Weekend Wrap from McCoy
Red Sox Taxi Squad continues to play simulated games
The 2020 season has presented an exciting challenge for not only the active 25-man roster but the Taxi Squad playing at McCoy Stadium. These “extra players” have to stay sharp because they don’t know when their name will be called upon, especially the pitchers. In addition to being on the active roster, a few guys working out at McCoy have been up to Boston for the Taxi Squad.
This past weekend, starting on Friday afternoon, we saw a terrific outing by Brian Johnson. Now, we call these contests, simulated games, but they really should be called simulated innings. There are not enough position players to field a game, so the same hitters bat in the top and bottom half.
Friday numbers: Johnson 5 IP, 3 H, R, ER, BB, 7 SO, Josh Taylor, R.J. Alvarez, and Robinson Leyer all tossed scoreless innings. Notable batters: Bobby Dalbec scored the lone run, Yairo Munoz knocked in the lone run of the afternoon. Munoz has shined offensively and defensively during the camp.
Saturday was the longest simulated game to date as we saw eight innings on this warm afternoon. Kyle Hart tossed 5.1 innings on three hits, no runs, one walk, and five strikeouts. Mike Kickham followed with three innings on just one hit and no runs. On the other side, Tanner Houck fanned four over four frames, making a start. Darwinzon Hernandez followed with a strong inning. Chris Mazza, Robert Stock, and Domingo Tapia all pitched one inning. Below I show my scorebook from the games; every spot had at least three different batters.
Sunday was a short, four-inning contest with Mike Shawaryn starting opposite Matt Hall, who was recently assigned to the alternate camp. Bobby Dalbec provided all the runs, smacking a two-run homer down the right-field line in the second and a sac-fly in the bottom of the third.
Shawaryn: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO
Hall : 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 0 SO
Josh Taylor: IP, H, 0 R, 2 SO
Caleb Simpson: 2 IP, 2 H, R, BB, 2 SO