In the absence of Jacoby Ellsbury, the expectation was that the Red Sox outfield production could be an area of significant weakness. The reality has been somewhat different.

Cody Ross crushed a game-tying two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning, erasing a 5-3 deficit with a moon shot into the second deck in left, then launched another ball into the porch in right field in the top of the ninth to give the Sox a 6-5 lead. That advantage turned into a victory when Alfredo Aceves came on for the ninth inning (in relief of Daniel Bard) to claim a save and give the Sox their fifth victory of the year, snapping a five-game losing streak in the process.

Ross now leads the Sox with five homers, and his .973 OPS ranks third on the team. Fellow outfielder Ryan Sweeney is hitting .400 with eight doubles and a 1.051 OPS.

While the team’s production in center has been almost non-existent since Ellsbury was injured 10 days ago, the outfield has nonetheless been one of the foremost areas of strength for the Sox.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE RED SOX Read the rest of this entry »

Red Sox pitching prospect Anthony Ranaudo is starting the year in extended spring training. (Photo courtesy Jon Corneau / Lowell Spinners)

Just one Red Sox team managed to play on Sunday with rain drenching the East Coast, as Triple-A Pawtucket, High-A Salem and Single-A Greenville were all washed out. Only Double-A Portland managed to squeeze in a game.

That being the case, today will be the far more interesting day in the system, and not just at the affiliate level. For the first time since he suffered a groin strain in late spring training, right-hander Anthony Ranaudo will pitch in a game on Monday, this coming in extended spring training. Ranaudo will follow a normal spring training progression in order to build his workload up to five innings before he is ready to head to an affiliate, most likely Double-A Portland, to begin his regular season. Thus, he would appear on pace to start his regular season in roughly mid-May.

While the down time has been a minor disappointment after Ranaudo made all of his starts in his first full pro season in 2011, team officials note that a minor groin injury from which the pitcher has been able to recover fully is no concern. His arm remains healthy, and given the promise that the 2010 supplemental first rounder was showing in spring training (touching 97 mph), there remains considerable anticipation for his coming season.

Ranaudo will not be the only notable Red Sox pitcher of note today. Aaron Cook, in potentially his last start in the minors, is scheduled to start the second game of a doubleheader for Pawtucket, left-hander Chris Hernandez – who has been the most consistently effective minor league starter for the Sox dating to the start of 2011, will be on the mound for Portland and Daisuke Matsuzaka will start his rehab assignment with a start for High-A Salem.

One other extended spring training note: right-hander Noe Ramirez, taken by the Sox in the fourth round of last year’s draft after a standout career at Cal State-Fullerton, would have opened the year at a full-season affiliate (almost certainly Greenville) but for the fact that he had some shoulder fatigue/weakness during spring training (a not uncommon development, particularly for first-year professionals). So, he was shut down for a while but is now building back up towards an assignment with Greenville. Read the rest of this entry »

Jose Iglesias had his first extra-base hit of the year on Saturday. (AP)

There are few pairings in the Red Sox system more interesting than the left side of the infield in Triple-A Pawtucket, where both Will Middlebrooks and Jose Iglesias reside. The two of them promise to collaborate to produce nearly air-tight defense on that side of the diamond whenever their offensive development dictates that they are ready for the majors.

Middlebrooks continues to make an early-season case that his time may not be too distant. If Kevin Youkilis or Adrian Gonzalez is sidelined for any meaningful stretch, it would be hard to imagine the Sox having any reluctance to call up the third baseman who is battering the International League as if wielding a sledgehammer in the batter’s box. Iglesias would present a bit more of a dilemma given the need for continued offensive refinement, though he did have what was arguably his most promising game of 2012 on Saturday.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 9-5 WIN VS. DURHAM (RAYS)

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– The eventual shape of the Red Sox bullpen may be determined largely by what happens in Pawtucket in the near future. Rich Hill, after a wildly successful rehab run in Greenville and Salem, continued to his string of appearances with at least two strikeouts, as the left-hander notched a pair of punchouts, one of the swinging variety and one looking, in his inning of work. However, for the first time of his rehab assignment, he also gave up a home run after jumping ahead in the count, 0-2. Still, the homer was by a right-hander; Hill fanned both of the lefties he faced, and so the overall trajectory of his rehab remains extremely promising for him and the Red Sox. Meanwhile, Mark Melancon had his second scoreless outing in as many days, recording four outs while allowing a single and striking out one.

How long will Melancon need in the minors?

“He’ll know. Then we’ll know,” Sox manager Bobby Valentine said on Saturday. “His pitches need to get on a different plane and also get to a different location. He was more aware of what we needed to get done than we could express to him.”

– Will Middlebrooks homered in his fourth straight game (a line drive to right field) and now has seven longballs for the year.

– Jose Iglesias had the kind of day that he’s rarely had in his professional career, going 2-for-4 with a double and a walk. In his 14th game of 2012, the double marked his first extra-base hit. It marked just the third time he’s walked and had an extra-base hit in Triple-A, as the 22-year-old had that double twice last season.

– In 17 2/3 innings in the minors spanning three starts this year, right-hander Ross Ohlendorf now has a 3.06 ERA and he has yet to allow a homer. While his strikeout totals are modest (10), he has walked just three.

– The start of Pawtucket’s game is being moved up to 12:30 pm due to the ominous forecast. Read the rest of this entry »

The Red Sox acquired outfielder Marlon Byrd from the Cubs on Saturday. (AP)

Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said that the Red Sox approached his team about the possibility of acquiring outfielder Marlon Byrd once Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury went down with injury. With the Cubs featuring some interesting outfield prospects (notably including Brett Jackson as well as Tony Campana) in their farm system who are knocking on the door to the majors, Chicago embraced the opportunity to deal Byrd to the Red Sox in exchange for reliever Michael Bowden and a player to be named later. Hoyer said that the player to be named would be a pitcher whom the Cubs will choose from a list by the end of May.

Byrd, 34, is off to a terrible start this year. In 47 plate appearances, he is hitting .070 with a .149 OBP, .070 slugging mark and .219 OPS. However, Hoyer said both that the slow start did not create the team’s willingness to deal Byrd and that, in fact, he expects the center fielder to rebound in Boston.

“Our feeling was we’ve been trying to acquire relief pitching since the end of the winter. We felt like an area we have some surplus with young players we want to play is in the outfield so that was a big part of it,” Hoyer told reporters in Chicago after the trade. “The slow start, a lot of guys have a bad 45, 50 plate appearance stretch. We wouldn’t be doing our job well if we let that play into it. This is something we talked about going back to spring training. We felt we had some guys who can be a big part of our future. Realistically, Marlon was in the last year of his deal and we felt we wanted to give some plate appearances to other guys.”

Hoyer thinks that Byrd will benefit from the change of scenery, including the fact that he’ll get a do-over with his batting average.

“I think he’s excited to have the opportunity in Boston, knowing they’ve had some injuries and some playing time. You’re on a big stage in Chicago and he’s going to be on a big stage in Boston and I think he relishes that. I think he’s excited about going to Boston. I think he’ll be successful there for sure,” Hoyer told reporters. “His slow start is really uncharacteristic for him. I think he’ll heat up here. Maybe it helps him. Obviously, he’s been in a little bit of a funk and sort of having the batting average reset and going to the American League might be a good thing for him.” Read the rest of this entry »

In one of the most dramatic bullpen collapses by their team in years, the Red Sox saw a 9-1 lead in the top of the seventh inning turn into a 15-9 loss, as the bullpen was charged with 14 runs (13 earned) in just three innings of work.

It was a horror show rarely matched in scale. Vicente Padilla came on with a 9-1 advantage in the top of the seventh. He recorded just one out while allowing five runs, four on a Nick Swisher grand slam. Matt Albers followed and, with the aid of an error by shortstop Mike Aviles, allowed two more runs without recording an out. That led to the entry of Franklin Morales, who got out of the inning, but then was lifted after a leadoff single by Eduardo Nunez in the eighth.

The Sox turned to Alfredo Aceves for a six-out save. Instead, he recorded none, allowing a pair of hits and four walks while being charged with five runs. He was followed by Justin Thomas, the left-hander whose only outs came courtesy of a missile of a line drive double play. When the dust had settled, the Sox had given up a second-consecutive seven-run inning, and a dizzying 15-9 deficit.

It was the largest blown lead by the Red Sox bullpen since June 30, 2009, when the team saw a 10-1 advantage turn into an 11-10 loss in Baltimore in the seventh and eighth innings. At 4-10 and with a full-blown bullpen disaster now on their hands, the Sox appear to be a mess.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE RED SOX

– The Red Sox entered the day with the second worst bullpen ERA in the majors, a 6.13 mark that was nonetheless far better than that of the team with the worst relief ERA, the Rays (8.49). However, despite that hefty advantage, the Sox managed to push right up against Tampa Bay, as their 13 earned run, three-inning yield pushed that to an 8.44 mark that was neck-and-neck for the worst.

– Aceves has now had three outings in which he has failed to record an out. He currently possesses a 24.00 ERA.

– Kevin Youkilis left the game in the bottom of the fourth inning with what the team described as a left quad contusion. He had been hit by an 89 mph fastball from right-hander David Phelps one inning earlier, and eventually scored from second on a single.

– Mike Aviles had a rough day in the field, committing one fielding error and later catching his spike and falling down while fielding what would have been an inning-ending groundout that instead turned into an RBI single.

– The offense sputtered late. After erupting for nine runs in the first five innings (matching season highs in runs scored in both the first and second innings with two and three runs, respectively), the team went scoreless in the final four innings.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE RED SOX

– Felix Doubront was dominant for most of his third start of the 2012 season. He showed a tremendous pitch mix, with a 91-95 mph fastball, a cutter that sawed off opponents, a swing-and-miss changeup and a curveball that, while not located in the strike zone, had the effect of keeping the Yankees honest. Of the 18 outs he recorded, seven came via strikeout and nine came on groundballs.

Doubront has struck out six, seven and seven in his three starts this year, and he now leads the Red Sox pitching staff in both strikeouts (20) and ERA (3.94). The Sox should be 3-0 in his starts. Also noteworthy: the team has won games Doubront started against three AL East rivals, with his outings having come against the Blue Jays, Rays and Yankees. He has shut down or at least held each at bay.

– David Ortiz is enjoying a remarkable late-career resurgence, in particular thanks to the fact that he is doing more damage than ever against left-handed pitchers. In the bottom of the third inning, he beat the shift with a single up the middle, improving to .500 (9-for-18) with a .526 OBP, .667 slugging mark and 1.193 OPS against southpaws this year. Ortiz ended up going 4-for-4 with a double and a walk, marking the second time this year that he has reached base four times in a game.

– Jarrod Saltalamacchia entered the day with three hits. On Saturday, he had four.

The Red Sox acquired outfielder Marlon Byrd from the Cubs in exchange for right-hander Michael Bowden and a player to be named, with Chicago taking on nearly all of Byrd’s salary, according to an industry source. The move helps the Sox to address their injury-ravaged outfield.

Byrd, 34, is in the last year of a three-year, $15 million deal and is earning $6.5 million this season. He is off to a dismal 3-for-43 start this year, having managed just three singles and three walks this season en route to a .070 average, .149 OBP and .219 OPS. For his career, however, he is a .278/.337/.416/.753 hitter, and in 2011, he hit .276/.324/.395/.719 in 199 games.

The right-handed hitting Byrd is also regarded as a solid defensive center fielder. With Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford both on the disabled list, the team has been scrambling to add to its outfield depth, with manager Bobby Valentine saying that he and GM Ben Cherington have talked “often” about finding reinforcements to its depleted corps. However, given the early stage of the season, fewer teams are motivated to deal a potential everyday outfielder than might be the case later in the year.

“Ben will try to get as good a player as he can get,” said Valentine. “Obviously it’s difficult to get if you’re looking in April, as we are.”

Given that reality, while Byrd didn’t represent the ideal replacement, he did loom as perhaps the best available option, with the acquisition cost more than reasonable given that the Sox will actually find themselves in a slightly better payroll situation than they did before the trade.

As for Bowden, he returns to the team for whom he rooted as a kid growing up in the Chicago suburbs. The 2005 supplemental first-round pick — at the time, the highest selection by the Sox of a high-school pitcher under former GM Theo Epstein — looked like one of the top pitching prospects in the Red Sox system for several years, but his performance plateaued in the upper levels of the minors, where he was moved from the rotation to the bullpen.

The 25-year-old, who is now out of minor league options, went 2-2 with a 5.61 ERA in 39 big league games for the Red Sox, with a 3.00 ERA and three strikouts in three innings this year. However, the Sox designated him for assignment last weekend when they needed to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, and so he will have an opportunity to see if he can find success while pitching in the bullpen in the National League, reuniting with a number of officials (including Epstein and former Sox director of amateur scouting Jason McLeod, who is now Cubs Assistant GM) who saw him at his best in the minors.

While the identity of the player to be named is not known, a source said that it is not left-hander Andrew Miller (currently on the DL). That being the case, the Red Sox will have to create a spot on the 40-man roster in order to add Byrd to the major league roster.

(One slightly obscure clarification: It was believed that the Sox could apply the money that the Cubs would send to them to improve their luxury tax situation, since the subsidy coming from the Cubs would exceed his average annual value. In the past, teams could end up with a lower payroll as calculated for luxury tax purposes after acquiring a player. However, according to an industry source, Major League Baseball closed that loophole in the last two years.)

Bobby Valentine said that his interactions with fans have been positive. (AP)

It has been anything but an easy transition for Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine to Boston. His team is 4-9 and awash in injuries, he has been booed while appearing on the field and yesterday was present when the loudest ovation at Fenway Park’s 100th anniversary celebration went to Valentine’s predecessor, Terry Francona.

Valentine understood the passion of the fan base in his new managerial home, and so, he said on Saturday afternoon, the criticism for his moves that have backfired has been “expected. They like performance. But the fans have been great so far. People I’ve met, out to dinner, on the streets, on the bike ride or before the game have been great. When things haven’t worked out during the game, there has been vocal reaction.”

Indeed, Valentine suggested that he enjoys the give and take.

“Everything that’s been has been great. They talk about the lineup, I don’t mind that, or the pitching change. That they’re involved is a good thing,” said Valentine. “No one’s yelled at me when I’ve been on my bike or tried to run me over or any of that junk. That hasn’t happened yet. That hasn’t happened yet.”

That said, he acknowledged that the unexpected blows to his roster — the injury to Andrew Bailey on the threshold of the season, the shoulder injury suffered by Jacoby Ellsbury in the home opener, the slower-than-expected rehab of Carl Crawford, the poor performance and subsequent demotion of Mark Melancon — have been more more difficult to get in front of.

“I had no idea what to expect. I mean, I had some idea what to expect, but I didn’t have any way of preparing for these things we’re talking about, the Ellsbury, Crawford, Melancon, Bailey situations that we’ve dealt with,” Valentine said of his expectations for the job as compared to its reality. “But, you know, I knew that it was going to be extremely challenging and extremely eventful. It’s been eventfully challenging.”

There have been suggestions from some of the New York media members who covered Valentine when he was with the Mets that he seems less energetic in his current position. Valentine scoffed at that characterization.

“They might have known a little younger version,” said Valentine. “I don’t know. Maybe instead of a two-hour bike ride in, I should cut it down to an hour and 45 minutes. Then I’ll have more energy in the morning.”

With his team struggling, Valentine said that he doesn’t believe it’s a reflection of interpersonal clubhouse dynamics.

“It’s a team that’s doing pretty good together,” said Valentine. “I don’t think there’s a clubhouse situation. I think there’s a bloop, a blast and a breaking ball swung at in the dirt by the bad guys situation.”