Curtis Mead left his Boston Red Sox debut early on Monday night after getting hit by a pitch on his wrist/hand. Even though that's obviously far from ideal for the Red Sox, given that they just traded for him and already have a plethora of injuries to deal with, it seems like things could have been way worse.
Mead's X-rays reportedly came back clean, and interim manager Chad Tracy thinks Boston may have "dodged a bullet."
"We're just going to take a day to day and see how he feels coming in, but a little sore. But at least right now, it looks like we dodged a bullet maybe," Tracy said about Mead's injury.
Curtis Mead's power can help elevate the Red Sox
It wasn't a popular move, but it's easy to see the Red Sox' vision when they traded Connelly Early for the Australian native.
Early was probably going to be the odd man out of Boston's incredible rotation once Garrett Crochet comes back (if Garret Crochet comes back?). It's tough to rank him above Crochet, Ranger Suarez, Sonny Gray, and maybe even Payton Tolle or Jake Bennett. Plus, you have to give something to get something, and there are reasons to think Mead could be a great addition to the Red Sox.
Boston's biggest problem all season long has been its lack of power. Outside of Willson Contreras, nobody on the team has hit more than 20 home runs this season, and according to MLB.com, its 99 total home runs are the second-fewest in the majors (only ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers' 98).
This season, Mead has already hit a career-high 17 home runs (he hit a combined five home runs during his first three seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox). The Red Sox had been on the hunt for a right-handed power bat and another infielder, and they got both of those with Mead.
Curtis Mead should only help Boston's playoff push
This would have been crazy to say even just a month ago, but the Red Sox are squarely in the playoff picture.
With roughly two months of baseball left, they are 55-50 and are two games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians for the second AL Wild Card spot (they are also 4.5 games behind the New York Yankees, who own the first spot).
The Red Sox have the pitching staff to legitimately compete, and it seems like they may have the bats as well. And by acquiring Mead, they should only get better from here on out.
Add us as a preferred source on Google