The Red Sox could ill-afford any more injuries to the middle of their infield, but they came close to yet another one in their loss to the San Diego Padres on Sunday at Petco Park.
But the Red Sox appear to have dodged a bullet despite second baseman Enmanuel Valdez leaving the series finale in the seventh inning due to precautionary reasons.
Valdez seemed to suffer an ailment making a play on a Juan Soto grounder in the fifth inning in which he made an errant throw. Following the miscue, Valdez was checked out by a member of the Red Sox training staff and even though he exited early, manager Alex Cora doesn't expect Valdez to miss time.
"He kind of slipped and felt it on the IT band," Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. "But he's OK. We just took him out just to make sure. But he should be OK for tomorrow."
The Red Sox are thin up the middle of the diamond in the infield with Trevor Story, Christian Arroyo, Adalberto Mondesi and Yu Chang all on the injured list at the moment. Valdez, who was replaced by Pablo Reyes, has stabilized second base after the Red Sox called up the 24-year-old from Triple-A Worcester in late April. Through 21 games, Valdez is batting .283 with three home runs and 10 RBIs to go along with three stolen bases.
Valdez could be back in Cora's lineup Monday when the Red Sox continue their West Coast swing against the Los Angeles Angels. First pitch is scheduled for 9:38 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game on NESN after an hour of pregame coverage.
