Which injured Red Sox players are done for the year?
There are still a few weeks of baseball left, but the Boston Red Sox season is essentially over, with FanGraphs giving them less than a 1% chance of making the playoffs.
For several of their players, it’s already officially over. For some, it never got started. Injuries ravaged this team all season long, sidelining more than half the 26-man roster. Some players haven’t played all year (James Paxton, Josh Taylor), others barely played (Chris Sale).
While some players are likely to return for the final slate of games, including Nathan Eovaldi and Kutter Crawford, others won’t get back on the field until 2023.
Here are the latest players the Sox will have to make do without:
1. Tanner Houck is done for the year
On Tuesday, the Sox announced that Tanner Houck underwent successful back surgery in Boston to address a disc problem. His season was already officially over when they transferred him to the 60-Day IL, so the update didn’t change his outlook in that regard.
Houck made his debut as a starting pitcher in 2020 but spent most of this season pitching out of the bullpen, to great success. Over 28 relief appearances, he posted a 2.70 ERA with 14 games finished, eight saves, and 43 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings. Opposing batters only managed to hit .214/.298/.289.
The bad news is that the Sox bullpen, already pretty hard to watch, is beyond unbearable in his absence. The good news is that he should be ready for next spring training.
2. Eric Hosmer might not play for the Red Sox again in 2022
Eric Hosmer has reportedly been shut down from all baseball activities. Worse yet, it’s looking like he might not play again this season.
The veteran first baseman only played 12 games for the Sox before going on the IL on August 22 with low back inflammation. The latest report is that he won’t be activated before the season ends. That the Sox finally called up Triston Casas and plan to have him play regularly at first base indicates they’re not expecting Hosmer back.
The Sox acquired the four-time Gold Glover and 2015 World Series champion from the San Diego Padres at the trade deadline, looking to upgrade a weak spot in their infield. The Padres needed to open up first base, as they were in the process of making the biggest trade deadline splash, getting Juan Soto and Josh Bell from the Washington Nationals. They’re paying the remainder of his 8-year, $144M contract, though, which made this deal a no-brainer at the time.
At least the Sox got him cheap.
3. Franchy Cordero
When Franchy Cordero careened into the wall trying to snag a double on Monday evening, it looked bad instantly. He couldn’t walk off the field on his own, and even being supported by his manager and a Sox trainer wasn’t enough, so the cart came out and drove him into the bowels of the Trop.
What was first diagnosed as a right ankle sprain as the game continued without him has now been updated to something more serious, per manager Alex Cora:
"“Sprain, a bad one, on both sides of the ankle. He had an MRI we’re waiting on the results [of], but most likely he’s going on the IL.”"
Did you know you could sprain both sides of your ankle?