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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
Hopefully Bregman goes an a tear so they can trade him!