The Red Sox got a quick reminder that even a smart deadline move can turn messy in a hurry.
Boston brought in Curtis Mead from the Washington Nationals on July 25 hoping he’d plug an offensive hole in the infield. Instead, his Red Sox debut ended with a pitch to the wrist, and the damage turned out to be a fractured wrist. The team first said x-rays showed nothing wrong, but a later MRI revealed the fracture.
Mead saw a hand specialist on June 29 to find out whether surgery would be necessary, and it won’t be. Chris Cotillo of MassLive first reported that part of the update. The expected recovery window is six to eight weeks, which points to a return somewhere in the middle to end of September.
That timeline keeps Mead from being a season-ending loss, but it doesn’t solve Boston’s problem. He was supposed to bring real thump to the infield, and he’d already given the Red Sox a glimpse of it with 17 home runs this season, second on the team between Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu. Now Boston is back where it started: still needing another bat before the deadline.
The need was there before the injury, and it’s only sharper now. Mead had been swinging it well, too, putting up a .361/.466/.639 line in July before the setback.
The hope is that he can get back late in September and carry that surge into the postseason, but the Red Sox can’t wait around for that answer. They need help now.
The market hasn’t exactly made things easier. Shea Langeliers is injured, Hunter Goodman has been confirmed unavailable, the Minnesota Twins are buying so Ryan Jeffers is off the table, and Zach Neto is expected to draw a brutally competitive and expensive market. That leaves names like Iván Herrera, Luis Arráez and Otto Lopez among the infield options the Cardinals, Giants and Marlins could make available.
Boston’s deadline calculus has also gotten tougher because of the injuries already stacking up in the middle infield. Trevor Story, Marcelo Mayer and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are all dealing with injuries, and Mead’s absence only adds to the urgency. The Red Sox traded Connelly Early for a player who can’t help the playoff push right now, which makes the move sting a little more.
The best-case scenario would still be Mead returning with a few weeks left, joined by another infield bat and some bullpen help. Whether Boston can land that kind of finish is another question entirely.
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