FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks strolled out of the visitors¡¯ clubhouse at Hammond Stadium on Thursday night and displayed mock excitement.
¡°[ERA is down to] 9.95, kid,¡± quipped Hendriks.
While the closer¡¯s spot hasn¡¯t been announced yet by manager Alex Cora, Hendriks has a pretty good idea the way it¡¯s headed in his competition with fellow veteran Aroldis Chapman.
¡°I think it's been pretty well proven who deserves that spot after earning it all spring, and that's definitely not me,¡± Hendriks said. ¡°I've always said I thought I wanted to win it, but it's not the end of the world if I don't. And things will shake out how they shake out.
¡°But if you want to talk about the guy who's looked the best in Spring Training, that's Chapman. It's been unbelievable. He's been 97 to 100 [mph] pretty much every outing. And now I¡¯m excited to knock off the big three as far as the closers I¡¯ve been teammates with in [Craig] Kimbrel, [Kenley] Jansen and Chapman.¡±
Hendriks, pitching for the second straight day, retired the only batter he faced to end the fifth inning. Chapman fired a scoreless sixth inning to lower his Grapefruit League ERA to 2.45.
Chapman has been unscored on in seven of his eight outings and continues to hit triple digits in velocity at the age of 37.
¡°It¡¯s impressive, but he¡¯s an impressive guy, no matter what,¡± Hendriks said. ¡°Whether it be mindset, preparation and the routine he goes through, he¡¯s dialed in on what he needs to do, and I'm excited to have a full season with him.¡±
As for Hendriks, he plans on finally pitching a full season after appearing in just five games in 2023 due to non-Hodgkins lymphoma and Tommy John surgery. Hendriks continued his rehab from surgery in '24 -- his first year in Boston -- and didn¡¯t get into a Major League game.
Even if Chapman gets the ninth, Hendriks will have a prime spot in the bullpen pecking order.
¡°He threw the ball well,¡± Cora said of Hendriks. ¡°He¡¯s trending in the right direction. The fastball is getting where we want it. It's not easy to [be out] for a while and have all the obstacles and then show up here and be dominant. The good thing about Chappy, he's throwing strikes. That¡¯s the difference [from recent years].¡±
Hamilton, Campbell both show out in 2B competition
The competition to start at second base for the Red Sox on Opening Day stretched to another day.
¡°We¡¯re getting close,¡± Cora said prior to Thursday¡¯s game.
A few hours later, David Hamilton did his best to close the competition, putting his full array of skills on display under the lights of Hammond Stadium.
In the third inning, Hamilton singled and stole second. Two innings later, he singled and swiftly stole second and third before scoring on a sacrifice fly.
On the other side of the ball, Hamilton made a nice turn on a feed from Trevor Story for a double play to end the second inning. Two innings later, Hamilton deftly made an unassisted double play on a Ty France grounder up the middle.
Though he didn¡¯t get time at second in this one, Kristian Campbell, who is MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 7 overall prospect, had a chance to show off his arm. Byron Buxton belted one into the left-field corner, and Campbell raced over and fired a dart to second base to get the assist.
¡°He's a good athlete,¡± Cora said of Campbell. ¡°That play, the throw was great. He actually worked with [outfield coach Kyle Hudson] on that today. But he got to the ball fast. It caught my attention.¡±
Newcomb strengthens case
While Boston-area native Sean Newcomb arrived in camp as a long shot to make the team as a non-roster invite, he¡¯s now in the mix to grab one of the last two spots in the starting rotation to open the season. Brayan Bello (right shoulder inflammation), Lucas Giolito (low grade left hamstring strain) and Kutter Crawford (right knee injury) will all start the season on the 15-day injured list.
Newcomb, a lefty, scattered four hits and allowed one unearned run over 4 2/3 innings, walking none and striking out three. He¡¯s allowed just one earned run in 14 1/3 innings this spring.
Richard Fitts, Quinn Priester, Cooper Criswell and Michael Fulmer are the other pitchers in the mix for those last two rotation spots.
¡°I feel like I¡¯ve put my name in there for a spot, and it just feels good to get pitching again and have a full spring,¡± Newcomb said.