The Red Sox's Bench Has Been Abysmal. Could Two Familiar Faces Fix That?

[Alex Mayes]

The Boston Red Sox are in a tailspin at the moment. That’s not news to anyone who has even been sort of paying attention, but they are drastically underperforming for a team that a lot of national pundits had competing for the AL East title. While there are aspects of the starting lineup that are finally beginning to wake up — plus Wilyer Abreu, who has been carrying this team on his back since Opening Day — what’s clear is that something has to give for the Red Sox. While Alex Cora has started tinkering with his lineup card already, it could be time for some promotions and demotions to shake things up in the dugout.

The backup infield situation is a bit of a mess in Boston right now. Andruw Monasterio had a great spring but has struggled to get looks during the season and most of his at-bats look noncompetitive. He has a paltry .125 batting average in eight plate appearances and looks like he needs more consistent at bats to get his offense figured out for the season. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has been even worse. He’s also received a whopping eight plate appearances this season, and a -58 wRC+ is all he has to show for it. The team committed $6 million to the veteran journeyman during the offseason and it looks now like that could be wasted money.

So, where do the Red Sox go from here? Monasterio isn’t going to get regular at-bats in the majors playing behind Marcelo Mayer, Trevor Story, and Caleb Durbin. Kiner-Falefa offers some defensive upside but his incredibly limited offensive profile puts a very tight cap on his ability to meaningfully contribute this season. The best option in front of Craig Breslow and Cora is to shuffle the roster (perhaps by optioning Monasterio to Worcester) while calling up at least one of Mickey Gasper or Nick Sogard.

The duo of Gasper and Sogard have been on absolute heaters for the WooSox since the season got underway. Gasper is slashing .400/.514/.767 with a 227 wRC+; Sogard is coming in at .290/.488/.645 with a 192 wRC+. Sogard has logged all nine games of the season while Gapser has appeared in seven. Both have slugged three home runs so far and Gasper already has 10 RBIs while Sogard has drive in eight. The scale tips a bit in Sogard’s direction when you look at his strikeouts and walks. He’s walked an impressive 12 times against six strikeouts; Gasper is nearly dead even at seven walks and eight punch outs. Both Gasper and Sogard have major-league experience with the Red Sox so they understand, at least to a point, what the pressure cooker of playing professional baseball in Boston is like.

 

Sogard seems to have tapped into a power stroke early in the season, and that’s exactly what the Red Sox could use off the bench right now. He's also a switch-hitter, so he works well in any platoon role that Cora has a need for. Defensively, he’s more of a lateral move from Kiner-Falefa than a downgrade and, in a pinch, he could be trusted to start over a guy like Caleb Durbin should Cora decide that a few days off could help fix whatever is plaguing the team's starting third baseman.

 

Gasper’s numbers look impressive, and should be applauded, but it’s fair to question if they would translate if/when he is called up. For his MLB career he’s slashing .133/.250/.455. Those are far from inspiring, but if he currently has caught lightning in a bottle then maybe a look on the big-league roster could help push this team towards being competitive right now. Is he a long-term fix for the club? Doubtful, but Cora and company should be trying anything and everything to put a winning product on the field day in and day out.

Moving Monasterio (and maybe even Kiner-Falefa) for Sogard and Gasper doesn’t solve the pitching woes that are currently plaguing the Red Sox, but a fresh injection of talent that has been performing well in Triple-A could help push a few more runs across the board. The season is far from lost, but the time for resting on our laurels is over. Maybe bringing up two guys tearing it up for the WooSox is exactly what this team needs right now.

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