Red Sox place second baseman, reliever on IL

The Red Sox announced that infielder Romy Gonzalez has been placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to April 11) due to a left wrist sprain.  

This move comes a day after another IL placement, as Boston sent right-hander Isaiah Campbell to the 15-day injured list Friday due to a right shoulder impingement.  

Infielder Bobby Dalbec was called up from Triple-A to replace Campbell, while righty Cooper Criswell was promoted Saturday from Triple-A in Gonzalez’s spot.

As manager Alex Cora told The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey and other reporters, Campbell kept his shoulder discomfort private but his attempts to pitch through the issue had disastrous consequences.  

Campbell allowed eight earned runs over two innings of work in relief appearances on Wednesday and Thursday, quickly halting what had been a positive start to Campbell’s Red Sox tenure.  

Acquired from the Mariners for Luis Urias back in November, Campbell had a 2.08 ERA over his first 4 1/3 innings and five appearances in a Boston uniform. The righty will now be sidelined for at least the next two weeks, and the severity of the impingement isn’t yet known.

While Campbell worked out of the bullpen, Criswell will act as a spot starter in today’s game against the Angels, filling in after Nick Pivetta went on the 15-day IL earlier this week.  

Saturday’s start will mark Criswell’s Boston debut after signing a one-year, $1M free-agent deal with the club after the Rays non-tendered the right-hander in November. 

There’s some full-circle significance in facing Los Angeles since the Angels drafted Criswell in the 13th round in 2018, and he made his MLB debut in a Halos uniform in 2021.  

After tossing 4 2/3 innings in cup-of-coffee fashion over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Criswell got a longer look with Tampa last season and posted a 5.73 ERA over 33 innings, often working as a bulk pitcher behind an opener.

Gonzalez is another offseason acquisition, picked up from the White Sox on a waiver claim in January. Gonzalez played in two games with Boston before hurting his wrist in a fall during Wednesday’s game. X-rays were negative on Gonzalez’s wrist, but an IL stint has been deemed necessary to give the infielder some time to fully heal up.

Dalbec’s addition can shore up the infield mix to some extent, but Gonzalez is now the fourth infield option on Boston’s injured list, joining Trevor Story, Vaughn Grissom, and utilityman Rob Refsnyder. 

Story will miss the entire season in the wake of shoulder surgery, while Grissom (hamstring strain) and Refsnyder (broken toe) have started minor league rehab assignments.  

Grissom and Refsnyder are tentatively on pace to be activated off the IL in late April, though Grissom’s timeline is a little uncertain since injuries prevented him from playing whatsoever during spring training.

The impact of so many missing infielders is evident in Boston’s glovework, as McCaffrey notes that the defense has essentially fallen apart since Story was sidelined. The Red Sox are near the bottom of the league in Outs Above Average (-5) and Defensive Runs Saved (-7), and their 16 errors are tied for the most in baseball.

Three of those errors came in yesterday’s 7-0 loss to the Angels, and the lineup was also missing Rafael Devers. Due to nagging soreness in his left shoulder, Devers has missed Boston’s last two games and will also sit out of today’s contest.

"I’ve been feeling it since Spring Training,” Devers told MLB.com and other media yesterday.  “But every time I was swinging, I was feeling it a little bit more and more.  So for me, I think like two or three days [off] could be enough.  I hope it doesn’t keep bothering me after these two or three days, but that’s something I can’t control.  That’s why I’m just trying to keep working to get stronger, to get my shoulder back in a good way.”

It’s safe to say that Devers’ shoulder has contributed to the third baseman’s slow start, as Devers is hitting just .184/.326/.395 over his first 46 plate appearances.  

This relative lack of production has contributed to the lineup’s inconsistency, as the Red Sox have had trouble scoring runs despite hot starts from Tyler O’Neill and Jarren Duran.