The Red Sox are planning to activate star shortstop Xander Bogaerts from the COVID-19 injured list before this evening’s game against the White Sox, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive (Twitter link). He has been out since testing positive for the virus on August 31.
Boston has held their own in Bogaerts’ absence, going 5-4 over that nine-game stretch. Bogaerts was one of ten Red Sox players to test positive as the virus has spread throughout the clubhouse. While he and Kiké Hernández have now made it back to action, a good portion of the roster remains on the virus-related IL. Indeed, that spread continued to impact the club as recently as this afternoon, when it was announced that ace Chris Sale tested positive.
Bogaerts is arguably the most important player the Red Sox were without during their outbreak. The three-time All-Star has a fantastic .298/.366/.501 line over 519 plate appearances this season, making him one of the more valuable position players in the league. He returns at a time when the Sox hold a one-game advantage over the Yankees for the American League’s top Wild Card spot, with the Blue Jays just half a game behind New York.
Wait, there are actually Red Sox players who aren’t on the COVID lists?
This is the most important road trip of the Red Sox season coming up: (3) in Chicago (White Sox) then (3) in Seattle. Meanwhile, the 3 teams who are just below BOS & NYY in the wildcard race play the Orioles, Rangers and Diamondbacks for their next 3 games, while the Yankees play the hapless Mets. If Boston loses 2 out of 3 in Chicago, they could very well end up losing their slim lead in the wildcard standing by Sunday!
Boston, at worst, has to go 3-3 on this road trip and preferably 4-2. They certainly need to figure out how to take 2 of 3 from Seattle (a 3 game sweep is perfectly acceptable as well). After this 6 game stretch, Boston’s schedule does get easier except for a 3 game series against the Yankees in Fenway, so they’d still have enough ‘easy’ games to make up any lost ground from this CHI/SEA trip but it’s about time for the Sox to nut up or shut up. Losing Sale to Covid is a huge loss but maybe Seabold can be called up and give them 4-5 quality innings. Let’s go Sox!
Sox and yanks both going home.
Honestly, I don’t think so. One of them could but I doubt both. Toronto is the factor here. They have young stars and a very good rotation. Robbie Ray has been pitching like an ace. I think they could steal a spot but I’m not sure Oakland or Mariners will get that last spot.
pwndroia – the 9 games are the key to the Red Sox chances. I figured them to win 3 of the 9 against TB, CWS and SEA. If that happens they could get the second spot.
TOR has 6 games with the twins and should win 4, 7 games with BAL and should win 5 despite trailing tonight, 6 games with TB and should win 3 and 3 at home versus the Yankees and should win 2. 14 more wins for a total of 91 wins.
BOS has 3 with CWS and should win 1. 3 at Sea and should win 1. 6 with BAL and should win 4, 2 with the NYM and should win 1, 3 at home with NYY and should win 2 and 3 at WAS and should win 1. That’s 10 more wins for a total of 90.
OAK has 3 with TEX and should win 2, 3 with KC and LAA and should win 4, 7 with SEA and should win 4, 6 with HOU and should win 3. That’s 13 more wins for a total of 89 wins.
SEA has 3 with ARI and should win 2, 3 with BOS and should win 2, 3 with KC and should win 2, 7 with OAK and should win 3 and 6 with LAA and should win 4. That’s 13 more wins for a total of 89 wins.
NYY has 3 at NYM and should win 1, 1 game at home with MIN and should win it, 3 games at BAL and should win 2, 3 with CLE and should win 2, 3 with TEX and should win 2, 3 at BOS and should win 1, 3 at TOR and should win 1 and 3 in the Bronx with TB and should win 1. That’s 11 more wins for at total of 89 wins.
So if the match-up between OAK and SEA isn’t about even one of them could tie or pass BOS if BOS can just play average the rest of the way. Win home series 2 to 1 and lose away series 2 to 1 except against BAL.
I was gonna disagree with your 3-of-9 prediction, thinking they’d win at least 5, but then I remembered who the Red Sox manager is.
So yeah, I endorse your projections. Realistically though, not knowing how Covid will continue to impact the Sox, it’s kinda like trying to predict who will win the 2022 WS before this offseason even begins.
Losing Sale sticks a knife in it. Houck and his pitch limit, can’t even hit enough, or hold leads when he has one late with his 0-3 record despite great numbers. It’s going to be tough for 10 games and not 1 reliable starter, other than Eovaldi and 75p limit Houck.
@johnsilver I know he’s not considered a reliable starter but E-Rod does have a 3.54 FIP despite having an ERA over 5.00. He is better than advertised.
Pivetta is likely to start Sunday, I have faith in him.
Sawamura and Barnes could also return this weekend.
So Richards takes Sale’s turn in the rotation, and hopefully Sale will return for the next go-around.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that seemingly every player who tested positive had performed poorly just prior. They probably felt a lack of energy for a bit and then decided to get tested because of it.
We were winning games without Sale in the early part of the season. It’s a bad blow but we still have a chance.
Well, we were winning in the early part of the season without Sal;e because basically the entire pitching staff was healthy and the bullpen was phenomenal.
Honestly, the Blue Jays scare me more than the Yankees. By pythagorean win/loss record, Jays are second to the Rays, Yankees third, Sox fourth. It was only a matter of time before Toronto got back into this race.
With all due respect, these predictions that everyone makes tend to be very reactive.
The Yankees didn’t scare you the most when they had won 13 in a row and Kluber returned? If he returns to form and Cole gets healthy, I expect a totally different outcome for the series up in Toronto. And the Jays have six more games against Tampa,
That’s the beauty of the sport, a team’s fortunes can change on a dime. Let’s not forget how the season started, with the Sox getting swept at home by the Orioles and then going on an impressive winning streak.
I still pick Jays. I’m not thrilled by Yankees pitchers other than Cole. Jays have Ryu and Ray, who’s pitching like the Cy Young winner. Their lineup is more deadlier and younger than the Yankees.
Cashman invested in guys who either K or hit it out of the park but Jays can beat you in other ways. I could easily see them going deeper in the playoffs over the Yankees.
You might have jinxed them tonight against lowly Baltimore. LOL
I dunno, the Yanks lineup on paper anyways is very strong and could challenge the Jays offense. Take away Vlad and Judge, the dropoff is a lot more dramatic for the Jays.
I hope you’re right, but I think the Yanks have one more run in them. And their schedule is favorable, including the last series of the season when Tampa will have nothing to play for. So basically the Yanks have only six left against teams playing meaningful games.
The drop off is more sudden for the Jays?
You obviously do not know the Jays line up very well. Semien, Bichette, Hernandez, Springer, Gurriel Jr. Who do the Yankees have to match up with those 5? Jays have 2 guys who will finish top 5 in MVP – Yankees have 0.
The 2-6 Jays players by War total 16.1 the 2-6 Yankees players by War total 8.7
Might want to do some research next time .
@TalkSomeSense didn’t do the research but my point exactly
You’re obviously not understanding, as you’re basing everything on what those players have done just this season.
As far as players performing at a level they’ve performed at in the past, you really don’t know who the Yanks have?
Stanton – Just 3 full seasons ago the MVP with 59 HR 132 RBI and 1.007 OPS
LeMahieu – Batting champ last season and Top 4 MVP the past two seasons
Voit – Last year’s HR Champion and 9th in MVP
Rizzo – Top Ten in OBP 5 of the past 6 full seasons
Gallo – 3rd in HR 2017 & 2018
Springer? He can’t shake the injuries and his numbers are crashing as he tries to play through the latest knee injury.
Bo? He’s got only 212 games under his belt and his OPS has declined from .930 in 2019 to .840 last season to .798 this year. Pitchers have figured him out.
Hernandez? His only two full seasons he had a .773 OPS, still unproven.
Gurriel? A .770 OPS is nothing to write home about.
The remaining healthy Jays hitters don’t have the proven success the Yankees hitters do, another Toronto slump wouldn’t surprise me.
I agree with you on Cashman, but I think Kluber is the wildcard (no pun intended). If he returns to early season form, I don’t see anyone in the AL with a better Top 2 starting pitchers.
What a player did 3 years ago has 0 bearing on THIS years Wildcard race. This years performance has a direct bearing on the race. You quoting 2017 stats when discussing 2021 race is hilarious.
If you want to use WAR, use it for the past 5 seasons. That was my point, Yanks are loaded with hitters who have had a tremendous amount of success over the years. Many of them have been underachieving this season, but that could change because they’ve done it before.
You are basing your point on a lot of maybe, if, could , where I am using the current year which is much more relevant. A player having a good season is much more likely to do so over the last 20 games then another player who were great did 2-3-4-5 years ago. All of the key Jays hitters have a very solid 2 yr track record , not like they are rookies called up 30 games ago.
Well yeah, nobody can predict the future except maybe Elon Musk. LOL
Past performance never guarantees future results.
But players with longer track records are more likely to repeat their performances, than players with only one or two full seasons under their belt.
I’m not saying my methodology or your methodology is any better or worse, just saying the Yanks hitters repeating prior performance is a definite possibility. We’ve all seen Stanton go on amazing streaks the past few seasons. We all know what DJ has done over several seasons.
But when you’ve got someone like Bo who has had big declines each season since his rookie year, if you’re talking continuation of very recent performance then you’d expect the decline to continue … right?
Honestly as great as the Jays offense has been this year, they’ve kinda been feeding off Vlad and also a bit off Semien. If they taper off, it would likely negatively impact the other hitters in the lineup. You don’t think Vlad’s presence is helping his teammates in front of him see better pitches?
There’s a reason for the expression “Hitting is contagious”..
This year the Yankees only do well when Stanton and Judge are hot. You dug a hole with your original comment and rather then owning it you keep digging deeper and deeper.
Maybe the Yank should bring back A-rod because he was a great player 10 yrs ago.
I supported my initial opinion in great detail, and obviously it was without bias.
Can lead a horse to water, but can’t make him drink.
BTW – Who’s your team?
You saying Bo has steep declines is laughable and just like your Teoscar comments shows how little you know about the Jays Roster. Bo is on pace for 4.5War as a 23yr old. 116 WRC+ .
I am sure you would like to cherry pick the best years for players and use that to predict future performance but the real world does not work that way.
Jays and you keep evaluating teams on previous years performance while ignoring this year. That is a total joke.
Regressing from a .930 OPS his rookie year to .798 just two years later is not a steep decline?
Let me guess … you’re a Jays fan. LOL
I think your allegiance is preventing you from comprehending what I’ve been saying, but it’s all good. Let’s see how the remaining 3 weeks play out.
Like I said, I hope the Jays finish ahead of the Yanks. So either way, I win.
His rookie year he played 2 months, a knowledgeable fan would know that.
Well thank you for calling me knowledgeable.
Here was my source:
baseball-reference.com/players/b/bichebo01.shtml
Did it ever occur to you that a home team’s announcers and media tend to make the hometown players sound better than they actually are?
BTW – His ISO also crashed from .260 to .211 to .168 which rates him as average. But you’re a knowledgeable fan too, so you already knew that … right?
You are using his otherworldly 2 month rookie season as the baseline for his “sharp ” decline. No one with half a clue uses 2 months of stats as a baseline for statistical analysis in baseball. It takes 400-600AB min to project with any accuracy most all of the relevant stats.
library.fangraphs.com/principles/sample-size/
First you give more weight to performance from 3-4 yrs ago over current year. Then you use a 2 month sample size to base an argument .
Keep digging.
And how am I supposed to go back 3-4 years when his MLB career goes back only two years? Talk about a silly complaint!
If it makes you happy, combine his 2019 and 2020 numbers. Then compare those combined numbers to his numbers this year. You’ll see there’s still deep declines.
Still think the Jays hitters are worse then the Yankees? 47 runs in 4 games. Leading the Majors in HR, TOP 3 in Runs, WRC+.
You do not seem to connect the dots well. SMH.
1- You used stats from 3-4-5 yrs ago for Gallo,Stanton et al. ( try and keep up )
2- It’s laughable you saying Bichette a 2021 All-star hitting 293 with a 800 ops and on pace for 25hr, 95 rbi as a SS is average. No one expected him to have a 900 Ops year after year.
The 2021 Jays offense is way better then the 2021 Yankees offense anyone with even a basic knowledge of BB would know this. Suggest you go back to your video game play.
I see you still have comprehension issues.
Show me where I said the Yanks are better hitters than the Jays.
But hey, I get that you’re all proud because your Jays came within one run of splitting a 4-game series against the lowly Orioles.
And you’re also proud that your pitchers gave up just 25 runs in 31 innings against the lowly Orioles hitters.
Yes you have so many reasons to celebrate, enjoy!
Your words ” Take away Vlad and Judge, the dropoff is a lot more dramatic for the Jays.” The Jays 2-6 hitters in 2021 ( this is 2021 not 2018 btw ) are much better then the Yanks 2-6 .
The Top 2/3 of a lineup is usually where most of the offense comes from, in the event you were not aware.
This weekend showed
1- Jays are explosive and never out of a game.
2-Sox are in big trouble and may not even make the playoffs.
Keep trying to dig yourself out of that hole.
You’re being very disingenuous, as you know I was referring to the possibility of each team’s 2-6 hitters exploding for a long winning streak.
The dropoff most definitely is dramatic, considering Vlad is a much better hitter than Judge.
I’m more than aware of lineup breakdowns, I’ve posted Bill James articles about the subject multiple times here.
1 – Everyone already knew that
2 – Everyone already knew that
At least you’re finally saying things that I can agree with, that’s a start!.
Coming from a Yanks fan, they don’t deserve playoffs with how streaky they are. jays are much more fun to watch
Not too long ago, late August to be exact, the Jays went 4-10 including an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Nats.
Momentum is common in MLB, and can change in an instant.
There’s always a lot of variance in BB, but it seems kind of crazy this year. In a space of 12 days, the NYY went from a 13-game winning streak, and a 9.5 game lead over TO, to a 0.5 game lead over TO.
And some of that is scheduling. Coming out of the AS break, we played TB, TO, or the NYY in 23 out of 26 games.
Nine of the 13 wins were against the Sox, A’s and Braves, so it’s not like the Yanks were beating up on the Orioles and Rangers for most of the streak.
Jays were on a streak too but does that not count?
Every team goes on good streaks and bad streaks.
I was just responding to your comment about using the scheduling as a reason for the win streaks. Believe me, I don’t enjoy defending the Yanks … but the win streak was impressive because of the teams they beat.
The NYMs are 8-7 in their last 15, and all 7 losses were by one run. OTOH, their last 13 games were against Washington & Miami. I’m not sure who creates these schedules.
For the RS, I am hoping for 3-3.
Don’t Bogaerts that joint my friend. If would be no Little Feat to take 4 out of the next 6. Indeed.
River Ave. Blues
@RiverAveBlues
Lol just realized they pitched to McCann with two outs, first base open, and the pitcher on deck. It’s like Boone is trying to see how much he can get away with before they fire him.
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That’s an odd one. If this was a Buddy Harrelson type in the #8 slot, with a decent-hitting pitcher, maybe. But to purposely choose to pitch to McCann instead of the pitcher will be an interesting post-game question.
Are JD and Verdugo injured? Why wouldn’t they be starting a critical game and rested during a series with someone like Baltimore? Wasn’t yesterday an off day?
Just one more example of what’s wrong with Cora. He doesn’t play to win because he’s a loser. He gives up one game ever series by not maximizing the line-up no matter whether the opponent is good or bad or the circumstance is a must win or an irrelevant game.
The guy needs to go.
KD – I addressed this in the Ort thread!
JD was hurt, back spasms.
I disagree with the loser part (we wouldn’t be this far without Cora) but I do agree Verdugo and JD should be starting.
That being said, you were the one who mentioned Verdugo wasn’t an impactful player (or along those lines), so I’m not sure how much I trust your credibility. You’re finding ways to bash the Sox.
pwndroia – This is not a bash of players it’s a bash of the worst manager in baseball. Verdugo as I have mentioned many times sits fifth or sixth on this team as best players. Bogey, JD, Devers, Renfroe, Verdugo is my current order on the hitters with both Sale and Eovaldi ahead of him from an overall value standpoint. Do the math, start your best 9 hitters. Verdugo is a top 9 hitter on the team.
The one thing you wrote correctly is we wouldn’t be this far without Cora. You are right, we’d be MUCH MUCH farther. A good manager can be an asset to an organization. I always liked Tito and Farrell. Tito was a Cora with brains and integrity and Farrell knew pitching. Cora is, was, and always be a bench jockey with no discernible baseball talent. The man’s OPS+ was 2 during his first season!!!!
Let’s not forget, when Cora was hired his background included just one year as Astros bench coach.
That’s it, one year as bench coach! No other coaching experience or managerial experience on any level! Beyond ridiculous!!
KD your hitter rating is obviously accurate, and your assessment of Cora’s managerial skills is 100% spot on!!!
Dude should be fired just for starting a guy yesterday at 2B when he had started there only once in his career … 8 years ago!!! Of course that guy committed an error that led to an unearned run in a game they lost 4-3.
I know the player whose name I’m not allowed to type is not back to being his old self yet, but he still would have been a far better choice..
JD had a back issue during BP and there was lefty starting for the WS.
Cora is a very good mgr that would be highly sought after if available.
And one other thing. Sox announcers were mocking the fact that despite the expanded roster, Sox had literally nobody to pinch run for Vazquez in the 9th. That’s because Cora now has a 15-man pitching staff, and he already used up Iglesias. Absurd!!
FPG – The good news is that Cora usually only forfeits one game per series so maybe he’ll try to put a competitive team out there on Saturday. The CWS have some real nice hitters who are going to be there a long time!!! Boston needs 1 win to stay on pace for 91. Then 1 more in SEA which will be equally tough since they are hot and the CWS came into the series cold.
The BAL series may need to be a sweep if things go badly on this road trip. Lets hope the Yankees are still struggling by the 24th when they visit Boston. Ending with 6 games on the road won’t be easy. Since Aug 1 the team is 6-13 after spending four months winning 2 out of every 3 on the road!!!
The O’s have two really good starting pitchers, Means and Ellis. I wouldn’t assume the Sox win against either pitcher, hopefully they won’t have to face them too often if at all.
FPG – If the White Sox sweep there is a decent chance Boston will be 3rd in line for the 2nd wildcard spot. Two losses puts Boston at 80-65. Blue Jays could win both ends of the DH today and a game tomorrow against BAL and have a record of 80-63 one game ahead of Boston. The Yankees could win the next two against the NYM and be 80-63 as well moving Boston out of the playoff picture. Add to that the As could beat the Rangers twice and be at 79-64 percentage points ahead of Boston and the same is true for SEA beating ARI twice and having the same 79-64 record!! A three way tie for the first spot beyond the 2nd wildcard with the percentages not in their favor. WOW is winning essential right now!!
Maybe the manager should start his best players? Ya think? Nah, you Cora supporters are probably thinking its a great time to rest your best players. The poor guys must be tired even though they just had a day off!!! hahahaha
I’ve said it before, part of Cora’s problem is he has a MASSIVE ego. He does what he wants, no matter how unconventional or downright crazy it is, because he thinks he’s smarter than everyone else.
Cora thinks he’s a freakin’ genius because he got a MLB managerial job despite zero managerial experience on any level, and only one year of coaching experience at any level.
The Astros followed his orders on the cheating, even though he was just a first year bench coach.
MLB suspended him for only 60 games, even though he was the mastermind of the cheating scandal and others who were less involved got the same or worse punishment.
And then the Red Sox inexplicably groveled back to him, despite his involvement in two scandals with different teams (even though he wasn’t officially named in the Red Sox scandal).
Cora needs to be humbled, i just hope it doesn’t take 3 more years as Red Sox manager to make that happen.