Wednesday, September 23

Recently, I held an Ask Me Anything on Reddit with fans at r/redsox. This mailbag features questions and answers from there. You can read the full transcript here. Questions and responses have been lightly edited for clarity. 

Which big bat do the Red Sox realistically have a shot at getting or do you think this lineup is what it is?

I think they get a bat somewhere, for sure. One who really intrigues me is Angels shortstop Zach Neto. The Sox have lacked production at shortstop all season and the timing of Trevor Story’s potential comeback is still unclear. One of the most enticing things about Neto, a solid offensive player, is that he isn’t eligible for free agency until 2030. 

Also, what about at last bringing George Springer to the Red Sox? The former UConn product and Connecticut native has always enjoyed his trips to Fenway Park. Not only that, but he’s proven to be a big-game player in his career.

Which catcher on the trade block is most likely for the Red Sox? 

All-Star Hunter Goodman from the Rockies would be the big prize, but I’m not sure how realistic that is. Don’t sleep on Ryan Jeffers, who plays for the Twins and is underrated. He is an on-base machine with some pop in that right-handed bat.

Assuming over the next two weeks the Red Sox don’t regress and still have a fair shot at the playoffs, do you see them realistically making a big splash? Or a repeat of last season? Potential salary dumps in Story or Masataka Yoshida? 

I think they’ll at least make a reasonable splash. They need a bat or two, plus maybe another high-leverage arm for the bullpen.

I don’t see them dumping Yoshida’s salary as long as he is hitting, and they don’t have a better hitter to DH. If that changes between now and Aug. 3, perhaps he could be on the move. It’s going to likely be September before Story is on the field, so they are probably better off seeing what he can give them down the stretch rather than salary-dumping him.

Do you think the team is handling Yoshida's role in the team correctly? 

Absolutely. With the injury to Roman Anthony and Mickey Gasper’s return to Triple-A, interim manager Chad Tracy has found a lane for Yoshida, and that’s to DH against righties. With regular playing time against righties of late, Yoshida has been heating up at the plate. 

Any chance we see Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford or Garrett Crochet pitch in 2026? 

Houck is now throwing multiple side sessions a week, so he’s actually ahead of Crochet and Crawford at this point. I could see Houck getting some innings in mid to late September if he stays on his current track.  Whether that happens in the Majors depends on the needs of the Red Sox and their place in the standings. At the very least, he should see some action in the Minors so he has something to build on going into the offseason.

I know that Crochet definitely wants to make it back in time for the playoffs, but until he is cleared to initiate a throwing program, we won’t know if that’s realistic. Keep in mind that he will need a typical Spring Training build-up schedule of six weeks once he starts throwing.

I think Crawford is on the backburner until 2027, given the issues he’s had all season trying to get healthy.

What is going on with the injuries to Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Triston Casas?

Anthony is just waiting for the discomfort in his right hand/wrist to subside so he can swing a bat without pain. Mayer has a stress reaction in his forearm that he recently had re-examined. He was cleared to start a swinging program, but seems a ways away from a return. Casas has fallen off the map because he has gotten two subsequent injuries while he was recovering from his initial injury. Staying on the field has become a real issue for Casas, who looked like he would be the team’s first baseman for a long time after his strong finish to the 2023 season.

While the Red Sox came tantalizingly close to establishing a new franchise-record winning streak, they instead had their run stopped at 15 straight victories in Wednesday night’s 5-1 loss to the Orioles. The fact that they tied the 1946 juggernaut for the best winning streak in team history is still a feat to be proud of. 

Covering this run was invigorating, because that’s the way it is when you chronicle something that has historical implications that go back to the days of Ted Williams. 

There’s no place like Fenway when such a surge is building. I certainly feel that as a journalist, now in my 25th year of covering the Sox for MLB.com.

And as a teenager in 1988, I still remember the madness at Fenway when Morgan Magic unfolded. At the All-Star break, the Red Sox made a managerial change, replacing John McNamara with Joe Morgan, a Walpole, Mass. native with a thick Boston accent. Much like Tracy, many of the ‘88 Sox had played for Morgan in the Minors so it was an instant fit. Morgan’s tenure started with a 12-game winning streak, 19 wins in 20 games and 24 straight wins at home.

Fenway was loud 38 years ago for game-winning homers from Kevin Romine and Todd Benzinger just like it was this past week when Wilyer Abreu and Caleb Durbin had dramatic shots in the late innings to keep the streak going.

Red Sox setup man Garrett Whitlock found a unique way to keep his arm fresh over the All-Star break. Vacationing with his family in the North Shore of Massachusetts, Whitlock found some high school baseball players to play catch with him at Wingaersheek Beach. 

Whitlock went into the parking hut of the beach and asked if there were any baseball players around.

“One of them was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re Garrett Whitlock.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, do you by any chance have your glove?’ He was like, ‘No, I can go get it real quick. I went down, we got all set up on the beach,’” Whitlock said.

It went so well that Whitlock repeated the exercise the next day. Only that time, the kid brought several of his friends from the Rockport High School team.

“The next day, there were probably seven or eight members of the Rockport High School baseball team,” Whitlock said. “Some of them were maybe still on the team. Others had just graduated. It was great playing catch with them.”

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