The last week has been tough for the Boston Red Sox in terms of trying to contain the COVID-19 outbreak that has been making its way through the clubhouse.
As of Friday, 13 members of the organization have been impacted by the virus. Jarren Duran became the latest player to test positive, a day after there were no new cases on the team. As a result of it all, there’s been a lot of lineup shuffling and calling players up on short notice.
Nate Eovaldi was asked just how everyone is able to come together and continue to work through the outbreak despite having a depleted lineup day in and day out.
“Everybody’s been able to step up at the right time,” he said after Boston’s 8-5 win over the Cleveland Indians on Friday. “We got guys like (Jack) López who had his first knock tonight, and (Jonathan) Araúz playing short, they’ve been able to step up and the defense has been great. Toward the end of the game (Rafael Devers) was over there at second base. They’re showing everybody they’re able to adapt on the fly and everybody can play in different positions spots in the infield, outfield. We’re piecing it together, we’re making it work and this is the time we need to do it.”
Now is the time indeed. Araúz, in particular, has become someone who seems to be almost untouchable at this point. He continued to fight for a lineup spot going forward with a home run Friday night.
Boston’s lead in the Wild Card race moved to three games for that second spot over the Oakland Athletics.
