McAdam: Red Sox roster imbalance needs correcting

Even before the end of spring training, Alex Cora announced that, because of the unique aspects of the 2021 season, the Red Sox would be taking the unusual step of carrying 14 pitchers as part of their 26-man major league roster.

With uncertainty surrounding Eduardo Rodriguez, who missed all of last season and then was sidelined late with a dead arm, plus the injury histories of veteran starters Garrett Richards and Nathan Eovaldi, the move was a sensible one.

And considering that all of the pitchers -- young and old, healthy and those with some injury histories -- were making the leap from a pandemic-shortened 60-game schedule to a more 162-game schedule, the extra arms were absolutely necessary.

That was then, however. And this is now.

And now, the Red Sox are carrying more pitchers than they need, to their detriment.



That's not to suggest that Wednesday's frustrating 6-5 setback to the moribund Detroit Tigers would have turned out differently had the Red Sox had one more position player -- and correspondingly, one less pitcher - on hand at Fenway. Then again, it might have.

But the larger point is, enough time has passed. The Red Sox have survived the demands of the first month, and thankfully for them, their pitchers have remained healthy.

It's time, however, to restore the roster to a more balanced 13-13 -- 13 pitchers and 13 position players.

The catalyst for such a move is Phillips Valdez. Valdez has actually been a productive member of the bullpen, appearing in eight games and fashioning a 3.48 ERA. But would you like to know when Valdez made his last appearance? That would be on April 24, against the Seattle Mariners.

In other words, Valdez hasn't pitched since the last Boston homestand. The Red Sox traveled to New York for a two-game series, then followed that up with four in Texas and never had the need to call on Valdez. They came home for this homestand, and have played two more games, again without needing Valdez.

If you're keeping track at home, that's nine straight games in which Valdez has been considered a non-essential worker. So, at this point, how necessary must his presence be.

(Cora said he had planned to go to Valdez Tuesday night when the Sox were building a six-run lead over the Tigers. But when Detroit climbed to within a couple of runs, Cora opted, with some reluctance, to deploy his high-leverage arms to protect the lead.

For the record, I'd keep Valdez and send out Austin Brice, even though Brice is out of options, and thus, at risk of being claimed. But Brice also has compiled a 7.88 ERA, and if teams are that desperate for pitching in early May, so be it).

Anyway, this isn't about names. It's about numbers. And for now, the Red Sox have too many pitchers and not enough position players.

Take Wednesday's loss as an example. The Sox scratched outfielder Alex Verdugo a few hours before gametime with a tight back. It's nothing serious, but it was enough to warrant a re-arranging of the lineup. It meant Kike Hernandez, who was set to play second, was moved to center, where Verdugo had been penciled in, and Christian Arroyo, who was going to have the night off, was plugged into second. Fine.

Except, when the game unfolded, the Sox found themselves in a bind. Arroyo had the misfortune of being struck on the left hand, for the second time in the last 10 days. When he exited the game and Cora opted for the righty-hitting Bobby Dalbec to hit for lefty Francisco Cordero in the seventh, the Sox were stretched thin.

In time, Cora shifted first baseman Marwin Gonzalez from first to left, inserted Dalbec at first, moved Christian Vazquez out from behind the plate to second and put Kevin Plawecki behind the plate.

With Verdugo unavailable, that left the Sox without any position players with which to make moves -- in a tie game, that went to extra innings. That's far from optimal.

This isn't about one game, or one loss. It's about providing them with a chance to win games with bench depth.

A three-man bench doesn't do much to provide options, especially when one is a catcher. That leaves, most nights, two hitters for a team that has some significant weak spots in the bottom of the order. Going into Wednesday night, there were three regulars or semi-regulars with averages under .200. Even in an offensively-starved era, that's a difficult hand to play for the manager.

Admittedly, there are no All-Stars at Worcester. But surely, Michael Chavis or Yairo Munoz -- both of whom can play infield and outfield -- would be of more value than the 14th pitcher at the end of the roster, particularly so when the team has used just 13 pitchers for more than a week.

It made sense to protect the team with pitching at the start. But now, the team needs position player reinforcements -- as Wednesday night demonstrated.