Red Sox place Christian Arroyo on the injured list, call up Michael Chavis

On Sunday, the Red Sox not only dropped their second in a three-game set with the Royals, but they also lost two players to injury. Kevin Plawecki, the first to leave the game, was placed on the injured list on Tuesday with a hamstring injury. Christian Arroyo also left that game, but the team was hoping to get him back into action as early as Wednesday. That hasn’t worked out, and now he is heading to the injured list himself with what the team is calling a right knee contusion. Michael Chavis is coming back up to take Arroyo’s spot on the roster.

It is worth noting that Arroyo’s injury is being attributed to the knee, because when he first left the game the team announced it was due to a bone bruise in his shin. That said, it’s not entirely clear when he’ll be able to return, with the middle of next week being the first time he’ll be eligible to return. Arroyo was reasonably hitting well for the Red Sox, of late particularly in clutch situations, with a season line of .264/.324/.432.

Chavis, meanwhile, comes back up after having been sent down just last week. The utility man has a league-average line in the majors this year, albeit in only 33 plate appearances and with zero walks along with a 39 percent strikeout rate. In Triple-A, his overall line is just barely above average but he’s been much better of late. Even so, it is a little surprising to me he was called up over Franchy Cordero, who could provide a left-handed bat for the bench. Expect Chavis to play mostly second base for the time being.