Rolling Red Sox Threatened by Looming Roster Crunch

Neither veteran infielder has minor league options and will have to be added back on the roster at some point before their 20-day rehab limit is over. Kiner-Falefa spoke with the media on Tuesday, saying that he doesn’t mind waiting until rosters expand on September 1 to be activated.

“I understand how things move with the roster,” he told Chris Cotillo of MassLive. “We’ve got a lot of quality guys, guys who have done things and don’t deserve to come down or be DFA’d.”

Story saw things a little differently, explaining after an 0-for-4 with two strikeouts on Tuesday that he is “feeling really good,” dismissing the results and saying that he would feel good about returning in the next day or two.

Simultaneously, the Red Sox continue to win games with contributions from players that were called up at some point due to injury.

Mickey Gasper, who was recently recalled to replace the injured Masataka Yoshida, is now batting .476 with five home runs and 12 RBI in eight games since returning to the big leagues. His two solo shots on Tuesday night were Boston’s only runs of the night until Jarren Duran’s big swing in extras.

Anthony Seigler, who was the unrelenting spark plug during the June turnaround, saw his playing time cut with the emergence of Nick Sogard at second base. Still, the switch-hitting infielder came through on Monday night with a go-ahead RBI triple in the top of the ninth after sitting for six straight games.

Sogard, who, like the two others, can be easily optioned back to Triple-A, was the hero time and time again during the San Francisco series and boasts an .821 OPS in August while primarily serving as the Red Sox’s leadoff man. As a switch-hitter who can play all over the diamond, it’s hard to see him becoming the odd man out.

The unfortunate reality is that one of these players will likely get the axe for Anthony when he is ready, which is likely to be Friday. With Seigler’s dip in playing time, he appears to be the easiest to send back down to Triple-A.

The more difficult decision will come for Story, who may also be activated for Friday despite his lack of results on his rehab assignment. The way Gasper has been swinging it, it is hard to imagine him getting sent down. But that only leaves you with the option of Andruw Monasterio, who has struggled recently filling in at shortstop, and a DFA for one of veteran outfielders Eli White and Jahmai Jones.

It is a good problem to have, but juggling a red-hot roster and the good health of early season contributors is going to be no easy task for interim manager Chad Tracy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. The decision may ultimately come down to them prioritizing the roster’s ceiling for October rather than the postseason seeding implications that lay in front of them this weekend.

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