Nick

Sogard

There wasn’t much to write home about for the Red Sox offense today, but Sogard was one of the brighter spots. The 26-year-old has seen more playing time at second base since David Hamilton went down with an injury, and while he may not produce tons of fantasy goodness, regular playing time would put him on the deep league radar.

Sogard gets the call over Enmanuel Valdez and Vaughn Grissom with David Hamilton out. He hit .227/.300/.350 in 50 plate appearances before being sent down a couple of weeks ago. He’ll likely share time with Romy Gonzalez and Mickey Gaspar at second base.

The Red Sox needed to free up a spot on their active roster for the return of Tyler O’Neill (leg) on Saturday and unfortunately Sogard was the odd man out this time around. The 26-year-old has hit .227/.300/.250 with zero homers, six RBI and three stolen bases in 50 plate appearances with the Red Sox this season.

The 26-year-old infielder was pulled from Wednesday’s game due to a sore calf and then sat out Thursday’s game as he was still feeling it. All is well now though and he’ll draw another start at second base and will bat seventh for the Red Sox against Orioles’ ace Corbin Burnes on Friday evening in Baltimore.

The 26-year-old infielder left Wednesday’s game with a calf injury and now will sit out on Thursday. Ceddanne Rafaela will move into the infield and play shortstop with David Hamilton sliding to second base, Jarren Duran moving to center field and Rob Refsnyder entering the lineup in left field. With Tyler O’Neill (leg) nearing a return, Sogard could be in danger of losing playing time in the near future, so he will certainly try to get back on the field soon.

Red Sox’ manager Alex Cora said in his postgame comments that Sogard fouled a ball off of his calf earlier in the game and it started to tighten up on him, which is why he was removed. It doesn’t sound like anything that should require an extended absence, so consider the 26-year-old infielder as day-to-day.

Sogard is getting a chance to be a full-time starter for the Red Sox and has responded by hitting .278/.341/.306 in 10 games with five RBI and two steals. The 26-year-old hit .279 with 12 home runs and 10 steals in 89 games at Triple-A this year, so he’s not going to set the world on fire from a fantasy perspective, but he can contribute a little bit everywhere and that could make him relevant in deeper formats if he holds onto the second base job.

When Sogard was called up at the beginning of the month there was a belief that he would primarily play against lefties when the team moved David Hamilton and Enmanuel Valdez to the bench. However, Sogard has now made nine starts, split between second base, third base, and shortstop. The results haven’t quite been there yet, as the 26-year-old has gone 7-for-28 with one extra-base hit, one steal, and a 31.3 percent strikeout rate. His leash may be shortened if he’s unable to make more of an impact with the bat.

Devers will sit for the first time in 49 games against right-hander Hunter Brown. This appears to just be a day of maintenance for the 27-year-old. Nick Sogard will start at third and hit seventh while Devers rests.

A 12th-round pick by the Rays in the 2019 MLB Draft, Sogard will make his big league debut when he gets into a game for Boston. The 26-year-old infielder was hitting .279 with an .821 OPS, 12 home runs and 54 RBI at Triple-A this year.