C2 Sports The Boston Globe WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020
At JetBlue Park, Fort Myers, Fla.
ST. LOUIS ab r h bi
Edman 2b-ss 3 1 0 0
DeJong ss 3120
Gorman3b 1010O’Ne
Wieters cilllf^4000 3 0 0 0
Godoy c 1 0 0 0
Ravelo 1b 3010BrMiller 3bSchrock 2b (^20122010)
Badercf 4000
Knizner dh 1000
Dean ph-dh 1 0 0 0
Carlson rf 3000
Totals 31 2 6 2
BOSTON ab r h bi
Benintendi lf 3 0 0 0
Witte 3b 1012
Devers 3b 2010
Castillo lfMartinez dh 1 0 0 0 3000
Duran ph-dh 1000
Bogaerts ss 3000
Andreoli cfMoreland 1b 2 0 1 0 1000
Lucroy c 1 0 0 0
Pillar rf 2 2 2 0
MHerndez 2b 1 0 0 0
Vázquez cLonghi 1b 1 0 1 1 2000
Bradley cf 2000
DeLaGura ss 1110
Arauz2b 3000Miesesrf 1000
Totals 31 3 7 3
St. LouisBoston...........................................................200 000 000 — 2 6 0000 102 00x — 3 7 1
E—Bandy (2).2B—Pillar (4), Vázquez (2), De La
Guerra (1).SB—Ravelo (1), Thomas (1).CS—
O’Neill (2).
St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO
Flaherty 330025
OviedoWoodford 1 2 1 1 0 31 0 0 0 0 1
Fernández L 0-1 „ 1 2 2 3 0
Ramirez ‚ 0 0 0 0 0
Gallegos 1 0 0 0 0 2
Webb 1 10002
BostonJohnson IP H R ER BB SO 332231
Taylor 100000
Barnes 100003
Brewer W 2-0Leyer S 2 2„ 1 0 0 0 31‚ 2 0 0 0 3
UmpiresWP—Flaherty, Oviedo, Fernández.—Home, Tim Timmons; First, Fieldin Cul-PB—Godoy.
breth; Second, Marvin Hudson; Third, Edwin Mos-
coso.
T—3:17.A—10,090.
Red Sox 3, Cardinals 2
SCORE:Red Sox 3, Cardinals 2
RECORD:8-10-2
BREAKDOWN:Brian Johnson gave up two runs in the first inning of
his three-inning outing at JetBlue Park. The bullpen followed with
six shutout innings. Christian Vazquez had a run-scoring double in
the fourth inning, and infielder Jantzen Witte — who has played
661 games in the Red Sox minor league system over a seven-year
career —hadatwo-runsingleinthesixth.
PLAYEROFTHEDAY:Righthander Colten Brewer pitched 2„ shut-
out innings, striking out three, to pick up the victory.
NEXTGAME:The Sox travel to Port Charlotte, Fla., on Wednesday
to face the Tampa Bay Rays at 6:35 p.m. Eduardo Rodriguez is
scheduled to start for the Red Sox. The game will be broadcast on
NESN and WEEI-AM 850.
JULIAN McWILLIAMS
Red Sox spring training report
RankingthePatriots’opponentsin2020
By Nora Princiotti, Ben Volin, and Jim McBride
GLOBE STAFF
We may not know who will be on the roster, but we do know who is on the calendar for the Patriots
in 2020, and the list is a doozy. The Patriots have the AFC and NFC West divisions, games against top
AFC teams, and will be fighting off an ascending Bills team within the division. That translates to the
toughest schedule in the NFL based on 2019 records and a lot of coast-to-coast travel.
The Globe’s football writers were tasked with ranking the games on the Patriots’ schedule by diffi-
culty, with only the information we have right now. We’ll revisit these rankings after the busiest por-
tion of free agency has concluded and the quarterback carousel has taken a few more spins around its
axis.
P.S. One way or another, the odds look pretty good that Tom Brady will play at least one game at Gil-
lette Stadium next season.
NORAPRINCIOTTI
The Patriots have both of last season’s Super Bowl teams on the
schedule, and, no surprise, they get the top two spots as the tough-
est games on this list. The top seven games are against teams that
are mostly stable and (unless San Francisco wants to do a Jimmy
Garoppolo-for-Brady swap) have their quarterback situations fig-
ured out. So don’t expect very much movement after free agency.
The Bills, who made the playoffs last year and have a ton of money
to spend in free agency, are already in the top half, which is more
divisional intrigue than we’re used to around here. The Jets, as al-
ways, are the Jets.
BENVOLIN
The Patriots have the toughest NFL’s No. 1 strength of schedule,
including seven games against teams that won at least 10 games
last season. But that doesn’t fully encapsulate how difficult the
schedule will be. The road schedule will be an absolute beast, with
three games on the West Coast and six involving a flight of at least
three hours. The home schedule is difficult as well, with dates
scheduled against the Ravens and 49ers. And the AFC East isn’t
quite the pushover division it was in the past. The schedule is a
monster, and is one big reason why the Patriots need Tom Brady
backnextyear.
JIMMcBRIDE
To be determined. It’s the theme of the offseason for the Pat-
riots, as they await the resolution of Tom Brady’s situation. Once
the NFL’s biggest domino falls, other matters of importance will
tumble into place. New England’s schedule, however, is one thing
that will remain the same, whether Brady is flinging footballs in
Foxborough or parts unknown.
- at Kansas City
- San Francisco
- Baltimore
- at Seattle
- at Houston
- at Buffalo
- at LA Rams
- Las Vegas
9. Buffalo
10. at Miami
11. Denver
12. at LA Chargers
13 Arizona
14. at NY Jets
15. Miami
16. NY Jets- at Kansas City
- at Seattle
- at Houston
- Baltimore
- at Buffalo
- at Miami
- San Francisco
- at NY Jets
9. at LA Rams
10. at LA Chargers
11. Buffalo
12. Arizona
13. Miami
14. Denver
15. Las Vegas
16. NY Jets- at Seattle
- at Kansas City
- Baltimore
- at LA Rams
- at LA Chargers
- at Miami
- at Buffalo
- at Houston
9. San Francisco
10. Buffalo
11. at NY Jets
12. Denver
13. Arizona
14. Las Vegas
15. Miami
16. NY Jets
Cautious
Remy will
skip trip to
Baltimore
By Michael Silverman
GLOBE STAFF
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Even
though NESN broadcaster Jer-
ry Remy’s health is sound right
now, the risk of being exposed
to coronavirus means he will
skip part of the Red Sox’ sea-
son-opening road trip later this
month.
Remy has survived multiple
bouts with cancer, his latest
cropping up in August 2018
when a tumor was discovered
in his lung.
He is cancer-free, but given
his medical regimen and histo-
ry, he followed his doctor’s
“strong suggestion” and will
skip the Red Sox’ three-game
series in Baltimore March 30-
31 and April 1.
“I talked with Dr. [Larry]
Ronan [Monday] and with all
this going on, he feels that trav-
el wouldn’t be the best thing for
me right now,” said Remy, who
requires immunotherapy treat-
ment every three weeks and a
combination of vaccine and im-
munotherapy treatment, as
well as a CT scan, every three
months. “With all my underly-
ing conditions, they don’t want
me getting sick somewhere else
other than at Mass General.
They don’t want me quaran-
tined somewhere and I can’t
get back to Mass General,
where they would really want
me.”
Remy was not on the sched-
ule for the season-opening se-
ries in Toronto March 26-29,
and he was also scheduled to
miss the second road trip, to Se-
attle and Oakland, April 9-15.
If coronavirus does not af-
fect the Red Sox schedule,
Remy will be at Fenway Park
for the season opener on April
2.
“It sucks, but it is what it is,”
said Remy. “It always bothers
me to miss games. But if it’s
only three, that’s fine. If the
thing goes on and on and I
have to miss more trips, that’s
going to really bother me. But
you have to take your health,
that’s obviously No. 1. You
can’t control this stuff. You see
how it’s affecting things here
already. You wonder what it’s
going to be like a month from
now, but you just don’t know.
All I can do is, temporarily at
this point, say that I will not do
the Baltimore series and I’ll be
off the road for six weeks and
then we’ll reassess what the vi-
rus is doing and go from
there.”
Remy’s next scheduled trip
is to Minneapolis and Toronto
at the end of April.
Overall, Remy’s outlook is
positive.
“My CT scans have been
great for 14 months, so what-
ever they’ve done has been
working, it’s great,” he said.
“Even with that, you can’t put
yourself at risk with all this
craziness going on.”
Michael Silverman can be
reached at
[email protected].
Follow him on Twitter:
@MikeSilvermanBB
Moncadaaside,Deverskeepseyeonprize
By Julian McWilliams
GLOBE STAFF
RafaelDevers’seyes lit up
when a reporter mentioned
YoanMoncada’sname.
The two are
close, and
played parts of
two seasons to-
gether in the minors, but De-
vers always lived in his buddy’s
shadow. Remember, it was
Moncada who agreed to a re-
cord-setting $31.5 million sign-
ing bonus to join the Red Sox
back in 2015.
The pair have since gone
their separate ways: Devers, be-
coming the potential franchise
cornerstone for the Red Sox,
and Moncada, who was a part
of theChrisSaletrade back in
2016, as a dominant force for
the Chicago White Sox.
Nevertheless, Devers living
in Moncada’s shadow still lin-
gers.
Last week, Moncada agreed
to a five-year $70 million con-
tract extension, meaning he
will have earned more than
$100 million by the time he’s
30 years old. Devers, mean-
while, was recently renewed by
the Sox at $692,500 for 2020.
“I’m not really looking at
what someone else is getting,”
Devers said Tuesday through
team interpreterBryanAlmon-
te. “Like, obviously, I’m still fo-
cusing on myself right now. Ex-
tension talks, it will be great to
have if it comes to that, but
right now, I’m not really fo-
cused on that. I’m focused on
playing the game.”
The idea of a Devers exten-
sion has lived in the backdrop
of what has been a newsy
spring training for the Red Sox.
It’s just a hypothetical, though
one both sides should consider.
Yet the reality that the Sox re-newed — and couldn’t agree to
a contract — with Devers is a
bit telling.
“Obviously, we’ve been in
contact with everyone to try to
come to an agreement on a
contract, and that’s what we’re
really going to wait on moving
forward,” Devers said. “I feel
fine. It’s not going to change
the way I approach the game or
how I work.”
The last player to renew and
not agree wasMookieBetts
back in 2017, when he earned
$950,000. Devers, like Betts
that year, is in his final year be-
fore arbitration. At the time,
Betts said he didn’t agree be-
cause he saw value in taking a
stand.
“I didn’t know that about
Mookie,” Devers said. “I’m just
focused on myself and what I’m
dealing with, with my contract.
I’m just trying to figure that
part out.”Goodimpression
ColtenBrewerstruggled in
his first season with the Red
Sox. In 54„ innings, he regis-
tered a 4.12 ERA and was op-
tioned twice.
This spring, however, Brew-er has made quite the impres-
sion on interim managerRon
Roenicke. Brewer has a 2.16
ERA in 8‚ innings, tossing 2„
innings of scoreless baseball
Tuesday against the St. Louis
Cardinals.
“He’s throwing the ball
great,” Roenicke said. “He’s so
much more aggressive in the
strike zone. Last year was kind
of off and on. When he was in
the strike zone, he was really
good, and then he would get a
little wild. Right now, what I
see, he’s just getting after it.”
The Sox stretched Brewer
out a good bit Tuesday. They
plan to stretch him out even
more his next outing, during a
simulated game.
“We’re trying to extend him
as long as we can,” Roenicke
said, “but he’s going to be one
of the guys that, depending on
what we do with that fifth spot,
he could be a big piece of that.”
The team doesn’t plan to
start Brewer. Roenicke ac-
knowledged that if they were,
he probably would have started
him during the spring instead
of using him in relief situa-
tions.
“Right now we love the wayhe’s throwing the ball,” Roen-
icke said. “We just want to
make sure he’s got the innings.”Workinprogress
EduardoRodriguezmost
likely will be the Opening Day
starter.NateEovaldiprobably
will fill the No. 2 spot in the ro-
tation, followed byMartinPer-
ez. The rest, of course, is still a
question mark.BrianJohnson
could help fill the rotation, he
could be a reliever, or he could
be the pitcher to follow the
opener.
He got the start Tuesday and
didn’t do much to move the ro-
tation needle. He threw 62
pitches in three innings, giving
up two runs while also walking
three. He surrendered the pair
of runs in the first inning, but
regrouped in the second and
third.
“In the first inning, I was
rushing a little bit,” Johnson
said. “I was really driving off
the backside. I would like to
have made that adjustment
sooner than later, but the sec-
ond or third inning, I did.”
Johnson wants to win a job
as a starter, but acknowledged
that he’s ready to be utilized in
whichever role the Sox see as
the best fit. He had some suc-
cess when the team used him
in short spurts last year as a
starter, and is willing to come
in as the second pitcher if and
when the Sox implement the
opener tactic.
“It’s different thinking about
it,” Johnson said. “Once they
explained it to me last year, it
kind of makes more sense, be-
cause your first three hitters
are probably your best hitters.
So, it’s just one less time you
would have to turn a lineup
over and face them. I have no
problem with it.”Loosethreads
The Sox will reassessChris
Salein 10-14 days, Roenicke
said, after consulting with
team trainers.. .AlexVerdugo
took 20 swings in the cage for
the first time on Monday, and
swung again on Tuesday...
The coronavirus has put teams
on high alert. When a reporter
asked Blue Jays general manag-
erRossAtkinsif he thinks his
club, whom the Red Sox open
against on March 26 in Toron-
to, potentially could open the
season in an empty ballpark, he
said, “I certainly hope not. I
don’t envision that.”Julian McWilliams can be
reached at
[email protected].
Follow him on Twitter
@byJulianMackFILE PHOTO/ELISE AMENDOLA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rafael Devers, who had a breakout season for the Red Sox in 2019 with 54 doubles, 32 homers, and 115 RBIs, will earn just $692,500 in 2020.RED SOX
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