WooSox righty Brian Van Belle on mound against Northeastern; Anthony scratched from lineup
Red Sox baseball is back, and the spring kicks off with the annual exhibition matchup against Northeastern University.
Roman Anthony was originally penciled into the top of the lineup, leading off and playing left field. He was scratched due to a sore right elbow and replaced with newly signed veteran outfielder Trayce Thompson. Anthony was hit in the elbow while taking batting practice on Thursday.
Kristian Campbell will get the start at second base and bat second in the lineup.
Campbell has been working out mainly at second base this spring. Boston is hoping a strong camp from the 22-year-old will earn him the starting job, thus forcing more tough decisions on the roster.
“Campbell, he’s learning,” Alex Cora said at JetBlue Park on Wednesday. “The turns are getting better. He has range. He has good hands. We’re working hard with him at second base.”
Marcelo Mayer will see game action for the first time since last summer when he was shutdown with a lumbar injury while with the Sea Dogs. He was later promoted to Triple-A Worcester along with Anthony and catcher Kyle Teel but did not play due to his injury. Mayer has been working out at both second base and third base this spring.
Alex Cora has been impressed with Mayer since the start of camp, giving him high praise on Wednesday afternoon.
“Mayer plays the part,” Cora said to reporters on Wednesday.
“He’s really good at shortstop. Smooth, good intuition, good instincts. For how tall he is, he moves with grace over there—old-school, kind of like a shortstop. He’s really good."
Boston will send Brian Van Belle to the mound, who is in camp after earning a non-roster invite from the team. Van Belle is coming off an up-and-down year with the WooSox in 2024. The Florida native struggled over the first two months of last season, resulting in the WooSox moving him out of the rotation and into the bullpen as a bulk inning reliever.
He finished strong towards the end of the season, pitching to a sub-2.00 ERA over the final two months of the season.
The Red Sox are planning to use right-handed pitchers Jacob Webb and Wyatt Mills after Van Belle. Webb pitched for the Sea Dogs and WooSox last season; he went 10-3 with a 4.95 ERA and 81 strikeouts to 30 walks.
Mills will see game action for the first time since 2022 after missing the last couple of years recovering from Tommy John surgery. Boston acquired Mills in December of 2022 from the Royals for minor league right-hander pitcher Jacob Wallace.
Key stats and Red Sox lineup
This is the 21st meeting between Northeastern University and the Red Sox. The two clubs did not play a spring training exhibition during 2021-22 after doing so for 17 consecutive seasons from 2004-20.
The two Huskies to play for the Red Sox were 1B Carlos Peña (2006) and RHP Adam Ottavino (2021).
Eleven of the 62 players in camp for the Red Sox have zero days of MLB service time:
Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Yovanny Cruz, Hunter Dobbins, Jhostynxon Garcia, Nathan Hickey, Bryan Mata, Marcelo Mayer, Luis Perales, Brian Van Belle, and Jacob Webb.
Red Sox lineup vs. Northeastern University:
Trayce Thompson LF
Kristian Campbell 2B
Marcelo Mayer SS
Triston Casas 1B
Abraham Toro DH
Nick Sogard 3B
Nick Eaton CF
Jhostynxon Garcia RF
Mark Kolozsvary C
SP: RHP Brian Van Belle (2024: 8-2, 4.42 ERA, 4.12 FIP)
The first pitch is at 1:05 p.m. and can be seen on NESN and NESN 360.
