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Veteran catcher Yasmani Grandal opts to stay with WooSox, hopes to learn from Jason Varitek
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- Veteran catcher Yasmani Grandal opts to stay with WooSox, hopes to learn from Jason Varitek
WORCESTER -- With 13 seasons in the MLB on his resume, Yasmani Grandal doesn't have much left to prove.
Yet that hasn't kept the 36-year-old from the daily grind of minor league baseball, riding the buses on the road and showing up daily to a clubhouse stocked with players who were in middle school when Grandal made his major-league debut.
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"[He's] been in the league for like a thousand years," Marcelo Mayer, 14 years Grandal's junior, joked. "He's a better man than me, to be honest. [Thirteen] years under my belt, I probably wouldn't be in Rochester in 30 degree weather when it's damn near snowing. It just shows how much he loves the game and how much he's still willing to get better and learn and stay in the big leagues."
Grandal made the choice to stay with the Red Sox organization on Thursday as his May 1 opt-out date arrived. With Connor Wong very close to returning to the Red Sox , there's not a clear path for Grandal to make it back to the MLB, but he thinks the opportunity to play in Boston is worth it.
"The Red Sox have been a desirable destination for me for a long time," Grandal said. "So I just took the chance to take the chance. Just hopefully [to get] the opportunity to kind of be a fly on the wall while [Red Sox coach Jason] Varitek is doing his thing."
Grandal said Varitek was one of his favorite players to watch growing up; he even was pushed a bit to go to Georgia Tech instead of the University of Miami, where he ended up, because of the pedigree Varitek brought to the catching program there.
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Grandal signed in mid-April after Wong broke his pinky finger, but has only played seven games for the WooSox over the past few weeks. The veteran backstop is trying to get back to game speed after not having a spring training (he remained unsigned through the offseason).
"You can't really train to catch nine innings. That's just plain and simple," Grandal said. "I mean, it doesn't matter how hard you work, once you get behind the plate, it's just a completely different animal.
"I'm here to win. I don't care where I'm at. My competition is competition," Grandal added. "At the end of the day, you're looking to come out with a W."
It's evident that Grandal's focus is on where he is right now. WooSox manager Chad Tracy said the catcher is engaged every game, taking in as much as he can.
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"He's not just here taking up space, like, give me my bats and stay out of the way," Tracy said. "I wish you guys could see him in the dugout. He sits right behind the bench and he's like watching the game nonstop. He's watching base coaches, he's watching pitchers, he's watching baserunners, he's watching everything."
With Wong on his way back to the Red Sox shortly, Grandal will likely get more at-bats with the WooSox over the upcoming two-week road trip.
"I've only been here a few weeks, there's plenty of work to do," Grandal said. "I think leaving and going somewhere else or just leaving and going home, I don't think that was ever an option for me. What I need is playing time, games under my belt. Make sure I get my legs underneath me, and we'll revisit that decision in the near future."
Wicked Worms 7, Mud Hens 4
The WooSox played as the Wicked Worms of Worcester on Thursday, donning green alternate uniforms in a homage to Worcester's 'Worm Town' nickname.
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Connor Wong showed he's just about ready to rejoin the Red Sox after recovering from a fractured pinky finger. Wong played all nine innings behind the plate for the second time this week, and went 1-for-4 with a home run to center and a walk.
Nick Sogard 's bat is starting to come alive as he went 2-for-3 with a double and a pair of walks. Abraham Toro and Nate Eaton each drove in a pair of runs.
Shane Drohan was cruising through his first three innings of work before running into trouble in the fourth, when a pair of singles put two on for Jahmai Jones , who put the Mud Hens on the board with a three-run home run. Drohan racked up seven strikeouts in five innings of work and the three-run shot was the only blemish on his outing.
Jose Adames and Isaiah Campbell both tossed scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth, respectively.
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Notes
- With Walker Buehler possibly sidelined, Hunter Dobbins would be the obvious option to make a spot start with the Red Sox. Dobbins hasn't pitched since April 24 and has been in somewhat of a holding pattern waiting to see what the Red Sox need. Dobbins has bounced back and forth all April, making two starts in Boston and three in Worcester.
What's Next
The WooSox will try to get in as many games as they can with rain in the forecast for this weekend. Friday night will see Cooper Criswell take the hill for Worcester against the Mud Hens.
Read the original article on MassLive .
