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Marco Hernandez Weighing Shoulder Surgery

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Red Sox infielder Marco Hernandez is weighing surgery that would probably keep him out for the rest of the season, as Tim Britton of the Providence Journal was among those to report (Twitter links). While nothing has been decided, manager John Farrell suggested that the surgical route was increasingly likely.

Hernandez, 24, has played a surprisingly important role for Boston in the early going. Before hitting the DL, he had taken sixty plate appearances while helping to fill in at third base and also seeing action at short and second. Hernandez is hitting just .276/.300/.328 over that span.

While the Sox will be disappointed to lose the flexibility represented by Hernandez, if he does indeed go under the knife, the news doesn’t come at the worst possible time. Boston has welcomed back Josh Rutledge, whose early-season absence opened the door for Hernandez, with Pablo Sandoval and Brock Holt also on the way back.

Hernandez came to Boston as the player to be named later in the deal that sent Felix Doubront to the Cubs at the 2014 trade deadline. He finally gained traction after arriving with his new organization, moving into the upper minors and then reaching the majors for the first time last year.

Rafael Devers Changes Agents

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  • Heyman also reports a pair of agency changes, noting that Red Sox top prospect Rafael Devers is now a client of Rep 1 Baseball, while Dodgers top prospect Yadier Alvarez is now repped by Wasserman. Neither has made his MLB debut yet, though both are considered among the game’s top 25 to 50 prospects and could theoretically surface in the Majors within the next calendar year or so (Devers, who is already in Double-A, appears closer than Alvarez, who has just 18 innings in High-A). Both changes are now reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains representation info on roughly more than 2,500 Major League and Minor League players. If you see any inaccuracies or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

Latest On Carson Smith, Tyler Thornburg

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  • Carson Smith is throwing a pair of bullpen sessions this week for the Red Sox, writes WEEI’s Rob Bradford, but fellow right-hander Tyler Thornburg doesn’t appear to be that far along. Both Smith and Thornburg were acquired over the past two offseasons in an effort to help build a bridge to Craig Kimbrel, but injuries have prevented the Sox from reaping any value from either trade. ““With Tyler, we’ll still trying to get him through some more aggressive flatground work,” manager John Farrell told reporters earlier this week. “…“It’s been a little bit of a puzzle for all involved here including Tyler, because the MRI’s that he’s gone through, while showing a little bit of an impingement, hasn’t revealed anything more structural than that.”

Red Sox Option Kyle Kendrick

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The Red Sox have optioned veteran righty Kyle Kendrick back to Triple-A, as Chad Jennings of the Boston Herald reports. While optional assignment waivers are no longer required for players, like Kendrick, who are more than three years away from their MLB debut, the club did need to obtain his consent to the assignment as a player with five or more years of service.

Kendrick, 32, has been hit hard in two outings for the Red Sox. Lasting just 8 1/3 innings, the righty has surrendered a dozen earned runs on 18 hits while recording just three strikeouts and issuing three walks. While he showed well in spring camp, that hasn’t carried over to the regular season. Kendrick also carries a 6.00 ERA through four starts at Triple-A.

With a need for relief pitching, the club had little recourse but to make a change. Boston has brought Robbie Ross Jr. back up to take Kendrick’s spot on the active roster. As manager John Farrell explained, an upcoming off-day buys the club some time to make rotation plans.

Given that the Red Sox kept Kendrick on the 40-man roster, rather than designating him for assignment, it seems he’ll remain an option moving forward. But the club could also elect to recall one of the 40-man starters currently working at Pawtucket while it continues to wait for David Price, who is nearing a return to the majors..

Lefties Henry Owens and Brian Johnson have both generated good results thus far, though both are carrying typical peripherals. Right-hander Hector Velazquez is pitching quite well, with just three earned runs on 11 hits over his 22 frames, though he’s not on the 40-man roster. Regardless, Boston will hope that whoever does eventually come up is only needed to keep the seat warm for Price.

Red Sox Notes: HanRam, Stanley/Holt

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Red Sox slugger Hanley Ramirez departed tonight’s contest with what the team is calling a “right trap muscle spasm,” Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald tweets. There’s no real reason to expect it’s a significant problem, though Boston will surely wish to make sure that Ramirez doesn’t rush back and end up shelved.

  • While the Red Sox have been walking a fine line at third base, the team may soon have a fuller set of options, as Mastrodonato also recently reported. Pablo Sandoval is nearing a minor-league assignment now that his knee is improving. And Brock Holt is moving even faster with his symptoms of vertigo finally clearing. It’s still not exactly clear how the playing time will sort out once those two are back, but presumably they’ll join Josh Rutledge in some kind of platoon situation at the hot corner, with both Rutledge and (especially) Holt also representing options elsewhere around the diamond.

David Price Scheduled For First Rehab Start

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The Red Sox finally seem to have a clear path for the return of star lefty David Price, who has been working back from an elbow ailment. He’ll make his first rehab start on Sunday at Triple-A, per Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe (Twitter links).

It seems the Sox feel that Price has already done much of the preliminary build-up, as he’s scheduled to throw about five innings or 70 to 75 pitches. Assuming things go well, he’ll then look to move up from there in a second outing.

While Red Sox skipper John Farrell made clear that Price will need to make at least two rehab starts, he did suggest it’s possible he won’t need a third. If Price can push up to around 90 pitches in his second outing, he could then be activated for MLB duties, in which case he might be back in Boston before the month is over.

The first stretch of the season hasn’t been perfect for the Red Sox, but they have managed to remain in a decent position despite missing a pitcher who was expected to deliver big value from the front of the rotation. The timing is helpful, too, as Steven Wright was just lost for the rest of the year due to knee surgery.

All things considered, the club has to feel relatively fortunate in Price’s trajectory, given the somewhat worrying signals that were given when his elbow issues first came up. So long as he can return and maintain his health from here on out, at least, this absence will be looked back upon mostly as a blip.

When he does get back on the big league hill, Price will be looking to improve upon a tepid first season with the Sox. After inking a record-setting seven-year, $217MM contract in free agency, Price compiled a 3.99 ERA over 230 innings — his worst single-season earned run average since way back in 2009.

NL Central Notes: Davis, Pirates, Shaw

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The Reds announced this morning that right-hander Rookie Davis has been optioned to Triple-A Louisville. The 24-year-old Davis, acquired in the trade that sent Aroldis Chapman to the Yankees, had a nice season in Double-A last year and performed well in Spring Training, but he’s been hit hard through five starts in the Majors. Davis has worked a total of 19 innings, yielding 16 earned runs (7.58 ERA) on 29 hits and 13 walks with 15 strikeouts. A corresponding move hasn’t been announced, though Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets that a Triple-A arm is likely to be recalled to join the rotation rather than turning to Robert Stephenson for a spot start.

A couple more notes from the NL Central…

  • The Pirates have, incredibly, deployed 30 different lineups and 29 different defensive alignments (not including the starting pitcher) thus far in 2017, per Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. A large portion of the shuffles have been borne out of necessity, as Nesbitt also points out that the Bucs are currently carrying nine rookies on their roster. “There’s not always experienced guys to go get,” said manager Clint Hurdle of the team’s youthful composition. “With what’s happened to us, this wasn’t the plan coming in. This is an adapt, improvise and overcome situation.” While many Pirates fans have clamored for the team to pursue outside help, Hurdle suggested that improvements aren’t available at this time. “We don’t feel there have been better options outside,” said the manager.
  • Nesbitt also writes that the Pirates now seem to have entirely scrapped their offseason outfield realignment, as Gregory Polanco has been shifted back to right field. The suspension of Starling Marte led Pittsburgh to move Andrew McCutchen back to center field, and Polanco’s shift back to right field is tied to the revolving door that the Bucs have had at that spot. “He’s done fine. Pretty average metrics in left,” said Hurdle of Polanco. “But we keep shuffling guys into right, and we’ve already got a guy who has played right pretty well.” Of course, Polanco’s move across the outfield could lead to similar issues in left field. Asked if he’ll keep Polanco in right field once Marte returns from his suspension, Hurdle said the team hasn’t yet made that decision.
  • Brewers third baseman Travis Shaw and Red Sox right-hander Tyler Thornburg were swapped for one another this offseason but are in very different places as Milwaukee takes on Boston in interleague play, notes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Shaw has settled in as the Brewers’ cleanup hitter, and his seven homers, 24 RBIs and .544 slugging percentage would all lead the Red Sox. Thornburg, meanwhile, has yet to pitch in a game for the Sox due to a shoulder impingement that has him on the disabled list. Thornburg expressed frustration about his injury and his subsequent inability to face his former team, while Shaw admitted that the games against his former team mean a bit more. “Everybody is a competitor,” Shaw told Haudricourt. “You want to kind of show your old team up.” The trade looks to be a good one for the Brewers at present, though a healthy Thornburg could certainly balance out the scales. The 28-year-old logged a 2.15 ERA and averaged better than 12 strikeouts per nine innings pitched with Milwaukee last year.

AL East Notes: Wieters, Rays, Sanchez, Hanley

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Matt Wieters will return to Baltimore tonight for the first time since signing with the Nationals, and he spoke with Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com about his offseason departure from the Orioles as well the emotions he’s feeling in advance of tonight’s return to Camden Yards. Wieters’ podcast appearance also included talk of Dylan Bundy’s breakout and the experiences he’s had when being managed by two of our generation’s most successful managers: Buck Showalter and Dusty Baker.

Some more AL East-related notes…

  • Though Rickie Weeks has gotten off to a dreadful start to his 2017 campaign with the Rays, the “clock isn’t ticking yet,” writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. It doesn’t appear that Weeks is on the brink of losing his roster spot, despite an ugly .163/.317/.286 batting line to open the season, though Topkin notes that he’ll need to turn things around sooner rather than later. Topkin also notes that the Rays face a decision when Matt Duffy returns from the disabled list late this month. Duffy is in line to be the starter, but the Rays will have to determine if Tim Beckham or Daniel Robertson is the better option to serve as a utility option.
  • Both Aaron Sanchez and the Blue Jays were encouraged by a 33-pitch bullpen session yesterday, writes Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. Sanchez felt comfortable enough to throw his curveball — the same pitch that has led to the blister issues and a subsequent removal of part of his fingernail — and is now slated to pitch in an extended Spring Training game on Tuesday. If that outing goes well, he’ll be an option to return to Toronto’s rotation this weekend against the Mariners, per Nicholson-Smith.
  • Hanley Ramirez has yet to appear in a game at first base this season due to a shoulder issue, but he’s ready to take the field for the Red Sox’ upcoming interleague series in Milwaukee, writes Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. That should allow the Red Sox to deepen their lineup against left-handed pitching, he points out, with Chris Young sliding into the DH slot and Ramirez playing at first over the left-handed-hitting Mitch Moreland. While Moreland has more than held his own against southpaws in a small sample of work this season (.879 OPS in 24 plate appearances), he’s struggled against lefties throughout his career. And, as manager John Farrell points out to Mastrodonato, Moreland isn’t accustomed to playing first base on an everyday basis (due largely to his platoon issues), so the ability to keep him fresh by mixing Ramirez in at first base is important in multiple regards.

Drellich: Too Soon For BoSox To Look For 3B Help

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  • Third base has been a black hole this year for the Red Sox, whose hot corner options have hit an AL-worst .245/.291/.340. Nevertheless, it’s too soon to do anything drastic about the position, opines Evan Drellich of CSNNE.com. Thanks to their desire to stay under the luxury-tax threshold, the Red Sox are limited in how much money they can take on for an upgrade at third, notes Drellich, who adds that they should save any prospect trade chips to address a potentially shaky rotation. As such, Boston’s best course of action for now is to wait for the the injured tandem of Pablo Sandoval and Brock Holt to return, Drellich argues.

Red Sox Don't Want To Trade Rafael Devers

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  • The Red Sox seemingly aren’t interested in trading Rafael Devers, both due to his top prospect status and Boston’s questionable third base situation.  The Sox have already dealt quite a few notable prospects in recent trades, making Cafardo wonder if the club is willing to give up even more minor league talent to acquire a pitcher like Jose Quintana.  Devers has often been earmarked as Boston’s third baseman of the future, though since he is tearing it up at Double-A, one wonders if we could potentially see Devers at Fenway Park as a late-season callup, a la Andrew Benintendi and Yoan Moncada last season.

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