Change is about to hit the Red Sox roster in the next week, and how it gets handled could determine a lot about the team's season.
The Sox are about to welcome back a number of players who have spent much of the season on the IL — Trevor Story (sports hernia), Roman Anthony (finger, wrist) and Isiah Kiner-Falefa (forearm) all have the capability to impact the team in the final month and into October.
But this isn't simply a matter of addition here. There's some subtraction ahead, and that's where things get tricky.
For the last few months, the Red Sox have used an assortment of role players to catapult themselves back into the playoff chase. Andruw Monasterio, Nick Sogard, Anthony Seigler and Mickey Gasper have all done their part to help the team in the absence of the injured stars.
Now that the three players are about to wrap up rehab appearances, someone has to go. Story, it's presumed, will again become the regular shortstop, displacing Monasterio and also impacting Sogard and Seigler.
Then Kiner-Falefa arrives, again taking playing time — and a roster spot — away from the current infield group. And when Anthony comes back, that could take at-bats from Gasper, who has served as a productive DH but could be pushed aside when Anthony and Jarren Duran split time between left field and DH.
It's not an easy problem to solve and will put interim manager Chad Tracy into an uncomfortable spot. He can't not use the returning, established players. Yet when they come back, he's going to forced into taking out players who have helped the team's second-half turnaround.
What to do?
It will take a deft hand by Tracy, who has mostly pushed all the right buttons since taking over from Alex Cora in late April. He's earned the respect of both young players and veterans while overseeing a reversal of fortune for the team. This, however, will be his toughest challenge yet.
If it's not handled well, there will be unhappiness in the clubhouse and could derail the team's playoff push.
Ordinarily, getting three players back from the Injured List would be an unqualified positive development. But this one is plenty complicated and will require a deft touch.
