Marco Hernandez placed on the 10-day DL

The Red Sox have been dealing with a third base carousel since the beginning of time (give or take), and this year hasn’t been any different. There was some hope that Pablo Sandoval would be able to find something close to his old form, but that hasn’t worked out and he’s since been placed on the disabled list. Marco Hernandez has taken the bulk of the playing time at the hot corner since then, and now he’s going to be on the shelf for at least ten days.

Hernandez left Wednesday nights game after committing an error. It was unclear at the time how exactly the injury occurred, but whatever happened it wasn’t just a minor bump or bruise.

This means that the Red Sox will be dipping even further into their depth to start at third base. Right now, my assumption is that Josh Rutledge will get most of the playing time at that spot, with Chase d’Arnaud getting some time there as well. If you recall, d’Arnaud was claimed off waivers to boost the depth in the infield. He has yet to appear for the Red Sox.

The best-case scenario would be if Brock Holt could come back soon to take the spot, but there’s no timetable on his return. He had been on rehab in Pawtucket, but suffered a setback with his vertigo. He is hoping to restart that rehab this weekend.

To fill the empty roster spot, Kyle Kendrick has been promoted to the active roster to make tonight’s start. As expected, Tyler Thornburg has also been moved to the 60-day disabled list to clear a 40-man roster spot for Kendrick.

This series of moves leaves the Red Sox with thirteen pitchers, one more than a team generally carries. As a result, you can expect another move to come in the next few days. My guess would be that either Deven Marrero or Steve Selsky is added to the roster. Selsky is clearly the better bat and is likely a better overall player at this point, but his defense at third base is questionable at best. If they simply want more bodies for the infield, Marrero would make more sense. Presumably, either Brandon Workman or Ben Taylor will be demoted for that move, assuming Kendrick stays up for more than one turn through the rotation.