Isiah Kiner-Falefa (forearm) set to undergo MRI

Kiner-Falefa has been on the injured list for a month with left forearm inflammation, so he has missed all the fun in Boston. The veteran utilityman will likely need a couple more weeks before he can begin a rehab assignment. However, while he has been out, not only have the Red Sox been on fire, but Romy Gonzalez has returned from the injured list, and Trevor Story has started to progress in his recovery from sports hernia surgery. There may not be much of a role for Kiner-Falefa to return to.

It says a lot about the Red Sox lineup that this is actually a pretty significant loss for Boston. Kiner-Falefa homered against the Blue Jays in the eighth inning Thursday in his final at-bat before going on the IL and is batting .277/.344/.401 on the season. Andruw Monasterio figures to pick up some extra playing time for now.

Mayer sat out on Thursday due to illness and wasn’t feeling well during the day on Friday, but he felt much better as game time approached and seemingly was able to talk his way into the lineup. He’ll start at shortstop and bat seventh with Isiah Kiner-Falefa heading back to the bench.

Kiner-Falefa’s homer off Trey Yesavage gave the Red Sox their third run of the three-game series and was immediately followed by Caleb Durbin going back-to-back to tie the game at 3-3. The RBI was Kiner-Falefa’s first since June 3. At .277/.344/.361, he’s one of the few Red Sox hitters exceeding expectations this year. He’s actually ahead of his career-high .699 OPS from 58 games in 2020.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa seems to have cooled off, so he’s taking a seat after 10 straight starts. The switch-hitting Seigler was called up Wednesday after hitting .298/.425/.471 in 30 games for Triple-A Worcester. He appeared in one of his first three games on the roster, going 0-for-2.

Since Trevor Story has been injured and Marcelo Mayer has shifted to shortstop, Kiner-Falefa has been getting regular starts for the Red Sox at second base. Since the beginning of May, he’s hitting .357/.438/.476 in 49 plate appearances with one home run, eight RBI, and two steals. He can be picked up in deeper fantasy formats while he’s getting regular playing time.

Story will likely be sidelined until at least late July after undergoing the procedure on May 22. The 33-year-old shortstop was playing through the injury for most of the season, which clearly had a negative impact on his production at the plate. It’ll be Marcelo Mayer and Isiah Kiner-Falefa handling shortstop in his absence until the second half of the year.

It makes sense that Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy is giving Kiner-Falefa some additional run since he’s hitting an absurd .414 (12-for-29) with one homer, seven RBI and one steal over his last 15 games. Marcelo Mayer heads to the bench on Saturday afternoon in Cleveland after starting four of the previous five games at shortstop for Boston.

Kiner-Falefa thought he had his first homer Sunday, a potential three-run walkoff blast against the Twins. Instead, it turned out to be a wall-scraper on a wet day in Boston and the Red Sox came up a run short in a 6-5 loss. He did get his first homer tonight, taking Dylan Lee deep in the seventh after Lee went his first 24 1/3 innings this year without allowing a homer. He also singled in two runs in another ninth-inning rally that came up just short in a 7-6 loss. Kiner-Falefa is up to .278/.350/.370 for the season, so he’s likely looking at additional playing time in the short term. That’s more bad news for Caleb Durbin.

Boston’s former top prospect will get his first chance at shortstop later this weekend and figures to get an extended run at the position with Trevor Story on the injured list recovering from sports hernia surgery. Ultimately, it didn’t make a lot of sense for the Red Sox to keep rolling with Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Andruw Monasterio at the position with Story facing an extended absence. The 23-year-old was one of the top shortstop prospects in baseball before moving to third base last year.