Anthony Rizzo cherished getting drafted by Red Sox, and other thoughts
This story originally appeared in the Globe’s Sunday Baseball Notes. Read the rest here.
Anthony Rizzo was a sixth-round pick of the Red Sox in 2007 out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Fla., the same school that has since produced Jesús Luzardo and Roman Anthony.
Rizzo shot up the prospect charts and was in Double-A by 2010. He was traded to the Padres after the season in the ill-fated deal for grouchy Adrian Gonzalez.
He went on to become an All-Star, Gold Glover, and World Series winner with the 2016 Cubs. But his first organization always held special meaning for him.
“Getting drafted by the Red Sox is something I’ll always cherish,” Rizzo said.
Here’s something you might not know: Rizzo was interested in coming back.
After being traded from the Cubs to the Yankees in 2021, Rizzo became a free agent. He called Sox assistant general manager Raquel Ferreira that offseason and said he wanted to return to the organization.
“I was like, ‘Hey, you guys need to sign me,’ ” Rizzo said. “I still love the ties in Boston. I had a lot of close friends there.”
But with Bobby Dalbec coming off a good season, the Sox weren’t interested in acquiring a first baseman. Rizzo stayed with the Yankees to finish out his career and returned to the Series in 2024.
Now retired, Rizzo was back at Fenway Park for the Yankees-Sox game Sunday night, working for NBC on its pregame show and contributing insights during the game.
Rizzo played 23 regular-season games at Fenway in his career and had a modest .641 OPS. But he homered off Nate Eovaldi in the memorable 2021 AL Wild Card Game.
A few other observations on the Red Sox:
▪ Sox fans have experienced two championships since 2013 and five last-place finishes. They know how to tell a good team from a bad one.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow knows this, having played parts of five seasons in Boston, including the roller coaster seasons from 2012-15.
But Breslow told the Globe’s Tim Healey that a team with what at the time was the fourth-worst record in baseball wasn’t necessarily going to be sellers.
“We’ve got a lot of baseball games to play between now and [the trade deadline], and we’re going to do everything we can to get the ship righted for 2026,” he said.
The ship is stuck on a reef, and the fans get that. Most would prefer to see some momentum toward a better 2027 than clinging to the idea that the Sox will suddenly turn the season around.
▪ Interim manager Chad Tracy understandably trusts his veteran relievers to tell him if they need to get in games to stay sharp.
But he overplayed that hand with Aroldis Chapman, who appeared in only four games from May 21-June 21, pitching four innings. Chapman then faced the Rockies on Monday and allowed four hits to the four hitters he faced and blew a 2-0 lead.
Chapman had his usual velocity, but uncharacteristically left pitches over the plate. The game-winning triple by Jake McCarthy was a middle-middle fastball.
Tracy and pitching coach Andrew Bailey were riding a hot hand and let Chapman call the shots. But four appearances in a month?
▪ The Sox have used seven players as leadoff hitters. Going into the weekend, they had a .301 on-base percentage and had scored 39 runs over 79 games. Only the Guardians, Reds, and Giants had lower OBPs.
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