Red Sox at Rays
The Boston Red Sox won the American League East last season but suffered a disappointing exit in the first round of the playoffs as their starting pitching let them down and a season-long lack of power was exposed. The Red Sox tried to address both of those issues in the offseason and will get started on another division title run when they open the 2018 campaign by visiting the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday.
Boston brought in the biggest slugger available on the free-agent market by signing J.D. Martinez to a five-year, $110 million deal after the start of spring training and made a greater effort to manage the workload of lefty ace Chris Sale in the offseason and spring training after he tired down the stretch. The biggest boost to the rotation could be a full season of former Cy Young Award winner David Price, who made only 11 starts last year but came through spring training strong. The Rays went through a bit of a rebuild in the offseason, trading away franchise icon Evan Longoria and trading or letting go of the top three home-run producers on the team in Logan Morrison (38 homers in 2017), Steven Souza Jr. (30) and Corey Dickerson (27). Tampa Bay, which also lost two of its top three starting pitchers in Alex Cobb and Jake Odorizzi, brought in veterans Carlos Gomez, Denard Span and C.J. Cron to supplement the offense and will use a four-man rotation.
TV: 4 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), FSN Sun (Tampa Bay)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox LH Chris Sale (2017: 17-8, 2.90 ERA) vs. Rays RH Chris Archer (2017: 10-12, 4.07)
Sale led the majors with 308 strikeouts but finished second in the AL Cy Young voting after going 4-4 with a 4.09 ERA in August and September. The Florida native, who went 4-1 with a 2.66 ERA in six starts against Tampa Bay last season, was knocked from his final spring training outing after being hit in the hip by a line drive. "I don't see anything lingering from this," Sale told reporters. "Looked a lot worse than it really is."
Archer finished third in the AL in strikeouts behind Sale and Cleveland's Corey Kluber with 249 and struck out 13 in 16 innings this spring before leaving his final start after getting hit in the right forearm with a comebacker. The 29-year-old was able to go through his normal routine over the weekend and is expected to start Thursday with no restrictions. Archer struck out 18 in 15 1/3 innings against Boston last season but went 1-1 with a 5.87 ERA in those three starts.
WALK-OFFS
1. Red Sox LHPs Drew Pomeranz (forearm) and Eduardo Rodriguez (knee) will open the season on the disabled list.
2. Rays RHP prospects Jose De Leon and Brett Honeywell will both miss the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
3. Boston closer Craig Kimbrel (personal) made his spring training debut on Sunday and is expected to be ready for Opening Day.