Unsung Red Sox names to think about this month

Spring Training games are on the radio during the day and Twitter is a dead zone during the games, so it doesn’t seem like everyone pays a ton of attention to the Red Sox during March.

For those who don’t really follow the Red Sox throughout Spring Training or for those who do and are just looking for another perspective, here are a few lesser names worth keeping in mind as we head towards the regular season.

Kyle Kendrick — The ex-Phillie has pitched real well this spring (1.50 ERA, 16 K’s in 18 IP), and has worked his way up to being the No. 6-7 starter. And with David Price set to begin the year on the DL, he’s pretty much one injury away from making it up to the bigs.

Sam Travis — Once again, he’s killing it in Spring Training (.321 batting average, 3 HRs 1.174 OPS in 13 games). He can flat out crush the fastball to the point where some might wonder why Mitch Moreland is in the organization. And if his defense was a little better, they might have a point.

And by once again, I mean he was also good last spring.

Edgar Olmos — John Farrell mentioned this guy seemingly out of nowhere on Thursday as being in the mix for the second left-handed relief job in the Red Sox bullpen. His MLB experience is limited, but he’s quietly strung together a few real strong outings this spring (1 run allowed in 7.2 innings, 11 Ks).

Robby Scott — Similar story to Olmos. Scott, who had seven scoreless outings with the Red Sox last season, has added six more this spring as he competes for the lefty-specialist job.

Marco Hernandez — Once again, Hernandez is hitting well (.355 batting average, 1.041 OPS in 11 games)–and he’s honestly looked quite good defensively which is a plus. Even if he doesn’t win the utility infield spot out of the gate, he’s bound to be it by the end of the season. The guy was on the Red Sox postseason roster last year, after all.

Fun fact: Hernandez actually pinch-ran for Ortiz, effectively ending Big Papi’s big league career in game 3 of the ALDS. See, I actually know stuff about baseball.