Red Sox' Quinn Priester on mound for Grapefruit League opener; Roman Anthony back in lineup
The Red Sox are coming off their 5-2 exhibition win over Northeastern University on Friday and will begin their Grapefruit League schedule against the Rays.
Quinn Priester will be on the mound for Boston, looking to continue to impress early on in camp.
“Priester is another guy that caught my eye. Kind of like impressive,” Cora said last week to reporters at JetBlue Park. “He put in work in the offseason. He’s a lot stronger. We saw what he did the last day. He’s got good stuff. He looks really good.”
During the offseason, the righty put on around 15 pounds of muscle, one of the objectives the Red Sox wanted Priester to accomplish. Priester projects to open the season with the WooSox but with pitchers Brayan Bello (shoulder) and Kutter Crawford (knee) dealing with injuries early on in camp, it could open the door for the young hurler to break camp with the Sox.
Priester made his Red Sox debut, tossing five innings to earn the victory, allowing just a run off four hits while striking out two and walking one. He threw 89 pitches, 58 of them for strikes.
Roman Anthony is back in the lineup after he was scratched on Friday afternoon with a sore elbow. Anthony was hit on his elbow on Thursday while taking batting practice. The top prospect was itching to get into the Northeastern game, asking Alex Cora to play, but the Sox’ skipper opted to keep Anthony on the bench.
Marcelo Mayer is back in the lineup; he will serve as the team’s designated hitter and bat fifth. The Red Sox’s No. 2 prospect, Kristian Campbell will get the day off as Vaughn Grissom gets the start at second base. Grissom is one of many hoping to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster.
Fans will get to see Ceddanne Rafaela make his spring debut in center field, and he’ll bat third in the lineup. Cora said at the start of camp that he wants to see Rafaela in center field this season. The athletic Rafaela played both center field and shortstop due to Trevor Story’s shoulder injury at the start of the season.
The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey reported that Rafaela added more muscle to his frame and focused on using an altered batting stance in 2025. The new stance will feature him lowering his hands, keeping him connected with his front leg with a small leg kick to help his timing at the plate. The Red Sox are hoping the new approach works; Rafaela struck out 151 times in his first full season in 2024.
Key stats and Red Sox lineup
Red Sox prospect Jhostynxon Garcia went 1-for-2, with a run scored and drove in two RBI against Northeastern; his two-run RBI single came in the 4th inning.
The Sox allowed just one hit in the game, and they did not allow an earned run. Right-handed reliever Jacob Webb, who split time with Portland and Worcester last year, earned the win as he struck out two hitters over two scoreless frames.
Boston is expected to utilize right-handed pitchers Michael Fulmer, Luis Guerrero, Robert Stock, and Yovanny Cruz following Priester on Saturday afternoon. Stock and Cruz signed MiLB deals with the Sox this offseason, while Fulmer is rehabbing back from Tommy John surgery.
Red Sox lineup vs. the Rays:
David Hamilton SS
Roman Anthony LF
Ceddanne Rafaela CF
Carlos Narváez C
Marcelo Mayer DH
Vaughn Grissom 2B
Abraham Toro 1B
Trayce Thompson RF
Nick Sogard 3B
SP: Quinn Priester (2024: 3-6, 4.71 ERA, 4.70 FIP with Indy/Worcester)
The first pitch is at 1:05 p.m. and can be seen on NESN and NESN 360.
