It’s not hard to see why Justin Turner felt an immediate connection to the song.
“I think I’ll go to Boston. I think I’ll start a new life. I think I’ll start it over, where no one knows my name.”
That’s the chorus to Augustana’s 2005 song “Boston,” which the new Red Sox infielder has used as his walk-up song ever since making his debut with the team. Prior to his signing, the 38-year-old spent nine years with the Los Angeles Dodgers and expected to finish his career there, but now he’s embracing his unexpected new chapter and finding himself right at home.
“It is pretty fitting for the situation,” Turner said.
Turner said the song choice has gotten mixed reviews from his friends and teammates — it’s a lot more subdued than his old walk-up song, “Turn Down For What” — but so far he’s loving the experience of playing in Boston. This weekend was particularly special, between the remembrances of the 2013 bombings, the reunion of the 2013 World Series champions and now getting to play on Marathon Monday.
“It’s been fantastic, I’m still getting to know the city and getting to know my way around,” Turner said. “It’s awesome just getting in the car, driving around and seeing how many people are out and about.”
His wife Kourtney, who ran her fifth Los Angeles Marathon less than a month ago, also suited up to run Boston for the first time on Monday. Turner planned to meet her at the finish line, though the baseball gods didn’t do him any favors when the start of the Red Sox game was delayed 56 minutes due to rain and then again later in the top of the third inning.
“She’s excited and I can’t wait to finish off the series and head over to the finish line to meet her,” he said.
Though the right-handed hitting Turner was not in the lineup Monday against Angels ace Shohei Ohtani, the veteran has recently started getting back into a groove. Over the past week, he’s batted .409 with three doubles, four runs scored and his first home run as a member of the Red Sox, a two-run shot that made the difference in Sunday’s 2-1 win over the Angels.
With Adam Duvall on the shelf with a broken wrist, the Red Sox are counting on Turner to be a force in the middle of the lineup.
As last year’s recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team, Turner has always been heavily involved in the community and expects to bring more of his efforts to Boston in the coming months.
But while he’s excited for the upcoming Bruins playoff run and the arrival of summer in Boston, he doesn’t plan to entirely leave his LA roots behind.
“I grew up a Laker fan so I won’t say the other team,” Turner joked, “but you feel the energy and you feel how big a sports town this in.”
With Brayan Bello back in the mix, Cora indicated the club will push everyone back a day and keep the current rotation intact for the next turn through the rotation. The Red Sox have an off day next Thursday after the road trip to Milwaukee and Baltimore, and Cora said at that point they will decide who will stay and who will move to the bullpen.
“We’re able to do that because Kutter (Crawford) hasn’t pitched in a while and we’ve got (Josh Winckowski), who is at full force tomorrow, if everything goes accordingly we should have a good bullpen throughout the week so just do it that way,” Cora said. “I think the off day is going to help us give another extra day to everybody and after that we’ll make decisions to see what we’re going to do with the rotation.”
As of now Cora said the plan is for Chris Sale to pitch Tuesday, Corey Kluber on Wednesday and Tanner Houck on Thursday against the Minnesota Twins, and then Nick Pivetta will pitch Friday’s series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers. Garrett Whitlock and Bello would be in line to pitch this weekend in Milwaukee as well.
When Sale starts Tuesday to open the series against Minnesota it will be his fourth start of the season.
His first three haven’t been pretty.
Sale has averaged six hits, five earned runs, 6.33 strikeouts, 2.33 walks and four innings in his outings. He’s allowed 3-7 earned runs, including at least one homer, in each game. Other than K% (80th) and Whiff% (75th), he ranks below average in every MLB percentile.
His manager knows exactly what he needs to do to improve upon the first three outings: throw strikes.
“Everything’s delivery-wise,” Cora said on Monday morning. “I don’t think it’s his stuff, I think we throw strikes, we’re gonna be better … I think delivery-wise, he’s getting close. He’s a strike-thrower, you know.”
Sale is throwing his first pitch for a strike 62.5% of the time, which is still above league average (60.8%), but significantly lower than in years past. Between 2017-21, his first-pitch strike percentage was 66 or better.
“His sinker has been hit, the off-speed pitches have been erratic,” Cora assessed. “You look at the numbers, what pitches have been it, and it’s actually the fastball, and I think it’s about command.”
Since MLB installed Statcast in all 30 ballparks in 2015, Sale’s fastball velocity and spin have been at least above-average each season. Three starts is a small sample size, but his velocity is currently 47th percentile, and the spin is way down in the 16th.
Lack of playing time is a significant factor. Since his April 2020 Tommy John surgery, Sale has pitched 60.1 regular-season innings between August 2021 and now. As he maintained throughout spring training, repetition is the key to making a true comeback.
“He hasn’t pitched in four years, honestly, and you know, in ‘19, he wasn’t healthy,” Cora said. “It’s repetitions, and at this level, it’s not easy. They don’t care, you know? They don’t feel sorry about him, they’re going to attack him.”
With the recent gauntlet of opposing left-handed starting pitchers behind them, the Red Sox called up outfielder Jarren Duran for his third shot in the big leagues ahead of Monday’s game. The club also optioned infielder Bobby Dalbec, activated Bello off the 15-day injured list and designated righty Jake Faria for assignment.
The lefty-hitting Duran got the start in center field and batted ninth his first game up against Angels ace Shohei Ohtani. Prior to the game Cora said Duran will split time in the outfield with Raimel Tapia and likely play a good amount at both center and left field, particularly against righties.
“We felt Jarren did a good job in spring training, he made some adjustments and it would be good for him to come here and get him in the mix and hopefully he can get on base and put pressure on the opposition,” Cora said. “I think the game is molded to his speed right now so hopefully we can take advantage of it.”
With additional help in the outfield, Cora also said they expect Kiké Hernández will play more in the infield again. The hope is he’ll primarily play shortstop against righties.