The Boston Red Sox got through the first days of spring training with relatively few injuries revealed, but the biggest one is a tough loss — Romy Gonzalez has been sidelined all spring with shoulder pain from an injury he sustained in the final games of last season.
The utility infielder received a platelet-rich plasma injection to reduce his pain but there's been no change in his status. On March 10, Gonzalez will travel to Alabama to visit a doctor to see if he needs surgery to repair his shoulder. The surgery would be a devastating outcome for Boston.
Gonzalez will see Dr. Jeffrey Dugas, who surgically repaired Gonzalez's right shoulder in 2023, according to Sean McAdam of MassLive. If Gonzalez were to undergo a procedure, he doesn't think it would be season-ending, although he still hasn't seen the doctor yet.
After a breakout season in 2025, Gonzalez figured to be a huge part of Boston's infield in 2026. He batted .305/.343/.483 over 96 games and crushed lefties to the tune of a .978 OPS. The Red Sox will be without their resident lefty killer for a few weeks into the season — and maybe even longer, if he needs shoulder surgery — which is a tough pill to swallow, especially so given recent news from the Cincinnati Reds.
Romy Gonzalez shoulder injury update is bad news for Red Sox's chances against Andrew Abbott on Opening Day
Boston will travel to Cincinnati to open the 2026 season at the Great American Ballpark. It will face off with lefty Andrew Abbott (2.87 ERA over 166.1 innings in 2025) which is a suboptimal opponent for the Red Sox's lefty-heavy lineup. Nick Lodolo, another lefty, will likely also pitch during the season-opening series.
While facing two lefties in the first series of the season isn't an ideal outcome for the Sox, they added righties Willson Contreras and Caleb Durbin over the winter. Losing Alex Bregman and Rob Refsnyder doesn't help, though, and Gonzalez would've been the obvious Opening Day second baseman with Abbott on the mound. Now, Alex Cora will have to decide between Marcelo Mayer, Durbin, Andruw Monasterio and Isiah Kiner-Falefa for the job.
The obvious best-case scenario is that Gonzalez doesn't need surgery and he can join the Red Sox as soon as his shoulder feels better. If he does need the surgery, hopefully his "not season-ending" hunch is correct — the Red Sox need their lefty killer and his versatile infield defense healthy soon.