Purple Sox supervisor Alex Cora informed reporters, together with Ian Browne of MLB.com, following Saturday’s win over the Tigers that second baseman Vaughn Grissom will must be positioned on the 10-day injured record as a result of what he termed a “gentle” hamstring pressure. Grissom exited the sport after pulling up whereas working out a groundout earlier within the sport, resulting in catcher Connor Wong changing Grissom on the keystone.
In response to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, Cora indicated to reporters that Wong’s shock look at second base was as a result of utility infielder Romy Gonzalez not being accessible, however he didn’t specify what was ailing Gonzalez or if he could be accessible Sunday afternoon.
The information about Grissom constitutes one other brutal harm blow for a Purple Sox membership that has struggled to remain wholesome this yr, significantly on the positional aspect. Grissom himself has appeared in simply 23 video games this season after being sidelined into Could by a hamstring pressure throughout spring coaching. Fortuitously, as famous by Browne, that pressure impacted his left hamstring, whereas Saturday’s harm was a proper hamstring pressure. That Grissom’s harm is a brand new one ought to permit him to return to motion extra shortly than if he had re-injured the identical hamstring as earlier than, however he’ll nonetheless miss at the least the subsequent 10 days with out a clear timetable for his return to motion.
When he’s been wholesome sufficient to take the sector, the begin to Grissom’s Purple Sox tenure has been a troublesome one. He’s hit simply .159/.209/.163 in 86 journeys to the plate for Boston up to now this season. That’s a very troublesome capsule to swallow for Purple Sox followers given the truth that veteran southpaw Chris Sale, who the membership swapped to Atlanta with a purpose to purchase Grissom, has dominated to a 2.12 ERA and NL-best 2.11 FIP in his first 10 begins with the membership, serving to to anchor the membership’s rotation alongside Max Fried within the absence of ace Spencer Strider.
Whereas Grissom’s manufacturing up to now received’t precisely be troublesome for the Purple Sox to exchange, his absence will solely serve to additional compound the membership’s different positional accidents. Trevor Story, Triston Casas, Tyler O’Neill and Masataka Yoshida are all already on the injured record, with Story out for the season and Casas additionally going through a prolonged absence. Fortuitously, the membership’s scenario will not be with out silver linings. Per MassLive’s Christopher Smith, Cora mentioned that O’Neill’s ailing knee has responded nicely to a cortisone shot and the membership figures to be with out the outfielder for under the 10-day minimal, a timeline that ought to permit him to return to motion early subsequent week.
Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe relayed equally optimistic information relating to Yoshida, who informed reporters that he’s now not feeling any unfavorable results from the thumb harm that sidelined him final month. That received’t assist the Purple Sox within the brief time period, as Yoshida will nonetheless have to construct up after a month of time rehabbing the harm earlier than he can return to the large league membership, however it’s nonetheless an encouraging signal for a crew that figures to be with out Grissom for at the least a few weeks. Each Yoshida and O’Neill have been hitting at an above-average clip total on the time of their accidents, and if wholesome, they need to be capable to step into the membership’s outfield combine as key items alongside Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu.
The upcoming return of O’Neill, particularly, ought to be a reduction for the Purple Sox as it might probably present the membership with the chance to make use of versatile rookie Ceddanne Rafaela, who has primarily performed heart area for the membership this yr, on the infield filth whereas Grissom is unavailable. Within the meantime, the membership figures to show to Enmanuel Valdez and David Hamilton up the center, with Gonzalez additionally a possible contributor on the keystone ought to he return to motion within the coming days.
