Heineman is an interesting option in that they could play Wong at 2b. But yeah, probably and hopefully just a very short term move no matter whom it is.
The latest injuries: a permanent wave?
- Thread starter The Gray Eagle
- Start date
Excellent question.
It isn't just Grissom to replace for a few weeks; we also have Yoshida hitting off a tee now and O'Neill hopefully returning before him, before Casas' return from the 60-day (in 3 weeks?) requires bumping someone from the 40-man. I would want to avoid calling up Dalbec, who has a 40% K-rate in AAA right now; that doesn't seem like a great plan if he'll be called on to play at all.
So taking that into account, I suspect that we may come to some sort of resolution of the Cooper/Smith experiment in the coming days as well, and maybe a Dalbec DFA, in order to rebalance the 40-man away from 1Bs who can't hit.
There are a few guys off the 40-man hitting well in the minors who will be rule-5 eligible this fall (and thus need to be rostered if they're going to be).
- SW IF Nick Sogard (.848 OPS in AAA)
- LHH 1B/C/DH Niko Kavadas (.995 OPS in AAA)
- RHH IF/OF Matthew Lugo (1.069 OPS in AA)
@E5 Yaz, did you edit that list so the Dalbec news came last? If it was first, I would have said 'oh f*ck' and stopped reading.
Westbrook is from Springfield, but appears to have grown up in AZ. Has played all over the world, so a pretty cool story. Having a solid year in Worcester, with a 267/364/436 line. Good year for the Yankees AAA club last year. Hope he makes the most of his opportunity!
Westbrook has always shown solid patience, low K rates, and some pop. I remember being surprised when we signed him that he'd never gotten a chance with a big league team, given his success. Good for him!
Westbrook like to call himself Barrell Man because he barrels up the ball so often. Also, he looks a little like a keg on legs.
https://www.audacy.com/weei/sports/red-sox/meet-the-red-sox-player-they-call-barrel-man
Clearly, they really don't want to add Meidroth or Sogard to the 40-man right now, so we get more Bobby D. Personally I would have given Sogard a shot and if we had to DFA him later, seems like not a big deal. But maybe they feel like he has a future as a utility guy.
Also, more bad luck for Romy. He has looked like a solid, useful player whenever he's been healthy, but...
https://www.audacy.com/weei/sports/red-sox/meet-the-red-sox-player-they-call-barrel-man
Clearly, they really don't want to add Meidroth or Sogard to the 40-man right now, so we get more Bobby D. Personally I would have given Sogard a shot and if we had to DFA him later, seems like not a big deal. But maybe they feel like he has a future as a utility guy.
Also, more bad luck for Romy. He has looked like a solid, useful player whenever he's been healthy, but...
He was born in a Springfield hospital but grew up in Holyoke until he moved to Arizona. He's my nephew's second cousin, which means nothing but is kind of cool.
Sunday. He twisted it at some point during the game slipping on the dugout steps.
View: https://twitter.com/tylermilliken_/status/1798062166186381563?s=46
Not much one can do when our current
IL could field its own team….. or make it own M*A*S*H episode
Wow, they are kind of out of guys to call up, aren’t they? DFA Heineman to get an OF up? Maybe Walter to the 70 day? Ugh (Edit- Heinemen is up!)
Yeah, they have no minor league position players left on the 40 man, and they just added one of their "break glass" options in Westbrook.
As far as fungible OFs go. . .Contreras had a good May but isn't hitting well overall. I think he's the most likely OF you add and just DFA afterward to clear a 40-man spot.
Alex is well aware. Batting 7th and playing RF for Your Boston Red Sox is #29 Bobby Dalbec."Hey Alex, I play RF."
Is he related to Lawrence Westbrook; who played hoop at Minnesota but came from Arizona? Lawrence's dad was definitely from Holyoke, so I got to think it's his brother or cousin.
Yes, he is. There are at least half a dozen folks from that family who have excelled at sports at various levels (college+). I teach in Springfield, and 2 former colleagues of mine are his cousins, and they are ecstatic. He sounds like a righteous guy.
Pretty crazy looking at the fangraphs injury report. Few teams that really rival the Sox in terms of volume of guys injured from my quick perusal. 20 DL stints for the Sox (13 currently). Six of which are 60-day, and with one guy maybe headed for 60 day (Grissom).
White Sox have 19 DL stints. 19 for the Athletics (10 current). 16 for the Yankees (9 currently, 6 on the 60 day), but with the exception of Cole and Schmidt, mostly to relief pitching depth. 17 to the Rays, 7 currently (most of their injuries occurred in March, and their guys were largely back by May). Rangers have had 19, with 12 guys currently injured, NINE of which are on the 60 day IL). Giants also have 20 guys who've hit the IL this year, with 7 of them on the 60-day.
So the Sox aren't uniquely injured, but they're definitely at the bottom of the barrel in terms of volume of guys who've been on the DL and number who are currently on the 60 day. Unsurprisingly, the list of teams with the most injured guys has a lot of middling-to-bad teams.
The difference between 20 and 15 or so may not seem massive, but when you consider the Sox have lost 3 starting pitchers (Giolito, Whitlock, and Murphy), two starting position players (Story and Casas) and Grissom has effectively been on the 60 day DL, it's starts to seem pretty insane.
https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/injury-report?&timeframe=all
White Sox have 19 DL stints. 19 for the Athletics (10 current). 16 for the Yankees (9 currently, 6 on the 60 day), but with the exception of Cole and Schmidt, mostly to relief pitching depth. 17 to the Rays, 7 currently (most of their injuries occurred in March, and their guys were largely back by May). Rangers have had 19, with 12 guys currently injured, NINE of which are on the 60 day IL). Giants also have 20 guys who've hit the IL this year, with 7 of them on the 60-day.
So the Sox aren't uniquely injured, but they're definitely at the bottom of the barrel in terms of volume of guys who've been on the DL and number who are currently on the 60 day. Unsurprisingly, the list of teams with the most injured guys has a lot of middling-to-bad teams.
The difference between 20 and 15 or so may not seem massive, but when you consider the Sox have lost 3 starting pitchers (Giolito, Whitlock, and Murphy), two starting position players (Story and Casas) and Grissom has effectively been on the 60 day DL, it's starts to seem pretty insane.
https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/injury-report?&timeframe=all
I think it's unclear. Could be a light pull, could not be. But they sent him for imaging, which they didn't do for Romy, for example, who also strained his hamstring, and is expected to come off the 10-day DL pretty fast.
Excited, by the way, to see what Romy might do with a little more time. He's been hitting the ball hard at elite rates and striking out very little in the small number of at-bats he's been given.
Yeah I'd really like to get back to Romy SS Blizzard 2B.
Edit re: Martin: unbelievable. Guess that's Kelly back up?
View: https://twitter.com/ChrisCotillo/status/1798169920322327035?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
So many injuries we overloaded the system lol.
Edit re: Martin: unbelievable. Guess that's Kelly back up?
View: https://twitter.com/ChrisCotillo/status/1798169920322327035?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
So many injuries we overloaded the system lol.
The Martin IL trip is for anxiety and you can’t heal that like a bad hamstring. Hopefully Chris will be OK, baseball be damned.
I hadn't heard anything before about Yoshida going on a rehab assignment, so that's something.
Unfortunately, Casas still isn't swinging a bat at all.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5541825/2024/06/04/red-sox-wilyer-abreu-injured-list/
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/06/04/sports/red-sox-place-wilyer-abreu-10-day-injured-list-with-ankle-sprain/
Unfortunately, Casas still isn't swinging a bat at all.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5541825/2024/06/04/red-sox-wilyer-abreu-injured-list/
The Glob says there's a good chance O'Neill will be back tonight:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/06/04/sports/red-sox-place-wilyer-abreu-10-day-injured-list-with-ankle-sprain/
Same article has more on Casas-- "very much unlikely" he will be able to play by June 21:
And also Yoshida:
Romy G could be back Sunday:
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At this point, I'd be reluctant to have all the players on the active roster travelling together. 25 players, 25 cabs seems like a prudent approach.
View: https://twitter.com/alexspeier/status/1798377485517869074
Good for Chris for being open about his anxiety
The big issue in all of this for any team is not only the number of injuries that have occurred, but how many are injured at the same time and the effect on the 40 man roster. For example, ATM the Sox are currently carrying 3 catchers because the last remaining player on the 40 man roster is a catcher.
Agreed, and that's a very supportive statement from Cora. Handled about as well as it could have with all that is going on with the team right now.
Did MLBers really watch the whole game again after playing? That had to be a small minority, maybe bench players trying to gain every edge. Now, I'm sure they get a cut-up of their PAs and fielding plays before they're done showering.
I think his point was that he was so horribly anxious about his performance that he watched the whole game over and over again.
As for today's players, yeah, video review is advanced enough now that any Joe Schmoe (or Sin Duda!) can cycle through any of the players at-bats on a given night just by using the MLB video player. Literally you can see every pitch of the game, for free.
Recall Remy saying something similar, that he took an 0-4 home. Not just rethinking/revisiting, but being on edge with family.
I know it's not the Sox, but ESPN reports "the Orioles received a double dose of terrible news this week: Starters John Means and Tyler Wells were both lost for the season with UCL damage that requires Tommy John surgery. Both pitchers have undergone the procedure before."
Let's see how they hold up with such news.
Let's see how they hold up with such news.
Glob Yoshida update: he hit against a pitching machine, but felt some pain when he got jammed:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/06/06/sports/red-sox-netflix-anxiety/
Cora doesn't sound particularly impressed.
This article from June 2018 talks about Chapman going back on the DL that season after the cortisone shot:
Yoshida got a cortisone shot a while back, and was apparently taking BP and doing well last weekend, according to the Herald:
https://www.bostonherald.com/2024/06/01/red-sox-masataka-yoshida-triston-casas-tyler-oneill-alex-cora-injuries/
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/06/06/sports/red-sox-netflix-anxiety/
Cora doesn't sound particularly impressed.
That comment about Matt Chapman's similar injury is weird, like they forgot to include the next sentence.
This article from June 2018 talks about Chapman going back on the DL that season after the cortisone shot:
Looks like after the shot, Chapman started the season on time, played through pain, had to go on the DL in June, then was back in about 3 weeks and hit well afterward.
Yoshida got a cortisone shot a while back, and was apparently taking BP and doing well last weekend, according to the Herald:
https://www.bostonherald.com/2024/06/01/red-sox-masataka-yoshida-triston-casas-tyler-oneill-alex-cora-injuries/
Yoshida got some hand injury advice from Pedroia:
The Glob article on Casas: he hopes to be able to start swinging a bat soon:
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If the roster move is Heineman again, and I think he's the only available position player on the 40 man, why even bother. Especially if it means O'Neill, who might be ready in 3 days, has to be out for 10.
Can't imagine the move would be Heineman if O'Neill goes back on the IL. As I pointed out in the lineup thread, they can move Bryan Mata to the 60-day IL to clear a space to add another position player to the 40-man. That has to be preferable to adding a third catcher to the roster.
Though with the versatility of the bench players they have now, they might be able to survive just sitting O'Neill out for a couple days, or even just DHing to keep his bat in the lineup but him otherwise off his feet. Aside from the presumed starters (Duran, Rafaela, Refsnyder), they have at least four more guys who have played the outfield in some capacity in their careers: Dalbec, Smith, Cooper, and Westbrook. While not ideal, they could get by with one of those guys handling a few innings here and there as needed.