The Red Sox middle infield has been decimated by injury, but the club is getting one big piece back.
Infielder Romy Gonzalez was activated from the 60-day injured list Sunday after missing the entire first half recovering from left shoulder surgery. Gonzalez was penciled into Sunday’s lineup as the starting designated hitter and is expected to bounce between there and second base over the coming days while he eases back into big league action.
To clear space for Gonzalez, the Red Sox optioned catcher Mickey Gasper to Triple-A Worcester and transferred outfielder Roman Anthony to the 60-day IL. Anthony has already been on the IL for nearly 60 days so the move won’t have any impact on his return timeline.
Gasper was a somewhat surprising roster casualty given how prominent a role he’s played since being called up in early May. Gasper batted leadoff in seven of the last eight games he started, but Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy noted that Gasper’s production at the plate has dipped recently and with Gonzalez back they were in a position where continuing to carry three catchers was going to be untenable.
“You know he’s going to take down some DH at bats, we know (Masataka Yoshida) is going to take some DH at bats, so the need to get away from three catchers and have more versatility on the bench was imperative at this point,” Tracy said. “We rode that for a while. Couple that with we really like Mickey’s bat and if you know the at bats are drying up here making sure he’s getting left-handed at bats and see if he can get himself hot again, so if something comes up that we’re ready to bring him back, it just felt like the logical move.”
Gonzalez initially suffered his shoulder injury last fall during the club’s September trip to Tampa Bay. The injury lingered throughout the offseason and eventually prompted Gonzalez to undergo an arthroscopic debridement procedure on his left shoulder on March 12.
Gonzalez has yet to appear in a big league game this season, but last year he emerged as a crucial right-handed bat, batting .305 with an .826 OPS in 96 games while playing significant time at both first and second base. Tracy said the plan is for Gonzalez to primarily play second base and DH, but he could be an option at first as well if Willson Contreras ever needs a day off.
Speaking in the clubhouse pregame, Gonzalez said Sunday had been circled as his likely return date for a while and he’s been eagerly counting down the days.
“It’s been a while, I haven’t played since October so I’m excited,” Gonzalez said. “I got a good night rest and spent some time with some family, my girlfriend is in town also so that was a good time and they helped keep me grounded, but I’m feeling good.”