The Red Sox and Kiké Hernandez got some bad news Friday.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora revealed that Hernandez has tested positive for COVID-19, necessitating time away from the team. Infielder Christian Arroyo is also being deemed unavailable due to close contact. Hernandez is experiencing symptoms.
To replace Hernandez and Arroyo on the 26-man roster the Red Sox have recalled Yairo Munoz and Jonathan Arauz from Triple-A Worcester.
The plan, according to Cora, was to have Munoz lead off and play left field, with Arauz hitting ninth and playing second in the Red Sox' series opener in Cleveland.
Hernandez was hitting .258 with an .811 OPS out of the team's leadoff spot, having scored a pair of runs in each of the team's last three games. Arroyo had just returned to the active roster earlier this week after dealing with a hamstring injury.
"I was concerned Feb. 10 so it’s something we’re dealing with in our world, outside our world, and I don’t want to say we’re lucky, we’ve been OK throughout the season, but it happened," Cora said. "It’s happened to a lot of teams so we’ve got to find a way to keep moving forward and keep playing good baseball."
