Five Things To Pay Attention To As Red Sox Spring Training Games Begin

Enough with the Instagram videos and attempts to pull David Ortiz out of retirement. It’s time to play some baseball.

After warming up against Northeastern on Thursday, the Boston Red Sox will begin spring training in earnest Friday afternoon with a matchup against the New York Mets at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla.

It’s the first of many exhibition games against big league clubs before the Red Sox’s regular season begins April 3. And while Grapefruit League matchups don’t decide championships, there still are plenty of storylines to keep an eye on as Boston kicks off its 2017 campaign.

Here are five things Red Sox fans should keep an eye on this spring.

1. Pablo Sandoval’s comeback tour.
It sounds like Sandoval put in the work this offseason to get himself into playing shape. Now, we’ll find out if he actually can play. The veteran third baseman hasn’t played a meaningful baseball game since last April, so there probably will be some rust to shake off. But in watching Sandoval’s at-bats and defensive reps over the next few weeks, we should get a pretty good sense of whether he can return to form as an everyday third baseman in 2017.

2. The new kids on the block.
Andrew Benintendi has reached the big time and Yoan Moncada changed Sox. But two new Red Sox prospects could make their mark this spring: third baseman Rafael Devers and first baseman Sam Travis. Devers, MLB.com’s No. 17 overall prospect, should get plenty of reps spelling Sandoval and has the chance to impress Boston’s brass before beginning the season at Double-A Portland. Travis got a head start on doing just that Thursday by blasting a three-run home run. Both players could make a major league impact in the near future and are worth monitoring.

3. The curious case of Rusney Castillo.
Castillo, a non-roster invitee, already is on thin ice this spring, and he didn’t do himself any favors Thursday with an embarrassing baserunning blunder. The Cuban outfielder can atone for that mistake going forward by hitting well against big league pitching. But if he doesn’t figure it out soon, he might as well use some of the $72.5 million the Red Sox paid him in 2014 to buy a house in Pawtucket.

4. Sorting out the rotation shuffle.
Red Sox fans might have to wait a bit on this one — manager John Farrell said Boston’s trio of aces (Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello) won’t make their first appearances until next week, and Eduardo Rodriguez, Drew Pomeranz and Steven Wright still have uncertain timelines as they deal with injuries. But all six starters should take the mound at some point. Sale will be fun to watch just because he’s Chris Sale, and a close eye should be kept on Rodriguez, Pomeranz and Wright to determine who might be the odd man out of the rotation.

5. Catching up to speed.
There’s one potentially intriguing position battle in Boston, and it’s behind the dish. Starting catcher Sandy Leon is the incumbent, but he struggled offensively late in 2016, and Christian Vazquez could give him a run for his money. The 26-year-old catcher is fully healthy after recovering from 2015 Tommy John surgery and needs to improve his bat if he wants Leon’s job. We’ll start finding out if he’s capable this spring.