The Red Sox are going to place infielder Curtis Mead on the ten-day injured list, reports Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. Mead has a broken wrist, according to Tommy Cassell of Worcester T&G Sports. Infielder Nick Sogard is expected to be called up to replace him. Cassell was first on the Sogard recall. Sogard is on his way to join the team but has not yet arrived, so the transaction might not become official until tomorrow.
It’s an unfortunate start to the Mead era for the Red Sox. Boston just traded left-hander Connelly Early to Washington three days ago, hoping that they were subtracting from a strong rotation in order to improve their infield and lineup. Mead is controlled for four seasons beyond this one, so there’s still plenty of time for him to provide value, but the Sox surely hoped he would play a role in helping them immediately.
Mead made his Sox debut last night against the Athletics but was hit by a pitch near his hands as seen in this clip from Baseball Savant. He initially stayed in the game but was removed an inning later. A timeline for his injury hasn’t been reported or provided by the club, but a broken wrist will surely lead to a notable absence. That’s obviously a frustrating development for the Sox and for Mead.
It’s possible that this leads to further moves ahead of the August 3 trade deadline. Even after acquiring Mead, the Sox have reportedly been looking at the shortstop market. Trevor Story is still recovering from hernia surgery performed earlier this year. He could return before the season is done but he hasn’t yet started a rehab assignment. With Mead now subtracted from the infield group, perhaps it will increase the club’s desire to add another infielder for the stretch run.
Last night, the Sox played Mead at second base, with Willson Contreras at first, Caleb Durbin at third and Andruw Monasterio at short. Monasterio is having a decent season but could have been bumped to a utility role by an external acquisition. Even without a shortstop trade, the return of Story or a late-season promotion for prospect Franklin Arias could have had a similar effect.
Now with Mead subtracted, the infield group looks as thin as it did a few days ago. Sogard will come up to join Monasterio, Anthony Seigler and Romy González in the middle infield group for now. If the Sox look to the trade market, some of the potentially available names are Zach Neto, Luis Arraez, CJ Abrams, Gleyber Torres, Willy Adames, Willi Castro and Brett Baty.
Photo courtesy of Paul Rutherford, Imagn Images
