Red Sox: Xander Bogaerts still sore after being hit by pitch

Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts is considered day-to-day after leaving Thursday night’s game in Tampa Bay when he was hit by a pitch.

Thursday was a tough night for Xander Bogaerts. First the shortstop for the Boston Red Sox found out that he came up short on the Final Vote ballot and will be left off the All-Star roster. To add injury to insult, Bogaerts exited the game that night after being hit by a pitch on the right hand during his first trip to the plate in the first inning.

The Red Sox could breath a sigh of relief upon learning that X-rays were negative, so for now they are considering Bogaerts day-to-day with a bruised hand.

As encouraging as that diagnosis is for the team, it does little to ease the pain for Bogaerts. He told reporters after the game that his sore hand doesn’t feel good.

"“I’m not encouraged by how it’s feeling,” said Bogaerts. “But the X-rays tell a lot, so hopefully it feels better tomorrow when I wake up and put a lot of ice on it.”"

The Red Sox can ill afford to lose Bogaerts for an extended period. They have managed to get by

with a platoon of Deven Marrero and Tzu-Wei Lin at third base. The absence of Bogaerts would force them into using both of them in the lineup. That’s what happened Thursday, when Lin moved over from third to shortstop and Marrero took over at the hot corner.

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Bogaerts is hitting .308 with six home runs and 41 RBI this season.

It remains to be seen if Bogaerts will be available for Friday night’s game against the Rays. If the swelling that began last night hasn’t alleviated by the time he reports to the ballpark then he will almost certainly sit. The X-rays showing no fractures means he wouldn’t be at risk of further damage by attempting to play through it, but if the discomfort effects his swing or prevents him from making hard contact then they would be better off letting him rest.

Next: Rotation will soon take the fifth

Boston has three games left before the All-Star break. We could see Bogaerts back in the lineup before then, but if a worst case scenario has him missing only three games then the Red Sox can live with that.