BOSTON — Under normal circumstances, this would be a unique season for the Boston Red Sox. And these are not normal circumstances.
Nearly four months after their scheduled season opener, the Red Sox will kick off their shortened 2020 slate Friday night at Fenway Park Friday night. There will be no Mookie Betts, Alex Cora, David Price or Chris Sale — there won’t even be fans — but there will finally be baseball. For many people struggling to find a sense or normalcy through a pandemic, that’s enough.
Boston hosts the Baltimore Orioles at 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised on NESN and the radio broadcast is on WEEI-FM (93.7). Nate Eovaldi will get his first Opening Day start for Boston opposite Tommy Milone.
Gov. Charlie Baker will throw the first pitch.
What will be different?
The most striking visual will be all the empty green seats at Fenway. While Red Sox officials have said they hope to eventually welcome fans back to the ballpark, it’s not going to be anytime soon.Subscribe
Some teams have opted to keep the seats empty, while others have planted cardboard cutouts to give some semblance of atmosphere. Weekend broadcasts on Fox will feature a computer-generated crowd.
The Red Sox and other teams are pumping in ambient crowd noises during the game. In Thursday night’s season-opening doubleheader for Major League Baseball, the sounds for the Nationals-Yankees and Giants-Dodgers games did not distract much from the field.
Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. will be wearing a microphone during Friday’s game, the first of the team’s players and coaches to do so during the season.
Can I still go to Fenway?
Yes, and Boston is helping to make an experience for fans outside the park. Lansdowne Street will close during home games as a “fan zone” takes over. Restaurants and other pop-ups will have outdoor eating available.
Boston and the Red Sox ask people still observe social distancing and wear masks when appropriate.
Will there be social justice statements?
You must have missed the 254-foot Black Lives Matter banner the Red Sox put up over the Massachusetts Pike. The banner is written in the team’s font and punctuated by the Sox logo.
Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said players will be free to express themselves as they wish before games. The Yankees and Nationals all took a knee prior to the national anthem, while Betts kneeled during the anthem.
Who are these Red Sox?
The world saw baseball’s newest richest man, Betts, play Thursday night for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Boston traded the 27-year-old former MVP, along with Price, a former Cy Young winner, to the Dodgers when it became clear they wouldn’t agree on a massive contract with Betts. He found that money in LA, signing a 12-year deal worth $365 million.
Another Cy Young winner, Rick Porcello, left in free agency to join the New York Mets, while former All-Star and fan favorite Brock Holt ended up with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Sox are also without their top two pitchers in Sale (Tommy John surgery) and Eduardo Rodriguez (COVID-19 complications.)
And of course, the team will be without manager Alex Cora, who is banned for 2020 after being found guilty in a sign-stealing scheme with the Houston Astros.
But Boston brought in some new blood. Outfielder Kevin Pillar, infielder Jose Peraza and pitcher Martin Perez were signed in free agency. The team recently traded for pitcher Dylan Covey from Tampa Bay.
Will they be any good?
Well, they should be able to hit. Rafael Devers, JD Martinez and Xander Bogaerts will anchor a powerful lineup that could keep the Sox around in some high-scoring games.
And they’ll have to hit, because most consider their pitching staff to be the worst in the league. There are no obvious candidates for the No. 4 and 5 starters, and the bullpen hasn’t imporved much from last year.
But the Red Sox don’t have to be great to get into the playoffs. The shortened 60-game season means a hot streak could be enough to get Boston into the newly expanded playoffs, which for the first time will feature 16 teams.
PEABODY,PATCH
