Xander Bogaerts is missing from Boston's lineup one day after a pitch to the head knocked him out of Boston's 5-3 loss to Seattle.
While Xander himself says he's feeling alright, if you've been following the sports world at all these past few years, you'll know that concussions are nothing to mess around with. With wins not really meaning much to the Red Sox at this point, there's certainly no point to rushing the young shortstop back into action, and frankly even if the team were in a dead heat for the division, that shouldn't change the approach to this sort of thing.
It's been a long while since the Red Sox last won a game, but far, far longer since Brandon Workman managed the feat. His 1-7 record is not reflective of how he's pitched, but that's saying very, very little. His last outing--a seven-inning, two-run effort against the Angels--was the first really positive sign we've seen from Workman in a while. That it came after being skipped in the rotation even gives fans some reason to believe that there was a problem that's been addressed. Workman can put a lot of weight behind that theory with a good start today, whether he comes away with a win or not.
First pitch is at 1:35 p.m. ET with broadcasts on NESN and WEEI.
Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $18,000 Fantasy Baseball league for tonight's MLB games. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. You can join in now using this link.