With October approaching and the Red Sox headed back toward New York for another Wild Card series, the biggest question hovering over this team is still the same one that has dogged them for weeks: who can actually drive in runs when the pressure spikes?
That issue has only grown louder after a miserable September stretch in which Boston went hitless or managed just one hit with runners in scoring position in nine of its first 15 games. So naturally, the conversation has started to drift toward a possible playoff call-up, and Braiden Ward’s name has been getting tossed around more and more. He’s been electric on the bases in Worcester, piling up 61 steals in 109 games this season.
But speed alone doesn’t solve the problem Boston is staring at. The Red Sox need someone who can hit when the opportunity is there, not just someone who can create chaos after reaching base. That’s why Romy Gonzalez looks like the better fit if the club decides to add another bat for the postseason.
Gonzalez is one of the players in the Red Sox’s “stay ready” group in Fort Myers, and he has a stronger case than Ward for a playoff spot. He struggled badly in Boston earlier this year, putting up a 59 wRC+ across 19 games after coming off the 60-day injured list. But after being sent to Triple-A in early August to keep working, he caught fire in the final weeks of the WooSox season, hitting .355/.410/.538 with 11 extra-base hits in only 93 at-bats.
That kind of production is exactly what the big league club is missing right now.
Ward would bring useful tools off the bench if the Red Sox wanted late-game speed and defense, and there’s a case for carrying him in a playoff series. Still, Gonzalez offers something more valuable in this specific moment: a bat that has shown it can punish lefties, with a career 131 wRC+ against southpaws.
There’s also a roster wrinkle. Ward has never played in the majors and is not on the 40-man roster, so he would need to be added before a playoff series.
That would mean moving someone else off the active roster, likely by stashing Curtis Mead on the 60-day IL. It would also start Ward’s service-time clock just before the impending lockout.
The Red Sox already made a similar call at the trade deadline, when they brought in Eli White, a player with a comparable skill set. With that in mind, and with runs at such a premium in October, the smarter move looks like leaning into the bat-first option who has already logged meaningful big-league experience.
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