The Irony of Hot Sticks
Nick Sogard, and Mickey Gasper both hit home runs in the same week. This happens right when the Red Sox are about to reshuffle their roster. It is the most ironic timing in baseball this season. These two players are the ones most likely to lose their spots soon. The team is waiting for Roman Anthony, Trevor Story, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to return. Jake Reiser inquired via Per Over the Monster about how the Red Sox incorporate Roman Anthony, Trevor Story, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The answer might be harder than anyone thought.
The arrival of new players makes Mickey Gasper feel like the first man off the roster. His entire career has produced only two major league home runs. None came with the Red Sox until this week. He hit a homer in every game of a three-game series. That is a huge jump for a player who was supposed to be cut. A home run in the bottom of the first saw Nick Sogard lead off the scoring. He is under pressure from the return of Story and Kiner-Falefa.
Why Timing Matters
It is pretty amusing to watch this happen. The guys on paper who stand to get less playing time soon end up swinging the hottest sticks. Tyler Milliken observed the extent to which Sogard has become a winning ballplayer. I agree with that take. The upcoming roster tsunami is something Sogard needs to survive. As the bench guy, he performs so many little things that exclusion seems impossible. The Red Sox cannot just ignore a player who is hitting like this. A complex and fluid beast that evolves by the day defines the roster construction.
Yesterday was a particularly interesting one for the team. The focus so far has been on the guys returning. On Monday, did you witness that home run Roman Anthony hit. But something really interesting happened with the guys who don’t want to leave. They are proving they belong in the lineup. The Red Sox face a tough choice now. Do they keep the guys who are hot? Or do they go back to the plan they had before?
The Kids Take Over
While the big league team fights for spots, the minor leagues are having fun. On “Kids Take Over the Broadcast” night, a seven-year-old fan named Josh Johnson got to call a game. He called a home run by Tyler McDonough alongside broadcaster Emma Tiedemann. “That’ll be a high fly ball. Big hit and that is going out of here! Three-run homer for Tyler McDonough!” Josh said. McDonough hit his fourth homer and knocked in his 11th run of the month.
Tiedemann said, “I always am hoping for home runs during their innings because they consistently rise to the occasion.” The kids prepare questions to ask players in their pregame interviews. “They prepare questions to ask players in their pregame interviews and that preparation carries over to the broadcast.” Parents submit a short questionnaire and a video to get a sense of how they might be on the air. It is a nice reminder of why they do these events each season.
The roster reshuffle is coming fast. The players on the bench are making it hard to make a move. Sogard and Gasper are forcing the front office to rethink the plan. You have to respect a player who hits when he needs to. This Red Sox season has been a wild roller coaster so far. We will see who survives when the cavalry finally arrives.
