The Boston Red Sox had to shuffle the roster around in order to make room for a player who forced his way onto the major league club with a monster Spring.
The Red Sox waited until the last possible moment to finalize the Opening Day roster. The last remaining spots were left open for a reliever and fifth reserve outfielder/final bench spot.
Entering the final spring training game of 2023, it appeared as though the latter role was to be filled by one of two hopefuls -- Jarren Duran or Raimel Tapia.
In the final week of spring training, Red Sox manager Alex Cora was non-committal regarding Tapia's future.
“We're still working on stuff. He's done everything possible," Cora told MassLive's Christopher Smithon Sunday. "But we've got guys that are good players too. So we'll make decisions when we have to make them.”
Tapia signed a minor league deal in January that included an opt-out if he was not added to the 40-man roster before Opening Day, which presumably weighed into the Red Sox's decision to ultimately add him to the roster.
Tapia himself made quite the case for a roster spot this spring, slashing .326/.383/.605 for a .988 OPS with two home runs and five RBIs in 43 at-bats. Had he not made the team, he would have been a shining example that spring training stats do not play a factor in roster construction.
In his seven big league seasons, Tapia is a career .277/.318/.392 hitter in 1,858 plate appearances, playing the first six of those seasons as a member of the Colorado Rockies, and most recently in Toronto.
Red Sox fans may remember Tapia as the Blue Jays outfielder that hit an inside-the-park grand slam at Fenway in the infamous 28-5 beating last year. Ironically enough, it was Duran who lost the ball in the lights and allowed Tapia to round the bases giving minimal effort to retrieve the ball.
That moment will live in Red Sox fans’ minds for quite some time, but perhaps this decision to grant Tapia the fifth outfield spot over Duran can serve as a symbolic one and begin to shut the door on one of the more embarrassing moments in recent Red Sox history.
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