Boston Red Sox: Jonathan Araúz an unlikely hero in a defining moment

Every day, some player on some team is making a childhood dream come true. For Boston Red Sox infielder Jonathan Araúz, that dream moment happened when he least expected.

In fact, Araúz being called up in playing in Friday night’s game against the Cleveland Indians after Kiké Hernández and Christian Arroyo was placed on the COVID-19 list was so sudden, it may feel like a dream, but Araúz was ready despite being 300 miles away from Progressive Field when he got the call.

Thankfully for the Red Sox and the 2021 season, he was ready.  With one swing of the bat late in the game, Araúz turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 victory for the Red Sox.

A defining moment?

It was certainly magical for Araúz, whose first homer of the 2021 season couldn’t have come at a better time, but it was one of those games the team may look back at when the 2021 season is over and point at as a pivotal moment.

With the Boston Red Sox down, Jonathan Araúz provides heroic moment

With two players testing positive for COVID-19 and the team trying their best to hold on to that second wildcard spot, a loss could’ve sent them spiraling in the opposite direction yet again.  But the big hit from an unlikely hero may be a spark that keeps their current momentum going.

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If anything, it proves how players should be ready, because an opportunity can come at any time, at any moment.  Especially when it comes to professional sports.

"“I was actually sleeping in the hotel when they called,” Araúz said following the game, via MLB.com.  “They called at around one just to let me know I had to get up in a hurry and get luggage real quick and get to the stadium as fast as possible, get on that bus to get over here.  Yeah, everything happened really quick.”"

The pace of the game also went quick as the Red Sox only had one hit through the first seven innings of the game. To go along the two positive COVID tests, starting the seven-game road trip with a quiet start offensively was not how the team wanted to start an important road trip.

Whether it was from Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts or the suddenly hot Bobby Dalbec, the Boston Red Sox offense needed a spark and they got it from someone they least expected, a player who just hours prior was in his hotel room dreaming about who knows what.  That same player created a real-life dream after making a mistake.

Call it a twist of fate, but after a Christian Vazquez walk and Jarren Duran single, Red Sox manager Alex Cora was playing for the tie when Araúz stepped up to the plate.  Cora signaled for Araúz to bunt in that situation.  But he failed to do so.  Mad at himself, he took his anger out on a 1-2 pitched off Indians righty James Karinchak and the rest is history.

"“I was actually upset at myself during the first couple of pitches.  I didn’t get the bunt down,” Araúz said.  “I just took some time to myself and kind of kept my head up and said, ‘OK, if I didn’t get the bunt down, I have to move him over somehow, move the runners, get good contact, I’ve got to do something and make up for missing a bunt.”"

In what Cora described following the game as a “short, compact swing,” Araúz turned a missed bunt into an unexpected blast that into a storybook ending to a chaotic day for himself and the team.  With how this 2021 season has gone for the Boston Red Sox, it is fitting that an unlikely source contributed to yet another comeback victory.