Just four days after Danny Santana was reinstated from the COVID-related injury list, the Red Sox have sent the utilityman back to the COVID-IL. Infielder Jack Lopez has had his contract selected from Triple-A, and Lopez will take Santana’s spot on the active roster.
Santana has tested positive for COVID-19, MLB.com’s Ian Browne reports (via Twitter), so he will miss at least 10 days while quarantined. Santana previously spent only two days on the COVID-IL due to symptoms, rather than any positive tests. He now becomes the latest Red Sox player to test positive in what has been a long-lasting outbreak within the Boston clubhouse. While some players have started to return to action, Santana is the tenth Sox player currently on the team’s COVID list.
After an elbow injury limited Santana to 15 games with the Rangers in 2020, health issues have again plagued the utilityman in his first season in Boston. Between a foot infection, a left quad strain, a left groin strain, and his two COVID-IL stints, Santana has appeared in just 38 games for the Red Sox, and batted only .181/.252/.345 in 127 plate appearances. Santana’s minor league contract became a guaranteed deal worth $1.75MM when he made the big league roster, though a reunion between Santana and the Sox doesn’t seem very likely in 2022.
This is the second time Lopez has been selected to Boston’s roster in the midst of this coronavirus outbreak, resulting in the 28-year-old getting to make his Major League debut after nine seasons in the minors. A 16th-round pick for the Royals in the 2011 draft, Lopez has spent much of his career in Kansas City’s farm system before moving to the Braves’ organization in 2019 and then signing with the Sox this past offseason. Lopez hit .167/.231/.333 in his first 15 PA as a big leaguer.
Jack Lopez needs to thank covid for his MLB career
fr
is anybody managing this team?
No great loss of Santana.
But who else did he infect? That’s the question, and we won’t know the answer for two more weeks.
based on timing, prolly just a cc. and at this point it’s probably to late to prevent any spread.
Check out the article, Santana tested positive.
We nearly lost half the team to covid already. Who else is left?
When you see Bloom at the Boston Bus Depot offering bags of candy to anybody to join the roster, tell him I said hi.
Not getting any less creepier…..
I’ll pitch, I’ve got a sinker and cutter. Meta pitching right there
Johnny Damon has his phone on him.
Damon already used the one phone call he was allowed.
Please could everyone just get on the Covid list so we can watch some guys that want to play… this BS has gotten way way past the OLD stage!
Sox won last night. COVID and all. So there’s that.
Way too many people getting too wrapped up in the peripherals, and not enough in the games. That was a fun game. We got a nice appearance from Robles, who (SSS) is slowly starting to look like his 2019 performance. Two more scoreless innings from the RS MVP. And a gutsy performance from Taylor who managed to escape 1st & 3rd with -0- outs. We’ve had our 5th different pitcher get a save this month, which should be a record in the first 11 days of a month.
So we are now 1-1 on this road trip. That’s a good start.
I’m glad you think it was fun. Not all my hairs are gray yet but the Sox are helping me get there. They’re keeping the games close which is essential right now.
I agree. Blowing another huge lead is not fun, even if they still manage to win. I’d like to be able to enjoy a game where they have a 5+ lead and there’s no concern about losing.
Ah, you’re new at this. Just kidding. I’ve been a Red Sox fan since 1963 and there’s always been the fear of losing no matter what the lead. Isn’t it great?
Of course, the only problem with 5-run leads is that, if you blow a 5-run lead, it hurts a lot more than say the Friday game.
That said, I’m not fanatical about it. If I catch some FB today, and look around and see a 10-1 RS lead, I am certainly not saying no.
LOL! I’m wondering if the RS have an investment in Grecian Formula.
“Turning hair grey since 1967”
JB – As I reported the likely outcomes for the rest of the season a few days ago, the Red Sox followed the expected pattern and lost 2 of 3 in Chicago. Expect 2 of 3 losses in Seattle as well. The good news is Baltimore is at home after that!!
The media never does in depth analysis to explain hot streaks and cold streaks in baseball. Boston plays CLE, TEX and MIN and suddenly they are hot!! No they played bad teams and are expected to win 2 of 3 so 6 of 9. That’s exactly what happened during their late August surge. Then their early September swoon occurred when the played TB 7 times with CLE wedged in between for 3 games. As expected they won 2 of 3 from CLE and they won 3 of 7 from TB. That’s better than expected so the swoon was actually the Red Sox playing one game over expectations.
Right now they are in a 9 game span where they were to win 3 of 9 and after 6 games they have 2 wins just as expected. See predicting series is actually much easier than your prediction method. It’s probability based with a key assumption about which team is the better team and which team is the home team. The tough predictions come when the better team is playing away. Then it’s a judgement call on which team wins 2 of 3.
There are 17 games left and Boston should win 8. That will give them 89 wins. TOR has 19 games left and should win 11 and that will give them 91 wins. NYY have 19 games left and should win 11 and that will give them 90 wins. OAK has 19 games left and should win 9 and that will give them 86 wins and SEA has 19 games left and should win 11 and that will give them 88 wins.
So for OAK or SEA to have ANY chance of the second playoff spot they need to sweep multiple series remaining. Boston needs to sweep at least one and the NYY would benefit by sweeping one but they don’t have to if Boston doesn’t. Toronto is in the drivers seat. 2 out 3 will get them the #1 WC spot.
The Yankees, As and Mariners hurt their chances over the weekend. They lost more than the probable number of games and lost ground on Boston and Toronto. The Red Sox need to win 5 of 8 on the next home stand to keep themselves in the hunt for the #2 WC spot and they MUST win at least 1 of 3 in SEA.
The last 3 weeks should be fun. Players need to play over their heads to keep the hope alive.
Red Sox won’t make the playoffs if Cora continues to manage the way he has been, or if players continue to become unavailable because of Covid. It’s really that simple.
Xander, Devers, Verdugo, Schwarber, Renfroe and the player whose name I can’t type here all need to play EVERY GAME until they clinch something. JD needs to play EVERY DAY that he’s healthy.
KD17
JB – As I reported the likely outcomes for the rest of the season a few days ago,
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Yup, I read your likely outcomes. I got as far as the first team, when you said that Oakland would take 4-6 on the road against Detroit & Toronto. At that point, I offered to make you an honor wager that Oakland would not beat out the RS.
I can never tell whether your predictions have any mathematical bases, or whether it is all based on hate. But the idea that Oakland would be favored over Det & Tor on the road was pretty far-fetched. Detroit has been outplaying Oakland for several months now, and were at home. Toronto is flat-out a better team than Oakland. The expectation for Oakland in those two series was maybe about 2.5 wins, which is not close to 4.
IRT the RS, I expected one win. A lot of times, 3 games on the road is closer to an expectation of 1.4 or thereabouts. But starting Houck, Seabold, and Pivetta, against Rodon, Cease, and Lynn, we were substantial underdogs in all three games.
Against, Seattle, the expectation is again about 1.5 games, We have better pitching matchups this time, and Seattle is not as good as the WS. I’d like to take 2-3, but we could easily lose 2-3.
KD17
The media never does in depth analysis to explain hot streaks and cold streaks in baseball.
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This has been a pet peeve of mine for 50 years. The vast majority of the time, hot and cold streaks are a function of schedules and one-run games.
Atlanta, as an example, had a 9-game winning streak. But they only played Washington, Miami, and Baltimore. Then they played LAD, SFG, and the NYY, and went 2-6. Now they just played Washington & Miami and went 4-2.
IRT the RS, coming off the AS break, they played 23 of our 26 games against TB, TO, and NYY, with the other three on the road against Detroit. TB is surely better than us, TO is likely better than us, the NYY are about the same, and Detroit at home might be a coinflip. We went 11-15.
We went 4-3 v the NYY, 5-5 v TO, and 1-5 against TB. TB was a little disappointing, but those results are not really way out of line. I just think the press doesn’t understand the impact of schedule on results.
Even against the WS, all three games were coinflips. We could’ve just as easily gone 3-0 as 0-3, had we gone 3-0, the press would’ve lauded us as world-beaters. Had we gone 0-3, they would said we were collapsing.
JB – 50 years? Is that dog years?
I’ve been a fan since ’77 and I do remember those teams from that era having horrible pitching. Blowing a 10-0 lead to Toronto I think in 1989?
But we’ve had really good bullpens the last 17 years, including first half of this year.
The bullpen has had some studs this millennium in Foulke, Papelbon, Uehara, Kimbrel, although Kimbrel got scary. Not quite there this year. I always feel that the strength of your bullpen starts at the back, the strength of your rotation starts at the top.
In 1967, 1975, 1986, they just ran out of pitching. They were trying to fix the bullpen after 1986, but they had some lousy luck with some good closers, like Lee Smith, Jeff Reardon, Rick Aguilera, Tom Gordon, and Byung-Hyun Kim.
I’m just happy they’re playing competitively right now.
Your first list includes the exact 5 guys that I’d include. In terms of sheer dominance, I’d put Koji on top followed by Papelbon.
Foulke was fantastic for the many innings he pitched in 2004, one of a kind.
My only disagreement is with the last two players on your second list.
Flash was phenomenal, 54 consecutive saves before the injury that led to TJ surgery..
Kim was never a great closer, he had one good year in 2002. After seeing his performance in the 2001 WS and his body language, I wanted no part of him.. That was a desperate trade by the Red Sox, due to the complete failure of Theo’s “Closer By Committee” plan.
Hopefully Barnes’ second half issues were Covid related, because he was totally dominant first half of the season.
FPG – There is a very small margin for error with Barnes due to his 12 to 6 curve ball. What made Hoffmann great was his change which didn’t bounce in. What made Rivera great was his cutter like Kenley Jansen.
The Red Sox need a more prototypical closer with either an outstanding cutter or change-up. The reason Barnes had a good first half was more about having better luck not bouncing the ball away from the catchers than his actual stuff. His curve is a critical pitch for his success which is why he should NOT close for a living.
But you do realize the reason Barnes was so incredibly dominant first half of the season was because he turned into a prototypical closer by increasing his fastball usage from 39.1% to 64.6%. and he developed the confidence to throw it over the plate a lot more, rather than nibbling.
FPG – Excellent numbers. I did not know that. It explains the huge drop off since the all-star game.
Kim was never a great closer, he had one good year in 2002.
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Kim was really good once he went to the BP. He had a 2.28 with 16 saves, after 6/30. Sometimes things go awry.