This weekend’s Red Sox vs. Yankees series is likely one fans have had circled on the calendar for a while.
It’s the first time the Yankees have come to Fenway Park this season and lands at the perfect time on the calendar. The days are getting longer, the weather is (theoretically) getting better, school is winding down and Father’s Day is coming this Sunday. If there’s a time of year to head down to the ballpark, this is it.
Oh, and if you want to see the Yankees, it’ll also be your last chance until September.
This season MLB switched to a more balanced schedule that features fewer games between division rivals and ensures everyone plays every other club at least once. The change has largely been a net positive, with less disparity between clubs’ strength of schedule and more opportunities for fans to see different teams come to town, but it has also meant traditional rivalry games are less common occurrences, with divisional opponents now playing each other 13 times per season instead of 19.
Nowhere has that change been more pronounced than with the Red Sox and Yankees. Baseball’s biggest rivals didn’t cross paths until more than two months into the season, and now after playing six games in nine days — including consecutive weekends on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball — they won’t meet again until the Red Sox head back down to the Bronx for the second and final time in mid-August.
“I was thinking about it the other day about New York, we hadn’t been in New York in a while, so it’s weird,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who also noted it has been a similar story with their other AL East rivals. “It’s weird not going to Tampa until September, Toronto we haven’t been there yet, so it’s a lot different.”
Will the increased scarcity help or hurt baseball’s biggest rivalries? That will probably depend on how good the teams are in a given year, and right now there’s no doubt the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry isn’t as hot as it’s been in the past.
The Red Sox came into the weekend a game below .500 and last in the AL East. The Yankees were in better shape at 39-30, but they were still third and 9.5 games behind Tampa Bay in the division. Neither club’s fans are particularly happy about where their team is at, so it’s no surprise this month’s series haven’t had as much juice as we’ve seen in past years.
That being said, the Red Sox and Yankees have seen a lot of each other in the playoffs recently, which Cora said is what really makes a rivalry, not a few extra regular season games.
“The last four or five years, people might be down but we’ve still played two playoff series against (them),” Cora said, noting that before 2018 the clubs hadn’t met in the playoffs since 2004. “It all depends on how you see it but since ’18, playing two series already and that was (big), not just because of the result but the whole thing was very intense.”
The opponent aside, this is a big weekend for the Red Sox. The club has been stuck at around .500 for nearly three weeks now, and if they hope to climb back into the Wild Card picture they’ll need to take advantage of every opportunity to play someone ahead of them in the standings.
From here on out every game counts, but when that team you’re chasing is the New York Yankees, it’s always going to matter just a little bit more.
The Red Sox announced Friday that they have released left-handed pitcher Matt Dermody, whose call-up from Triple-A last week sparked controversy after his homophobic social media activity came to light.
Dermody was called up to make a spot start last Thursday in Boston’s series finale against Cleveland, and the move quickly drew criticism after a since-deleted tweet of his from 2021 asserting gay people are going to go to hell resurfaced. Additional offensive comments and likes of his began circulating afterwards as well, and the entire episode became an embarrassment for the Red Sox days before they were set to celebrate Pride Night at Fenway Park.
Following his big league start Dermody was designated for assignment, and after clearing waivers he was outrighted back to Triple-A. He made one more start for the WooSox on Wednesday before the club decided to move on, a move Red Sox general manager Brian O’Halloran told Alex Speier of The Boston Globe was made primarily for baseball reasons but that his social media activity was a factor considered as well.
While Dermody may be gone, his call-up and the club’s continued association with him was an avoidable error that caused harm to both the club’s reputation and to the LGBTA community.
Lefty reliever Joely Rodriguez (left shoulder inflammation) threw a simulated inning prior to Friday’s game and is nearing a return to the mound. Cora said he’s feeling a lot better and he could be activated within the next week.
“We’ll see how he feels tomorrow and if everything goes well we’ll send him on a rehab assignment during the week and he’ll probably be ready for next week,” Cora said.
Infielder Yu Chang (left hamate fracture) is still dealing with lingering soreness in his hand, which has slowed his recovery timeline since undergoing surgery in late April. He has been pulled off his rehab assignment twice but the club hopes he resume his work next week.