Before opening up a three-game series against the Phillies at Fenway Park on Friday night, the Red sox made a series of roster moves.
First off, backup catcher Kevin Plawecki was activated from the 10-day injured list. In a corresponding move, catching prospect Connor Wong was optioned to Triple-A Worcester following Wednesday’s game against the Angels.
Secondly, utility man Danny Santana was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left quad strain. Santana’s stint on the IL was backdated to July 7. To fill Santana’s spot on the active roster, infielder/outfielder Michael Chavis was called up from Triple-A Worcester.
The Red Sox made all these transactions official earlier Friday afternoon.
Plawecki returns from the injured list after missing nearly three weeks of action on account of a left hamstring strain he sustained while chasing down an errant throw in Kansas City on June 20.
The 30-year-old backstop did not require a rehab assignment after traveling and working out with the team during their six-game West Coast road trip. He will be available off the bench if needed on Friday with Christian Vazquez getting the start behind the plate.
Coming into play on Friday, Plawecki has hit .254/.319/.349 with one home run, three doubles, three RBI, seven runs scored, five walks, and 12 strikeouts over 26 games (70 plate appearances) so far this season.
Wong, meanwhile, heads back down to Worcester after a rather successful first major-league stint with the Red Sox.
One of three players acquired from the Dodgers in the Mookie Betts/David Price trade, Wong was called up from Triple-A on June 22 and went 3-for-11 (.273) at the plate with one double, two runs scored, zero walks, and seven strikeouts across four games.
The 25-year-old, who is regarded by Baseball America as the No. 2 catching prospect in Boston’s farm system, made his major-league debut as a pinch-runner against the Rays on June 22 and wound up scoring the winning run in a 9-5 victory. He then caught Nathan Eovaldi on three separate occasions on June 26, July 1, and July 6, and drew praise from both the right-hander and Sox manager Alex Cora while doing so.
As he makes his return to the WooSox, Wong will take what he learned in Boston and look to apply that to his game while getting more consistent playing time.
Through 16 games (64 plate appearances) with the WooSox this season, the Houston-area native is slashing just .148/.188/.246, though he did miss some time due to a hamstring injury of his own.
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Turning to the next roster move now, veteran utility man Danny Santana was placed on the 10-day injured list because of a left quad strain suffered in Anaheim earlier this week.
Santana sustained the injury late in Tuesday’s loss to the Angels, and while he was available in an emergency on Wednesday, he ultimately lands on the IL because of it.
The speedy 30-year-old attempted to beat out a throw to first base while running out a ground ball hit to second in the seventh inning on Tuesday, but came up limp after the out was recorded.
While Red Sox manager Alex Cora had been cautiously optimistic that Santana might be able to avoid a trip to the injured list, he was also aware that the switch-hitter had a history when it cane to issues pertaining to his left quad.
That being the case because Santana missed a significant portion of the 2017 season with the Braves due to a left quadriceps strain that ultimately required a stay on the 60-day IL.
“With him, obviously, speed is part of his game, and moving in the outfield and all that,” Cora said Tuesday night. “So we’re going to be very careful. He has past history with that.”
With Santana’s stint on the injured list being backdated to July 7, the soonest the versatile Dominican can be activated is July 17, though it remains to be seen if he will require more than the minimum 10 days.
As for Michael Chavis, the 25-year-old is back with the Red Sox for a fifth time this season after being optioned to Worcester on July 5.
Chavis did not appear in a game for the WooSox in the four days he was there, but he is slashing .207/.230/.328 to go along with one homer, four RBI, one walk, and 22 strikeouts across 20 games (61 plate appearances) with the Red Sox so far this year while seeing time at both first and second base.
He, like Kevin Plawecki, will be available off the bench for Cora in Friday’s series opener against the Phillies. First pitch of that game is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.
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Also, Marwin Gonzalez, who dealt with tightness in his right hamstring earlier this week, appears to be a full-go now that he faces no restrictions, per Cora.
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