Red Sox center fielder Adam Duvall, who had four home runs and 14 RBI in Boston’s first eight games, was placed on the injured list on Monday with a broken left wrist. Paul Sancya/Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Boston Red Sox slugger Adam Duvall is going on the injured list with a fractured left wrist.
Boston Manager Alex Cora announced the injury before Monday night’s game at Tampa Bay, saying the center fielder has a distal left wrist fracture.
Duvall was hurt while attempting a diving catch in the outfield in Sunday’s game with Detroit. He was hitting .455 with AL-tying best four homers and 14 RBI in eight games through Sunday.
Duvall was undergoing additional tests Monday in Boston. Although Cora had no timetable for his return, Duvall will be out for an extended period. Cora didn’t know if surgery would be needed.
“The guy’s a good player,” Cora said. “It’s a big blow. But, at the same time, somebody has to step up. At one point we hope he comes back.”
Duvall had surgery last summer to repair a torn tendon sheath on the same wrist.
“It’s in the other side,” Cora said on the new injury. “From everything I hear with the procedure he had last year, nothing happened there but obviously there’s more testing going on just to make sure.”
The Red Sox recalled Bobby Dalbec from Triple-A Worcester. He was hitting .281 with one homer and five RBI over seven minor league games. He can play at first, shortstop and third. Yu Chang will also play shortstop.
Kiké Hernández, Raimel Tapia and Rob Refsnyder will play in center field.
“Chang is going to play some short. Bobby might play some short,” Cora said. “We’ll mix and match and see what we can do. Understanding we’ve got a lot of lefties coming up, Rob (Refsnyder) is going to be a big part of it. At the same time, we’ve got to take care of him because we cannot run him into the ground. It’s one of those where we’ll just manage what we have and manage the matchups we have and take advantage of them. There’s certain days we’re going to go for the offense. There’s certain days we’re going to play run prevention. It’s a daily thing for now.”
The lefty-mashing Refsnyder is starting Monday against southpaw Jalen Beeks and will see significant playing time in the coming days with the Red Sox set to face so many lefties. Cora emphasized the importance of making sure Refsnyder, who has never played more than 58 games in a season, doesn’t wear down. Tapia, who made the team as a non-roster invitee, will start against certain righties. He will also see more pinch-hitting opportunities with Duvall out.
“A good player that has done it before. He knows his role… Now, his bat off the bench is going to play a little bit more,” Cora said. “We weren’t hitting him for Adam. Now, we might hit him for a few guys in different spots. The days that Reese (McGuire) doesn’t start (at catcher), we may be a little more aggressive using him from the bench and try to move Connor (Wong) to get ready in other positions that, athletic-wise, he can do but he hasn’t practiced in a while.”
Dalbec was called up primarily because of how many lefties are on the upcoming schedule. A natural corner infielder, Dalbec played shortstop throughout spring training and is expected to see limited opportunities there behind Hernández and Chang. Dalbec said he has started getting reps in the outfield to prepare for that scenario, too.
“We did it in spring training,” Cora said. “He’s a good athlete. He can make all the routine plays. Has the arm to play (shortstop). If we need him there, we’ll play it.”
Cora said “there’s a good chance” that right-hander Garrett Whitlock, coming back from hip surgery, will make his season debut Tuesday night against the Rays.
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