Mitch Moreland is out of the lineup for the second straight night. He is dealing with some soreness in his surgically repaired knee.
Boston Red Sox first baseman Mitch Moreland is out of the lineup for the second straight night. The reason? An ailing knee. The same knee he had cleaned up with arthroscopic surgery over the offseason. The injury came about as Moreland fought through a broken toe and impacted him for the remainder of the 2017 season. Hearing that it is flaring back up again is cause for a little concern.
When asked about his absence from the lineup yesterday, manager Alex Cora insisted it wasn’t health related. That’s understandable as there is no reason to tip your hand to the opposing manager. Convincing anyone that a guy who mashes right handed pitching is out of the lineup against one for the second night in a row and isn’t hurting would be a tall task, however. So Cora opened up about the real reason today.
A bit of that old Bill Belichick misdirection:
Why show your hand if you don’t have to? Alex Cora apparently like to keep his cards close to the vest:
Moreland says he’s been ‘banged up,’ with soreness in his surgically repaired left knee. He said he couldn’t have pinch-hit last night, but thinks there’s a better chance he could today. Anticipates lineup return this weekend.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) July 27, 2018
Should Red Sox fans be worried? That depends on how this plays out over the next few days. Given the fact that the Red Sox haven’t placed him on the DL yet, they are clearly hoping he just needs a few days of rest. And the suggestion that he would be available to pinch hit tonight could be genuine. But what if it’s not? If another important at bat comes up tonight where pinching hitting Moreland makes sense and he doesn’t get the call, we can all start holding our breath. At that point each day will be another data point for armchair orthopedic surgeons to diagnose the severity of his injury.
But for now it seems like the best thing we, as fans, can do is sit back and enjoy the games. Even if Moreland isn’t used in a critical spot tonight, he may well be back on the field tomorrow. As someone who has had a knee scope, sometimes it just hurts for a day or two. It doesn’t mean there is new structural damage. And with a 4.5 game division lead, plus the news that the Yankees most fearsome slugger is out for at least the next three weeks, taking the foot off the pedal for a few days is probably the right way to go. Even still, memories of Moreland’s second half last season are tough to ignore.
Are you worried about Moreland having a poor second half like he did in 2017? Should the Red Sox urge him to play through some pain if it doesn’t go away soon? Let us know what you think in the comments!