Pablo Sandoval to the 10-Day disabled list; Josh Rutledge activated

The Red Sox were already having their infield depth tested, with Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts both on the active roster but with nagging injuries and Brock Holt on the disabled list with vertigo. Now, they have lost Pablo Sandoval for at least ten days. The third baseman is officially out with a knee sprain.

As the tweet from the team’s official account notes, the stint is retroactive to April 24, meaning he is eligible to return on May 4 in the team’s series finale against the Orioles.

Sandoval hasn’t gotten off to the best of starts for the Red Sox this year, slashing .213/.269/.377 for a 76 wRC+. Of course, as I’ve noted before, it’s been a weird season for him overall. He also hasn’t been overly impressive on the defensive side of things, though it’s not as if the Red Sox have a Gold Glover waiting in the wings.

Taking his spot on the roster will be Josh Rutledge, who was activated off the 10-day disabled list today. The team’s Rule 5 pick from this past winter, Rutledge hasn’t yet appeared in a major-league game this season. Whether or not he’ll be the full-time third baseman remains to be seen. My guess would be that he’ll be in a platoon with Marco Hernandez, although that’s pure speculation. That plan would also require Pedroia to be at full health, as Hernandez is handling second base while Pedroia is recovering from his knee injury.

Overall, this is a blow to the Red Sox despite the lack of production thus far from Sandoval. The team doesn’t have a ton of infield depth at the moment (miss you, Mauricio Dubon) and they could use all the healthy bodies they can get.