HAMSTRUNG OUT

The shortened 2020 season was supposed to mess with pitchers. They were going to struggle to amass their usual innings, they would be out of sync, etc. We were told to temper expectations for rookies who only played at alternate sites and even told that war horses like Lance Lynn would be something less than his 2019 self. We were told that guys who had opted out would be rusty, but maybe healthier than they’d been in years. We were told that the change in routine would mess with players.

BUT SERIOUSLY WHAT IS WITH THE HAMSTRINGS IN THE MLB???? Michael Kopech and Adam Engel are the other Sox that were notable for hamstring injuries in 2021 before losing Nick Madrigal, possibly for the season. But it is an absolute plague in the MLB right now. Searching the word “hamstring” on the MLB transaction pages for April, May and June 2021 the word pops 67 times. Clearly, there will be an issue ongoing this season with injuries that either MLB couldn’t have anticipated or just can’t stop. Regardless, Nick Madrigal won’t be the last star (he is a star, dammit) to be lost for a long time over an injury like this.

Where does that leave the Sox? Leury Garcia and Danny Mendick. Frankly, AAA Charlotte has no middle infielders that are better. Tim Beckham and Marco Hernandez are there with Zach Remillard, and all three are journeymen sorts that are unlikely to be improvements on Garcia in particular. That the Sox opted to call up Brian Goodwin to relieve Leury of OF duties is telling. The guys at AA are also not ready for primetime, and rushing lower prospects to the majors this year has been ineffective. Ask the Mariners about Jared Kellenic, who was viewed as can’t-miss and then proceeded to miss in 37 straight at-bats. The short-term answer is already on the major league roster, unless there’s a Jake Burger miracle at Charlotte where it turns out he’s a natural 2B the way Andrew “Nuthin’ but a DH” Vaughn is a legitimately good OF. So we get Leury and Danny…adequate to good gloves with weak to adequate bats. It would maybe be better hitting wise but way worse defensively to insert Jake Lamb at 3B while Yoan moves back to 2B. And the fact that such a thought isn’t patently unthinkable is frightening and frankly a pat on the back to Jake Lamb.

The silver lining for Sox fans is that they also won’t be the only team to lose star players. But the flipside is that the Sox are running out of replacements and so will other teams. The Sox already need to fill a hole in the OF, now they will need a 2B before the deadline.

SPEAKING OF THE DEADLINE

This feature was going to run next week with some fun trades, fantasy baseball-style, for guys that could help the Sox now and in the future with Adam Eaton being sent out to pasture. But emergency blogging is required when injuries strike. So let’s look at rentals and useful guys to replace Nicky Two Strikes, or at least keep Leury and Danny out of the everyday lineup. Keeping in reality, the Sox aren’t trading a king’s ransom in prospects that they no longer have in abundance to rent a star, nor are they taking on a huge contract for the next couple years. So guys like Trevor Story and Ketel Marte aren’t real options.

True Rentals:

Starlin Castro, Washington (.248 avg. .615 OPS). Not his best year, but Castro has been durable and decent for the most part. He’s never been the star that the Cubs thought he’d be, but the Nats are headed nowhere and Castro was just a guy brought in to make sure they had replacement-level or better infield production with guys like Carter Kieboom flopping badly at the major-league level.

Josh Harrison, Washington (.251 avg. .705 OPS). Harrison spent last season and started this season surprisingly looking like his younger self, but his last heyday year was 2017. He’s maybe less valuable to the Nats than Castro, or possibly the same.

Freddie Galvis, Baltimore (.255 avg., .784 OPS). Galvis has never been all that great but he isn’t bad either. He hit 23 homers in 147 games in 2019 and has 9 this year. The Orioles are a mess, Galvis is a guy that you suspect the Orioles brought in just to maybe flip him at the deadline. The fact that he was passed over by the rest of the league is an indication that he isn’t going to save the Sox this season, but he may be just good enough to not hurt them.

Eduardo Escobar, Arizona (.237 avg., .738 OPS). Escobar has had some really good years since he was traded from the Southside to the Twins for Franciso Liriano at the 2012 deadline. He hasn’t spent much of his time at 2B, in fact he’s primarily played 3B in his career. But he has played at the keystone. He has 14 bombs this season which is kind of eye-popping considering he’s never been regarded as a power guy, but he had 35 in 2019. His versatility might also be useful as the Sox have only Jake Lamb as a backup at third, and he’s looked a little, ummm, shaky with a glove.

Asdrubal Cabrera, Arizona (.275 avg., .828 OPS). This is basically Eddie Escobar 2.0. At this stage it is questionable how much time he can handle at 2B, but he has played at the keystone. He has power but hasn’t been playing everyday or all that much this season, which is kind of where he’s at in his career. His versatility might also also be useful as the Sox have only Jake Lamb as a backup at third, and he’s looked a little, ummm, averse to catching balls.

GUYS WHO COULD FIT IN FOR NEXT YEAR (OR BEYOND)

Adam Frazier, Pittsburgh (.329 avg., .863 OPS). Don’t get excited by the stats, Frazier is good but not that good. He’s a career .280 hitter with a decent .763 OPS for the Pirates, but the key here is that those solid stats come from a lefty bat that has a carer .282 avg. against righties and a career .275 avg. against lefties. So he hits righties well, a glaring issue for the Sox this year, and he’s a guy that can play 2B or OF. In other words, he’s what the Sox wanted from Adam Eaton but he can replace Nick Madrigal more than adequately this year at 2B. Next year, he can replace Adam Eaton. He’s 29, arbitration eligible for 2022 and making only $4.3 million this year. In theory, he could be a rental but as he’s under club control the Sox would view him as a 2-year guy at a minimum. The Pirates have been rebuilding since Doug Drabek, Bobby Bonilla and Bobby Bonds’ son were playing there. Frazier isn’t exactly in the way of some younger guys, but the Pirates have prospects that can take over. He wouldn’t come as cheap as the rentals, but he could also be worth it and would be in the budget.

Garrett Hampson, Colorado (.244 avg., .719 OPS). Not sure the Rockies would part with Hampson given that he’s 26, under club control until 2025 and in the midst of his best season so far. He’s played OF and IF this year, has 12 steals in 14 attempts, and is a guy that the Rox might be building around. But they need help, and Hampson could be a guy that the Sox use in an OF or super utility capacity for the next few years and the juice could be worth the squeeze in that regard.

Ryan McMahon, Colorado (.257 avg., .793 OPS). McMahon is a power guy, but frankly he’s a Coors Field guy too. His home and road splits in his less-than great career would be a concern. But, he’s off to a decent start and maybe G-Rate is a friendly enough park to keep the home fires burning (and not spending so much time in unfriendly San Diego, San Francisco and Chavez Ravine would help the road splats).

Michael Chavis, Boston (.273 avg., .758 OPS). Chavis can play 2B. He can play 3B. He can play 1B. He can hit. He can’t play much in Boston right now because Bobby Dalbec, Rafael Devers, Christian Arroyo, Kike Hernandez, Marwin Gonzalez and Danny Santana are all in the way. Chavis would take some trade capital as the Red Sox are very much in the hunt and Chavis is a guy that they could rely on in case of an injury.

Keston Hiura/Luis Urias, Milwaukee (stats very, very MEH). These two were the Brewers’ middle infield of the future when they arrived in 2019. Both have fallen out of favor by underperforming, and have been replaced by Willy Adames and Kolton Wong. Hiura still is stated to have a future as the Brewers’ 1B, but he’s been scuffling at the MLB level and raking at AAA. Urias had a great MiLB track record but hasn’t been great at the MLB level. Still, both these players would be a boom or bust type of trade, looking to get them to recapture their talent level as the 8th/9th place hitter in a very effective Sox lineup. As to whether they fit in 2022, if Hiura is a 1B in waiting he may have chances down the road and both could be key bench pieces. The hope would be that the Brewers will just want to cut bait.

Come back next week for some OF options and fantasy baseball-style deadline upgrades…and check out the show every Saturday and Wednesday wherever podcasts are found.