Red Sox bring Kevin Plawecki back from injured list, place Danny Santana on IL

The Red Sox have one more series to go before they finally get a few nights off (most of them do, anyway) for the All-Star break. They kick off that three-game set against the Phillies here Friday night at Fenway, but before the game they announced a flurry of roster moves. Kevin Plawecki is coming back from the injured list, with Connor Wong heading back down to Worcester. Additionally, Danny Santana is hitting the injured with a quad strain suffered in L.A., with Michael Chavis coming back up to Boston.

We’ll start with Plawecki, who was placed on the injured list about two weeks ago with a hamstring strain. The backup catcher did not end up needing to miss much more than the required amount of time. He’ll rejoin the catching corps having hit .254/.319/.349 in 70 plate appearances before hitting the IL. In his place, Connor Wong was handling backup catching duties, picking up three hits, including one double, in four games and 11 plate appearances. He should go back to getting regular playing time in Worcester now.

As for the other half of this transaction, it had seemed likely that Santana would have to hit the IL for the last couple of days. The move is retroactive to Wednesday. Santana has been struggling for this Red Sox in part-time duty as it is, hitting .167/.231/.292 in 104 plate appearances. When he is healthy again, it’s an open question how much longer he can stick on this roster.

Taking his place will be Michael Chavis, who has been up and down seemingly every other week of late. The infielder has just not been able to find his stride at the plate in the majors this season, and really the last couple of seasons. He has a 63 OPS+ since the start of the 2020 season in just over 200 plate appearances. With Franchy Cordero starting to get consistent time at first base, it’s not out of the question that he will be with the team coming out of the break, not Chavis. If it’s not then, it’s probably not too long before he displaces Chavis, given that he’s been hitting better at Worcester this year and that he better complements Bobby Dalbec as a left-handed batter.