WooSox stars keep rolling in week 2 and 3 of Spring Training  

With a week of Spring Training under their belt, the Red Sox continued their Grapefruit League play in Fort Myers, Florida. With a busy slate that featured the club traveling to the Dominican Republic for Major League Baseball’s inaugural series in the country, WooSox players sought to continue their impressive start to the spring.

In the second edition of our weekly roundup, we will highlight the performances of WooSox players to keep track of how their spring progresses leading up to Opening Day at Polar Park on Tuesday, April 2, at 3:05 p.m. against the Buffalo Bisons.

Monday, March 4th

Red Sox 1, Tigers 2

The Red Sox opened the week with a loss to Detroit in a low scoring game. The highlight of the day, though, came off the bat of WooSox favorite, Ceddanne Rafaela who homered in the fourth inning that plated the only run of the day for the Sox. Also, reliever Joely Rodriguez, who newly resigned to a minor league contract, saw action on the mound while Nick Sogard, Jamie Westbrook, Corey Rosier, Dalton Guthrie and Mark Contreras each had at least one at-bat.

Tuesday, March 5th

Red Sox 7, Rays 4

On Tuesday, the Sox got back to their winning form against their division rival, the Tampa Bay Rays. Wilyer Abreu and Emmanuel Valdez exhibited prolific offensive performances with each recording 3 RBIs while Tyler O’Neill cracked his first homer with the Red Sox. Additionally, the game had multiple WooSox appearances with Nick Sogard, Corey Rosier and Mark Contreras, who have each seen a fair share of the action in Spring Training. Puerto Rican lefty Jorge Benitez also threw one inning of work in which he punched out two hitters. The Sox would win the game, 7-4.

Wednesday, March 6th

Red Sox 1, Twins 7

On Wednesday, the Twins got the best of Red Sox pitching, tallying seven runs on nine hits against the first four Sox arms. Luis Guerrero, though, fired the final two innings in the matchup, allowing just two baserunners and striking out another two. Contreras added a 2-2 day on the offensive side, but the Sox fell to the Twins, 7-1.

Thursday, March 7th

Red Sox 2, Braves 3

The Red Sox returned home on Thursday to host the Braves. The Sox jumped out to an early lead off a Masataka Yoshida solo shot, but quickly gave up their advantage in the second thanks to a Jordan Luplow two-run homer. Abreu had another solid day at the plate, reaching in all three of his plate appearances, while Rodriguez fired a perfect inning, striking out two. The Braves, though, never gave up the lead as they would go on to win, 3-2.

Friday, March 8th

OFF

Friday, March 8**th**

OFF

Saturday, March 9**th**

Red Sox 4, Rays 0

During Friday’s day off, the Red Sox traveled to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for Major League Baseball’s inaugural Dominican Republic Series against the Rays. In the first of two exhibition contests that featured most of the Red Sox regulars, Rafaela put the Sox on the board in the first inning with a two-run double. He would add another run with a fielder’s choice in the third while Enmanuel Valdez’s home run capped the Red Sox scoring. The Sox’ pitching was led by Kutter Crawford, who fired three scoreless innings and struck out two. The Red Sox took game one by a score of 4-0.

Sunday, March 10**th**

Red Sox 7, Rays 6

On Sunday, the Red Sox and Rays squared off in the second and final game of the Dominican Republic Series. After falling behind 3-0, David Hamilton drew a bases loaded walk in the fourth inning to get the Red Sox on the board, though the offense would fail to add more. In the fifth inning, Rafaela continued his hot hitting with a solo home run while Bobby Dalbec launched a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth to give the Red Sox a 7-5 lead. The Sox would hold on to sweep the Dominican Series from the Rays, 7-6.

This week, the Red Sox will return to Fort Myers to play eight games in seven days. Notably, the Sox will have a home and away game against the rival Yankees with the Pirates, Cardinals, Phillies, Orioles, and Braves also on the slate.

As we conclude the third week of Spring Training, the Red Sox Opening Day roster is beginning to take shape. Since March 6, the Red Sox have optioned or reassigned the following players to the minor league portion of camp:

RHPs Luis Guerrero, Andrew Politi, Wikelman Gonzales, Luis Perales, Melvin Adón Franklin German, and Alex Hoppe; LHPs Brandon Walter and Helcris Olivares; Cs Nathan Hickey, Stephen Scott; INF Chase Meidroth, 1B Joe Dunand, and OF Corey Rosier.

Though these players will not be on the major league roster come Opening Day, they will remain with the organization as minor league depth. Nevertheless, these players will continue their preparation for the 2024 season in Fort Myers as Spring Training rolls on.

Monday, March 11th

Red Sox 1, Pirates 0

Following their weekend series against the Rays in the Dominican Republic, the Red Sox returned to Fort Myers for a matchup with the Pirates on Monday afternoon. It was a low scoring affair between the two teams, with WooSox pitchers having excellent outings. Jorge Benitez led the pitching staff by striking out the side while Chase Shugart, Lucas Luetge, and Cam Booser fired scoreless frames. Marcelo Mayer had a double in his only at-bat while Nick Sogard drove in the only run with a seventh inning groundout. The Red Sox would win the game, 1-0.

Tuesday, March 12th

Red Sox 6, Cardinals 8

Tuesday’s matchup with the Cardinals resulted in a shootout, with the teams combining for 14 runs. Trevor Story and Ceddanne Rafaela led the Red Sox offense with home runs while driving in three and two runs, respectively. Sogard continued his torrid spring with another hit while Daulton Guthrie had a knock of his own and an RBI of his own. The Cardinals, though, outslugged the Red Sox, winning the game 8-6.

Wednesday, March 13th

Red Sox 9, Yankees 4

In the Sox first matchup with the Yankees this week, contributions were made up and down the lineup en route to a nine-run outburst. Triston Casas and Emmanuel Valdez smashed home runs in back-to-back innings while Bobby Dalbec, Tyler McDonough, and Dalton Guthrie added two RBIs apiece. On the pitching side, Justin Hagenman and Greg Weissert picked up a strikeout in clean innings of work. The Red Sox would win the game against their rival, 9-4.

Thursday, March 14th

Red Sox 1, Phillies 6

On Thursday, the Sox traveled to Clearwater for an afternoon matchup with the Phillies, but quickly found themselves in a hole. The Phillies scored six runs in the first four innings, which would prove to be an insurmountable deficit. It wasn’t all bad news, though, as Chris Murphy fired 2.1 scoreless innings with five strikeouts and Jamie Westbrook left the yard with a solo home run in the seventh. It would be the Sox only run as they would lose, 6-1.

Friday, March 15th

Red Sox 8, Twins 5

The offense would bounce back on Friday in Fort Myers against the Twins. Jarren Duran led the offensive outburst, going 3-4 with a double, home run, and four RBIs. Rafael Devers and Jamie Westbrook followed Duran’s lead with home runs of their own while Rafeala added a hit and a run scored. Entering the ninth with an 8-5 lead, Luetge entered the game on the mound and pitched a clean inning to earn the save.

Saturday, March 16th

Red Sox 4, Orioles 5

On Saturday, the home run followed the Red Sox to Sarasota for a matchup with the Orioles. In the second inning, Dalbec and Wilyer Abreu hit back-to-back home runs to tie the game at two before the offense added a couple more in the inning. Hagenman continued his excellent spring on the mound with two shutout innings while Booser followed with two punchouts in a scoreless frame. The Orioles, though, walked it off in the ninth to defeat the Red Sox, 5-4.

Additionally, the Red Sox prospects participated in the Spring Breakout, a new series MLB began to showcase baseball’s best young players. In their exhibition matchup against the Braves prospects at JetBlue Park, the Sox were led by Rafaela, Kyle Teel, and Nick Yorke on the offensive side while Wikelman Gonzalez and Guerrero combined for four scoreless innings. The Red Sox prospects would beat the Braves prospects, 7-2.

Sunday, March 17th

Red Sox 12, Yankees 6

On St. Patrick’s Day, the Red Sox played two games in a split-squad double header. In their matchup with the Yankees in Fort Myers, the offense found a pot of gold, tagging their rival for a dozen runs in the affair. Duran, Devers, Story, Rafaela, and Abreu each had multi-hit games and combined to drive in nine of the Sox 12 runs. Story and Devers each homered while Connor Wong and Eduardo Lopez had home runs of their own. The Sox would win the game, 12-6.

Red Sox 3, Braves 3

In St. Patrick’s Day away matchup, the Sox traveled to Venice to play the Braves. The offense was led by Dalbec and Pablo Reyes, who each launched home runs and reached base multiple times. Luetge pitched well in two innings of work, striking out three and allowing just one base runner. The game, though, would end in a 3-3 tie.

Next week, the Red Sox will play seven more exhibitions, with home matchups against the Rays, Orioles, Twins, and Braves. These will be the final Spring Training games the Sox play in Florida, with their final two scheduled to be played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas on March 26-27.