Kike Hernandez suffered a hamstring injury in Boston’s win over the Tigers on Thursday. He was placed on the injured list on Friday. Charles Krupa/Associated Press
The Red Sox placed Kiké Hernández on the 10-day injured list because of a right hamstring strain.
Michael Chavis was recalled from Triple-A Worcester before Friday’s game at Camden Yards to take Hernández’s spot on the 26-man roster.
Hernández left Thursday’s game during the first inning because of right hamstring tightness after hitting a double.
Chavis has spent just one day on the active roster this season. The Red Sox activated him for their game against the Orioles on April 10 when J.D. Martinez was placed on the COVID-related injured list because of cold-like symptoms for that one day.
Chavis is 1 for 7 with a double in two games for Worcester.
“He’s versatile,” Red Sox Manager Alex Cora said. “He can play first, second, third. We can put him in left field. Right-handed bat.”
In his first 26 major league games, Chavis batted .296 with a .389 on-base percentage, .592 slugging percentage, .981 OPS, nine home runs, two doubles, 24 RBI, 14 walks and 30 strikeouts (119 plate appearances). In 111 major league games since then, he has batted .228 with a .281 on-base percentage, .382 slugging percentage, 14 homers, 13 doubles, three triples, 53 RBI, 25 walks and 147 strikeouts (427 plate appearances).
“I feel better than I was in 2019. I feel better than I have ever in professional baseball, honestly,” Chavis said recently. “I feel like the way I performed in spring training kind of relayed that. Honestly, I feel incredible.”
CORA CALLED BRANDON WORKMAN on Super Bowl Sunday. The conversation wasn’t about football. It was about potentially returning to the Red Sox in 2021.
“It was recruiting actually at that time,” Cora said. “It didn’t work out.”
Workman signed with the Cubs instead. But the righty has found his way back to the Red Sox. Boston signed him to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Worcester.
Workman was designated for assignment by the Cubs last week.
“I texted with him a few days ago just thanking him for giving us a chance,” Cora said. “And just get to work. He feels good about it. Obviously it didn’t go well in the second part of the season last year and didn’t go well with the Cubs. There’s a few things we recognize with our information department that hopefully we can regain and he can become a factor.”
The righty allowed six earned runs in 8 innings (6.75 ERA) in 10 appearances this season.
Workman’s four-seam fastball has averaged 91.5 mph this year, down from 92.5 mph in 2020 and 92.9 mph in 2019, per Baseball Savant.
“We always talk about his velocity,” Cora said. “It was a topic in ‘18. It was a topic in ‘19 spring training. When his velocity’s a tick up, it helps everything else. Teams make adjustments. I saw his last one against the Braves and he threw a lot of breaking balls. And he threw some good ones and some bad ones. But I think with him, velocity is very important because the shape of the breaking ball and the spin, it’s usually the same. It’s still a good breaking ball. But if he doesn’t have something else to separate, he becomes a one-pitch pitcher. And like I said, game-planning comes into play. His cutter, too, is part of the equation. We’ve just got to get him back to gain his confidence, too.”
How does he regain velocity?
“Sometimes it mechanical. Sometimes it’s just go out there and get repetitions,” Cora said. “I don’t know how it went in spring training as far as his build-up and all that. But that was something we always talk about here – about his velocity. … The velocity needs to be at a certain level and if that happens, then the other stuff is good, too. I know he’s happy. There’s a comfort level that hopefully can help him out to regain that confidence. And like I said, hopefully he can become a factor.”
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