Duvall is back
The Boston Red Sox will have some added assistance when taking on the New York Yankees to open up their latest three-game road series on Friday night.
Adam Duvall was reinstated from the 60-day injured list, slated to bat fifth and play centerfield in manager Alex Cora’s starting lineup. It’ll be Duvall’s first time on the field for Boston since April 9 when he suffered the initial wrist injury that sidelined him for a nearly multi-month period, against the Detroit Tigers.
While Duvall’s addition comes as a significant positive to Boston’s recent cold streak, which has resulted in four losses in the last five Red Sox contests, there was a handful of roster moves made before the team took the field at Yankee Stadium — most notably the placement of starting pitcher Chris Sale to the 60-day injured list.
During Duvall’s brief debut run in a Red Sox uniform, the 34-year-old was arguably the best hitter in Major League Baseball, torching whatever any given pitcher had to offer at the plate. With a sample size of eight games into the campaign, Duvall compiled a slash line of .455/.514/1.030 with four home runs and 14 RBIs.
It’ll be the first time that Boston and New York have met this season, but the Red Sox aren’t the only ones working around some health-hampered roster adjustments. The Yankees, who held a 5.5-game lead over the Red Sox in the American League East, recently placed last season’s MVP Aaron Judge on the 15-day injured list, eliminating any possibility of the slugger facing Boston in the series.
The Red Sox and Yankees will play Game 1 at 7:10 p.m. ET. from Yankee Stadium, and you can watch the full, plus an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.