Roster squeeze
Pedroia forces pick: Travis or Rutledge?
NEW YORK — It won’t be Sam
Travis’ fault if he gets demoted to Triple-A Pawtucket today, when
Dustin Pedroia is expected to be activated off the 10-day disabled list following his wrist injury. And there’s a strong argument that demoting Travis doesn’t make sense for the Red Sox.
While it could make sense for the well-regarded, but not untouchable, prospect to get everyday playing time in Pawtucket, at what point do the Red Sox have to do what’s best for their 2017 team?
The AL East is as close as ever, although the Sox dropped to three games behind the first-place Yankees after last night’s 9-1 loss. The argument could be made they’d be even further back if not for Travis the last two weeks.
He had two hits in his debut, including a single that led to a sevenrun seventh inning in beating Texas on May 24. Travis’ three-hit game in Chicago meant everything that night. One of his one-out doubles started a four-run second inning, and the other started a three-run fifth in a 13-7 win.
Plus, he gives the Red Sox depth and platoon options at first base, insurance when Hanley Ramirez can’t play and an additional offensive threat off the bench. With Travis in the lineup on the 24th, the Sox were able to use Mitch Moreland off the bench against righties; he went 2-for2 with a homer.
The most likely reason he’d get sent down today, despite going 8-for17 with two walks and four strikeouts in six games, is if the Red Sox decide they can’t lose Josh Rutledge. The Rule 5 pick would have to be offered back to Colorado before he could be optioned to Triple A, and given the lack of infield depth, he could be the smarter choice to keep.
The counter-argument is that players of Rutledge’s caliber — he’s been defensively adequate at first, second and third base while hitting .271 with a .676 OPS in three years here — are easy to find. The Yankees recently traded utility man Ruben Tejada, a career .252 hitter with a .646 OPS in the majors, to division rival Baltimore. If Travis is helping the Red Sox win games and Rutledge is barely going to be used with Pedroia back, keeping Travis could be beneficial.
John Farrell wouldn’t tip his hand when asked about the pending roster decision, but talked about the difficulties in deciding when a prospect should stay in the majors for a parttime role or go to the minors for fulltime at-bats.
“That’s always the balance you’re dealing with with guys and that’s one we’ve had conversations about even before he came up to us,” Farrell said. “With the left-handers we were going to face in a stretch of games, we felt like this was a good time to begin his transition and get some exposure here. He’s done everything that we could have ever hoped in terms of getting on base or swinging the bat as he’s done.”
As for Pedroia, wrist injuries can linger, causing some hitters difficulty swinging the bat with as much authority as their pre-injury hacks. Pedroia, who took batting practice again yesterday, said he doesn’t expect his injured wrist — his left, the bottom hand for a righty hitter — to cause him any discomfort.
“I’m excited,” he said. “Training staff did a great job getting the information and everything out and getting the strength back.”
Pedroia is hitting .292 with a .749 OPS, but with just two home runs. He doesn’t expect to need offseason surgery.
Benny’s back
Andrew Benintendi was back in the lineup, hitting second against righthander Michael Pineda after being held out against lefty CC Sabathia on Wednesday. Benintendi entered the game 5-for-9 with three homers in his previous three games, but went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
“I just think he’s gotten back to the confident, aggressive swing,” Farrell said of the rookie outfielder.
“He went through a two-week period, a 10-day period, where he was getting pitched to with a lot of change of speeds, back and forth a little bit. He might have been caught in between from a timing standpoint. The last couple of days, going back to Friday night in Baltimore, he’s been in a really good, confident place.”
Loose threads
There have been plenty of happy flights for the Red Sox this year, but last night was not one of them. They’re 9-5 on getaway days. . . .
Prior to the last two nights, when the only Sox run came on a passed ball, the offense had started to come alive. They rank third in the majors with 5.6 runs per game since May 6.