How Did Isiah Kiner-Falefa Fare in First Game of Rehab Appearance?
The veteran infielder is working his way back from a stress reaction in his left forearm.
Video Transcript
What's up, everyone?
Zach Coe here for Roundtable.
The Red Sox have some interesting roster decisions looming as some key contributors start to get healthy.
Of course, Roman Anthony and Trevor Story have both begun their rehab assignments, Story with Triple-A Worcester and Anthony with Double-A Portland, while Isaiah Kiner-Falefa is set to embark on his rehab assignment beginning on Wednesday with Worcester, and there are a couple really key guys that this affects.
Andrew Monasterio, of course, the plan for him is to shift over either to second base or into a designated hitter role, with Story retaking his place as the starting shortstop of the team.
Monasterio's been great at the plate, but of course his defensive metrics rank him among the worst in all of baseball, so it'll be interesting to see where they go there.
But really that roster spot is what comes into question, whether it be Nick Sogard or Anthony Ziegler, one of those two guys seems like the likely option to head back down to Worcester upon Story's return, which could be as early as Friday's series opener against the Giants, and then the other will likely be returned to Worcester upon Kiner-Falefa's return to Boston.
But stop me if you've heard this one before again with the Red Sox outfield logjam.
Of course, Anthony's going to be the leadoff hitter, playing left field on most days when he returns to the Red Sox lineup, which at this point it's still unclear when that may be.
But currently, the Red Sox are already rostering five outfielders between Jarren Duran, Willier Abreu, Saidon Rafael, Jamai Jones, and Eli White, who they just acquired at the trade deadline.
You wouldn't assume that they're gonna carry six outfielders.
Obviously, they already have way too many outfielders to work with.
But Jamai Jones has been really good in limited plate appearances for this team as the new Rob Refsnyder.
And Eli White, we already know what the Red Sox think of him in terms of his defensive capabilities, where they can play him at any three of the outfield positions and feel like there's not much of a defensive drop-off.
Of course, they've also expended a real asset in Tyler Uberstein, which really could help you right about now with the state of your bullpen and starting rotation, so it'd be hard to believe that they're gonna designate him for assignment.
So pretty difficult decision there.
But Jarren Duran, of course, has been one of the worst qualified hitters in baseball in twenty twenty-six, and he does have a team option.
But is that the type of player that you're willing to send down to the minor leagues in order to keep two utility men, two fourth outfielders in Jones and White?
Remains to be seen.
It'll be interesting to see how the Red Sox approach things as these guys start to get healthy.
But either way, it should be a welcome sight for the Red Sox lineup to get all three of these guys back.
