BOSTON — The Red Sox will be without their starting shortstop for at least the first part of their forthcoming 10-game road trip.
Manager John Farrell announced after Sunday’s game — an 8-6 loss to the Seattle Mariners — that Xander Bogaerts will be placed on the seven-day disabled list due to concussion symptoms sustained when he was hit in the head by a pitch Friday night.
“He still has some symptoms from a mild concussion,” Farrell said, “so until they subside or clear up, we’ve got to go through the protocol to get him cleared. So, he’ll be inactive for those seven days.”
Bogaerts’ move to the DL is retroactive to Saturday, meaning he will be eligible to return to the lineup next Sunday in Tampa Bay. He was held out of the lineup for the final two games of the Mariners series but said Sunday that his condition is improving.
“It’s been getting better,” said Bogaerts, who will be entering his first DL stint as a major leaguer. “I feel good, but I think it’s just something to be safe, just to make sure that I’m fully healthy when I come back. … I haven’t been on the DL at all, so that will be a long five days without doing baseball.”
Filling Bogaerts’ spot on the roster will be 26-year-old infielder/outfielder Carlos Rivero, who will join the team in Toronto after being called up from Triple-A Pawtucket. Rivero has split time between Pawtucket and Double-A Portland this season, posting a .264/.324/.379 slash line with seven home runs and 53 RBIs in 105 games.
The Red Sox open a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday.
