A wild time at Citi Field
Remember when Mets owner Steve Cohen beat his chest this offseason after it appeared his club had secured the services of shortstop Carlos Correa? This, Cohen said, was the final piece of the puzzle.
Well, that piece disappeared and now New York has two crater-sized offensive holes at second and third base while trying to live up the expectations of the biggest of big market teams.
The puzzle just doesn't look the same without that missing piece. And now that's a reality that has just entered into the Red Sox' world.
Adam Duvall fit so nicely in what always appeared to be the most precarious of puzzles. Even before he led the majors in OPS and other things through the first nine games of the new season, the outfielder's skill-set was perceived as a perfect fit.
The right-handed hitter who could supply much-needed power while also possessing the ability to play center field. Pick any one of those items, and you would have a vital part of Chaim Bloom's 2023 recipe.
But now, what was a potentially spicy offensive concoction seems a bit bland, with the most recent taste-testing coming at Tropicana Field Monday night. Without Duvall - who has been diagnosed with a broken wrist (but won't need surgery - the Red Sox scored zero runs. Science suggests that isn't good.
Maybe this isn't a good time to digest Duvall's absence. You, after all, having to adjust to this new life while going up against a Tampa Bay pitching staff that has allowed just 18 runs while not losing any of its first 10 games. But there is no getting around how different it feels without what had been the best hitter in baseball.
It was understood that this lineup construction had little room for error. It could absolutely be productive, as was witnessed throughout more than a few games to start the season. But there wasn't going to be a plethora of back-up plans, which is what the Red Sox are now realizing.
Rob Refsnyder and Ramiel Tapia always seemed like solid fits in their originally-assigned roles. But replacing the like of Duvall and all the aforementioned expectations that comes with it? That's a tall task.
There are options for Alex Cora. Move Kiké Hernandez to center field while integrating Yu Chang and Bobby Dalbec into the middle infield. Hope to catch lightning in the bottle while rotating in Refsnyder and Tapia. Or maybe even go super lefty-heavy and see if Jarren Duran can carry over his hot start from Triple-A.
But the reality is that the Red Sox' best course of action for the time being is to uncover the next scorching hot hitter while riding out Duvall's six-to-eight-week timetable.
The solid starts of Alex Verdugo (.847 OPS) and Rafael Devers (.984) are glimmers of hope. But everyone else has to pick it up a notch, particularly those living life in the now Duvall-less middle of the order. Justin Turner (.542), Masa Yoshida (.719), Triston Casas (.667) and Hernandez (.553) have all had their moments. Now they have to have a bunch more of them.
"He’s going to be back at some point," Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters after his team's 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay. "We just have to be patient, and whenever he’s ready, he’s ready.”