Red Sox Urged To Demote David Hamilton In Favor Of Unexpected Infielder

The Boston Red Sox got destroyed 16-1 by the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night, and there’s a lot of finger-pointing going on.

Tanner Houck is the first player to discuss due to his atrocious outing, but the blame doesn’t end with Houck. 

The Red Sox aren’t hitting, and they need to make some concrete changes at the plate before an 8-10 record gets even worse.

But what will those changes look like? Will Alex Cora re-shuffle the lineup, or even more drastic, could Boston send a player or two down to the minors to re-gain their mojo?

Struggling bats like Jarren Duran, Rafael Devers, and Triston Casas obviously won’t be spending any time in Triple-A, but other Red Sox might, according to new comments from Locked On Red Sox podcast host Steve Lenox.

Lenox released a new pod in the immediate wake of Boston’s blowout loss on Monday night and called for a demotion/promotion inside the Red Sox organization.

“Nobody can hit except (Kristian) Campbell,” Lenox said.

“Wake these guys up. Just because you're in the big leagues … (doesn’t mean it’s easy) to stay in the big leagues. There's gotta be some moves.”

“I looked at (Nick) Sogard … bring him up … he'll put together a quality at-bat. … I’m not putting (blame) just in the lap of David Hamilton, but he hasn't hit yet. Send him down and let him get some consistent at-bats. Bring Sogard up. Bring up Vaughn Grissom. Move a couple of guys down.”

Lenox’s concerns reflect real problems for the Red Sox, even if his suggestion to demote David Hamilton might be too hot of a take.

Lenox's chatter about Sogard and Grissom as potential call-ups was interesting given that all of the call-up buzz recently has revolved around Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony (and rightfully so).

Hearing Grissom’s name is a reminder of how deep Boston’s organizational depth chart truly is, giving the Red Sox a surplus of Major League-ready infielders and outfielders that overflows beyond the limits of the big league roster.

While a Hamilton swap for Grissom or Sogard might not be the answer, Lenox is onto something.

Alex Cora and the brain trust inside Boston’s clubhouse might need to do something drastic roster-wise if the Red Sox keep underperforming like this at the plate.