Dave Dombrowski has made his fair share of acquisitions in his time as president of baseball operations for the Boston Red Sox, but his latest addition to the club might just be his most important one to date.
The Red Sox claimed pitcher Doug Fister off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, and the right-hander made his Red Sox debut Sunday at Fenway Park.
Although the Sox fell 4-2 to the Angels on Sunday, that doesn’t diminish from the encouraging start the veteran right-hander turned in.
Fister tossed six-plus innings, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out six and walking three. The lone stumble for Fister came in the second inning when the Red Sox were unable to complete what would have been an inning-ending 3-6-3 double play. Danny Espinoza beat the throw to first base, allowing the first run to score, and the Angels would tack on two more runs in the inning.
Boston’s newest No. 5 starter worked quickly and efficiently Sunday, cruising through the Angels’ order by pounding the strike zone with his two-seam fastball.
With injuries to Steven Wright, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brian Johnson, the addition of Fister could help stabilize Boston’s rotation with efforts like the one he delivered Sunday.
“Quality outing. He’s a bang-bang play away from a scoreless outing,” manager John Farrell said, as seen on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “I thought he held his stuff really well through the entire time he was on the mound. Good life to his fastball, good sink, threw a number of good cutters into both lefties and righties effectively. That was a very good start on the part of Doug today. ”
It was Fister’s first major league start of the season and the right-hander knows he needs to keep improving to help his new club.
“It’s definitely a good feeling to get back out there,” Fister said, as seen on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “I hold myself to a higher standard than what I had out there, so I’ve got some work to do. These next five days are going to be crucial for me to get back out there.”
Fister’s fastball touched 94 mph Sunday, which is the hardest he’d thrown since 2013 when he was a member of the Detroit Tigers, who also were headed by Dombrowski.
With an ability to get ground balls and throw strikes, Fister should be a steadying force in the backend of Boston’s rotation.
Here are more notes from Red Sox vs. Angels.
— Jackie Bradley Jr. is hitting .356 in his last 25 games, including seven doubles and five home runs.
— Andrew Benintendi extended his hit streak to seven games Sunday. The outfielder is hitting .414 over that stretch.
— Christian Vazquez is hitting .393 at home this season after going 2-for-3 Sunday.
— Craig Kimbrel surrendered his first run at Fenway Park this season, snapping a streak of 16 scoreless appearances. That was the longest streak by a Red Sox pitcher to begin a season since 1913.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
