The performance of the pitching depth has been the most surprising, as Johnson and Hector Velazquez have combined to allow just two runs in 11.2 innings pitched. They’ve taken care of business where business needed to happen: in Florida, against both the Rays and the Marlins. Granted, we’re not talking turn-of-the-decade-Yankees juggernauts here, but outings like that are always very positive, especially in an environment where baseballs are being launched into the stands more than ever. Eduardo Rodriguez came back a little earlier than expected and had middling results for the first game, and with Drew Pomeranz still about a week away from returning, we’ll be seeing a little more of Johnson, with Velazquez in the bullpen for now.

On the position player side, that depth is about to get tested. Eduardo Nunez is a bench guy already playing due to Dustin Pedroia recovering from knee surgery, but as far as bench players getting a lot of playing time, he’s really the only one. That’s about to change, thanks to the weird, freak injury Xander Bogaerts suffered on Sunday. At first glance, it seemed like a rolled ankle or something just as innocuous, but it was a fair bit worse than that:

Red Sox announce Xander Bogaerts to DL with “small crack” in talus bone

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) April 9, 2018

Well, that’s a bummer. Thankfully, it’s looking like two weeks until Bogaerts returns. I really feel like crediting the Red Sox for actually letting Bogaerts heal up this time, but that seems like the sort of thing they should do in the first place, not let them play for three months with a bad wrist.

And so the Sox look for a stand-in. Deven Marrero is long gone, as he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks towards the end of Spring Training. Tzu-Wei Lin was called up to take Bogaerts’ roster spot, and he can play both middle infield positions, but he’ll probably take a backseat at shortstop to Eduardo Nunez, while he and Brock Holt trade off at second base. No one else can readily play shortstop for the Red Sox at the moment, and you can’t really count on Marco Hernandez showing up anytime soon, as he’s on the 60-day disabled list, and won’t appear in game action until the end of May. Mitch Moreland is strictly a first baseman, and Blake Swihart is a catcher with corner infield experience in a pinch. There’s not much past Nunez, Lin, and Holt for middle infielders, unless you want to go deep into the minors.

The quality of the middle infielders is just alright. I’d like to be higher on these guys, but we’ve seen their shortcomings. Nunez is fine, Holt is an uninspiring player nowadays, and there’s a pretty wide range of outcomes for Lin should he play a lot over the next couple weeks. I’d honestly like to see more Lin and less Holt, but I’ve been very down on Holt for a long while — with good reason! — so I feel that’s more of a personal preference. Either way, there’s going to be a lot of shuffling around second base.

The Bogaerts injury really forces them to dig deep for infielders, and it’s not like this is a common occurrence.

Injuries like this are really testing the Red Sox early on. It’s not a test to see if they can keep up their winning ways or production — they have above-average regulars at nearly every position. The Bogaerts injury really forces them to dig deep for infielders, and it’s not like this is a common occurrence. Bogaerts is a pretty healthy player, as he’s played 144 games or more in every season since he took hold of a starting job in 2014, so it’s not as if the Sox were lax in looking for a backup here. Bogaerts doesn’t often go down like this, and if it wasn’t already obvious, the “Bogaerts is soft!” complaint doesn’t really hold up.

The Red Sox were more prepared to cover for Pedroia’s absence instead, but with Bogaerts’ injury, it forces them to spread that depth thin across two positions, and potentially field someone like Holt for a not-inconsequential amount of time. That’s a sub-par outcome, for reasons including his poor production in the last two years. But this is what happens when depth is needed, especially for someone that really never needs a break — you’re forced to use guys who aren’t always cut out to be starters at certain positions. It’s times like this when you miss Marrero’s defense, even if that meant biting the bullet when it came to his offense.

This could all just be handwringing. It’s only two weeks or so! The Nunez-Holt-Lin hydra could perform spectacularly and emulate Johnson’s and Velazquez’s starts to the season. That is also possible! All of these players have had very notable runs of success before, for example: Brock Holt, 2015 American League All-Star. Personally, I’d fall on the pessimist side of things here, if only because I keep low expectations in general.

But this is why depth exists. None of them are supposed to be as good as the starter, or else they’d be, y’know, starting. The Red Sox are a stacked team with a lot of good players, and having one of the starting nine be “just alright” won’t trip them up, but it’s probably going to be a bit bland without Bogaerts out there. At least he’ll be back soon, and we can worry no more.

Photo by Greg M. Cooper — USA TODAY Sports

Presenting the full list 2017 Roster Recaps, listed with the authors that wrote them. An asterisk denotes a player who has, as of March 13th, dearly departed the Red Sox. We’ll miss them all terribly.

Catchers

• Sandy Leon (Cam Ellis)
• Blake Swihart (Jake Devereaux)
• Christian Vazquez (Brett Cowett)

Infielders

• Xander Bogaerts (Chris Teeter)
• Chase d’Arnaud* (Matt Kory)
• Rafael Devers (Kory)
• Marco Hernandez (Cowett)
• Brock Holt (Devereaux)
• Tzu-Wei Lin (Cowett)
• Deven Marrero (Cowett)
• Mitch Moreland (Cowett)
• Eduardo Nunez (Teeter)
• Dustin Pedroia (Kory)
• Hanley Ramirez (Devereaux)
• Josh Rutledge* (Cowett)
• Pablo Sandoval* (Cowett)
• Sam Travis (Teeter)

Outfielders

• Andrew Benintendi (Ellis)
• Mookie Betts (Kory)
• Jackie Bradley Jr. (Cowett)
• Rajai Davis* (Daniel Poarch)
• Steve Selsky (Ellis)
• Chris Young* (Cowett)

Pitchers

• Fernando Abad* (Ellis)
• Matt Barnes (Cowett)
• Blaine Boyer* (Cowett)
• Roenis Elias (Poarch)
• Doug Fister* (Kory)
• Heath Hembree (Kory)
• Brian Johnson (Teeter)
• Joe Kelly (Ellis)
• Kyle Kendrick* (Poarch)
• Craig Kimbrel (Cowett)
• Austin Maddox (Ellis)
• Kyle Martin (Poarch)
• Drew Pomeranz (Ellis)
• Rick Porcello (Teeter)
• David Price (Ellis)
• Noe Ramirez* (Poarch)
• Addison Reed* (Ellis)
• Eduardo Rodriguez (Cowett)
• Robbie Ross* (Cowett)
• Chris Sale (Cowett)
• Robby Scott (Cowett)
• Carson Smith (Teeter)
• Ben Taylor (Cowett)
• Hector Velazquez (Devereaux)
• Brandon Workman (Ellis)
• Steven Wright (Kory)

Header photo by Winslow Townson — USA TODAY Sports

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and — oh god, we haven’t done Deven Marrero yet. The 49th man. And now the clouds are coming back and the birds have gone silent. Just one more, I thought to myself. Just one more.

Deven Marrero with a glove is silk. He’s one of those players that will make even the toughest of plays seem routine, like he had been preparing his whole life for that one hard-hit grounder to go that far to his right. There’s a subtle pleasure in watching a great fielder do great fielding things, and if that’s your drug, Marrero is your fix. Inject it into our veins.

Deven Marrero with a bat? Well, if you can imagine what a disgusted recoil sounds like, that’s pretty much all you need to know.

What Went Right

The Red Sox, in their pre-Devers days, had a bit of crisis with finding a third baseman that could actually produce any kind of value. Pablo Sandoval, Josh Rutledge, and Marco Hernandez all tried their best, but due to injuries, ineffectiveness, or a combination of the two, none of them could produce. That’s where Marrero comes in. If their third baseman wasn’t going to get hits, it might as well take them away, and oh boy can Marrero do that.

Marrero’s defensive prowess got him 364 innings at third base, along with 106.2 innings at other positions in the infield. That includes 2.2 innings at first base, which he can now field, apparently. It’s only a matter of time until the Red Sox will only require a pitcher, a catcher, and Deven Marrero in the field.

We know how horrifying his hitting is, but he did have one bright spot.

That’s a two-homer game. Against Jose Quintana. Baseball is simply magical.

What Went Wrong

188 plate appearances might be good for Marrero on a personal level, but that was a canary in a coal mine for the Red Sox. If someone with Marrero’s offensive prowess was getting that much playing time in the majors, something — more specifically, third base — was very wrong. Marrero slashed .211/.259/.333 with a 32.4 percent strikeout rate, which looks as awful as it is. That comes out to a .215 TAv. He did hit four home runs, which technically counts as a power surge, if you’re looking for the thinnest silver lining possible.

Even his time at third base didn’t last very long, all things considered. Tzu-Wei Lin, who was called up directly from Double-A Portland, overtook him at the hot corner in late June.

Good thing the Red Sox have Rafael Devers.

What To Expect

Marrero is going to be involved in the second base carousel until Dustin Pedroia returns, so he’ll most likely stick with the team for a good while. After that, it’s anyone’s guess. His glove will keep him hovering around the majors, and maybe even start for a team desperate for anything at second base, shortstop, or third base. Right now, he looks to be part of the well-stocked depth the Red Sox have, and with no offense to be found, it isn’t likely that he’ll be much more than that. He’s good for a sparkling defensive play or two, but this is who he is.

Photo by Patrick McDermott — USA TODAY Sports

Smart teams will trade any player if the return is right. You wouldn’t say Mookie Betts is available but if the Angels called and offered Mike Trout for Betts, you’d make that trade immediately. Swihart isn’t Trout and Swihart isn’t Betts either, so of course, listen to the offers. Swihart is 26 (has been for almost a week) and has played in just 116 games over the last two seasons due to injuries, with most of those coming in the minor leagues. He’s also out of options, meaning the team can’t send him to the minors without risking losing him for nothing to any team willing to snap him up. It seems, based on McAdam’s reporting, that there are many teams who would do just that. Swihart, then, will have to stay on the major league roster, or the Sox may as well deal him.

Depending on the return, perhaps they should. The roster is certainly set up to handle being Swihartless. Between Brock Holt and Deven Marrero, the entire infield and outfield are accounted for — not that Holt would play center or right field, but the team has three outfielders who could move around if someone was hurt, necessitating Brock Holt: Outfielder. Also, there’s Marco Hernandez, whose shoulder is still hurt but who should be back from the DL at some point. Probably. Maybe. We hope. When he does, he’s capable of playing all over the infield and hitting some as well. So what do the Red Sox need with a player like Swihart who offers more of the same?

Pardon me for getting all metaphysical and stuff on you, but maybe it’s not depth that the Red Sox should be searching for after all. The Red Sox possess perhaps the best and certainly the most versatile outfield in baseball. All three guys, Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley, and Mookie Betts, can play any outfield position, thank you very much. That means as long as two of them are healthy, all the Red Sox need is a left fielder, and they have that in J.D. Martinez. The numbers tell us Martinez is an atrocious outfielder, but he’s also relatively young and athletic, and has suffered from various injuries through the previous few seasons which could and likely did negatively impact his performance in the outfield, injuries which he’s since recovered from. But even if you can’t blame it on injuries and Martinez is that bad, if he’s that bad in the smallest outfield in baseball and only very occasionally then that’s fine.

In the infield, the Sox have two first basemen in Hanley Ramirez and Mitch Moreland, Eduardo Nunez who can play second, short, or third, Xander Bogaerts who plays short but could play third if something catastrophic happened, and Rafael Devers who plays third so he can do catastrophic things to Yankee relief pitchers. Then there’s the aforementioned Marrero, Holt, and, eventually, Hernandez. But wait there’s more because when Dustin Pedroia comes back, that frees up Nunez to play all over the place as well.

Clearly the Red Sox have depth. They have depth for their depth. What I’m saying is their depth is deep. While they don’t lack in quality starters however, and they have all the deepest depth, the quality of that depth is questionable. Hernandez is out and will be out for a while with no return date yet known. Pedroia should be back in May, but maybe not, and as long as he’s out Nunez will be stapled to second base (hopefully not literally), limiting his ability to provide depth. Marrero’s hitting is the inverse of his fielding, and as his fielding is very good, that makes his hitting very bad. Holt was once the poor man’s Ben Zobrist, but that was three-to-five concussions ago. How comfortable would you be with Marrero playing 30 games at third base, or Holt playing 45 at second? Or both simultaneously? Probably not very comfortable, nor should you be because, while they’re probably super nice guys, neither is good enough to be starting.

What I’m saying is their depth is deep. While they don’t lack in quality starters however, and they have all the deepest depth, the quality of that depth is questionable.

The point is there are questions, perhaps too many questions to feel comfortable. Swihart is yet another question mark, but he’s a talented question mark, more talented than the rest of the group. Also, the Red Sox don’t have to hit on all their question marks. They only need one or two and they’ll have a very strong bench.

There’s two more reasons to hold on to Swihart, the most important of which is the utter lack of catching depth in the organization. The Sox don’t have a single catcher anywhere in their top 30 prospects and nothing playable in the upper minors. That means it’s Christian Vazquez and Sandy Leon all the way, all year long. If one of those guys gets hurt, then the replacement is likely going to be someone who doesn’t have any business playing in the majors. Swihart offers something more than replacement level behind the plate.

That brings us to the last reason to hold on to Swihart: upside. This is the main argument often cited by Swihart fans. He was a top prospect as recently as April of 2015, when Sox Prospects had him ranked above Yoan Moncada, Manuel Margot, Rafael Devers, and Michael Kopech. He’s potentially an above average hitter, not just for a catcher but for the major leagues. He offers a bit of everything: power, speed, and average. It’s an enticing package.

He’s not 22 anymore though. He might yet attain what the prospect writers hoped for him, though his spring training heroics aren’t as much the biggest sign of that as the fact that his name can be penciled into the lineup for the first time in two seasons.

The great thing for the 2018 Red Sox is he doesn’t have to be better than Moncada and Kopech this season. If he can hit a bit while playing a bit, that’s enough. He’s likely a better hitter than Holt, and definitely a better hitter than Marrero, and certainly a better hitter than Leon. If he stays healthy, shows something at the plate, then he’s probably still an upgrade over Leon long term. That’s a valuable guy, and one the organization shouldn’t be rushing to get rid of, especially for a Triple-A reliever, a C+ prospect, or whatever small return they might receive.

If the Angels call about Mike Trout, though, they probably should do that one.

Photo by Kim Klement — USA TODAY Sports

Then everything changed. His approach and hitting profile improved dramatically, and thanks to a shortage of good third basemen, Lin soon found himself in the major leagues. For the few weeks he was on the team, he did fairly well. Wasn’t amazing, wasn’t terrible, but for a guy who had zero Triple-A plate appearances in his professional career by the time of his initial call-up, I’d say he did just fine. As a prospect, however, he blew past any and all expectations.

What Went Right

Jeff Paternostro saw something in him over a year ago on the Top 10 Prospects list($), and he noted his weakness for a good glove with a semblance of offensive tools, even if Lin continued to toil away at Double-A. Then he started making noise, and eventually got a spot on Carson Cistulli’s Fringe Five series in mid-May, after Lin had 1. reduced his groundball rate by over 20 percent, 2. had recorded an Isolated Power mark more than triple his career number, and 3. brought his strikeout rate down to 18.5 percent — below the Eastern League average. As another month went by, Lin got even more attention. He got another blurb on the Fringe Five, and a few days before his call-up, Erich Rothmann praised his growth over at the main site($).

So, yes, he got some attention. That is a good thing. But why? Well, Eric Longenhagen observed several improvements to his stance and swing. He started using his lower body more in his swing — better footwork helps a lot here — and thanks to his good hand-eye coordination and contact skills, he’s been able to quickly add more power to it. Is he going to hit a ton of homers? Probably not. But I’m a sucker for middle infielders who can make contact like he does, especially when he can turn those long singles into doubles with his plus speed. Lin finally found his stroke.

On June 24th, Lin was called up to the major leagues as the Red Sox struggled to get any production out of third base. A couple days later, he got his first base hit in the majors. Three days after that, he crushed a ball that would’ve been a homer in a vast majority of other ballparks:

That swing and hit is emblematic of everything he’s done this year. The leg kick gets down to lock in the power, he turns on a middle-in fastball, and gives it enough loft to send it nearly 380 feet to right. Lin’s tenure with the club was one of the high points of the season, and it was all because everything went right.

What Went Wrong

Lin was eventually sent down on July 16th, after the Red Sox deemed Brock Holt healthy enough to play. His offensive explosion was toned down a bit as he had more time to face more advanced pitching — the walk and strikeout rates regressed, the grounders came back, and there were a lot of pop-ups. I don’t think any of us were expecting his .385 BABIP in the majors to hold up, even with his encouraging batted ball profile, so this was just natural regression. He still made good contact and whiffed only five percent of the time in Pawtucket. Other than that, nothing was really all that terrible.

What To Expect

Despite being buried on the depth chart by Holt, Marco Hernandez, Deven Marrero, and possibly the addition of another utility infielder (Eduardo Nunez, anyone?), Lin is closer to the majors than people realize. That’s a strange statement to make about a guy who has already been there, but with Hernandez’s shoulder, Holt’s general ineffectiveness, and Marrero’s allergy to any kind of offense, Lin is only an injury and a bad slump away from a roster spot. He’s still on the fringes of the 25-man at best right now, but it shouldn’t surprise you if we see him get a handful of plate appearances come mid-season, especially if he lights it up at Pawtucket. The Red Sox just might have something here.

Photo by Kim Klement — USA TODAY Sports

The Red Sox were forced to go through a lot of infielders in 2017, and Hernandez going down was one of the reasons why.

What Went Right

Not a lot, really. It’s hard to have good times when your season ended 60 plate appearances in, and you weren’t even on the Opening Day roster to begin with. But he did have one cool moment, way back at the tail-end of April, which started with Hernandez beating old friend Koji Uehara to first base to get himself an infield single:

And that culminated with Hernandez scoring the go-ahead run later that inning:

See, that’s pretty neat. Silver linings and all that.

What Went Wrong

Everything else.

He wasn’t on the 25-man roster for Opening Day because the Red Sox thought they needed Steve Selsky more than him, despite a good Grapefruit League showing by Hernandez. Then he was finally added to the roster when Xander Bogaerts went on the bereavement list.

A month later, Hernandez would have to be taken out of a game after hurting himself:

Seems innocuous, right? Just a little pinch in the shoulder? It wasn’t. He was put on the disabled list the next day with a left shoulder subluxation, and eight days after that, it was announced that he would need season-ending surgery on said shoulder. Poor Marco.

What To Expect

It’s hard to analyze Hernandez’s hitting in the majors with just 116 plate appearances total, but he can hit a bit with a little power mixed in there. His last stint in the minors came with a .309/.343/.444 slash line, so it’ll be a waste to have him stay there for much longer. He’ll probably pan out and be a solid major league contributor when all is said and done, provided he recovers well from surgery and he doesn’t get bounced off the roster for a worse player.

However, with Dustin Pedroia needing several months to recover from knee surgery, Hernandez is, as of today, the leading candidate to start in his place. The Red Sox have soured a little on Brock Holt, as they might’ve (finally!) realized that he can’t be a day-to-day starter. The other options at second base are Deven Marrero – a player who I’ve said the phrase “if he could only hit” about far too much – and Tzu-Wei Lin, who did well during his time in the majors in 2017, but will probably need more plate appearances in Pawtucket more than anything. With Eduardo Nunez coming back not a sure thing, Hernandez currently tops the depth chart at the keystone.

Had Pedroia been healthy, Hernandez might’ve faced the same outcome as he did in 2017: as the 26th man for a 25-man roster. With some playing time opening up, we’ll see more of him than we have in the past two seasons combined, and he’ll hopefully come out of it looking like a player with a little upside that won’t hurt you when he plays. He’s got the skills. Now he just needs the time to show them off.

Photo by Winslow Townson – USA TODAY Sports

What Went Right in 2017

I will dig into a few details in a moment, but the number one positive in Nunez’s 2017 has to be getting traded from a team that was winning ~38 percent of its games and had no chance of making the playoffs to a first-place team that was on-pace for October play. What is that like for a player? One day you are coming to work with a mindset of playing out the string and the next you are in the midst of a race for the division-title. How do these guys flip that switch? Or are they ridiculously competitive enough that the difference isn’t really something they experience; they are just always grinding to win. In any case, Nunez flipped that switch if had to, and managed the transition well.

Nunez fit in well with the Red Sox’s lots-of-contact lineup, but he did it in a different way. Whereas most of the 2017 Red Sox hitters were patient, Nunez was up there swinging: he only worked six walks in his 173 PA. For a bit of perspective, Sam Travis matched Nunez’s six walks, but did so in 90 fewer trips to the dish. But don’t get too caught up in his walk total, Nunez’s lack of patience did not hurt his offense productivity. Lower the PA minimum to 170 and you’ll find the .305 TAv Nunez posted during his stint in Boston was the tenth-best mark in the AL last year. He had a different approach than many of the other guys in the lineup and it worked. When he saw a pitch to hit, he tended to take a hack, and often connected with authority. Another example of his productivity: in his time in Boston, he doubled up the home run total he posted with the Giants, taking eight balls out of the yard for the Red Sox. All told, Nunez was a treat at the plate. Mix his offense with his versatility on defense and speed on the bases, and it is easy to see why he quickly became a fan favorite.

What Went Wrong in 2017

We can talk about how despite offering versatility on defense, he wasn’t really a great defender at any of the spots he played, or how his aggressiveness on the base paths was often infuriating. Seriously, why do this? But the biggest downer of Nunez’s 2017 was the trouble with his knee that ended things early for him. The original (as far as I know) injury, a posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) sprain, happened in early September during a game against the Rays. It kept him out of the lineup for 13 games, but, despite being cleared to play, he aggravated the injury during his second plate appearance, barely able to run to first base. In order to be ready for the playoffs he then went through a similar period of rest and rehab as he did after the initial injury, but upon return the results were the same, only coming in his first plate appearance rather than his second:

Ideally, adequate time away from playing does the knee some good, and Nunez can be playing at full strength next year.

Outlook for 2018

Nunez is a free agent this offseason. The combination of his ability to play multiple positions, hit for power, and provide speed on the base paths, as well as the haze surrounding Pedroia’s status for 2018, should make signing Nunez one of the top higher priorities in the offseason plan. However, all those assets that make him a good fit for the Red Sox likely means he can find a better situation elsewhere, such as one where Nunez does not need to worry about a franchise player returning after two months to reclaim his job, relegating Nunez to a bench role. A player like Eduardo Nunez should be able to find a stable starting job somewhere in the league, which will certainly be more attractive than the utility/10th-man role he would ultimately have in Boston.

Of course, everything with Nunez hinges on the condition of his knee. Nunez and the Red Sox medical staff twice deemed his knee healthy enough to play, but both times he ended up in a crumpled heap along the first base line. That is concerning. But the Red Sox are the team most likely to have up-to-date information on Nunez’s knee. If they think he can be back healthy – without rushing him to do so – then I would love to see him back in a Red Sox uniform. But, as I said above, if he is fully healthy, I think he will end up signing somewhere else. Let the Marco Hernandez era begin!

Photo by Kim Klement – USA TODAY Sports

With Sandoval on the DL and jack of all trades, master of none Brock Holt still experiencing symptoms of vertigo, Rule 5 draft pick Rutledge was at third base yesterday. He was starting because utility infielder Marco Hernandez has a fielding percentage that starts with an eight. *Barely* starts with an eight. But Hernandez isn’t a third baseman. He’s a shortstop with some time spent at second base. Rutledge played a bit of third too, and is a fine fill-in for a few innings, but he’s not a third baseman either. In six seasons in the majors he’s had 50 chances at third base. Compare that to over 1,000 combined at shortstop and second. He’s in Hernandez’s boat. He’s a player being asked to do something he’s not capable of doing. There is a saying you’ve likely heard. Put players in position to succeed. So far, at third base, the Red Sox have done the opposite. They have put their players in position to fail.

So don’t be tempted to blame Hernandez, or for that matter, Rutledge, whose error yesterday shows only a glimpse of what is in store for the Red Sox should he continue at the position. They are merely doing what was asked of them. No, it’s not their fault. It’s the Red Sox fault.

Of course this all comes back to the front office. It goes deeper than Dave Dombrowski too. The Red Sox haven’t had a competent regular third baseman for more than a season in almost a decade now, so the fault for that goes well beyond the team president who took over just over a season ago. This is on Ben Cherington, and even Theo Epstein before him. But, man, Dave Dombrowski did his part here as well and since he’s the one in charge now, it bears looking at what he’s done.

Just this past off-season Dombrowski dealt 2016 starting third baseman Travis Shaw to the Brewers along with Mauricio Dubon (and Josh Pennington) for reliever Tyler Thornburg. Thornburg is injured and hasn’t thrown a pitch for the Red Sox. Shaw is hitting .263/.302/.545. Then Dombrowski traded Yoan Moncada (along with others) for Chris Sale. Moncada had moved to third base while in the Boston system, but the White Sox have since moved him back to his preferred position of second base. Still, for the Red Sox, Moncada represented depth at third. So did Shaw, for that matter.

The organization has to have a plan. Is the plan to start Pablo Sandoval at third base? Okay, that makes sense given the financial obligations and the player’s history, but who can back him up if he struggles or gets hurt?

The issue isn’t should the Red Sox have traded for Chris Sale or not. Who could make that argument and not look like a jackass? The point here is less specific, more abstract. The organization has to have a plan. Is the plan to start Pablo Sandoval at third base? Okay, that makes sense given the financial obligations and the player’s history, but who can back him up if he struggles or gets hurt? This is a guy who just missed almost an entire season and before that wasn’t hitting enough or fielding well enough to hold down a major league job. There has to be a backup plan. Travis Shaw fits that mold perfectly, but he was traded.

That’s not to say Travis Shaw shouldn’t have been traded. Of course you can trade Shaw (though I didn’t care for it then and that deal looks like crap now), but if you do you have to get someone back who can fill that same role for the organization, if not in that deal, then in the next, because without Shaw, that depth does not exist in the Red Sox organization. There isn’t anyone in Triple-A who can step in and not hurt the major league team without Shaw.

Instead, Dombrowski went further in dealing Moncada. Again, this isn’t to say you can’t trade Moncada. You can! You just have to be sure the organization can handle his loss. You have to cover for whatever hole he leaves behind. The Red Sox and Dombrowski didn’t do it, Sandoval predictably got hurt, and now we have the current predicament.

I said earlier that this wasn’t all on Dombrowski, that it was in some part on Cherington as well. Now, a few paragraphs later, I’m rethinking my position on that. Cherington left the organization with Sandoval, Shaw (drafted under Epstein, but not traded by Cherington), and Moncada. That’s not perfect, but it’s something. It’s capable of being improved on, but there is some competent depth at the position. After dealing both Shaw and Moncada and not replacing them with anyone, there is no depth at the position. So maybe this is all on Dombrowski.

To me it comes back to a few things. Not caring enough about organizational depth is one, but over-valuing relievers is another. Of all the moves that Dombrowski has made, perhaps his most polarizing, and from a statistical standpoint most damaging, have been his deals for relievers. He has made three big deals specifically for relievers. Those deals have cost the Red Sox Dubon, Shaw, Pennington, Wade Miley, Logan Allen, Javier Guerra, Carlos Asuaje, and Manny Margot. That’s a whole lot of talent (and even more if you look at what Miley is doing this season in Baltimore), and so far the Red Sox have received one season of good (not great) relief pitching from Kimbrel. That’s it. It’s been stated time and again that relievers are maybe the most volatile of players, and making big deals for relievers is a time-tested way to ruin your franchise. That’s not to say it never works. The Indians are probably fine with the Andrew Miller deal, for example, even almost a year later. But deals like Miller’s are the exception to the rule. Far more common are deals like the Thornburg deal. It’s possible that Thornburg could return and be amazing, but even if he does, it’s highly unlikely he’ll approach the value the Red Sox sent off to get him. Also, even if he does, look what the deal did to Boston’s depth at third base. Look at who they’re running out there every day. Thornburg better be good.

Of all those now gone players, only Shaw is a full time third baseman, but that’s less the point. Sure, Shaw would be incredibly useful to the Red Sox right now, far more so than Thornburg, but imagine having Margot, or Asuaje, or even Allen. Those guys could be traded to bring in someone so the Red Sox don’t have to keep running Rutledge or Hernandez, or if he gets better, Holt, out to positions they shouldn’t be playing. Instead of getting the biggest shiniest name on the market, perhaps the organization should put some stock in depth. It’s what got them through last season when Sandoval was lost early to season-ending surgery. It’s what allowed the organization to survive the loss of starting catcher Christian Vazquez last season. It’s also what they lacked in left field in 2016, causing them to move Blake Swihart left where he got hurt and was lost for the year.

Depth is important. Injuries happen. Starters don’t always stay on the field. You have to be able to cover for them without hurting yourself badly in the process. That’s the Red Sox biggest problem at third base. It’s not that their starter is hurt and can’t play. It’s that they have nobody else to step in for him. Like all depth-related issues, it was a little problem, but now it’s a big one.

Photo by John E. Sokolowski – USA TODAY Sports

Perhaps I should be more specific though. Because, if we’re really going to get into this pig filth, we have to jump in and wallow in it. From the start of the 2013 through 2014, ’15, ’16 and up to the very minute you are reading this sentence — and before you finish reading it, I urge you to please swallow that milk you are drinking lest it end up sprayed spit-take style on your computer screen — the Boston Red Sox have received the worst production from third base of any team in baseball.

The Red Sox third base situation has been sub-putrid. It’s like when you open the fridge and see something in there you should have thrown away weeks ago, but now it’s so bad you’re actively afraid to touch it.

[drinks milk]

[spits it on screen]

I had to.

Further, they are the only team to, in FanGraphs’ estimation, achieve below replacement level production in total over the past four plus seasons. Every other team in baseball has been better, and when you consider the money and organizational effort spent on third base, well, maybe you shouldn’t. Let’s go right to summarizing. The Red Sox third base situation has been sub-putrid. It’s like when you open the fridge and see something in there you should have thrown away weeks ago, but now it’s so bad you’re actively afraid to touch it, so you just leave in there to get worse. And, really, who wants to open a refrigerator and see Pedro Ciriaco staring back at them?

I thought about posting the entire list of players who have attempted to man the hot corner for Boston since 2013, and let me assure you, it is quite the list, but instead, to save time and agita, let’s put it this way: the fifth most valuable third baseman of the 19 (!) who inhabit this list is Carlos Rivero. Not “Rivera,” no, it’s “Rivero.” And to answer your next question, no, I have no idea who he is, and I follow this team almost professionally. But! I can tell you this, in the four games Rivero played (eight PAs), he was more valuable than 14 of the 19 players on the list.

Okay, okay, Matt, we get it. The Red Sox have been bad at third base, but now Pablo Sandoval is back and he’s lost weight so we’re all good, right? Well, yes and no. Sandoval is back and yes he did lose weight, and he’s hit for some power this season, so those are good things, but no, Sandoval’s return isn’t necessarily the answer to Boston’s third base problems. Back to that list one more time because we’re four paragraphs in now and there’s no reason to hide what a jerk I am anymore. Of the 19 different third baseman Boston has played since 2013, Sandoval is last. 19th. Partly that’s a function of playing time, and that’s true, but mostly it’s a function of him being horrendous. Like bad at hitting, bad at fielding, and bad at running the bases. But that’s all in the past, so let’s go back to the here and now.

Here’s the here and now: Sandoval is injured. Also, his work this season against left handed pitchers, admittedly in a small sample of 17 PAs, is befitting his placement on the above list. But it’s not just his hitting against lefties, his defense has also been suspect. That could be because of the time he’s missed over the past few seasons, or because of the surgery he’s likely still recovering from, so maybe it’ll improve over time. His range was never the strong part of his defensive abilities, and it still isn’t, but he’s moved around fine at third so far this year from what I’ve seen. It’s been his throws that have been the problem. Errors aren’t the best way to evaluate one’s defense but he’s already made four errors in 16 games, which puts him on a pace for –

[does math]

– waaaaay too many errors this season.

So, sure, maybe Sandoval comes back off the DL and the hitting improves and he stops making bad throws and hooray happiness. There’s probably more than a bit of wishful thinking there, but after looking at his batted ball data, I’m optimistic Sandoval can hit fine, even well, on the longer half of a platoon. Problem is, he’s not shown any ability to hit left handed pitching. Maybe he will, and I wouldn’t doubt John Farrell will give him some more shots at it when he gets healthy because it’s in the Red Sox best interest that Sandoval play more often than not. The reason it’s in the Red Sox best interest is also the problem with platooning Sandoval, namely the Red Sox don’t have much depth at third base. Their two primary depth options at third, Brock Holt and Marco Hernandez, are also left handed, not to mention neither one is really a third baseman. You can see how that would be problematic. Josh Rutledge is a organizational guy, a stop-gap, but not someone you want to run out to third base more than a few times over the course of a season. Same goes for Chase d’Arnaud who Boston just picked up off waivers from the Braves. Fine guy, I’m sure, but not someone you want to count on for any long period of time.

With those guys as the only options we’re left with hoping Sandoval gets healthy soon or … what? I don’t know and honestly I don’t think the Red Sox know either. There’s nobody in Triple-A Pawtucket you’d want taking regular time at third in Boston. Like really, nobody. The only potential in-house solution is Rafael Devers, and while he’s going to be a monster (really) and projects as a guy who can stay at third long term, right now he’s 20 years old with 50 at-bats above Single-A. Team President Dave Dombrowski has shown he’s not afraid to promote guys straight from Double-A as he did with both Andrew Benintendi and Yoan Moncada last season, so perhaps that’s a possibility later on in the year. That said, sometimes that approach works (Benintendi) and sometimes it really doesn’t (Moncada), so as good as Devers may be by 2019 or even 2018, he’s no guarantee to help the Sox in 2017.

If the Red Sox are going to fix third base this year, it’s either Pablo Sandoval improves beyond what we can reasonably expect, or more likely, we’re looking at finding a right-handed platoon partner for a healthy Sandoval. The alternative is going big and landing someone who can man the position long term, and that’s going to be expensive and costly and other words that mean expensive and costly. For example, if the Blue Jays continue to flounder perhaps Josh Donaldson becomes available. He’d fit in perfectly, but he’d cost a pretty penny (start with Devers) and I’m not sure the Jays would be willing to trade him within the division. More realistically the Red Sox are looking at someone like David Freese from the Pirates, or Mike Moustakas from the Royals (though he’s left handed also).

Looking back on the off-season, it’s a shame the Red Sox weren’t able to bring in anyone good enough to platoon with Sandoval, and competent enough to replace him when he was out of the lineup, as he figured to be at least occasionally. But they didn’t. Instead they traded from their third base depth to acquire another reliever, who, like relievers do, promptly got injured. None of this is helping the Red Sox move up a spot or two on the list, but it seems right now Dave Dombrowski has pinned Boston’s hopes on a full recovery from Sandoval or a prospect supernova turn from Devers. Beyond those (remote) possibilities, we’re looking at another season of sub-par production from third base for the Red Sox.

A little exposition: he’s a 27-year-old career minor leaguer who’s been getting some at-bats with the Red Sox this spring. He hits and throws righty and plays in the outfield, for now. The difference between Selsky and 95 percent of the other players who don’t get to have their last names on the back of their #87 jersey is that in Selsky, the team seems to think they’ve legitimately found a useful major league contributor.

Nice! I’m soldsky. What does he do well?

To get a sense of what Selsky brings to the team, you have to take a look at his minor league numbers, as he’s only had 54 plate appearances at the major league level. As you can probably guess, that will get touched upon later, so let’s just look at his minor league numbers and make some questionable jumps in logic!

Selsky has shown flashes of being able to hit in the minors. He slashed .348/.420/.618 in 69 games (nice) for the Reds’ Single-A team in 2012 and then followed that up by hitting  .297/.388/.497 over 97 games the following year. He also flexed some power, hitting 28 home runs over that two-year span. He’s had up and down years since then, but is coming off a 2016 season where he hit .280/.363/.459 over 85 games for the Reds’ Triple-A team. So, the ability’s there. Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal wrote about Selsky’s path to the team that touched on how the team views Selsky’s potential role.

Obviously, it’s telling that the team is giving him reps at third. There’s hardly any point in showing that level of commitment to a player of Selsky’s caliber unless the team sees something in him. As the Red Sox roster stands, there’s no real position that Selsky could make a realistic run at, even as a backup. The depth is intriguing though, and the team seems to think they have a versatile bench bat.

This is wonderful news! What a convenient story. What’s the catch? 

Where to begin?

– He’s had 54 major league plate appearances since getting drafted six years ago. Fifty-four. If he was a sure bet to even reach his relatively low ceiling, you’d think he’d be closer to reaching it by now.

– Sure, he’s had some good years. But he also hit .181/.281/.205 over 32 games at Double-A in 2013 and .240/.259/.339 over 55 games in Triple-A in 2014. He’s had some clunkers.

– He strikes out a LOT. Like, a lotttttttttt. His career K% hovers around 20 percent, and over 54 games with the Reds, that number shot up to 40 percent. I don’t care about your small sample size caveats; that’s so many strikeouts. You might even say it’s a lot with extra Ts.

– For being someone who supposedly brings some power potential, he doesn’t have that much power. After hitting 15 homers in 2012 and 13 in 2013, Selsky hasn’t reached double-digit home run totals since. In fact, outside of 2016, when he had nine homers (which is actually good news for Red Sox fans but we’re already past the good news part of this article), he hasn’t had more than two in a season since 2013.

– Even his major league numbers are misleading. .314/.340/.471 over 24 games is just enough time to be optimistically intrigued, but those numbers were never going to last. Over that time period, besides striking out 40 percent of the time, he also has an absurd .519 BABIP. He also only posted a 3.7 percent BB%. To recap: he was striking out half the time, never walking, and was abnormally lucky.

There’s probably not a lot there. He’s blocked by Chris Young, Brock Holt, Marco Hernandez apparently(!?), and Josh Rutledge on the bench. The end of the bench (coughjosh’sspotcough) could conceivably be a place where a strong spring could land him but, it doesn’t seem likely.

And that’s Steve Selsky. They can’t all be about Mookie Betts.

Photo by Reinhold Matay – USA TODAY Sports