Andruw

Monasterio

Story added that he’s feels fine from a physical standpoint after kicking off a minor league rehab assignment over the weekend. The 33-year-old veteran shortstop has missed the entirety of Boston’s remarkable midseason turnaround while recovering from sports hernia surgery. It sounds like he could return later this week after getting a few additional rehab games under his belt. Andruw Monasterio has done a remarkable job handling shortstop for the Red Sox over the last few weeks.

Monasterio led off the 10th with his sixth homer of the year. There was certainly no plan for him becoming Boston’s starting shortstop at the beginning of the year, but he’s been quite valuable in hitting .259/.320/.459 in 204 plate appearances. Barring a big trade acquisition, he should continue to play regularly until Trevor Story returns and maybe beyond that.

Cheng goes to make room for Curtis Mead on the active roster. He hit .256/.318/.282 in 44 plate appearances while helping to fill in for Trevor Story and Marcelo Mayer. Andruw Monasterio will serve as Boston’s everyday shortstop for now. Romy Gonzalez is probably the backup, though he hasn’t played the position in two years. Ceddanne Rafaela would probably be the better option, in truth.

Monasterio came up with the bases loaded against Devin Williams in the ninth and worked a walk even after declining to challenge a called strike on a clear ball to begin the at-bat. That gave the Red Sox their first run before Jarren Duran tied the game with a shallow flyball. Before that, Monasterio had Boston’s only extra-base hit of the game off Zach Thornton. He’s 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBI the last two days, raising his OPS from .629 to .694. The win was Boston’s ninth in a row, with sweeps over the Angels, White Sox and Mets. It’s the first time since 1977 that they’ve gone 9-0 on a road trip.

Monasterio homered off Freddy Peralta in the fourth to start the scoring. That proved to be sufficient for Boston’s pitching staff, but the Red Sox did get some insurance in the form of another two-run homer from Masataka Yoshida in the eighth. Monasterio’s homer off Peralta was his fifth of the year but his first off of a righty; he was hitting just .195/.213/.253 in 89 plate appearances versus righties coming into the day. The triple was the second of his career and first since 2023.

Seigler was replaced by Andruw Monasterio at second base following a home-plate collision with Chicago catcher Kyle Teel while scoring on a wild pitch in the third inning. He came away with a laceration on his right arm and looked to be pretty shaken up after a head-first slide. He’ll undergo evaluation to determine whether he suffered any additional injuries on the play. There should be an update on his status after the contest.

We thought the 28-year-old Harris would likely clear waivers, but he never even got there, as a Red Sox team dealing with a few infield injuries thought it was worth picking him up. The 28-year-old Harris has hit .194/.307/.289 in 213 plate appearances since debuting for the A’s in 2024. He has options left, so the Red Sox could stash him in Triple-A. If the Red Sox were to activate him immediately, it could be at Andrew Monasterio’s expense. The return for the A’s, Hansen, was a 2024 20th-round pick. The 24-year-old has a 4.75 ERA in High-A this year.

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.

It doesn’t sound like Mayer is going to require a trip to the injured list, but he’s still feeling a bit under the weather on Friday. Andruw Monasterio will start at second base and bat ninth for the Red Sox while Isiah Kiner-Falefa slides over to cover shortstop once again.

The Red Sox don’t seem worried about him needing an IL stint, but we have seen many players head to the injured list after a battle with back spasms. It would be unfortunate for Mayer, who has battled multiple injuries over his brief MLB career and was slashing .286/.323/.429 with one home run and six RBI over his last six games. Isiah Kiner-Falefa will start at shortstop and bat eighth with Andruw Monasterio at second base and hitting ninth.