syncs up and times up much better so that’s been the focus of our work in the bullpen between starts.
The Mets starter is pointedly not Jacob deGrom, with lefty David Peterson set to prove, as he and Richards both have all season, just how not deGrom he is/they are. This is a pitcher’s park, but there could be some runs. Though it’s a little harder without the DH, as old “friend” Kevin Pillar can attest—he is batting ninth, behind the pitcher, so he might have opinions. It wouldn’t be the first time.
The Red Sox’s lineup... has a twist tonight. Rafael Devers is batting second. Second! With Alex Verdugo out and Devers’s red-hot bat it makes sense, but still it’s worth noting, because it rules. Hooray!
Game 24 at Mets
Lineup spot | Red Sox | Mets |
---|---|---|
Lineup spot | Red Sox | Mets |
1 | Kiké Hernández, CF | Francisco Lindor, SS |
2 | Rafael Devers, 3B | Dominic Smith, LF |
3 | J.D. Martinez, LF | Pete Alonso, 1B |
4 | Xander Bogaerts, SS | Michael Conforto, RF |
5 | Christian Vázquez, C | J.D. Davis, 3B |
6 | Hunter Renfroe, RF | Jeff McNeil, 2B |
7 | Marwin Gonzalez, 2B | James McCann, C |
8 | Bobby Dalbec, 1B | David Peterson, P |
9 | Garrett Richards, P | Kevin Pillar, CF |
SP | Garrett Richards, RHP | David Peterson, LHP |