It looks as if Alex Bregman will return to the Red Sox tomorrow. While the team has yet to announce the move, Chris Cotillo of MassLive reports that the Sox are optioning second baseman David Hamilton to Triple-A Worcester. That’d open the necessary active roster spot to reinstate Bregman from the 10-day injured list.
Boston’s star third baseman has been out since May 24 due to a significant quad strain. The Sox promoted Marcelo Mayer when Bregman went on the shelf. The 22-year-old has been the primary third baseman. He has a modest .272 on-base percentage through his first 37 big league contests. Optioning Hamilton suggests the Sox intend to give Mayer more runway, likely moving him to second base in the process.
Bregman had been on a tear before the injury. He’s hitting .299/.385/.553 with 11 home runs across 226 plate appearances. It was shaping up to be his best season since his MVP runner-up campaign in 2019. Bregman has a career-high average exit velocity and hard contact rate. He rejoins the Sox as they’re riding a season-best seven-game win streak. They’re in an important four-game series against a direct competitor in the Rays. Boston erased a two-run deficit to claim the first game of that set tonight.
This run has pushed the Sox to 50-45 and into possession of the American League’s last Wild Card spot. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has maintained the front office sees the team as buyers despite the Rafael Devers trade. Unsurprisingly, a team official told Sean McAdam of MassLive yesterday that the club isn’t interested in trading Bregman regardless of his contract status.
Bregman is playing on a three-year deal that allows him to opt out after either of the first two seasons. He’s very likely to retest free agency next winter unless the sides hammer out an extension in the intervening few months. Bregman and agent Scott Boras have each said they’re open to the conversation, but the team unsurprisingly has more pressing priorities with the amateur draft and trade deadline approaching. WEEI’s Rob Bradford reported tonight that the sides have yet to open extension talks.
Not a surprise with Hamilton.
Let’s hope Cash continues to give gifts to the Sox this weekend!
The David Hamilton Experiment comes to an end—for now. FINALLY. They shouldn’t stop there, they should release this scrub. He’s totally useless.
TLC no likey
It was about time. He has received far too much playing time for someone who has not contributed either offensively or defensively. We need to say goodbye to him. Wish Campbell had done better.
I typically criticize Breslow, but I have similar feelings on Hamilton. He’s fast and…. That’s about it.
“Speed Never Slumps” – Whitey Herzog
A .272 OBP is not “modest.” It’s “dogshit.”
Mo honey how do you really feel??LOL….. Big win tonight fellas and ladies!!!
If not traded, he’ll be back in October as the 26th man if the Sox are in the playoffs. Glad Mayer got that key hit tonight. He’s on a long leash by default, Hamilton has not been good in the field or at bat and neither has been Campbell who is not yet hitting at Worcester. Rafaela should in my view be playing 90% of the time, just about all of it in center. I can though a situation happen if Mayer doesn’t turn it up where if an OFer is not dealt that he plays at second down the stretch in September to get all the lefty OFers in.
dewey – Rafaela should bat leadoff vs LHP, you heard it here first!
No, it’s “first 104 at-bats in MLB”. Process is more important than results at the moment for him, and if you actually watched the games you would see he actually has a pretty mature approach at the plate. He is capable of going oppo, making decent contact, seeing a decent number of pitches in his at-bats. The numbers aren’t there yet, primarily because he’s struggling mightily against big league lefties, He’s actually doing alright against righties. Nothing that profiles as a cause for concern at the moment. Cora needs to quit hiding him and let him play every day, and I am confident before long he will get more comfortable and his stats will begin reflecting that.
Cora is mishandling Mayer. But then mishandling players and pitchers is his specialty.
It’s the whole organization’s specialty, the way they’re jerking Campbell around is even worse.
PKCasimir
Cora is mishandling Mayer.
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What would be your suggestion? 2B, minors or benching Bregman?
the way they’re jerking Campbell around is even worse.
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He had .465 OPS since the start of May. And a .577 after his first 8 games. Should they have let him continue to struggle?
Small sample sizes turn you on?
Let’s give these young guys a chance to develop at the major league level. Keep them at one position rotating to DH now and then and let them play. They are are going to be great baseball players.
News keeps getting better
Sox finally getting the band together
Rsox… “their on a mission from God”….(sorry Chicago thing)
Olm – I’d be fine if the entire red Sox dugout was dressed in that style of suits with dark tint glasses on a road series to chicago. I think the hats and glasses would look good on much of the roster
Don’t think i dont’t get a Blues Brothers reference
Yeah maybe you need a Whitey quote. Or how you like dem apples
People expect instant results from these young players. It took Duran 3 years to get there. Anthony probably had doubters when he was 5 for 45. Rafaella took 1/2 of last season to become more disciplined at the plate. He was hitting around .200 or below at this time last year. Even Pedroia took a couple of months while people doubted him. I think Campbell was rushed too soon, and I hope he gets it back in Worcester.
So true ray… I was at game in 07 at Twins… Tito sat a player batting 350ish and put “jockey”in (As Ozzie G called him) Petey hit a long fly ball 2b down the line and made 2 awesome defensive plays in field… never doubted him again…. Player who sat??? None other than AC…. To add to you point… I believe Ryan Sandburg started 0-37 here in Chicago if I remember…
There were fans that wanted to move on from Ceddanne even as recently as earlier this year. And others questioning the contract. The dude had a legit shot at the AS game.
Campbell was rushed. I’d have been perfectly happy with a Gonzalez/Hamilton platoon, and TBH, that’s my position even today.
Ray – I agree with your overall point, but you’re waayyyyy wrong on Rafaela last year.
Just like this year, he heated up middle of last year ….. .813 OPS in July.
Then he got progressively worse …….655 OPS in August and .512 after that.
This is why I’m cautiously optimistic now …. keyword “cautiously”.
I see Hamilton being traded
Not sure who would want him. He’s only good at being fast.
Too early to say that. He was a very good player last year. A rebuilding team should look to give him a full year at 2B.
Didn’t say we would get much for him but I can see him being traded
Maybe they can add him in a package with someone else. Anything to get him off the roster. He is getting too much playing time for someone who has struggled so badly.
This team is coming together just as intended. It looks like taking the Devers drama out of the equation has allowed the kids to flourish. They just need another quality SP and there is no reason this team isn’t a championship contender.
Well, playing the Nats & Rox for 6 straight games didn’t hurt, but this looks like a better team without Devers. On paper, we’re worse, but on the field, it looks better.
Past that, I’d like another RP as well. I’d bet a guy like Soroka would cost nothing but a lottery ticket and salary relief. And his numbers, imho, are better than they look.
IRT to adding an SP, I’d go outside the box and ask Cleveland about Bieber. They’ve paid for his rehab, and he has negative value to them this year, unless they get hot the next two weeks. They are on the hook for about $3M this year, a $4M buyout on the 2026 player option. If I were Cleveland, I’d save myself the $7M and trade him for a lottery ticket. For the RS, $7M is a lot for maybe 6 weeks, but if we get into the playoffs, he Bieber would get a lot more valuable.
And Gallen has sucked YTD, but been great in his last two starts (19/1) K/W).
Once Bregman is back, Mayer goes to 2B and plays there every day, versus lefties also.
We need Mayer to lock down the 2ndbase position. The Sox defense at 2ndbase has been terrible this season. Romy should have had an error there last night. He looked very smooth at 3rd. 2ndbase is his position going forward. ( barring injuries) It’s his time to cement his case as a major leaguer.
cdc – The NESN guys said a few days ago the Fenway scorer has been very hard on the Sox fielders, so I’m not surprised they changed what was an obvious error into a hit last night.
I also think whether or not it results in unearned runs is a factor. Buehler probably didn’t care about the scoring change because it didn’t affect his ERA, pitchers don’t care about their WHIP or BAA.
It would have been a very close play at 1st with Simpsons speed . Still should have been an error.
Buehler pitched OK-ish again. Murphy has been very good. Merloni said Whitlocks only going to go 1 inning going forward. Chapman, well done . Excellent come from behind victory.
cdc – This is where my analytical skills paint a different picture. I know for some people every win is a “good” win, but when looking a little closer some wins are more lucky than good.
The Rays came into the game scuffling, having lost 7 of their previous 10 games.
Their starting pitcher, Taj Bradley, came into the game with a 4.79 ERA and had given up 21 earned runs in his last 27 innings.
And what happened? He pitched 6 innings allowing just 2 hits and just 1 run.
It was the same anemic Red Sox offense we saw right up until they faced crappy Reds, Nats and Rox pitchers.
Then Cash made the hilarious decision to pull Bradley after just 88 pitches and bring in Baker, who was coming off a brutal pounding just 2 days earlier and had been traded just a few hours earlier.
A clearly unsettled Baker walked the first two batters and gave up a double to the third batter. Did he get pulled at that point? Nope, he was left in to give up the lead. As Merloni repeatedly stated, absolutely horrific managing by Cash resulted in a gift win for the Sox.
I’m not surprised about Whitlock, you just can’t plan to use him for 2 innings every 3rd game. You need to use him when he’s needed, not based on an advance schedule.
FPG
I want to clarify , I don’t want to trade Duran,.He is the most exciting player on the team,IMO. I truly enjoy watching him play. Also he is a dynamic leadoff hitter who turns singles into doubles/triples. I believe his teammates love him too. Right now the outfield is a position of strength. Can we obtain a # 2 starter without including a Duran or Abreu? Is it feasible to keep Duran, Rafaela, Anthony, Abreu along with Yoshida & Refsnyder for 3 outfield spots and DH ? Would a combination of Campbell ,Jh. Garcia, Arias, Tolle,ect. get a #2 starter.? I am a big fan of Tolle. I’m not down on Campbell,he is going to need time to get readjusted.
The Sox took advantage of the situation that presented itself.
cdc – I feel pretty much the exact same way! I really want to keep Duran, but I just don’t see them rotating among the outfield and DH 5 good players.. That’s a lot of time off for everyone except Anthony, which doesn’t do any of them any good.
And keep in mind, with 5 OF and a fulltime DH, there’s only one backup infielder which takes away a lot of flexibility.
FPG
Well what would you do or what do think the Sox will do ?? Say they just try to upgrade the backup catching situation, the front office will be perceived as not going for it. I do hate overpaying for relief pitching at the deadline. Relief pitchers are so inconsistent . Who would you like the Sox to obtain and what is the price?
I’m putting you on the spot FPG….. LOL
cdc – This is a rare occasion where I’m going to agree with Breslow ….. other than a backup catcher and stud reliever, I wouldn’t trade for anything else unless they can fill a longterm need. This is not the time to GFIN by paying a high price for a rental.
So yeah a guy like Ryan would qualify, as long as the price isn’t too crazy.
FPG
I know you don’t appreciate Breslow for his handling of the Devers fiasco. Crochet, Bregman, Chapman and Narvaez. 3 all-stars and so far a # 1 catcher. Are you saying you would include Duran for a # 2 starter ?? Abreu?
cdc – For someone with at least 2 more years of team control? Begrudgingly, yes …. but that’s ONLY because the Sox refuse to move Rafaela to infield.
This is like forcing me to choose between my kids, but Duran would be the one I’d trade.
FPG
Well I don’t want you to trade a loved one . Lol. This is only entertainment for us. Rafaela is a damn good centerfielder. GG caliber. I believe he is leading in war on this team. If they can obtain a # 2 starter without giving up anyone on the ML roster , I would be all for it. Dave Dombrowski would find a way.
cdc – But you agree that even if they trade Yoshida in the offseason, they can’t carry all of Duran/Anthony/Rafaela/Abreu into next season …. right?
Once he got to the higher levels in the minors Mayer had pretty consistently struggled against lefties. I’m not sure why people think he’s going to get better at that at the major league level. It would be nice if he did, but when you have an option on the bench like Gonzalez who can play 2B and crushes left handed pitching you kind of have to go with that option when your goal is winning games.
There are many examples of players turning perceived weaknesses into strengths. They mature,and make adjustments. Exposed to a higher level of coaching and video. I like Romy’s bat ,not his glove at 2nd. It’s Mayers time.
Ken – Romy is needed at first base vs LHP.
Maybe. Maybe not. Toro is a switch hitter. Against a tough on lefties lefty starter I can see Toro at 1B and Romy at 2B. Granted Toro doesn’t hit great from the right side of the plate but it’s still better than Mayer. I wouldn’t necessarily do that against every lefty starter, but definitely when it makes sense.
Ken – I get what you’re saying, but the difference between Toro and Mayer vs LHP is negligible and it’s important for the Red Sox to evaluate whether Mayer will improve vs LHP or if longterm he will ultimately be a platoon player vs RHP only.
If he doesn’t improve vs LHP over the next 3 weeks, perhaps he gets included in a trade for someone like Ryan.
Three weeks is not nearly enough time to determine whether or not he can hit lefties and that would incredibly rash to trade him over something like that.
Hopefully Bregman goes an a tear so they can trade him!
The Red Sox are not going to trade Bregman.
FPG… The Red Sox are not going to “evaluate whether Mayer will improve vs LHP” over the next three weeks in deciding whether to platoon him or trade him.
They aren’t trading Mayer FFS.
There are some RS fans that know almost nothing about baseball.
Mayer is the best infield defensive prospect for the last couple decades. Pedroia was a gold glover at 2B, but could not stick at SS or 3B. Mayer is smooth whether at SS or 3B, and is quite likely going to play in some all star games along the way. There is zero chance he is traded. The Red Sox have excess outfielders, so if there is a trade expect it to come from there, and not infield or catcher.
Bregmans going to be a big boost. I never like Bregman when he was with the Astros, though I thought he was a great player. I didn’t realize he was such a team player and so good with the younger players. They need to lock him up I just hope its not at an outrages cost. The sox may have jumped the gun on Campbell, but only time will tell. I highly doubt the big three will pan out to all be super starts,…it usually doesn’t happen that way. I hope it does though!