Steve Pearce placed on the 10-day injured list

The Red Sox already lost a first baseman earlier in the week when they placed Mitch Moreland on the 10-day injured list with a sore back. Now, they’ve lost another as Steve Pearce has been placed on the 10-day injured list himself. He has a lower back strain as well. When Moreland went down, Boston used the opportunity to carry an extra pitcher and get Colten Brewer back on the roster. This time, they replace Pearce with another right-handed bat that can play first base as well as some corner outfield in a pinch, recalling Sam Travis from Pawtucket.

This injury comes at a bad time for Pearce, who left Friday’s game in New York after just one at bat. The 2018 World Series MVP got off to an absolutely brutal start to the season, but he’d been turning it around lately. Over his career he’s been able to mash at Yankee Stadium, and Friday seemed like a good time for that to continue against a lefty in J.A. Happ. Unfortunately, as stated above, he only got to bat once. There’s no word on the severity of this injury, but hopefully it’s nothing too serious and he’ll be able to come back and repeat some of the solid contact he was making prior to this injury.

In his absence, one would assume the most common lineup will feature Michael Chavis shifting over to first base with Brock Holt spending most of the time at second. When a lefty is on the mound, Travis could see some time at first with Chavis sliding over to the keystone position. The Red Sox have the depth in these spots to make it through a short-term injury, but with Chavis starting to scuffle lately and Travis never really putting it together at the highest level, they could use one or both of Moreland and Pearce back soon.