They say the best ability is availability. While Bill Belichick would likely never admit to it, Cam Newton’s vaccination status—and the potential to miss games and practices because of it—was no doubt a contributing factor in the Patriots releasing him last week. Similarly, the Red Sox, have had to put out their own COVID fire of late, playing shorthanded the past week without starting shortstop Xander Bogaerts, All-Star closer Matt Barnes and utility man Kiké Hernandez.
Boston’s late-season outbreak couldn’t have come at a worse time with the Red Sox fighting tooth and nail for one of the American League’s two Wild Card spots (the faint dream of capturing a division title has long since vanished). To a certain extent, Boston brought this on themselves—the Red Sox join the Phillies, Mets, Mariners, Cubs, Diamondbacks and Royals as one of seven teams under MLB’s target vaccination threshold of 85 percent.
According to ESPN’s David Schoenfield, who recently wrote about the impact COVID could have on this year’s pennant race, the Phillies lead the league with 185 days lost to COVID absences, followed by the Nationals (179), Yankees (144), Brewers (105) and Diamondbacks (90). Nineteen Phillies have endured stints on the COVID IL this year, which also leads MLB (the Red Sox are right behind them at 17). Playoff contenders least affected by COVID include the Reds (three combined COVID absences), Cardinals (four), White Sox (six) and A’s (seven).
On the surface, losing one player on a 28-man roster to the league’s mandated 10-day COVID recovery window might not seem like a big deal, but unfortunately, it’s never that simple. With Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta contracting the virus over the weekend, Kutter Crawford (5.52 ERA in 29 1/3 innings for Worcester) was summoned from Triple-A on extremely short notice Sunday, ultimately getting shelled for five runs over two disastrous innings in his MLB debut against Cleveland. Another recent call-up, Phillips Valdez, sunk any hopes of a Red Sox comeback by permitting five runs in the ninth inning of that same game.
While some teams are equipped with enough bench and minor-league depth to stay afloat amid the recent COVID spike brought on by the “Delta” variant, others will have a harder time fielding competitive lineups. With 11 players currently on the COVID IL, the Red Sox find themselves at precisely that crossroads.
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