Red Sox call up Bryce Brentz to replace injured Chris Young

With Chris Young headed to the disabled list with a hamstring strain, the Red Sox have recalled Bryce Brentz from Triple-A Pawtucket.

Talk about pushing your depth to its limits. With Brock Holt and Blake Swihart both already on the disabled list and Rusney Castillo further in the doghouse than perhaps even Allen Craig, the Red Sox now feature a left field duo of Bryce Brentz and Ryan LaMarre.

Once upon a time, Bryce Brentz was a real prospect. He was only one of Boston's best at a time when the Sox weren't one of the better systems in the game, but plus raw power earned him a sandwich-round pick in the 2010 draft and eventually a top-100 spot in MLB.com's rankings.

Eventually, however, Brentz had to make the jump to the more advanced pitching found in the upper levels of the minors, and he just didn't. It's been four years now since his Triple-A debut, and while he's improved from those first days, he's never really risen above the level of mediocrity, or earned a chance to prove himself in the majors. Even now, through 150 plate appearances for Pawtucket this year, he's only hitting .278/.307/.438. The story is the same as ever: plenty of power, but limited opportunities to use it given that he's simply not the best hitter.

This paints a pretty clear picture for the Red Sox: it's time for a trade. Young won't be back for at least two weeks, and is a platoon hitter besides. We've already seen that Holt isn't even terribly reliable as the long-end of said platoon. They might try to make Holt bridge a gap while they land on a target, but really, they need something there. Because LaMarre and Brentz are not an acceptable pairing for a major league left field. They just aren't.