Red Sox Sit Best Two Players Ahead Of Pivotal Series Finale At Fenway
If you take a look at the lineup for the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night, you may notice a few big names are missing. Rafael Devers and Masataka Yoshida will not be starting in a must-have series finale against the Colorado Rockies at Fenway Park.
The Sox will be off on Thursday before hosting the rival Yankees for a three-game set this weekend.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora typically likes giving his stars an off day ahead of a scheduled off day as an extra breather, but it honestly feels off right now considering the circumstances.
The Sox are 33-35 and rapidly fading out of any kind of postseason contention. They currently stand 5.5 games out of the last playoff spot and remain in last place in the American League East.
Devers has been responsible for six of the team's 16 RBIs since Friday and just had two big home runs on Tuesday night.
If the Sox wanted to avoid deploying Devers against a left-handed pitcher, I would understand it a bit more, but the Rockies' starter has a 7.57 ERA on the season and an ERA over 10 in his last five starts. Also, Devers has hit lefty starters (.981 OPS) better than righty starters (.747 OPS) this season.
While Yoshida is only hitting .225 this month, he has still been one of Boston's most consistent hitters at the plate throughout the season.
This just doesn't feel like the time to be getting your top players a day off their feet. I know the season is long, but this team can't afford to get swept at home yet again by a very beatable club.
When it rains it pours for Red Sox fans. We'll see if the Sox lineup as is can get the job done tonight. But if it doesn't, expect Devers and Yoshida's absence to be frequently mentioned throughout Red Sox Nation.
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