As the Red Sox won yet another game that they trailed in the late innings on Monday night, a win that brought them to 40-13 in their past 53 games, the way the ninth inning unfolded has become a common theme the past two months: Role players, backups, castoffs, whatever you want to call them, were the key to the comeback.
It was Mickey Gasper’s fourth time on base on the day, contributions that we’ve seen night after night since his recall. And yet, I can’t tell you if Gasper will be on the Red Sox MLB roster tomorrow, never mind on the playoff roster.
In the coming days, there will be a bit of a “line change” within the Red Sox roster and it’s hard to know how to feel about it. Three position players, who at the start of the season were all firmly within the 13 rostered hitters, will all likely be returning within a week of each other. The discourse around those players varies quite a bit, and none of their situations are easy to unpack, especially when considering how they affect the other players on the roster who have defined the Red Sox’ success in 2026.
Roman Anthony is the easy one. As he moves his rehab up to Triple-A today, it’s likely that we will see him this week, prior to the pivotal four-game set against the Yankees this weekend. With Masataka Yoshida recently on the IL, Anthony slides into some sort of LF/DH hybrid role fairly easily. Management unfairly placed a lot of pressure on the 22-year-old Anthony’s shoulders heading into this season, but no one is saying that he should stay in the minor leagues once healthy.
It’s in the infield where things get tricky. Trevor Story has been out since May 14th, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa since June 18th. Both of them are currently rehabbing, and with rosters expanding on September 1st to allow for a 14th position player, it seems as if one of them will be activated prior to that date, and one would be activated on September 1st. Additionally, Story and Kiner-Falefa were on the team for the entirety of the “vibes are bad” portion of the season. If you are someone who takes a look at social media on a daily basis, fans aren’t exactly clamoring for the return of Story, who had a negative-0.5 fWAR and a 46 wRC+ in 41 games played with the team. However, he was playing hurt, and as Maura outlined, there’s a lot more here than meets the eye for a rehabbing player who doesn’t want to lose his job because of an injury. In Story’s case, many, many injuries.
Conversely, look at a player like Anthony Seigler. The Red Sox are 44-19 in games where Seigler is on the active roster, compared to the team having a 29-43 record when Kiner-Falefa was on the active roster. Seigler’s wRC+ is 99, Kiner-Falefa 98. Seigler’s fWAR is 0.2, and Kiner-Falefa’s is 1.1. What should win out there? In fact, look at this entire group and explain to me how we’re supposed to rank these players from one through nine:
In a 3-game Wild Card series, teams will sometimes go with a 12 pitcher/14 hitter mix. But for a 5-or-7 game playoff series, only four of the nine players in the list above would be on the 13-man roster of position players.
The two catchers would almost certainly be Adley Rutschman and Connor Wong, if healthy.
Five Outfield/DH from the following group of eight players: Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Jahmai Jones, Eli White, Mickey Gasper, and Masataka Yoshida (if he returns in time). Even if Yoshida does not return, cutting two of those players from the list will be tough, and that’s the easier task of the two.
That leaves us with six infielders, including Durbin and Contreras at the corners. Let’s make a case for the rest of them, in order of games played so far this season:
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Andruw Monesterio: He’s been on the roster since Opening Day, and the everyday shortstop since the All Star Break. His 11 doubles since that date is tied for first in the American League. With a 1st percentile Outs Above Average, the defense isn’t starting shortstop caliber, but one would have to think he at least has a bench role.
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Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Tallied 1.1 fWAR in just 47 games, thanks to strong defense (+7 OAA) and a .277 batting average that trails only Rafaela, Sogard, and Contreras (min: 100 AB). In the five weeks prior to his injury, Kiner-Falefa slashed .321/.391/.449.
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Anthony Seigler: Was the team’s leadoff hitter and starting second baseman against righties for the 15-game winning streak in late June/early-July. Entered Monday with a 104 OPS+ in 158 plate appearances. Vibes+ Ratings: off the charts.
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Trevor Story: Just a season ago, played in 157 games, including 155 starts at shortstop, hitting .263 with 25 home runs, 96 RBI, 91 runs, and was 31-for-32 on stolen base attempts. Went 5-for-13, with the team’s only home run in the postseason.
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Nick Sogard: Entered Monday with an .828 OPS and 1.3 fWAR with 20 runs scored in 35 games. His 16% walk rate would be 8th in all of MLB if he qualified. Has made countless great defensive plays, good for a +2 OAA.
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Romy Gonzalez: Slashed .290/.329/.457 in 185 games over the 2024-2025 seasons for the Red Sox. Rushed his rehab through the minor leagues to hustle back to help a struggling lineup, on a team that was 36-46 when he returned on June 28th. Was rewarded with a demotion to Triple-A after just 65 at-bats, in which he hit .185 with one home run.
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Tsung-Che Cheng: Perhaps an afterthought at this point, Cheng was with the team for the entirety of their 15-game win streak, and started at shortstop for the majority of those games, playing strong defense.
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Curtis Mead: A major acquisition at the trade deadline from Washington, in return for Connelly Early, Mead comes to Boston with a 134 wRC+. Mead’s timeline seems to align with the final week of the regular season, and if he can get a few games under his belt, would be in the infield or even DH mix. If they choose to wait until 2027 to return Mead (a shaky defender) to the infield, then add him to the OF/DH smorgasbord above.
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Franklin Arias: Even though I don’t expect to see Arias this season, I’m just putting him here because he’s, you know, one of the Top-3 prospects in the game and has 23 HR and 74 RBI in 98 minor league games this year, even though he wasn’t expected to hit for power.
If it were up to me, I would let Story and Kiner-Falefa rehab until September 1st when the rosters expand. Story is 4-for-21 in his rehab over six games, with no walks and five strikeouts. Kiner-Falefa is 1-for-13 with two walks and four strikeouts. They have been out for so long that getting a “spring training” worth of at-bats is entirely reasonable, especially after the team brought Gonzalez and Rutschman back from their rehabs earlier than was prudent. It will also give another week to let things play out at the big league level. A Mickey Gasper demotion after what he’s done over the past seven games just feels like bad karma.
Whoever Craig Breslow decides to put in front of Chad Tracy for the next (hopefully) two months, I expect Tracy will continue to push the right buttons. Seeing the way that he has moved the likes of Gasper, Jones, White, and Seigler in and out of the lineup, whether it be via in-game platooning or pinch-running has been masterful to watch. The team is now 62-42 under Tracy’s watch. Whether it’s the right 13 or 14 players that are there is going to be fascinating to watch unfold.
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