Chad Tracy Reveals Why Red Sox Optioned Productive Three-Year Veteran originally appeared on NESN.
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The Boston Red Sox‘s bench is getting a major boost for the rest of the season with versatile infielder Romy González’s return from injury.
González has been out all season after undergoing shoulder surgery in March, but made his season debut on Sunday against the New York Yankees. Though Boston will enjoy having González back from injury, the team had to unfortunately option third-year catcher Mickey Gasper to open room on the roster.
The Red Sox called up Gasper in early May, and the 30-year-old catcher has made his impact with the team, slashing .243/.305/.308 with five doubles and a triple across 34 games.
Though Gasper has performed well this season, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy revealed that the team optioned the veteran catcher to avoid having three catchers on its roster and have more versatility.
“Obviously, he has cooled off a little bit with the bat,” Tracy said on Sunday, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “The quality is still really good. It’s more about with Romy active — and you know Romy’s not going to be able to run out there and play five or six games in a row at second base — so you’re gonna have to take him down some DH at-bats.
“You’re going to have Masa (Yoshida) take down some DH at-bats. The need to get away from three catchers and have more versatility on the bench was just imperative at this point. We rode that for a while.”
Last season was the most impressive year of González’s career, as the versatile infielder slashed .305/.343/.483 with nine home runs and 53 runs batted in across 96 games. In addition to providing Boston with a reliable right-handed bat, the 29-year-old offers plenty of defensive versatility with his ability to play multiple infield positions.
Gasper has played well this season, but having three catchers on the roster does not make sense for Boston. As the Red Sox strive to improve down the stretch, having a versatile player like González coming off the bench is important.
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