Red Sox notes: Andrew Benintendi hitting ninth based on analytics’ recommendations

For the first time since his rookie year, Andrew Benintendi was in the Red Sox’ lineup in the nine-hole on Tuesday night against the New York Mets.

It’s not ideal to slot your former No. 7 overall draft pick into the bottom of the lineup, but Sox manager Ron Roenicke is listening to his analytics people.

“I know with numbers I get from our analytic department, the optimal lineup against a left-hander is Jose Peraza in the leadoff spot,” Roenicke said. “I know Benny’s going to start swinging, I know he is. He still has a really good swing going. When he relaxes, it will show up.”

Benintendi, who hits left-handed, has been hitting leadoff this season. But given his struggles against lefties (he has hit just .245 with a .692 OPS against left-handed pitching during his career), the Sox can’t afford to keep him at the top or the middle of the order.

They went with red-hot infielder Peraza against Mets’ lefty David Peterson on Tuesday. Pereza went 2-for-3 against Peterson while Benintendi drew two walks against him.

Roenicke, 63, has been coaching for a long time, but never like this. He said he loves all the information he gets from the Sox’ analytics team, headed up by Zack Scott in the front office.

“It’s just helping us to put all the information together, how a guy’s doing,” Roenicke said. “The medical department also sends in a list to me with numbers on how much effort these guys have been putting into being on the field, who needs a day off, who’s at high risk because they’ve been playing too often.

“It’s not about so much who’s in the lineup every day, just the numbers on matchups. I want to know. What are the numbers saying is the most optimal lineup that you can put out there, and then from there, who fits and who makes the most sense?”

There’s always been speculation about different teams’ front offices providing different levels of pressure on their managers to use analytics-optimal lineups.

But the best managers are those who can blend the analytics with the personal side, as former Sox skipper Alex Cora seemed to excel at.

Roenicke is enjoying it, despite the fact that it hasn’t worked thus far.

“It helps me to make a decision,” he said. “They never send me down a lineup. And I think just getting the information we want and ask for, I think they’ve done a great job of.

“We’re getting information that I wished I would have had years ago. I wish I would have had this information when I first started coaching.”

Roenicke said hitting coach Tim Hyers and pitching coach Dave Bush have also embraced the analytics. Both are considered new-school coaches. Hyers came from the Dodgers while Bush was hired to help former Sox’ pitching analytics guru Brian Bannister. Bush helped minor leaguers use the numbers to their advantage during his first two years with the Sox before he was moved to pitching coach ahead of this season.

Lefties recovering from COVID still not close

After running out two straight lefties to pitch Monday night and another lefty to start on Tuesday, the Red Sox are running out of southpaws.

They’re still waiting for Eduardo Rodriguez to recover from his heart complications following the coronavirus, while fellow coronavirus victims and left-handed pitchers Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor have begun training at McCoy Stadium.

Taylor threw a live batting practice session Tuesday and Hernandez will throw on Wednesday.

“They’re still a ways away,” Roenicke said. “Josh will throw (Tuesday), he’ll take a day or two off and throw another live BP, take another day or two off and then he’ll throw basically a simulated game and then we’re trying to decide if we need to get him to two innings or not.”

It sounds like Taylor is at least a week or two off of being game-ready, if everything goes smoothly. Both pitchers have dealt with fatigue common with coronavirus victims.

Hernandez is a bit behind Taylor.

“We feel like he can be a multi-inning guy,” Roenicke said. “So do we need to get him to that point before we activate him with us? Or do we just kind of do that while he is here? That’s the question on those two.”

Pitching numbers hurt

The Red Sox’ pitching woes are expected, but the numbers remain staggering to see.

They entered Tuesday striking out just 7.3 batters per nine innings, sixth-worst in MLB, with a 5.50 ERA, eighth-worst.

“No question, the pitching has to be good or better for us to do well and get in the playoffs,” Roenicke said. “No question. We’re really confident that Martin Perez is going to throw better. We’re really confident that Ryan Weber is going to throw better.

“It was really encouraging to me to see last night Zack Godley throwing four great innings. That leads me to believe that maybe he’s one of those guys who can step up and fill that spot. We hope that a number of other guys do that also.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3jMj7eZ