Michael Chavis was optioned to Triple-A Worcester on Monday after 11 games with the Boston Red Sox in order to make room for Christian Arroyo ahead of Tuesday's game against the Atlanta Braves.
It likely had to do with the fact that Chavis had options available, and the Red Sox's roster is quite deep at the infielder positions. He batted .273 during his time with Boston with a home run, but there still were parts of his offensive game that needed work.
"He made all the plays. He did well," manager Alex Cora told reporters Tuesday over Zoom. "Of course, there’s stuff offensively that he needs to keep working on. And now is a good time for him to go down there and do that.
"... He's become a good baserunner, a fast runner, to be honest with you," he added. "And we were very pleased. But right now, he needs at-bats."
Chavis certainly will get the at-bats in Worcester as he'll be a constant in its lineup. Still, Cora knows just how the infielder is feeling.
"It's tough as a player. I can tell you that. I was in that situation in 2000," Cora said. "It sucks -- the up and down. But that's part of becoming a big leaguer. At one point, he's going to be in the other situation. And hopefully, he can force our hand if he goes there and he dominates Triple A. It's not that he hasn’t done it. It's that he hasn't had the opportunity to do that at the Triple-A level. And see what happens in the future. But we told him something might happen in the upcoming days, in the upcoming weeks, a month, whatever. He'll be back with us and he's ready to contribute. And he helped us win ballgames, which is very important."
Despite the demotion, Chavis was optimistic and vowed to work hard for the Red Sox fans.
