KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Red Sox might look a bit different when they face the Royals on Saturday night.
After a 2-1, 12-inning loss in the series opener, manager Alex Cora hinted that the club may make roster moves that could tweak both the pitching staff and position player mix before first pitch Saturday (7:10 p.m. ET). After using seven relievers Friday, the Sox could use a fresh arm or two. The more interesting development, is that two right-handed bench players — Romy Gonzalez and Rob Refsnyder — are both candidates to be placed on the injured list. Refsnyder hasn’t played since May 1 and is dealing with back tightness. Gonzalez left Wednesday’s game early and didn’t play the last two days after getting hit in the back in a first-base collision with Texas’ Josh Smith.
“We’re talking about it,” said Cora when asked about the pitching staff. “Also, Ref and Romy, they’re banged up. We’ve got to make decisions, probably, and see how close they are. Today for Romy was a tough one. He didn’t bounce back the way we expected. Ref is making strides but he’s not there yet. We’ll see.”
Both Gonzalez and Refsnyder would normally be in line to play Saturday with lefty Cole Ragans scheduled to pitch for Kansas City. Instead, it appears reinforcements are more likely. Short-term stopgap options are far more likely than the promotions of top prospects Roman Anthony and/or Marcelo Mayer. On the 40-man roster, the Sox could turn to Vaughn Grissom or Nick Sogard. Outfielder (and former Royal) Nate Eaton has hit well at Worcester (.866 OPS) from the right side. Adding him would require a 40-man roster move but the Red Sox can easily clear a space by moving an injured player like Kutter Crawford or Masataka Yoshida to the 60-day IL.
On the pitching side of things, Newcomb — who took the loss Friday, three days after throwing 77 pitches in relief of Lucas Giolito — could be a casualty, though the Red Sox would have to expose him to waivers in order to option him. Otherwise, getting a fresh arm to Kansas City would require someone like Brennan Bernardino or Greg Weissert to be optioned. On the 40-man, righties Josh Winckowski and Zack Kelly are available. Veteran Nick Burdi has pitched exceedingly well but like Eaton would require a 40-man spot.
With whatever 26-man mix they choose, the Red Sox will try to bounce back and get back above .500 after losing their 10th one-run game of 2025 and falling to 20-20 on Friday.
“It’s tough,” said Cora. “As a visitor, you want two, you don’t want one. We didn’t advance runners throughout the game. Man on second, no outs (in the sixth). When we did, we scored (in the 11th). We’ve just got to show up tomorrow, try to do the little things and try to win a ballgame.”
