Jemile Weeks playing himself into a future role with Red Sox?

The acquisition of Jemile Weeks at the waiver trade deadline on August 31 was an afterthought at best; the swap of Kelly Johnson and Michael Almanzar for Weeks and Minor Leaguer Ivan De Jesus just didn’t look to be a significant trade.

With Dustin Pedroia out for the season, however, Weeks has gotten a chance to try his hand at second base for the Red Sox and, through his first eight games in Boston, he has exceeded expectations. Small sample size is obviously a major factor in his success but Weeks has electrified the bottom of the lineup with a .294/.368/.471 slash line in his first 19 plate appearances for the Red Sox, knocking three doubles and stealing two bases to boot.

Now, with Pedroia expected to be fully recovered from his wrist surgery by spring training of next season, there’s likely not a starting job on the horizon for Weeks. However, it’s possible that the 27-year old speedster could make a case for a bench role.

After all, once a highly-touted prospect for the Oakland Athletics, there’s some potential to be tapped for Weeks. Quick on the base paths and with some versatility across the diamond (the A’s tried Weeks in the outfield with mixed results last season), Weeks profiles well as a useful pinch-runner and defensive replacement off the bench and if he continues to hit with this (or any reasonable) level of success, then he could be a very interesting depth piece for the Red Sox.

He’s relatively low on the depth chart, currently standing behind Pedroia, Brock Holt, and probably even second baseman turned outfielder Mookie Betts at the keystone, and it’s far too early to be handing out bench roles on the 2015 team, but Weeks has the potential to make a (limited) impact for future Red Sox teams. We already knew the potential was there and, through admittedly a very small sample size, he has been delivering thus far.