Injury bug takes bite out of team plans
Boston now relying on the younger players to step up
Injuries are part of baseball, and every big league club will inevitably deal with some. The New York Yankees are without Gerrit Cole, the Braves just lost Spencer Strider for the year and the Texas Rangers have two former Cy Young winners sidelined for at least the next few months.
But you’d be hard pressed to find a club that’s been decimated by injury to the degree the Red Sox have.
The Red Sox were going to be a young team to begin with, but over the past two months almost every veteran player in the organization has endured one injury or another. Overall, the club has 10 players on the big league roster or on the injured list who have at least five years of MLB service time, and all but one has been sidelined for some length of time since camp opened in February.
Kenley Jansen, the club’s elder statesman, fought through a litany of ailments during spring training and is still trying to settle into a rhythm. Liam Hendriks is working his way back from Tommy John surgery.
Trevor Story (fractured shoulder) and Lucas Giolito (elbow surgery) are both out for the season. Rafael Devers and Chris Martin have each battled shoulder ailments, and Martin also dealt with groin tightness in camp. Nick Pivetta (right elbow flexor strain) and Rob Refsnyder (broken toe) are on the IL, and Tyler O’Neill needed eight stitches above his eye after being involved in a scary collision with Devers on Monday.
Boston’s only veteran who has so far made it through mid-April unscathed is right-hander Chase Anderson, who didn’t join the organization until just before Opening Day and who has primarily pitched in blowouts.
“It’s not fun but it is what it is,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “You’ve just got to be ready for today. The guys that are playing today have got to do their job, that’s the attitude we have, that’s the attitude they should have.”
The injured veterans collectively include most of the team’s best players, and that group doesn’t even include others who have been sidelined like presumed starting second baseman Vaughn Grissom, rookie reliever Isaiah Campbell and promising left-hander Chris Murphy. The rash of injuries have put even more pressure on the club’s upand-comers to shoulder the load, a responsibility that ideally wouldn’t be theirs to bear.
Triston Casas, Jarren Duran and Masataka Yoshida, three of the guys being counted on to anchor the top of the Red Sox lineup, all have fewer than two years of service time. The same is true for Connor Wong, Enmanuel Valdez and rookies Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu, each of whom is getting regular playing time.
The problem became particularly pronounced with Devers sidelined over the weekend, or with O’Neill out now. On Tuesday the Red Sox fielded a lineup that collectively boasted just 10 years of service time, with Devers (6) the only starter who even had at least two.
To put that into perspective, the New York Yankees lineup on Tuesday boasted 52 collective years of service time, an average of 5.7 years per player.
“They’re learning,” Cora said of the Red Sox youngsters. “It’s not easy to come in late in games and pinch hit, it’s not easy to come in late in games and play defense, but we’re here. We’re in the big leagues. So we try to help them out to prepare as much as possible and hopefully it works out for us.”
The situation isn’t much different on the pitching side. With Giolito out for the season and Pivetta on the shelf, the starting rotation’s elder statesman is Garrett Whitlock with three years of service time, and Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford all have two years or fewer. The bullpen is collectively much more experienced, but the Red Sox are still relying on numerous younger arms, including Josh Winckowski, Brennan Bernardino, Greg Weissert and rookie Justin Slaten.
This isn’t how the Red Sox drew it up, but for better or worse the kids are getting the chance to play. Until some of the veterans start getting healthier, the club will go as far as they can carry it.
O’Neill clears protocol
The Red Sox appear to have dodged a bullet with O’Neill, who has cleared concussion protocol and is expected back in the lineup later this week after leaving Monday’ game following a scary outfield collision.
“A little bit banged up,” Cora said. “He’ll sit today, probably tomorrow, we’ll see how he feels Thursday, but we’ll take it day by day.”
O’Neill collided with Devers attempting to catch a pop fly in shallow left field, and after leaving the game he received eight stitches to close a gash above his left eye. Devers also went down in a heap but remained in the game, and Cora said he’s feeling fine as well.
“He’s doing OK,” Cora said.
Tuesday also brought good news for Pivetta (right elbow flexor strain) and Romy Gonzalez (left wrist sprain). Pivetta again played catch prior to the game and Cora said he’s been trending towards a return.
“Feeling a lot better, moving in the right direction, you can see him now kind of upbeat,” Cora said. “We’ll see what the progress looks like and the program and hopefully we get him back sooner rather than later.”
Gonzalez, meanwhile, took ground balls prior to Tuesday’s game. He is eligible to come off the injured list on Sunday.