Romy Gonzalez has become invaluable, and other Red Sox thoughts
'I attribute it to health. That's No. 1,' Gonzalez said. 'Just being healthy and my body being able to do what I want it to do.
'That and the hitting staff has been great. Rob
[Refsnyder] has been a huge help, too. Just everyone here, it's a great environment. We constantly bounce ideas off each other and we're always talking ball.'
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Gonzalez, 28, gives the Red Sox another righthanded bat. Over the last two seasons, he started games at all four infield positions and center field, plus has come off the bench to play a few innings in right field and left field.
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Alex Cora's
best teams have had players like that, from
Brock Holt in 2018 to Kiké Hernández in 2021.
'AC has done a great job of giving me a day when I need it,' Gonzalez said. 'The training staff as a whole has been excellent. I love it here.
'People ask all the time about what happened between Chicago and Boston. I think it was just being able to stay on the field. It has been great to contribute to this team.'
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A few other observations on the Red Sox:
▪ The Sox were 13-9 with a .797 OPS and averaged 5.82 runs in their first 22 games after trading Rafael Devers. The Giants were 10-12 with a .657 OPS and averaged 3.59 runs.
Devers played all 22 of those games, posting a .706 OPS and going 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position with eight strikeouts.
He also has been limited to DH because of groin and back issues. The Giants still plan on him playing first base this season.
▪ The Sox did a fun thing for Cora on Wednesday.
It was Puerto Rico heritage night at Fenway Park and the team arranged for his 7-year-old twin sons, Isander and Xander, to throw out first pitches.
Unbeknownst to her father, Camila Cora took her brothers to the park and snuck them on the field. Cora didn't realize his sons were there until just before the first pitch.
He caught one of the pitches and Mike Lowell handled the other.
▪ Ceddanne Rafaela will play for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic. He made his commitment to manager Andruw Jones
in May when they met in Atlanta.
'I'm excited about it,' said Rafaela, who is from Curacao. 'When [Jones] asked me, of course I wanted to.'
Xander Bogaerts also has signed on with the Dutch.
▪ Lucas Giolito turns 31 on Monday and will celebrate with his family in Boston. He'll stay in town to catch the Indiana Fever-Connecticut Sun WNBA game at the Garden on Tuesday.
Like everybody else, he wants to see Caitlin Clark
play.
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▪ Per the Hall of Fame, Wade Boggs, Dennis Eckersley, Carlton Fisk, Pedro Martinez, and Jim Rice
are among the former Sox players who will return to Cooperstown for induction weekend.
David Ortiz had a scheduling conflict.
▪ Bobby Jenks, who
Jenks opened the season as a set-up man for Jonathan Papelbon,
but pitched his final game of the season on July 7 because of a back injury. He never played again in the majors.
Jenks had unsuccessful back surgery in December and then reached an agreement with the team to terminate his contract in 2012.
He later sued Massachusetts General Hospital and
Jenks was a quiet guy who seemed to embrace a new team, but like many things that season for the Sox, it went awry.
Peter Abraham can be reached at
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