FORT MYERS, Fla. — There was some controversy in Jupiter, Fla., on Thursday, as the Miami Marlins reportedly were “outraged” by the Boston Red Sox’s starting lineup, which featured mostly minor leaguers.
Jackie Bradley Jr. and Ryan Lavarnway were the only Red Sox position players with notable major league experience who played in Thursday’s game against the Marlins. That didn’t sit well with the Miami organization, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, but Red Sox manager John Farrell said before Friday’s spring training game against the Atlanta Braves at JetBlue Park that there were legitimate motives behind Boston’s decision-making.
“You can’t speak to what goes on inside another team’s camp,” Farrell said Friday. “There are reasons why they bring a team that they do, just as we had our very concrete reasons (for) why the team that was there yesterday in Jupiter (was there). I can’t speak for other teams. I just know that our group needed specific work, in addition to having two catchers that were needing time off (and) a right fielder that was unavailable. We’ve got work and injuries that we’re contending with, and it leaves us with the players available.”
Marlins president Michael Hill told reporters Friday that Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington contacted him Thursday about his team’s lineup.
“We got an email from their GM saying they had some injuries and they were working on some things,” Hill said. “He apologized. It was during the game. I don’t know if that meant he got a call from the league.”
A Marlins spokesman said Thursday that the club wasn’t going to file a grievance with Major League Baseball, but an MLB spokesman said Friday that executive vice president of baseball operations Joe Torre is reviewing the matter, according to the Boston Herald’s Scott Lauber.
Teams typically are required to take at least four regulars from the 25-man roster on spring training road trips. Thursday’s rain-shortened game ended in a 0-0 tie.
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