Could Forgotten Red Sox Addition Make Surprise 2023 Return?

In case you forgot, Adalberto Mondesí is still technically a member of the Boston Red Sox.

It’s been a weird stint so far for the 28-year-old, who was acquired from the Kansas City Royals in January. The Red Sox viewed Mondesí as a potential second base option, but have seen him push his ACL recovery time past 16 months after suffering the injury in April 2022.

Boston even shut him down in early June, but there’s still a glimmer of hope that he could return to the big leagues in 2023.

Chris Cotillo of MassLive, citing sources, said Mondesí has ramped up to the point of facing live pitching, running and taking ground balls. The Red Sox reportedly haven’t set a plan in place, but could return Mondesí to game action over the next “couple of weeks.”

There, of course, isn’t a ton of time for Boston to get Mondesí back on the field. The typical rehab process for a major injury could take up to a month once the player gets back onto the field in game situations. The Red Sox only have seven weeks left in the season, so a decision will need to be made quickly whether they want to attempt getting something out of Mondesí.

If this season has taught Boston anything, however, it’s that things won’t go to plan up the middle.

The Red Sox have played Trevor Story, Pablo Reyes, Yu Change, Christian Arroyo, Bobby Dalbec, Justin Turner, Luis Urías, Kiké Hernández, Enmanuel Valdéz and David Hamilton at shortstop or second base this season, with a grand total of three (Story, Reyes, Urías) of those players sticking to this point in the year.

It would be nice to get production at second base in the middle of a wild-card race, but that is all but guaranteed from an oft-injured player like Mondesí. He will be a free agent at the end of the season, though, so there’s also no reason not to try.