Buster Olney

Buster Olney of ESPN spoke with Mut & Merloni on Wednesday about the potential for protective caps for pitchers after the Jays’ J.A. Happ took a line drive to the head Tuesday, the state of the Red Sox pitching, and the constant suspicion that players are using performance-enhancing drugs if their performance improves.

In the wake of Happ’s injury, the discussion about requiring protective headgear for pitchers has come up again. Olney noted some of the issues that would make it hard to implement such a rule, including the effect it would have on pitchers’ mechanics and the players’ general resistance to change.

“The number of instances of this happening is actually on the increase, according to research that Willie [Weinbaum, of ESPN] has done,” Olney said. “Major League Baseball, for good reason, is concerned, because the 60 feet, 6 inches is not going to change. What Willie has found is that they’re having a difficult time coming up with a lined cap, and if you go beyond a lined cap — maybe even with a lined cap I think you’re going to get the initial response from a lot of players, which is, I don’t know if I want to wear that, that looks kind of weird. When David Wright wore that oversized helmet, there was definitely that old-school pushback on style.

“In 2007, Mike Coolbaugh, who was a coach in the minor leagues, was killed by a line drive, and after that Major League Baseball basically made a rule saying all the base coaches have to wear a helmet. And initially there was pushback on that, and now we don’t even notice. I think when you’re talking about pitchers going out there wearing some kind of a cage, like cricket batters, I think that we are a long, long way from players ever agreeing to do something like that. And hopefully it doesn’t take some terrible accident where they’re taking that more seriously.”

Olney said headgear for pitchers likely would have to be implemented first at the youth level.

“Any type of change would have to literally take place with kids who are learning how to throw the ball,” he said. “It’s not only a style component, but let’s pick out someone older, say, Ryan Dempster. Let’s say MLB said we want to have head protection on a pitcher. There’s a mechanical issue there, too. The way you use your hands, you draw your hands over your head, and suddenly you have some kind of headgear device — that would not be something that could be embraced overnight by anybody, no matter what the risk was. It would literally alter how these guys would have to throw the baseball. If in fact there are changes, and the velocity keeps accelerating and we get more and more of these kinds of things, it’s only natural that his conversation’s going to take place. It would have to first take place in Little League.”

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Third baseman Garin Cecchini hit his fourth homer of the year on Tuesday. (Darrell Snow/Greenville Drive)

Garin Cecchini spent all of last year in Single-A Greenville, playing in a league and park where home runs tend to fly. Yet in 526 plate appearances, Cecchini cleared the fences just four times.

The 22-year-old now is in High-A Salem, playing in a league and home park that is anathema to power hitters. (Xander Bogaerts, for one, talked about the feeling of relief when he got to Double-A Portland last year and discovered that balls crushed to right-center actually could clear the fence again.) Cecchini has 120 plate appearances with Salem, and on Tuesday night he launched his fourth homer of the young season, going 2-for-4 with a double (his 10th two-bagger and 18th extra-base hit in 27 games this year).

“That was crushed,” noted Salem broadcaster Evan Lepler. (To hear his call, click here.)

Cecchini looks physically like a big leaguer. At a strong 6-feet-2, 215 pounds, he looks like someone capable of driving the ball. But he’s always been a believer in honing his offensive approach, using all fields, swinging at strikes and working deep into counts with the knowledge that, as he refines his approach, he’d likely see power emerge in his game.

To this point in 2013, amidst a dazzling start, that prognostication is proving spot on. He’s hitting .379/.467/.670 with 17 walks and 16 strikeouts. As much as the emergence of his power has been a headline development in his career, however, it’s the consistent quality of his plate appearances that has been his most impressive attribute both this year and in his career.

“It’s like if you go to a hitting camp and the coach is giving you a speech about hitting, what you should be doing. I feel like that’s Cecchini everyday. He’s out there demonstrating what you should be doing at the plate. It’s ridiculous. It’s like a clinic,” said teammate Sean Coyle. “It’s something I really like watching. I’d love to take some parts from his game. It’s great to watch and learn from.”

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 7-3 WIN AT GWINNETT (BRAVES)

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At a time when Will Middlebrooks and David Ross may need rest following their injurious collision, the Red Sox face vastly different depth equations when it comes to replacing the two players.

In the case of Ross, the Sox are well-stocked in terms of upper-levels catchers, with three players (Ryan Lavarnway and Dan Butler in Triple-A, Christian Vazquez in Double-A) on the 40-man roster. Lavarnway would be the obvious choice to fill in for Ross given both his experience with the Sox pitching staff as well as his ability to offer an impact right-handed bat. He’s hitting .328/.402/.500 in Pawtucket.

Third base, on the other hand, could represent an organizational problem — part of the reason why, as of last week, the Red Sox hadn’t even discussed the question of whether Middlebrooks’ struggles might warrant some consideration to a roster change. There are no options in the minor leagues who a) have experience playing third base and b) are on the Red Sox’ 40-man roster.

Drew Sutton, who had been Pawtucket’s primary third baseman this season, is currently on the seven-day DL due to a strained muscle in his side. Utilityman Justin Henry has hit for average (.309) and gotten on base (.391 OBP), but without the power (four extra-base hits in 110 plate appearances) that a team would like to see at a corner spot. Another utility option, Brock Holt, is on the 40-man, but he’s played just one minor league game in his career at third base, and he’s off to a woeful offensive start (.181/.278/.181).

The most intriguing option at the position might be Brandon Snyder, who has been the PawSox’ best hitter this year. The 26-year-old, who signed a minor league deal with the Sox after requesting his release from the Rangers at the end of spring training, was 2-for-4 while driving in a pair of runs on Tuesday, and now is hitting .330/.423/.628 with six homers and 10 doubles. While he’s played mostly first in Pawtucket, Snyder suggests that third base is his natural home on a baseball field. Read the rest of this entry »

Allen Webster

The Red Sox will get another look at Allen Webster as he takes Felix Doubront‘s place in the rotation on Wednesday. Pedro Hernandez will start the third game of the series for the Twins.

Doubront is heading to the bullpen to replace the injured Joel Hanrahan, while Webster, one of the Sox’ most promising pitching prospects, will make his second major league start.

The 23-year-old Webster impressed in his first outing in Boston on April 21, striking out five Royals over six innings. He averaged 95 mph with his fastball, at times throwing it as hard as 98 mph. He also used his offspeed pitches confidently, mixing in his curveball and changeup with his two-seam and four-seam fastballs.

Webster allowed three runs, two earned, in that start. Both earned runs came via solo homers in the fifth inning, to Alex Gordon and George Kottaras.

Over 20 innings with Triple-A Pawtucket this year, Webster has 26 strikeouts and six walks. He’s started four games and posted a 2.70 ERA. Control was something of a problem for him in the past, as he averaged more than four walks per nine innings in 24 minor league starts last year. Through the first five weeks of this season, though, he seems to have put those issues behind him.

Hernandez has done a little of everything for the Twins this year. He’s made three starts along with two relief appearances — one in long relief when Vance Worley lasted only one inning against the Mets on April 12, the other when he pitched the ninth inning of an 8-5 loss to the Marlins.

The 24-year-old Hernandez has a 3.92 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP through 20 2/3 innings. Last year, he pitched just one game for the White Sox, which happened to be against the Red Sox on July 18.

In that game, Hernandez lasted four innings, giving up eight runs on 12 hits, three of which were home runs. Cody Ross homered off him twice, and Adrian Gonzalez went deep once.

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Jerry Remy

NESN Red Sox analyst Jerry Remy made his weekly appearance with Dennis & Callahan on Wednesday morning, following Tuesday night’s 6-1 loss to the Twins. The Red Sox have lost four of their last five games and are dealing with a rash of injuries, including two suffered in Tuesday night’s game that Remy called “just one of those lousy, ugly nights at Fenway.”

“It started down in Texas when they ran into the pitching they did with the Rangers, and the Rangers were playing very good baseball that weekend,” Remy said. “So you lose three games down there, you come back home and you get whacked with all these injuries. It reminds me a little of the last couple of years with all the injuries. You hope that that doesn’t happen again.

“So, they’re going to have find a way to fight their way through this. We don’t know how bad [David] Ross is yet, and we don’t know how bad [Will] Middlebrooks is yet. Certainly you know that the closers are going to be on the DL for a while. So, they’re going to have to figure a way to fight their way through this. … You hate to see the injuries pop up, because they’ve been playing so good. I’m so sick of injuries over the last couple of of years. It’s ridiculous.”

The Red Sox offense has hit a rough stretch, culminating with only a meaningless ninth-inning run in Tuesday’s loss.

“You’re going to run into situations like you did down in Texas. That’s just going to happen, where you get their top three starters, and their top three starters, not one of them has an off game,” Remy said. “You’re going to run into situations like that through the course of the season. It’s going to happen two, three, four times a year. But you’ve got to be able to regroup after that. And they did bounce back to get the win in the first game [vs. the Twins], a come-from-behind win here at Fenway. But then they went into a funk again last night.

“But I do think they have enough offense. I think there are guys that haven’t swung the bat yet that are going to swing the bat well — Middlebrooks one of those guys. [Stephen] Drew‘s starting to come around a little bit. If you can get the bottom of the lineup to swing the bat and be productive, they’re very strong at the top. You’ve got a pretty tough one through nine there. Do they have enough? Yes, I do think they do have enough.

“They’ve got to continue to pitch, though, the way they have been. There’ll be a slight drop-off in that I’m sure. There has to be. You can’t keep it that pace all season long — or you can, you’re going to win a Cy Young Award. But the fact is, I think as the season moves on I think the offense is going to click a little bit better. Because they haven’t really clicked one through nine yet.”

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David Ross

According to Red Sox manager John Farrell, both David Ross and Will Middlebrooks were classified as day-to-day after leaving the Sox’ 6-1 loss to the Twins early Tuesday night. Middlebrooks (right side/ribs) did receive X-rays after exiting the game in the seventh inning.

Both players were injured in the fifth inning while chasing a pop-up in foul ground near the wall just before the visitors dugout. Middlebrooks came up with the catch after the two banged into each other, and the barrier, in their sliding pursuit of the Chris Parmalee foul ball.

“David Ross has got left quad contusion, right above the knee area,” Farrell said. “When he slid, both he and will, the shin guard kind of peeled back a little bit and he slammed into the wall at that point. So he’s day-to-day. it’s not anything in the knee structurally. That checked out fine. He started to get some swelling in that inning and got him out of there. Will’s undergoing X-rays and a CT-scan right now, just on that right side. Again, when he slid on his side, he kind of whipped over and slammed in the wall there. we, precautionarily, took him out of the game. He took the next at-bat, he didn’t feel anything. He stated that he could have gone further but precautionary, we got him out of the game. His right side hit the wall.”

Ross stayed in for another batter after Parmalee, but after a Wilkin Ramirez single, and consultation at the mound, the catcher was escorted off the field by the Red Sox’ training staff.

“Obviously I’m a little sore,” said Ross, who referenced Middlebrooks’ ribs when talking about the third baseman’s injury. “I think I just jammed the top of my kneecap. It’s pretty sore and some swelling in there. If I wasn’t a catcher, I think I’d be fine, but squatting is a little bit sore. I couldn’t get up there in case the ball was in the dirt and stop it from going to the backstop or anything, so I felt it was best for Salty to get in there. Tough night.”

Ross added, “I stayed in for that one pitch. I felt it as I got down in my stance. It was tight. I felt the swelling in there. And then when I got to get up in my ready stance as far as with a man on third and I’ve got to block the ball, I couldn’t even get up. Anytime I engaged my quad, it was a pretty sharp pain. A lot of swelling. There’s no structural damage. We’ll get that swelling out of there, go home and ice until the wee hours of the morning.”

Ross is hitting .237/.341/.579 with four homers in 44 plate appearances. If he is unavailable for any meaningful stretch of time, the Sox almost surely would call up Ryan Lavarnway, who is hitting .328/.432/.500 for Triple-A Pawtucket and who has reached in all 18 games in which he’s played this year.

Pedro Ciriaco, who made two errors in the Twins’ four-run eighth inning, would be the short-term solution for Middlebrooks if the third baseman isn’t ready to go.

“Short term, not a concern,” Farrell said. “That was uncharacteristic of Pedro tonight. He’s shown to be a very dependable defender. You know, two miscues are unlike him. Long-term, we don’t think that will’s situation is more than day to day at this point. We’ll certainly get a better read once the test results come back. my thoughts haven’t gone down that path yet.”

Ryan Dempster was strong again but the Red Sox came apart late. (AP)

It was night when injury was added to insult for the Red Sox.

Ryan Doumit doubled, homered and scored twice as the Twins handed the Red Sox their fourth loss in five games, 6-1, Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

Wilkin Ramirez singled home Ryan Doumit in the fifth inning to break a scoreless tie, one batter after a collision that injured a pair of Red Sox starters. David Ross collided with Will Middlebrooks while chasing a Chris Parmelee foul pop near the Twins dugout, behind the on-deck circle.

“David Ross has a left quad contusion right above the knee area,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “When he slid, both he and Will, the shin guard kind of peeled back a little bit and he slammed into the wall at that point, so he’s day-to-day. It’s not anything in the knee. Structurally, that’s checked out fine. But he started to get some swelling in that inning and we got him out of there.

“Will is undergoing X-rays and CT scans on that right side. When he slid on his left side, he kind of whipped over and slammed into the wall. [As a precaution], we got him out of the game. He took the next at-bat, didn’t feel anything. He stated he could’ve gone further but as a precaution we got him out of the game.”

Ross would stay in the game for one batter before coming out with a strained left quadriceps while Middlebrooks came out after the sixth inning with pain in his right side. The double dose of injury news comes one night after the Red Sox lost their closer Joel Hanrahan to a strained right forearm.

Ryan Dempster (2-3) was the tough-luck loser as his offense and fielders failed him, early and late, respectively. Lefty Scott Diamond (3-2) stifled the Red Sox on three hits over seven shutout innings.

“A very good outing by Ryan Dempster,” Farrell said. “Unfortunately, not much to show for it on our end, and that’s not taking anything away from Diamond, who lived on the edge and stay out of the middle of the plate, even when he got in a couple of fastball counts. He located well.

“In the time he was in the there, I don’t think we had a guy past first base. Other than that, it was a solid outing by Ryan Dempster.”

During a four-run Minnesota eighth that blew the game open, Farrell appeared ready to get his first ejection as skipper, arguing a call at first when he felt Doumit ran inside the baseline, causing a Jarrod Saltalamacchia error that continued Boston’s misery in the inning.

“We execute the out at home,” Farrell said. “The return throw is low as he’s trying to throw around the runner Doumit. He steps on [Mike] Napoli’s foot, clearly indicates he’s inside the base path. The explanation to me was … I’m still trying to figure out the explanation. I’ll just leave it at that. That 45-foot lane is there for a reason. He wasn’t in it. By the rule, he should’ve been out.”

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE RED SOX

• Injuries mounting very fast. There’s no immediate prognosis on the Middlebrooks or Ross injuries but the Red Sox can ill afford a repeat of 2012 when injuries to starting position players midway through the season depleted their depth and eventually took its toll. The Red Sox are already dealing with injuries to Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey while hoping Napoli and David Ortiz hold up over the course of the season.

• Scott Diamond looked like Cole Hamels. The lefty, mixing his 89 mph fastball with a wide variety of offspeed pitches, kept the Red Sox batters off balance all night.

• Saltalamacchia continues to struggle badly. He over-swung at an 81 mph slider down and in during his first plate appearance in place of Ross. Salty did connect for his fourth homer of the season, an opposite field solo shot over the Monster to open the ninth.

• Before getting injured, Will Middlebrooks‘ struggles continued, going 0-for-2 with a strike out, dropping his average to .192 on the season.

• Pedro Ciriaco woeful in the field. Life has not been kind to Red Sox third basemen. Middlebrooks has struggled in the field this season and his two errors on routine grounders to open the eighth opened the flood gates for the Twins, who blew the game wide open.

“Short term, not a concern,” Farrell said of the club’s depth situation at third base with Middlebrooks’ status uncertain. “That was uncharacteristic of Pedro tonight. He has shown to be a very dependable defender. Two miscues are unlike him. Long term, we don’t think Will’s situation is more than day-to-day at this point. We’ll certainly get a better read when the test results come back. My thoughts haven’t gone down that path yet.”

• Lefty Craig Breslow couldn’t get anyone out, literally. After coming in for Dempster, Breslow allowed three hits, one walk and two runs, one earned, as Saltalamacchia committed the third Red Sox error of a brutal four-run eighth.

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Red Sox catcher David Ross and third baseman Will Middlebrooks both left Tuesday night’s game against the Twins at Fenway Park shortly after a collision that took place in pursuit of a foul pop-up by the short, padded fence next to the visitor’s dugout at Fenway Park.

Chris Parmalee fouled off a Ryan Dempster cutter, too shallow for either Middlebrooks or Ross to call off the other. Middlebrooks made a tremendous sliding catch of the ball, but as he did so, he crashed into Ross’ left leg, perhaps at the knee.

Initially, after receiving attention from a team trainer, Ross stayed in the contest. But after Wilkin Ramirez lined a first-pitch fastball up the middle to score Ryan Doumit from third, Ross hobbled to the mound to confer with Dempster. Upon further attention from the training staff, he walked off the field and into the clubhouse with a slight limp. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who played all 11 innings in Monday’s lengthy affair against the Twins, replaced Ross, who was diagnosed with what the team described as a left quad contusion.

Ross is hitting .237/.341/.579 with four homers in 44 plate appearances. If he is unavailable for any meaningful stretch of time, the Sox almost surely would call up Ryan Lavarnway, who is hitting .328/.432/.500 for Triple-A Pawtucket and who has reached in all 18 games in which he’s played this year.

While Middlebrooks initially remained in the game, he was replaced at third base for the top of the seventh by Pedro Ciriaco due to what the team described as “right side pain.” The third baseman was 0-for-2 with a strikeout. He is hitting .192/.228/.375 with six homers.

Further updates will be offered as they become available.