The Boston Red Sox are halfway through their regular-season slate.
The Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 12-6 in their 81st game of 2015 on Thursday night at Rogers Centre. It was an excellent bounce-back effort after Wednesday afternoon’s demoralizing loss.
The Red Sox went 5-2 on their seven-game road trip against the Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays. They trimmed three games off their American League East deficit. Boston now has eight games at Fenway Park before the All-Star break to generate some more momentum going into the second half.
Let’s run down some notes from an entertaining Thursday.
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— Ryan Hanigan, activated from the disabled list before the game, told reporters in Toronto he’s working on the placement of his throwing hand while setting up behind the plate. The 34-year-old catcher broke a knuckle earlier this season. The injury required surgery and forced him to miss two months.
“I looked at a lot of video of myself over the years and I looked at video of other catchers and how they kind of protect their hand and ways to do it to feel comfortable,” Hanigan said. “I did a bunch of drills and obviously in the (rehab) games worked on it. I don’t want to have to think about it during the games. That’s kind of where I’m at right now.”
Hanigan used to keep his hand on the outside of his right knee, but he’s now experimenting with some things, evidenced by his various hand placements in Thursday’s game. Red Sox manager John Farrell pointed to Christian Vazquez’s hand placement as a good model for Hanigan to follow.
— It sounds like the Red Sox are considering their options with Rick Porcello.
Porcello’s next start is scheduled for Tuesday, but the Red Sox could push him back and have Wade Miley start on regular rest that day given Monday’s off-day. They also could opt to hold off on starting Porcello until after the All-Star break, though that avenue seems unlikely.
“The one thing you don’t want to do is have such a prolonged downtime that you’re going to have to really pull back what would be available to you inside of one game — the number of pitches thrown,” Farrell said before the game.
Porcello owns a 6.08 ERA. He hasn’t won a game since May 16.
— The Red Sox, who scored eight runs in the first inning, had not scored as many as eight runs in the first inning of a road game since June 21, 1994, also at Toronto. They scored 10 runs in the first inning of that game.
— The Red Sox’s addition of Alejandro De Aza looks better and better each day.
De Aza, acquired from the Baltimore Orioles at the beginning of June, went 3-for-5 with a single, a double, a triple, four RBIs and two runs scored. The 31-year-old outfielder is hitting .467 (14-for-30) with eight extra-base hits — including three homers — and 11 RBIs during an eight-game hit streak.
“You look up at the scoreboard and he’s in the mid-.260s and he was hitting .210,” Farrell told reporters. “That means he’s getting a lot of quality at-bats and extra-base hits mixed in there.
“He’s fit in extremely well in the clubhouse. He knows he’s getting regular at-bats. That’s allowed the timing at the plate to play itself out. He’s doing a great job.”
De Aza is hitting .338 (25-for-74) since joining the Red Sox. Only Detroit Tigers outfielder Rajai Davis has more triples (seven) this season than De Aza’s six.
— Xander Bogaerts padded his All-Star case with a four-hit performance. He’s hitting .297 this season and .342 (42-for-123) in 30 games since May 31.
The shortstop position is weak across the American League, and Bogaerts has been one of the best, both offensively and defensively.
— Daniel Nava, who has been on the disabled list since May 28 (retroactive to May 26) with a left thumb strain, began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket. He went 1-for-3 with a single and two strikeouts while serving as the PawSox’s designated hitter.
Thumbnail photo via Nick Turchiaro/USA TODAY Sports Images
