Figure out what your doing with the right side of the infield
The Red Sox need to figure out what they want to do at first and more importantly at second base moving forward.
Second base appears to be Dustin Pedroia’s for the foreseeable future and rightfully so. Pedroia has had a tremendous career and I hope he gets to finish his career in Boston where it all began.
However, in recent seasons, Pedroia has struggled mightily to stay on the field. When he has been out there, while he is still a good contact hitter, he has lost almost all of his power. He may not be the answer at second base.
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Other options include Eduardo Nunez and Brock Holt. However, Nunez has a player option and it will be anyone’s guess if he will be back or not. In my eyes, Holt is still more valuable as a utility man who moves all around the diamond. Or maybe Boston likes Blake Swihart at second. There is also the often injured Marco Hernandez who has been good for Boston when healthy or Tzu-Wei Lin who has also impressed when with the big league club. In the minors, Michael Chavis could be an option long term as Rafael Devers is likely Boston’s top option at third for the foreseeable future.
At first base, Boston has Mitch Moreland. However, the Red Sox have not seemed convinced that he is really their solution. Moreland has played quite well this season both in the field and at the plate but do the Red Sox see him as their guy at first base? Or do they see him as the guy that they needed to trade for Steve Pearce to cut into his playing time? Additionally, if it is the latter then who do they have as his right-handed compliment? Pearce is a free agent after this season and Boston used to really like Sam Travis but he has not blown the Red Sox away with his performance at the majors. Or do they like Swihart at first long term? So what is Boston’s plan?