It was easy to overlook what Christian Arroyo did last summer for the Red Sox. And it was equally easy to assume Boston simply was being nice when it offered glowing reviews of the second baseman.
Well, his days of sneaking up on Red Sox opponents and fans might be over.
Arroyo, a first-round pick in 2013, was claimed off waivers by the Red Sox last August and went on to hit .240 with three homers in 14 games. He entered spring training with an opportunity to earn a role as a bench infielder, and responded by being perhaps the best player in camp.
Now, he might be the starting second baseman. If so, that would have more to do with Arroyo’s performance than anyone else’s.
The 25-year-old went 2-for-4 on Wednesday with the eventual game-winning RBI in Boston’s dramatic victory over the Minnesota Twins. Arroyo, who has started in seven of Boston’s last eight games, now is hitting .321 with nine hits (five doubles) and three RBIs in eight games.
Arroyo also has played great defense, run the bases well and shown a knack for providing productive outs. He’s played good baseball.
Nobody is expecting Arroyo to be an All-Star. But if he keeps this up, he could solidify a consistent, important role for himself on the Red Sox roster — if he hasn’t already.
Here are some other notes after Game 1 of Wednesday’s Red Sox-Twins doubleheader:
— Boston left 12 runners on base, including six in scoring position. Despite his teaming having won eight straight games, Alex Cora wants to see more from the Red Sox.
“It wasn’t a perfect game for us,” he said during a postgame press conference. ” … We’re good, but we have to keep playing the game. We left a lot of runners on base. We didn’t cash in. … We need to keep working and getting better.”
— Alex Verdugo ended the game with a diving catch that prevented the tying run from scoring. Cora acknowledged the play reminded him of Andrew Benintendi’s famous catch in Game 4 of the 2018 American League Championship Series.
“That was a great play by Alex,” he said. “And that’s why we talk about out defense in the outfield. … Alex had a great jump, made the right decision and caught the ball.”
— Cora now has 200 wins as a big league manager.
— Kevin Plawecki’s bunt in the second inning was a product of analytics.
— Chris Sale, rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, was seen Wednesday throwing from long distance at Fenway Park.
— J.D. Martinez, who entered the Twins series as perhaps the hottest hitter in baseball, went hitless for the second straight game.
