Adam Duvall injury: Red Sox get brutal update on early-season hero

The Red Sox had to send Adam Duvall to the IL at the worst possible time with an injury that could keep him out for a month at a minimum.

Adam Duvall is heading to the IL and the Red Sox don’t know when they’ll get him back.

That was the sad news from manager Alex Cora on Monday.

The 34-year-old outfielder suffered a distal radius fracture in his left wrist while trying to field a pop-up on Sunday against the White Sox.

That means he’ll miss several weeks at best. His timeline for a return could be extended even longer since surgery has not been ruled out yet.

Here’s the play that mucked up Duvall’s wrist.

As you can see, Duvall’s wrist bent backward as his glove got caught in the turf. He immediately showed signs of distress and had to be removed from action.

Adam Duvall injury: Red Sox lose OF to broken wrist, Bobby Dalbec recalled

So where do the Red Sox go from here? With Duvall on IL, the club called up Bobby Dalbec, who will help fill the gap with a bit of shuffling around in the lineup.

According to Pete Abraham, Kiké Hernandez will cover the open spot in the outfield along with Raimel Tapia and Rob Refsnyder. Dalbec and Yu Chang will get time at shortstop as a result.

Losing Duvall right now is a massive bummer. His walk-off home run against the Orioles in the second game of the year was the highlight of the young campaign.

But his impact wasn’t confined to that one moment. He started the season red hot batting .455/.514/1.030 with four home runs and 14 RBI. He’s currently leading the team in hits, runs, RBI and homers.

Simply put, Bobby Dalbec isn’t a real replacement. No one is. Certainly not in the long term.

Boston can try to paper over the cracks for now, but if Duvall is going to be out for more than six weeks, other solutions may be needed.