The Boston Red Sox are in Cleveland with a chance to chip away at the Wild Card standings, but they’ll have to do so without their star rookie.
It hasn’t been the best of times for the Red Sox as of late and they took another blow today as it was announced that Michael Chavis was placed on the Injury List. Chavis missed some time with back spasms a few weeks ago and now an AC sprain in his left shoulder has knocked out the rookie star.
The Ice Horse stormed onto the season for Boston during an April call-up and has been a mainstay in the lineup ever since. Though his defense has been off the charts good his offense has left something to be desired. At one point in the year, he was so hot that he found himself in Rookie of the Year talks but has since cooled down.
Chavis made a big splash on the active roster with his penchant for smacking dingers to the moon. He also stepped up huge at second base when there weren’t any other options even though he’d never played the position. Most recently he was holding down first base before Mitch Moreland returned from the IL and the emergence of Sam Travis.
In his time with the main roster, we’ve all seen Michael develop and become a more well-rounded player. Not only has he improved at the plate by showing more patience with certain pitches, I’m lookin’ at you high fastball. He’s also made some spectacular plays defensively that have left fans with their jaws on the floor.
Chavis has been ging hard since his promotion and it simply looks like it’s catching up to him. In his 95 games in the big leagues, he’s is sporting a .254/.322/.444/.766 slash line and Chavis is also second in the AL for rookies with 18 homers.
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The Chief has been a major asset for Alex Cora and the Red Sox thanks to his versatility around the diamond. Though he played in the most recent series against the Angels he was a non-factor having gone a silent 0-12. The news of his trip to the 10-day IL comes just a day after his 24th birthday. With just 42 games left in the season, Boston will need Chavis to be as healthy as possible if they want to make a run at the Wild Card.
Red Sox Nation does get some good news out of this though as Marco Hernandez was recalled from Pawtucket. In a bit of a shock move, Hernandez was demoted back to Triple-A recently but he didn’t let that stop his hot streak at the plate. Now Marco will get his chance to once again show the Fenway Faithful just how good he can be.
This season is far from over but the Red Sox don’t have a very long rope to work with. If they want to make a move in the standings they’re going to need every asset they have to be fully healthy. With 42 games left on the schedule, there’s still plenty of time left for the Ice Horse to gallop around the base paths after a few moon bombs. Hopefully, Michael will have a speedy recovery and we’ll see him back on the diamond soon.