The Boston Red Sox are having no luck at first base. Triston Casas is done for the year after rupturing his left patelllar tendon, and Rafael Devers publicly refused to change positions after chief baseball officer Craig Breslow suggested it as a possibility. Then on Wednesday, the Red Sox watched Romy Gonzalez leave after colliding with Texas Rangers first baseman Josh Smith. While manager Alex Cora initially said he would be day-to-day, that is no longer the case.
On Friday, following the Red Sox's 2-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals, Cora said that Gonzalez could hit the injured list due to being "banged up" from the collision.
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Alex Cora says Romy Gonzalez could need IL stint, putting Red Sox's first base situation in even worse shape
Just when Red Sox fans thought that things possibly couldn't get any worse, the team's primary starting baseman with Casas out for the year, could be out a bit on an IL stint.
In 17 games this season, Gonzalez recorded a .308 batting average, a .362 on-base percentage, a .423 slugging percentage, six RBI, 10 runs, and 16 hits in 52 at-bats.
If Gonzalez is going to miss some time, that means the next player up would be Abraham Toro, who was promoted from Triple-A after Casas' injury. In the two games Toro has started with Gonzalez sidelined with injury, he went 1-for-9 at the plate with two strikeouts.
The Red Sox are in a competitive AL East race, as they are not far behind the New York Yankees for first place. So for now, they'll seemingly continue to run forward with Toro at first base until Gonzalez returns from injury. Even so, with the division within their grasp this early in the season, will they listen to Devers and look for an outside option to play first base? At this stage, it is too early to tell. For now, they'll have to wait for Gonzalez to return. And fans will wait to see what roster moves could be on the way, as Cora hinted.