FORT MYERS, Fla. — Rafael Devers hit an RBI single as the Boston Red Sox scored five runs in the first inning and beat Northeastern 5-3 in a seven-inning exhibition game on Friday afternoon.
The Red Sox played Northeastern for the first time since 2020. The traditional game wasn’t played in 2021 because of pandemic-related protocols or in 2022 because of the MLB lockout.
Oddanier Mosqueda, who pitched in 45 games for the Portland Sea Dogs in 2022, pitched a scoreless first inning for Boston, allowing one hit. Six pitchers worked an inning each for the Red Sox.
Newcomer Masataka Yoshida had a sacrifice fly, first baseman Triston Casas walked with the bases loaded and Emmanuel Valdez had a two-run single.
The Red Sox play their first Grapefruit League game at 1:05 p.m. Saturday against the Braves.
Brandon Walter excelled with the Portland Sea Dogs in 2022, posting a 2.88 ERA with 68 strikeouts and three walks in 50 innings. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer
RED SOX left-handed prospect Brandon Walter earned a quick promotion to Triple-A Worcester in 2022 after posting a 2.88 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 68 strikeouts and just three walks in nine starts (50 innings) at Double-A Portland.
But he landed on the IL after just two starts with the WooSox because of a neck injury.
“It took longer than I thought,” Walter said. “I didn’t think it would be a four-month injury and all. But that’s what it ended up being.”
He didn’t pitch again in 2022.
“It was a bulging disk and I guess it was a pretty serious one,” Walter explained to MassLive. “And it kind of affected my strength and my shoulder and down my trap (trapezius) and even into my arm. So I guess those things just take time to kind of move back into place.”
Walter is a full-go this spring training. He threw a live batting practice Wednesday and he’s ready to contribute in 2023. The Red Sox added him to the 40-man roster in November to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.
“That’s the goal for this season, obviously, is to get up (to Boston) and make an impact and help anywhere I can,” Walter said. “Just be versatile, be a good teammate and do whatever I can to help the team win.
“I’ve done it (relieving) before,” he added “I know every inning is valuable in the big leagues. So just because you’re coming out of the pen or starting doesn’t really mean you’re less valuable. So if AC (Alex Cora) wants me coming up and coming out of the pen, I’m definitely not going to say no. Any way I can help the team, I’m all for it.”
Walter is the most interesting pitcher in camp because of his underdog history. He underwent Tommy John surgery in college and missed the 2018 season. The Red Sox selected him in the 26th round out of Delaware in the 2019 MLB Draft. He received only a $35,000 bonus. He was not even invited to Boston’s 2020 fall instructional league after the canceled minor league season.
He worked on his own during COVID. He put on 10-15 pounds of muscle. Walter’s fastball went from the mid-to-upper 80s before the COVID pandemic to 93-95 mph during 2021.
Despite showing so much potential, he was unsure if the Red Sox would add him to the 40-man roster after the neck injury kept him out for so long.
PITCH TIMER: Tick, tock, Manny Machado. Better watch that pitch clock.
Baseball’s new timing device made its big league debut on Friday during a limited schedule of spring training openers and wouldn’t you know it, it was Machado, the San Diego Padres’ All-Star slugger, not a pitcher, who was called for the first violation.
Machado found out the hard way that the pitch clock works both ways. He wasn’t fully in the batter’s box and alert to the Seattle Mariners lefty Robbie Ray as the 15-second clock wound under 8 seconds in the bottom of the first inning. Umpire Ryan Blakney called time and signaled strike one against Machado, who finished second in last season’s NL MVP race.
Machado was hardly fazed. He singled on a 2-1 pitch and then collected another single his second time up.
Machado, who batted between fellow superstars Xander Bogaerts and Juan Soto, laughed about it afterward.
“Going into the record books, at least. That’s a good one. Not bad,” Machado said. “I might just be 0-1 if I can get two hits every game.”
The pitch clock is among several new rules designed to improve pace. Players will have 30 seconds to resume play between batters. Between pitches, pitchers have 15 seconds with nobody on and 20 seconds if there is a baserunner. The pitcher must start his delivery before the clock expires. After a pitch, the clock starts again when the pitcher has the ball back, the catcher and batter are in the circle around home plate, and play is otherwise ready to resume.
Batters must be in the box and alert to the pitcher with at least eight seconds on the clock. Batters can call time once per plate appearance, stopping the countdown.
When a pitcher doesn’t throw a pitch in time, the penalty is an automatic ball. When a batter isn’t ready in time, it’s an automatic strike.
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