Boston Red Sox to place Mike Carp on DL with broken foot

Injuries continue to mount for the Boston Red Sox, as the team learned on Sunday that first baseman/outfielder Mike Carp has a broken bone in his right foot and will be out indefinitely. Carp will be placed on the disabled list and the team will recall Daniel Nava from Triple-A Pawtucket, according to the Providence Journal’s Brian MacPherson. Carp allegedly suffered the break when he was hit by a pitch early last week when the team was in Atlanta.

Carp had been an invaluable piece of the Boston bench a season ago, batting .296/.362/.523 in 243 PA while seeing time in each of the corner outfield positions and at first base. This season has been a much different story, however, as he’s struggled mightily at the plate. In 82 PA on the season he’s mustered just a .214/.317/.286 line. He’s been playing a lot of first base lately, with Mike Napoli also on the disabled list. The inconsistencies from one season to the next, however, are unfortunately in line with how his career has progressed to date.

First debuting with the Seattle Mariners in 2009, Carp’s OPS+ in each season of his career read as follows: 138, 46, 135, 56, 113, 20

The first two season are tough to include, based simply on the small sample size as he’d receive a total of 106 plate appearances between the two years combined. Starting in 2011, however, the trend becomes more apparent.

That season he’d see a career best 313 plate appearances, batting .276/.326/.466 with an OPS of .791. Carp would respond a year later with a .213/.312/.341 line in 189 PA, .654 OPS. Last season was arguably his career best year, finishing with an .885 OPS, but this season it’s back down to .603.

With Carp heading to the DL, Nava will make his return to Boston. He’d started the season there with the team but struggled at the plate, leading to a demotion to Triple-A before April concluded. He’s seen mixed results since, as he’s hitting .253/.347/.398 in 98 PA, but he represents the organization’s best option given their existing 40-man roster constraints.

Boston will continue to make moves and shuffle their roster in the coming days. Stephen Drew is expected to join the team in Cleveland on Monday, meaning Garin Cecchini will head back down to Pawtucket after joining the team for Sunday. Napoli is also expected to come off the DL at the end of the week, which will likely push Alex Hassan back down to the minor leagues.