Red Sox 28-Year-Old Has Early Lead to Replace Injured Romy González

The Boston Red Sox are going to have to sort out its bench over the next few weeks.

Feb 26, 2026; Fort Myers, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays’ Raynel Delgado (73) steals third base against Boston Red Sox infielder Andruw Monasterio (32) during the fifth inning at JetBlue Park at Fenway South. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox are going to be missing Romy González for a while.

While announcing the addition of left-handed reliever Danny Coulombe, González was moved to the 60-Day Injured List after undergoing shoulder surgery. It was known that González was dealing with an injured shoulder throughout camp and now the expectation is that he will miss at least two or three months.

How will the Red Sox respond in the short term? MassLive.com's Sean McAdam noted that Andruw Monasterio should be viewed as having a "slight edge" over Nick Sogard for the bench utility spot that would've been held by González.

"The Red Sox confirmed late Thursday that González underwent an 'arthroscopic debridement.' He is on the 60-day injured list and ruled out for roughly the first two months of the regular season. That leaves Andruw Monasterio and Nick Sogard as the principal challengers. Sogard has a bit of an incumbency edge, having gotten into 61 games with the Sox over the last two years as an up-and-down infield option.

The Red Sox have an infield decision

Feb 17, 2026; Lee County, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox infielder Andruw Monasterio (32) poses for a photo during media day at JetBlue Park. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

"He’s not much of a threat with the bat (career OPS+ of 85), but he’s either league average or a little better at several infield positions and is athletic enough to help out in the outfield, too. It’s worth remembering that he was in the starting lineup for two of the team’s three postseason games last fall. Monasterio is new to the club, having been part of the Caleb Durbin trade last month, and can lay claim to some success against lefties, having posted an .837 OPS against them with Milwaukee last year. Give a slight edge to Monasterio, who probably possesses a higher ceiling. But don’t rule out Sogard completely."

On top of Monasterio's success against lefties in 2025 with Milwaukee, he has been nails in Spring Training so far. He has slashed .308/.424/.462 with one homer, five RBIs and five walks in 11 games played. Boston acquired Caleb Durbin from the Brewers late in the offseason. The deal in itself looked good right away. If Monasterio can make the big league roster out of camp and help this club in González's absence, it will make the deal that much better.