Insofar as any one player can lead a team to a spring training victory

."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Red Sox StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Red Sox NewsYahoo Red Sox Team PageYahoo Red Sox ReportYahoo Red Sox Depth ChartYahoo Red Sox TransactionsYahoo Red Sox PhotosOdds About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub 鉁昍ed Sox Game StoriesRed Sox 8 Nolan Ryan Jersey , Yankees 5: Michael Chavis leads Sox to victoryNew,10commentsInsofar as any one player can lead a team to a spring training victory.ESTShareTweetShareShareRed Sox 8, Yankees 5: Michael Chavis leads Sox to victoryDouglas DeFelice-USA TODAY SportsThe Red Sox started their spring training action on Friday with a win against Northeastern, but Saturday marked the beginning of their Grapefruit League schedule. Fittingly, the 2019 season really got started against the Yankees, though it obviously wasn’t filled with the players we’ll be seeing when the games begin to count. Still, there were some fun names on both sides and good performances all around. In the end, the Red Sox were able to head home with a 1-0 record down in Florida following an 8-5 victory.Michael Chavis leads the wayPlayers can’t really affect a game in a terribly significant way in spring training, particularly early in camp when most of the guys are playing about half a game at most. Still, it’s very easy for one or two guys to stand out at the end of the day, and on Saturday it was Michael Chavis. The former first round pick came off the bench — and played out of his natural position at second base — against Northeastern, but against the Yankees he got the start at the hot corner and hit sixth. He didn’t waste any time making an impact, either. The righty came up in the bottom half of the third and got a breaking ball on the outer half that he went with to right field, popping it over the fence for a three-run shot. Chavis has his issues, with defense being one of them, but he has serious power and has been improving his hit tool the last couple of years. We saw with this swing that the power plays to all fields, and that when he’s on he will go the other way. In the past, he has gotten too pull-happy which led to a very low batting average. It’s good to see he’s not falling into that habit early this year. Chavis also added a single in this game and went 2-3.Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY SportsRafael Devers leads the rest of the multi-hit crewChavis certainly had the most noteworthy game http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-tim-tebow-jersey , and he had the only home run for the Red Sox on Saturday afternoon, but a few other notable players grabbed a couple of base hits on the day. The biggest name in the lineup was one of them, with Rafael Devers going 2-3 with a couple of singles, a run and an RBI on the day. Defense will likely be the biggest story for him this year, but we didn’t see any of that today as he served as the team’s DH. Still, even on offense he has some strides to make but the young lefty has the talent to be a major breakout in an already-great Red Sox lineup. Meanwhile, Tzu-Wei Lin got his second consecutive start and went 2-3 with a double and an RBI. Bryce Brentz made his first appearance since rejoining the organization and he had a couple of singles, a couple of runs and an RBI.Predicting the spring training standoutsJasen Vinlove-USA TODAY SportsTravis Lakins makes his 2019 debutThe pitching side of things for the Red Sox didn’t feature a ton of notable names on Saturday, and it’s not likely to for a while. Alex Cora has made it clear since the start of the winter that he plans to ease his pitchers into the action. That said, we did see one of the more exciting relievers expected to start the year in Triple-A with Travis Lakins. The righty, of course, broke out last year after being converted into a reliever, and probably deserved a September call-up. He didn’t get that chance in 2018, but all signs point towards him making his debut in 2019. This was his first chance to impress his coaching staff against major-league opponents in game action, but it wasn’t terribly smooth. On the plus side, he didn’t allow a run over two innings of work and got three ground outs (including a double play) along with a pop up. However, he also allowed three hits and didn’t strike anyone out. All things considered it really wasn’t a terrible debut or anything like that particularly since all three hits were singles and two of them were hit on the ground.A mixed bag from the other pitchersJosh Smith got the start in this one, and he is a deep Asdrubal Cabrera Jersey , deep sleeper to serve as depth both as a starter and a reliever this season. Things would likely have to go pretty wrong for him to get a real chance, though crazier things have happened. He didn’t get off to a great start, though, allowing three runs on six hits that included a Gleyber Torres home run as well as four doubles over just 1 2鈦? innings. Smith will look to turn things around in his next start in hopes of not being totally buried on the depth chart. On the more positive side, Marcus Walden pitched well after Smith, coming in for two scoreless innings with two strikeouts and his only runner reaching on a single. Later in the game, Erasmo Ram铆rez came in for a 1-2-3 inning with a pair of strikeouts. Walden and Ram铆rez, but particularly the latter, are better bets to get a chance as emergency depth at some point in 2019.BOX CLEVELAND (AP) — Josh Donaldson experienced flight issues from Florida on his first official day as a member of the Indians.His on-field arrival may be delayed as well.The 2015 AL MVP did not get to Progressive Field until just before the start of the game Saturday night, a day after Cleveland acquired the free-swinging third baseman in a trade with Toronto — a deal the AL Central leaders hope propels them to the World Series.“He can hit the ball really hard,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “When he’s in that batter’s box, he’s one of the guys who, you think, ‘Uh oh.’ Now we can be cheering for him. That’s what I told him.”Donaldson, whose sometimes turbulent tenure during four seasons with the Blue Jays ended late Friday night, put on his new No. 27 uniform — he can’t wear No. 20 because Frank Robinson’s jersey is retired in Cleveland — and joined his teammates in the dugout as they played the Tampa Bay Rays.A new home, a fresh start.Donaldson has been limited to just 36 games this season because of an assortment of injuries, most recently a calf strain that has lingered http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-tim-tebow-jersey , sidelining him for three months. But the 32-year-old, when healthy, is one of the league’s most dangerous hitters and the Indians are eager to add him to their lineup.“He’s an MVP-type player,” Francona said, “a middle-of-the-order bat that, a guy that when he was on the other team, I used to joke with (third-base coach Brad Mills) Millsy, ‘I hope he swings so hard he hurts his back.’ He kinda puts a little fear into you when he gets in the batter’s box.“He plays with an edge. He plays hard. Again, there’s no crystal ball, and we know that. We know there’s some risk there, but it’s got a chance to make us better.”Francona met with the team’s medical staff Saturday and received a positive report on Donaldson. He’s confident there’s time left in the season for him to get ready.Francona did not want to discuss any of the team’s plans over the next few weeks with Donaldson before talking to him personally.In the deal, the Indians also received $2.7 million to cover most of the $3.7 million remaining on Donaldson’s $23 million salary. Because he was traded, he will be a free agent after the season and the Blue Jays will not receive any other compensation.It was a low-risk, high-reward trade by the Indians, who made a similar move last season by getting slugger Jay Bruce from the New York Mets for the postseason.And while Donaldson’s bat could make the Indians’ lineup deeper, he’s also causing an infield shift.When he’s ready, Donaldson will play third with the Indians moving All-Star Jose Ramirez to second and pushing Jason Kipnis into the outfield.Francona met with Ramirez and Kipnis to make sure everyone was on the same page. Francona previously said he was reluctant to move Ramirez, who came up as a middle infielder.“His concern was going back and forth Juan Lagares Jersey , so I told him we wouldn’t do that,” Francona said. “I talked to Kip and we knew this would affect Kip more than anybody, and I don’t think he was jumping for joy and I don’t think we expected him to.”Francona said Kipnis will soon begin taking fly balls in the outfield, and it’s possible he could move around while Donaldson gets ready.Francona told Kipnis that Cleveland owner Paul Dolan and the front office extended themselves to get Donaldson and everyone had to do their parts.“I explained to him, ‘You know our owner went and did this and I have to do my job, too, so you gotta be the best option,’ ” Francona said. “I don’t think it’s fun to hear that, but Kip’s a pretty good competitor, so we’ll see how it goes.”It’s an awkward situation, but Francona believes Donaldson will be welcomed by his new teammates.“Guys aren’t new for very long,” he said. “It’s amazing in this game, when you put your uniform on and you compete with your teammates, they become your teammates real quick, especially with that group.”