With Xander Bogaerts’ departure and now an injury to Trevor Story, there’s plenty of uncertainty up the middle of the diamond for the Boston Red Sox.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom may have an answer to one of those question marks, though.
With it possible that Kiké Hernández moves from center field to the dirt to fill one of the voids in the infield, the Red Sox reportedly have been linked to free-agent outfielder Adam Duvall, according to The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams.
Duvall, who has played exclusively in the National League during his 10-year major league career, spent last season with the Atlanta Braves, and batted .213 with 12 home runs and 36 RBIs before having his campaign end after 86 games due to a torn tendon sheath in his wrist, per McWilliams.
While it was a down year for the 34-year-old Duvall, especially due to injury, he did put together a sensational season in 2021 with his time split between the Miami Marlins and Braves. Duvall belted a career-high 38 round-trippers to go along with a league-leading 113 RBIs as he went on to win a World Series title with Atlanta.
Duvall could slot into center field if Hernández is on the move and provide a power bat that Boston’s outfield lacked a season ago. Duvall has hit four home runs in his career at Fenway Park, including blasting three in one game during the 2020 season.
Earlier this week, Bloom believed the Red Sox would make an outside addition with the middle positions up the diamond in flux.
“I would expect we’re going to add,” Bloom told reporters as transcribed by MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “Frankly, that was my expectation even before this (Story injury). Whether that’s through free agency or trade, I don’t know yet. What that looks like, who it is, obviously it’s something we were already actively discussing even before this. Now, we’re a man down so we’re going to have to fortify ourselves further.”
And the Red Sox could do just that by bringing in Duvall.
