Fighting to stay relevant in the American League Wild Card race, the Boston Red Sox are in the midst of a huge series against the New York Mets. After another loss on Monday, the Red Sox's eighth in their last 11 games, it may be time to shake things up.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora made a number of lineup changes ahead of Tuesday's game. Usual leadoff hitter Jarren Duran will shift down one spot to second to make room for outfielder Rob Refsnyder.
Cora provided some context for the decision to hit Refnsyder first to Christopher Smith of MassLive.
“He’s actually struggling,” Cora said. “Hopefully he can get the first pitch of the game, a fastball down the middle and put a good swing on it. Sometimes you have to think outside of the box. We like our comfort with Jarren leading off. But we’ve gotta get other guys going if we’re gonna get the offense going. Today’s this and tomorrow against a righty we’ll do something different. We have to switch it up. We cannot just stay put and hope for the best. We have to be proactive. And today was day one of that.”
First baseman Triston Casas will also head to the bench with Romy Gonzalez drawing the start instead.
“Lefty (on the mound), he’s been playing a lot,” Cora said. “He’s not starting. It’s not a day off. He’s not starting against the left-hander.”
The Red Sox offense has been nearly invisible lately, scoring just one run in each of the last three games. With time running out to make a push for the third Wild Card spot, changes needed to be made and they were.
Rob Refsnyder's recent struggles
Refsnyder, who is 10-for-61 (.164) in his past 21 games, has been one of the Red Sox's most consistent hitters, especially against left handed pitchers, before his recent cold stretch.
In 38 career games leading off, Refsnyder has slashed .241/.340/.310, a bit below his career averages. Despite Refsnyder's relative lack of experience and success batting leadoff, this is still a savvy move from Cora to try and get Refsneyder out of his slump and jumpstart the top of his order.
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Why Triston Casas is on the bench
Cora said that he is benching Casas because a lefty, Drew Peterson, is on the mound. This season, Casas is hitting just .227 against left handed pitching. Despite being one of the Red Sox's best hitters since returning from injury in August, it makes sense that Cora is benching Casas due to his splits.
However, Cora also made sure to note that this was not an off day for Casas, meaning that as soon as the Mets bring in a right handed reliver out of the bullpen, Casas is like to feature as a pinch hitter. Cora has not been shy about going to his bench early and often this year, so expect to see Casas enter the game at some point.
