Yolmer Sánchez expected to take Jarren Duran’s spot on Red Sox’ roster for upcoming series in Toronto

The Red Sox are going to call up infielder Yolmer Sanchez from Triple-A Worcester ahead of Monday’s series opener against the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Sanchez will take the roster spot of outfielder Jarren Duran, who is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and will therefore be placed on the restricted list since he cannot travel to Canada.

While Sanchez is not on Boston’s 40-man roster, the club can still add him to the big-league roster in place of Duran for the next three days and then return him to Worcester without exposing him to waivers following Wednesday’s series finale at Rogers Centre.

A veteran of seven major-league seasons (2014-2020) with the White Sox, Sanchez originally signed a minor-league deal with the Red Sox back in February. In 68 games with the WooSox this season, the versatile switch-hitter has batted .253/.381/.424 (120 wRC+) with 11 doubles, one triple, eight home runs, 29 RBIs, 32 runs scored, four stolen bases, 44 walks, and 60 strikeouts over 265 trips to the plate. He has also seen playing time at every infield position besides first base.

At the big-league level, Sanchez owns a career .245/.300/.360 slash line to go along with 32 home runs and 215 RBIs across 657 games with Chicago. The Venezuela native took home the American League Gold Glove Award for second baseman in 2019.

According to Red Sox manager Alex Cora, Sanchez will likely make his first start of the year on Wednesday, which is also his 30th birthday. The plan is for him to start at second base in place of Trevor Story, who would have the chance to get off his feet for two days since Boston is off on Thursday.