Red Sox Player Excited To Rejoin ‘Winning Atmosphere’ After Injury

Reese McGuire surely wasn’t upset watching his Red Sox teammates rally off wins without him.

It wasn’t easy, though.

McGuire hit the shelf June 21, exiting a game against the Minnesota Twins after injuring his right oblique muscle on a swing. The Red Sox won 17 of the 30 games he missed and climbed back into contention for an American League Wild Card spot.

The 28-year-old was able to parlay that team success into motivation to return from his month-long absence.

“I was following them when they were on the West Coast trip,” McGuire told NESN’s Dave O’Brien and Will Middlebrooks on Tuesday. “… It’s a winning atmosphere that you want to get back to and I was definitely excited to get back on to the field tonight.”

Things went well for McGuire in his return, as the backstop smoked a solo homer in the Red Sox’s 6-4 win over the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. The Red Sox are certainly hoping they can get that kind of immediate contribution from the rest of their injured big leaguers.

Boston took a quiet approach to the 2023 Major League Baseball trade deadline, making a single addition who was immediately sent down to Triple-A Worcester. There’s an understanding that the Red Sox were viewing the injured list as a source for upgrades, with Chris Sale, Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck and Trevor Story all knocking on the door.

There’s no doubt that group would go a long way in helping the Red Sox curate that “winning atmosphere” McGuire was talking about.