Red Sox 5, Brewers 3: Blue Collar Baseball

What better way to enter Milwaukee than a no frills, solid win? No flare, no flash, just good, old-fashioned baseball. That’s what this team is, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Nick Pivetta isn’t going to give you seven shutout innings, but he can give you five solid ones. This team won’t hit multiple home runs every night, but they can work pitch counts and score some runs. This bullpen isn’t full of individual stuff that will fill up the @PitchingNinja Twitter feed, but they’ve been getting the job done almost every night. They probably won’t win 95 games, but that’s okay. It’s baseball, if you hang around long enough, you might catch fire at the right time, and anything can happen. I’m not saying this team is a World Series contender, but they’re good enough to make me believe and keep watching.

There wasn’t anything overly spectacular that happened on Friday night, but there were plenty of encouraging signs. Nick Pivetta had a solid night with almost exclusively his fastball and curveball. Masataka Yoshida and Jarren Duran each took the ball the other way and contributed on offense - consistency from them would be huge for this team’s outlook. Josh Winckowski put in a few industrious innings, and Kenley Jansen continued to be Kenley Jansen. Oftentimes last season, the Red Sox felt like a collection of individuals. This year, the Red Sox feel like a team. It’s blue-collar baseball, and for this roster, that might just be the recipe for success.

Three Studs

1. Josh Winckowski: .209 WPA, 2.1 IP, 1 H, 4 K
2. Alex Verdugo: .158 WPA, 2-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI
3. Jarren Duran: .158 WPA, 2-4, 1 RBI

Three Duds

1. Yu Chang: -.96 WPA, 0-3
2. Rafael Devers: -.95 WPA, 0-5
3. Nick Pivetta: -.81 WPA, 5.2 IP, 7 H 3 ER, 7 Ks

Play of the Game

Alex Verdugo’s third-inning line drive home run takes home the top play by WPA in this one. From an effort perspective alone, it seems like Verdugo has taken Alex Cora’s preseason comments asking for more from him to heart, and the results have come with it. It’s only April 21, but you could make a case for Verdugo for team MVP.