The Red Sox are still leaving the door cracked for Curtis Mead, even with the postseason clock ticking and a brutal Willson Contreras update hanging over the week.
On Friday, Boston got word that Mead will take batting practice off a pitching machine, according to Tim Healey of The Boston Globe (subscription required). The trade deadline pickup is heading to Fort Myers to work with a group of players the Red Sox already have there, and Garrett Crochet will be there too. Healey also reported that Mead could face more batting practice off Crochet on Saturday.
Boston has not officially shut the book on activating Mead before the Wild Card round, which starts on September 29. It’s a tight race against time, but the possibility is still alive that he could be on the roster for the first playoff series.
Mead was brought in to add some pop to the infield, and the numbers he posted before the injury explain why. With the Washington Nationals, the second baseman hit .254/.352/.500 with 17 doubles and 17 home runs. He has been on the injured list since suffering a fractured wrist after two at-bats in a Red Sox uniform, and he hasn’t played in a game since July 27.
That long layoff is exactly why this remains such a tricky call. If Mead comes back, he won’t get the benefit of a rehab assignment, because the WooSox season ended on September 19. That leaves Boston with a player who would be jumping straight into postseason baseball without the usual ramp-up.
The Red Sox, though, could use the gamble. Their offense has gone flat in September, when Boston owns the second-lowest batting average in the majors at .221 and a .656 OPS. That kind of production won’t get the job done against the New York Yankees’ pitching staff.
So even if Mead is still a long shot, the Red Sox are keeping him in the conversation. Any setback in his recovery could end the possibility quickly, but if there’s a chance he can help, Boston may decide it’s worth finding out.
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It was the kind of performance that fit the way that team operated all fall, with different players stepping forward at different moments on the way to the World Series title. Holt kept his fingerprints on the championship run after that, too, including a key run in Game 3 against the Dodgers, another reminder that Bostons title was built as much on timely surprises as on the stars everyone expected. [Read more 🡒]