Romy

Gonzalez

This isn’t a surprise after Gonzalez hurt his shoulder at the end of last season and spent the offseason recovering. With Caleb Durbin and Marcelo Mayer seemingly locked into the starting second base and third base jobs, the Red Sox are looking to land on a utility infielder for a bench role. So far, Andruw Monasterio looks like the primary option until Gonzalez can work himself back into games.

The 29-year-old has yet to be cleared to perform any other baseball activities as he battles shoulder inflammation. It sounds increasingly likely that Gonzalez will open the season on the injured list.

Gonzalez told reporters that the inflammation first appeared at the end of the 2025 season and was getting worse as he began his early offseason workouts. The 29-year-old received a platelet-rich plasma injection a couple of weeks ago. While he’s behind schedule, Gonzalez is still hopeful that he’ll be ready in time for Opening Day.

Gonzalez was incredibly valuable for Boston last year, beginning the year as a bench bat and then emerging as a near full-time player. He slashed .305/.343/.483 with nine home runs and six steals in 341 plate appearances. He will likely be a valuable super sub for Boston in 2026.

It’s a classic post-playoff clinching lineup from the Red Sox in this one with off days for a quartet of veterans. Story, Bregman and Duran could certainly use a break as they’ve played nearly every day down the home stretch. Boston appears poised to let the chips fall where they may this weekend as they’re pretty much locked into the second AL Wild Card spot.

The versatile 29-year-old drove in a run with an RBI single in the seventh inning that pulled the Red Sox to within a run at 4-3. That would be as close as they would get. After reaching base safely in all four of his plate appearances on Sunday, Gonzalez is slashing an impressive .308/.346/.492 with nine homers and 51 RBI in 324 plate appearances on the season.

Both veterans were originally meant to be short-side platoon players for the Red Sox, but have been thrust into larger roles with injuries to Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, and Marcelo Mayer. Refsnyder has hit .265 in 11 games this month with two home runs and seven RBI, while Gonzalez has hit .340 in 12 games in September with one home run and seven RBI. David Hamilton will start at second base and Nate Eaton will start in right field on Thursday.

Gonzalez is back at first base and leading off Saturday afternoon’s contest at Fenway Park after missing two games with left knee soreness.

Gonzalez has not been able to play since leaving Tuesday’s contest with soreness in his left knee. The 29-year-old infielder will miss at least the start of Friday’s game with David Hamilton once again handling second base in Gonzalez’s absence.

Gonzalez left Tuesday’s game due to soreness in his left knee, and it appears he’ll miss at least one more contest with the issue. David Hamilton will get the start at second base with Gonzalez unavailable to begin Wednesday’s affair.